FIRST  CFNTTJRY 

of 

NATIONAL  EXISTENCE; 


THE  UNITED  STATES 


THEY  WERE  AND  ARE; 

GIVING 

The  progressive  development  op  MINERAL  WEALTH,  including  not  only  the  precious  and  the  useful  metals,  but 
Coal,  Petroleum,  and  the  various  Alkalies  and  Earths  in  use;  The  PUBLIC  LANDS,  their  sales  in  each  year, 
Land  Grants  to  Roads,  Railroads,  State,  and  Educational  Purposes,  their  rapid  settlement,  the  formation  of 
States  and  Territories,  founding  of  Cities  and  Commercial  Centers  ; INTERNAL  TRADE  ; IMMIGRATION, 
its  increasing  tide  and  the  regions  mostly  sought  by  Immigrants  ; BANKING,  its  successive  systems 
AND  CHANGES  ; FlRE,  Life,  ACCIDENT,  AND  OTHER  INSURANCE,  WITH  STATISTICS  ; LITERATURE  AND 
AUTHORS  ; BOOKS,  PERIODIC ALS,  and  NEWSPAPERS  ; The  FINE  ARTS,  Painting,  Sculpture, 
Architecture,  and  Engraving;  DOMESTIC  LIFE,  Dwellings,  Furniture,  Food,  Costumes, 

&c. ; TELEGRAPH  ; EDUCATION,  Higher  and  Elementary,  Libraries,  Museums,  and 
Scientific  Collections  ; BENEVOLENT  and  HUMANITARIAN  INSTITUTIONS,  &c. 

WITH 

AN  APPENDIX, 

GIVING 

[The  progress  of  all  the  RELIGIOUS  DENOMINATIONS  and  SECTS,  their  peculiar  Doctrines  and  Ordinances, 
their  Forms  of  Church  Government,  Mode  of  Worship,  &c.,  &C. 


THE  WHOLE  CAREFULLY  PREPARED  BY 

Sit  (Emtmnt  Corps  of  ^rirntifir  antr  ^ittrarg  Him. 

Superbly  illustrated  with  over  Two  Hundred  and  Twenty-Five  Engravings,  executed  by  the  most  accomplished  Artists  in  the  Country, 
carefully  printed  from  Steel  Electrotypes  and  in  Chromo. 


Sold.  Only  l>y  Subscription. 


HARTFORD,  CONN.: 

PUBLISHED  33  3T  L.  STEBBINS.' 
FRANCIS  DEWING  & CO.,  SAN  FRANCISCO,  CAL. 

1873. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1872,  by 


L.  STEBBINS, 


In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


SUBJECTS  AND  AUTHORS. 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

fncluding  Gold,  Silver,  Copper,  Lead,  Zinc,  Iron,  Coal,  Petroleum,  &c.,  showing  the 
Localities,  Richness  of  Ores,  Methods  of  Mining,  Smelting,  and  applying  the  different 
Minerals  to  practical  uses,  with  their  values,  &c.,  &c. 

FUR  TRADE,  various  kinds  and  values  of  Furs. 

Of  the  late  Pennsylvania , and  other  Geological  Surveys;  Contributor  to  Apple - 
ton’s  u New  American  Cyclopcedia”  on  the  same  Subjects, 
i 


LAND,  SETTLEMENT,  INTERNAL  TRADE. 

Western  Settlement,  Population,  and  Land  Sales,  Canals  and  Railroads,  Expenditures, 
Lake  Cities,  Reciprocity,  Annual  Sales  of  Land  by  the  Government,  River  Cities, 
Atlantic  Cities,  Date  of  Settlement,  Population,  Valuation,  Manufactures,  Exports, 
Imports,  Growth  of  New  York,  Express  Business. 

BANKS,  UNITED  STATES  MINT,  AND  INSURANCE. 

Bills  of  Credit,  Government  Issues,  United  Slates  Bank,  State  Banki,  Suffolk  System, 
Safety  Fund,  Banks,  Free  Banks,  Number  of  Banks  in  Each  State,  Aggregate  Capi- 
tal, Clearing  Houses,  Private  Banking,  New  National  System,  &c.,  Establishment 
of  Mint,  Standard  of  Coins,  Laws  Regulating  Coinage,  Precious  Metals  in  the  Coun- 
try, Insurance, — Fire,  Marine,  Life,  Accident,  &c. 

EMIGRATION. 

General  Migrations,  Colonies  and  United  States,  Number  of  Aliens  arrived  in  the 
United  States  from  1820  to  1856,  and  their  Nationalities,  Landing  in  New  York, 
Future  Homes. 

AUTHORS,  BOOKS,  NEWSPAPERS,  BOOK  BINDING. 

PRINTING  PRESSES,  TELEGRAPH. 

Writers, — including  Theologians,  Statesmen,  Novelists,  Historians, — Short  Sketches  of 
their  Lives,  their  Literary  Productions ; Newspapers, — Dailies,  Weeklies,  Periodicals, 
Book  Trade,  Publishing,  Jobbing,  Retailing,  Selling  by  Subscription,  Book-Bind- 
ing, Printing  Presses,  Telegraph. 

By  THOMAS  P.  KETTELL. 

SOCIAL  AND  DOMESTIC  LIFE. 

Domestic  Architecture,  Furniture,  Food,  Dress,  Social  Culture,  &c. 

By  FREDERICK  B PERKINS. 


SUBJECTS  AND  AUTHORS. 


ARTS  OP  DESIGN. 

Painters,  Sculptors,  Engravers,  &c. 

By  T.  ADDISON  RICHARDS,  Artist, 

Editor  of  Appleton’s  u Railway  Guide Correspondent  of  “ Harper’s 

Magazine .” 

Progress  of  all  the  Religious  Denominations,  and  Sects. 

By  Dr.  L.  P.  BROCKETT. 


EDUCATION, 

Including  the  History  and  Statistics  of  F ree  Schools,  Common  Schools,  Grammar  Schools, 
Academies,  Colleges,  Professional  Schools  of  Theology,  Law,  Medicine,  War,  Teaching, 
Engineering,  Agriculture,  Mechanics  and  Fine  Arts ; with  Special  Schools  for  Deaf 
Mutes,  Blind,  Idiots,  Juvenile  Criminals,  and  Orphans,  and  Supplementary  Educational 
Agencies  and  Libraries,  Lyceums,  Lectures,  &c. 

By  HENRY  BARNARD,  L L.  D . , 

Superintendent  of  Common  Schools  in  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island  ; Chan- 
cellor of  the  State  University  of  Wisconsin ; and  Editor  of  the 
“ American  Journal  of  Education 


ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH, 

Its  Inventors,  and  Progress, 

By  GEORGE  B.  PRESCOTT. 

Electrician  of  Western  Union  Telegraph  Company. 


FIRE  INSURANCE, 

Giving  in  a historical  form  the  progress  and  growth  of  Fire  Insurance  in  the  United 
States  from  the  first  organized  Companies  up  to  1871,  with  valuable  tables,  showing 
the  magnitude  of  the  business,  rates,  losses,  profits,  &c., 

By  D.  A.  HEALD, 

Vice-President  of  the  Home  Fire  Insurance  Company  of  N.  Y. 

LIFE  INSURANCE, 

Showing  the  progress  of  the  business  under  the  Stock  and  Mutual  principles,  from  the 
first  organized  Company  up  to  1871,  with  valuable  tables  showing  the  immense 
magnitude  of  the  business,  per  centage,  losses,  profits,  &c., 

By  JACOB  L.  GREENE, 

Secretary  Connecticut  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Company , Hartford , Cl. 


CONTENTS 


MINING  INDUSTRY. 

PAGE 


Introductory  Remarks 17 

Iron  Works  in  Virginia  previous  to  1622. ...  17 

First  Blast  Furnace  in  1702 17 

Iron 18 

First  Trial  of  Anthracite  Coal  for  manufac- ' 

facturing 18 

Great  Britian  produces  more  than  half  of  the 

whole  product  of  the  world 19 

Iron  produced  from  1828  to  1840 20 

Materials  employed  in  the  Manufacture.  . 20 

Ore  in  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  Tennessee, 

New  York,  Canada,  and  Wisconsin 21 

Consumption  of  Charcoal  per  Ton  of  Iron. . . 22 

Quantities  of  Air  used  in  Blast  Furnaces... . 23 

Furnaces  in  the  Lehigh  Valley 23 

Distribution  of  Ores 24 

Ores  in  New  Jersey 25 

Ores  in  Pennsylvania 26 

Great  Chestnut  Hill  Ore-bed 27 

Ores  in  Maryland 28 

Ores  in  Southern  States 28 

Ores  in  Western  States 29 

Iron  Manufacture 32 

Description  of  Blast  Furnaces 32 

Wrought  Iron 36 

Puddling 37 

List  of  Rolling  Mills  in  1856 40 

Mills  making  Railroad  Iron  in  1856 40 

Boiler  Plate  and  Sheet  Iron  Manufactories  in 

1856 41 

Iron  Wire 41 

Nails 41 

List  of  Nail  Manufactories  in  1856 42 

Steel 43 


PAGE 


Cast  Steel 44 

Table  of  Iron  Works  in  operation  and  aban- 
doned in  1856 45 

Production  of  Pig  Iron 46 

Distribution  of  Furnaces  by  States 46 

Product  of  Wrought  Iron 46 

Value  of  the  Iron  product  in  1856 47 

Copper 48 

New  Jersey  Mines 49 

Tennessee  Mines 50 

Lake  Superior  Mines 51 

Product  of  the  Pittsburgh  and  Boston  Com- 
pany Mines  from  1852  to  1860 53 

Minesota  Company 55 

Product  of  do  from  1848  to  1860 56 

Statistics  of  Lake  Superior  Mines 57 

Copper  Smelting 58 

Useful  Applications  of  Copper 60 

Cost  of  Smelting  Copper 60 

Manufacture  of  Brass 62 

Gold ; 63 

Vermont  Mines 64 

Virginia  do  64 

North  Carolina  Mines 69 

Georgia  do  69 

Pike’s  Peak  do  70 

California  do  71 

Australia  do  71 

Annual  production  of  Gold  in  the  World  at 
the  time  of  its  discovery  in  California. ...  71 

Length  and  Cost  of  Artificial  Water-courses  in 

California 72 

Quartz  Mining 73 

Table  of  annual  productions  of  the  Mines  of 
California  from  1848  to  1857 ' — ^3 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 


Various  Machines  for  Mining  purposes  ...  14 

Tables  showing  the  amount  of  Gold  coiued  by 
the  U.S.  Government,  and  where  produced  18-9 

The  uses  of  Gold 80 

Lead........ . 81 

Localities  of  Mines 82 

Iowa  Mines. 84 


Table  showing  the  shipments  of  Lead  from 
the  Upper  Mississippi  from  1821  to  1841.  85 

Table  showing  the  production  and  importa- 


tion of  Lead  from  1832  to  1858 81 

Lead  Smelting 81 

Useful  Applications  of  Lead 91 

Lead  Pipe 91 

Shot  and  Bullets 92 

American  process  of  making  Shot, 93 

"White  Lead  94 

List  of  American  White  Lead  Works 96 

Zinc 96 

New  Jersey  Mines 96 

Pennsylvania  do 97 

Metallurgy  Treatment  and  Uses 98 

European  Manufacture 100 

List  of  the  Silesian  Company  Works 102 

Schedule  of  the  cost  of  Zinc  Ore  on  ship- 
board at  Antwerp 103 

Z:nc  Paint 103 

Description  of  Manufacture 104 

Platinum  101 

Iridium  and  Osmium 110 

Mercury  110 

California  Mines Ill 

Almaden  Mine  in  Spain Ill 

Total  annual  production  of  various  Mines. . Ill 

Metallurgy  Treatment 114 

Useful  Applications  of  Mercury 114 

Silver  115 

Cobalt  , 116 

Nickel Ill 

Chrome  or  Chromium.  118 

Manganese 119 

Tin 119 

Coal  120 

Varieties  of  Coal 121 

Relative  value  of  different  kinds  of  Coal. . . 124 
Geological  and  Geographical  Distribution 

of  Coal 124 

Amount  of  Available  Coal 133 

Extent  of  Coal  Fields  in  different  States. . . . 133 
Relative  amount  of  Coal  Fields  of  Europe 

and  America 134 

Table  showing  annual  amount  of  Lead  pro- 
duced in  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland  from 
1820  to  1860  134 


PAGH 


Transportation  of  Coal  to  Market 135 

Table  of  Railroads  and  Canals  constructed 

for  transporting  Coal 142 

Useful  Applications  of  Coal 146 

Illuminating  Gas 141 

List  of  Gas  Co.’s,  with  amount  of  Capital, Ac.  148 

Process  of  making  Gas 152 

Gas  for  Steamboats  and  Railroad  Cars.  . . 156 

Hydrocarbon  or  Coal  Oils 156 

Table  of  Coal  Oil  Works  in  the  United  States  151 

History  and  method  of  manufacture 158 

Petroleum  or  Rock  Oil 163 

Petroleum  in  the  United  States 164 

Daily  yield  of  seventy-four  Oil  Wells 1G5 

List  of  Petroleum  Refining  works 110 

Land  Settlement,  Internal  Trade 169 

Land  Sales  in  Ohio 170 

Canals  in  the  West 172 

First  Locomotive  built  in  this  Country 114 

Population  ofLand  States  in  1830  and  in  1860  115 

Detroit  and  Chicago 117 

River  Cities,  Atlantic  Cities 180 

Statistics  of  New  Orleans 182 

New  York,  Telegraph,  Gold 185 

Comparative  Exports  of  the  Atlantic  Cities  181 

Harnden  Express 188 

Growth  of  New  York 190 

Bulls  and  Bears 195 

Hotels  in  New  York 191 

BANKS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

Bills  of  Credit 198 

Congress  Issues,  $358,465,000 199 

Ten  Thousand  Dollars  for  a Cocked  Hat  ...  19U 

First  Bank  of  the  United  States 201 

One  Hundred  and  Twenty  Banks  go  into  ope- 
ration in  four  years 201 

Table  of  relative  growth  of  Banks 203 

Table  of  Number  of  Banks,  and  Capital. . . 204 

Banks  Located  in  New  York 204 

Alabama  with  Carolina,  do 208 

Clearing  House  System 209 

Table  of  Capital  of  all  Banks 209 

UNITED  STATES  MINT. 

Establishment  of  the  Mint,  Standard  of 

Coin,  Ac 212 

Value  of  the  Dollar  and  the  Pound  Sterling 

in  Colonial  Paper  Money 213 

Alloy  of  Gold  Coin 214 

United  States  Coinage 214 

California  Gold 215 

Weight  of  Silver  Coin 216 


CONTENTS 


Xlll 


PAGE 


Amount  of  New  Silver  Coin 216 

Deposit  of  Domestic  Gold  at  United  States 

Mint  and  Branches 216 

Amount  of  Specie  in  1821 217 

INSURANCE. 

Fire,  Marine,  and  Life 219 

Number  and  Capital  of  New  York  Companies  222 
Capital,  Premiums,  and  Risks  of  the  Fire  Com- 
panies of  the  United  States 223 

Marine  Insurance 224 

Life  Insurance 225 

Comparative  Rates  of  Domestic  Life  Insurance  226 


IMMIGRATION. 


General  Migration 228 

Colonies  of  the  United  States 228 

Early  Immigration 229 

Naturalization  Laws 230 

Number  of  Immigrants  for  the  last  forty 

years,  with  their  Birth-places 231 

European  Migration — French  and  German.  232 

Decrease  in  Population  of  Ireland 235 

Allowance  on  Passage 236 

Saving  part  of  the  Passage  Money 239 

Landing  in  New  York — Future  Homes 240 

Table  of  Immigration 240 

Location  of  Immigrants  in  the  United  States  242 
Amount  of  Money  received  in  the  United 

States  by  Immigrants 243 

Amount  of  Money  remitted  by  Friends  in 

aid  of  Immigration 243 

Number  of  Natives  arriving  from  abroad. . . 244 


SOCIAL  AND  DOMESTIC  LIFE. 


Introduction *. 245 

Domestic  Architecture 245 

Description  of  Buildings 246 

Houses  South 247 

Introduction  of  Anthracite  Coal 248 

Nott’s  Stoves 248 

Furniture,  Furnishing  Goods,  Ac 249 

China,  Glass,  Silver  Forks,  Ac 251 

Food,  Cooking,  Ac 252 

Cooking  Stoves 253 

Dress 253 

Social  and  Mental  Culture 259 

BOOKS. 

Book  Trade,  Publishing,  Ac 262 

First  Booksellers  in  America 263 

American  Bible  Society 264  j 


PAGE 

Harper  and  Brothers,  Appletons 264 

Number  of  Book  Publishers  in  the  United 

States 265 

Gift-Book  Sales 265 

Sale  of  Old  Books 266 

Subscription  Sales v 267 

Circulation  of  Popular  Works 267 

School  Book  Trade 268 

Reprints  and  American  Books 269 

Book  Binding 269 

Books  of  Wood  and  Metal 272 

Description  of  Binding 273 

Writers  of  America 274 

Theologians,  Statesmen,  Novelists,  Histo- 
rians  274 

Early  Founders  of  the  Colony  Good  Wri- 
ters  274 

Works  of  James  Madison 275 

Judge  Marshall,  Story,  Wheaton,  John  Quincy 

Adams,  and  others 276 

Cooper,  Hawthorne,  Willis 279-280 

Prescott  and  Bancroft 284 

Lady  Authors 285 

Printing  Press 286 

Franklin’s  Press 286 

Hoe  and  Adams  Presses 297 

Types 298 

Machines  for  Casting  Types 298 

Stereotype,  Electrotype 300 

Newspapers 301 

City  Papers 303 

Number  of  Papers  in  the  United  States 307 

Telegraph — Origin 308 

Morse,  House,  and  Hughes  Machines 311 

First  Lines 313 

Various  Lines  and  Companies 313 


Penalty  for  refusing  to  transmit  Messages..  314 
Comparison  between  Telegraphs  and  Couriers  315 

THE  ARTS  OF  DESIGN  IN  AMERICA. 


Horace  Walpole 316 

American  Art  begins  with  Benjamin  West. . 317 

Stuart,  Robert  Fulton 318 

Sketches  of  the  Lives  of  Prominent  Painters 

318  to  3 £5 

Sculptors 326  to328 

Engraving 332 

Dr.  Anderson 332 

Copper- Plato  Engraving 333 

American  Bank  Note  Company 333 

Descriptions  of  Engraving 334 


Lithography,  Daguerreotype,  Academies  of 
Art,  Ac 


335 


XIV 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 


PAGE 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITU- 
TIONS. 


Development  in  the  Colonial  Period  337 

Early  Efforts  in  Virginia 337 

do  do  in  New  York 338 

Early  Efforts  in  Colonies  of  Massachusetts 

and  Connecticut 338 

Town  Action  in  behalf  of  Schools 339 

Colonial  Legislation  and  Action  in  the 

order  of  their  Settlement 341 

Virginia 341 

Massachusetts 342 

Rhode  Island,  Connecticut 344 

New  Hampshire 345 

New  York 346 

Maryland 347 

New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania 348 

Delaware,  North  Carolina 349 

South  Carolina,  Georgia 350 

Results  at  the  Close  of  our  Colonial  His- 
tory  350 

Revolutionary  and  Transition  Period 351 


Opinions  and  Efforts  of  Noah  Webster,  George 
Washington,  John  Adams,  Thomas  Jeffer- 
son  352 


Opinions  and  Efforts  of  James  Madison,  John 
Quincy  Adams,  Benjamin  Rush,  John  Jay, 

De  Witt  Clinton,  Chancellor  Kent,  Daniel 

Webster 353 

Progress  of  Common  or  Elementary  Schools  355 

Letter  from  Noah  Webster 355 

do  do  Heman  Humphrey 356 

do  do  Joseph  T.  Buckingham 359 

do  do  Dr.  Nott 362 

Recollections  of  Peter  Parley 363 

The  Homespun  Era  of  Common  Schools,  by 

Horace  Bushnell,  D.D 369 

Letter  from  William  Darlington,  M.D.,  LL.D.  370 

Schools  in  Philadelphia 371 

School  Holiday  in  Georgia 373 

Old  Field  School  or  Academy  in  Virginia. . . 377 
Remarks 380 


What  is  Education  ? 383 

Remarks  on  the  Common  School  System  in 

the  United  States 384 

Academies,  High  Schools,  &c 388 

Letter  of  Josiah  Quincy 389 

Address  of  Hon.  Edward  Everett 391 

Colleges 392 

Professional,  Scientific  and  Special  Schools  393 

Theological  Schools 393 

Law  Schools 394 

Medical  Schools 394 

Military  and  Naval  Schools 395 

Normal  Schools,  &c ‘397 

Schools  of  Science  for  Engineers,  &c 400 

The  Lawrence  School 401 

Schools  of  Agriculture 402 

Commercial  Schools 403 

Schools  for  Mechanics 403 

Fine  Arts — Female  Education 404 

School-Houses,  Apparatus,  and  Text-Books  406 

The  Horn-Book 413 

New  England  Primer 414 

Webster’s  Spelling  Book 416 

School  Apparatus 422 

Libraries 423 

Astor  Library,  Boston  City  Library 424 

New  York  Mercantile  Library 425 

Table  of  Libraries  in  the  United  States 429 

Lyceums,  &c 432 

Institutions  for  the  Instruction  of  Deaf 

and  Dumb 434 

Rev.  Thomas  H.  Gallaudet 435 

Institutions  for  the  Blind 439 

Institutions  for  Idiots 440 

Institutions  for  Education  of  Orphans 445 

Reformatory  Institutions 446 

Educational  Statistics  of  the  United  States. . 451 

Table  of  American  Colleges 452 

do  Theological  Schools 454 

do  Law  Schools,  Medical  Schools 455 

do  Deaf  and  Dumb  Institutions 456 

do  Blind  Institutions 457 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS, 


Page. 


1,  Frontispiece, 

2,  American  Iron  Works, 22 

3,  Smelting  Pig  Iron 22 

4,  Forges  at  Chalons 22 

5,  Flattening  Machine 22 

6,  Chestnut  Hill  Mine 27 

7,  View  of  Baltimore,  (Steel  Plate) 28 

8,  Puddling 32 

9,  Casting  Pig  Iron 32 

10,  Blast  Furnace 32 

11,  Casting  Steel  Ingots 32 

12,  Steam  Hammers 40 

13,  Forges  and  Trip  Hammer 40 

14,  Stone  Hammer  54 

15,  Hydraulic  Mining.  65 

16,  Tunneling  at  Table  Mountain,  Cal 66 

17,  Large  Rocker 67 

18,  Stamps  for  Crushing  Gold  Ores, 68 

19,  Burke  Rocker 74 

20,  Yosemite  Valley 74 

21,  Father  of  the  Forest 74 

22,  Gold  Mining 74 

23,  Propects  in  California 74 

24,  Chinese  in  California 74 

25,  Crushing  Mill,  or  Arrastre 75 

26,  Scotch  Hearth  Furnace 88 

27,  Apparatus  for  Working  Platinum 108 

28,  View  of  New  Almaden  Quicksilver  Mines  113 

29,  Map  of  the  Anthracite  region,  Pa.  Mines,  126 

30,  Map  showing  Different  Strata,  in  Coal 

Regions,  Pa 130 

31,  Map  showing  Different  Strata  in  Coal 

Regions,  Pa 132 

32,  Mt.  Pisgah  Plane,  Mauch  Chunk,  Pa. . . . 137 

33,  Great  Open  Quarry  of  the  Lehigh 138 

34,  Baltimore  Company’s  Mine,  Pa 139 

35,  Colliery  Slope  . 139 

36,  View  at  Mauch  Chunk 139 

37,  Descending  the  Shaft 140 

38,  Fire  Damp  Explosion 140 

39,  Inundations 140 

40,  Breaking  of  Props 140 

41,  Undermining  Coal 142 

42,  Breaking  off  and  Landing, 142 

43,  Drawing  out  Coal 142 

44,  Fire  in  the  Oil  Regions,  (Chromo) 161 

45,  Oil  Wells 168 

46,  Indian  Encampment 170 

47,  Saw  Mills 172 

48,  Niagara  Falls,  (Steel  Plate) 175 

49,  'I'Im-  Farm 176 

50,  Victoria  Bridge,  (Steel  Plate) 178 

51,  City  Hall,  New  York 182 

52,  New  York  Stock  Exchange 182 

53,  Academy  of  Design,  New  York 182 

54,  Cooper  Institute 183 

55,  Gov.  Stuyvesant  Mansion 184 

56,  First-Class  Dwelling 184 

57,  A.  T.  Stewart’s  Residence 184 


Page. 


58,  View  of  Broad  Street 185 

59,  Interior  Carpet  House 190 

60,  Interior  of  a Dry  Goods  House 200 

61,  Capitol  at  Washington,  (Steel  Plate) ....  200 

62,  U.  S.  Bank,  Pa.,  (Steel  Plate) 206 

63,  Senate  Chamber 211 

64,  Coining  Room 216 

65,  Adjusting  Room...., 216 

66,  Fire,  (Chromo) 218 

67,  Buildings  on  Fire 219 

68,  Amoskeag  Fire  Engine 224 

69,  Hand  Engine  without  Suction 225 

70,  Hand  Engine  fore  and  aft  Brakes 225 

71,  Hand  Engine  Side  Brakes 225 

72,  Hook  and  Ladder 225 

73,  Hose  Carriage 225 

74,  Life  Insurance  Illustrated,  Mr.  Jones. . . . 226 

75,  “ “ Mr.  Smith....  226 

76,  “ “ Mr.  Clark....  226 

77,  City  Hall  and  Park,  N.  Y.,  (Steel  Plate)  232 

78,  Irish  Emigrants 240 

79,  Irishmen  in  Common  Council,  N.  Y 240 

80,  Japanese 244 

81,  Wood’s  Moulding  Machine 247 

82,  Old  Styles  Furniture 248 

83,  New  Styles  of  Furniture 248 

84,  Kitchen  of  1770 252 

85,  “ “ 1870 252 

86,  Fashion,  1776 255 

87,  Evening  Dress,  1780 255 

88,  Fashion,  1780 255 

89,  “ 1785 255 

90,  Evening  Dress,  1795 255 

91,  “ “ 1797 255 

92,  Fashion,  1800 255 

93,  “ 1805 255 

94,  Children,  1805 255 

95,  Fashions,  1812 255 

96,  Boys,  1812 255 

97,  Men,  1812 255 

98,  Women  1*1 5 256 

99,  Men,  1818 256 

100,  Women,  1820 256 

101,  Men,  1825 256 

102,  “ 1828 256 

103,  Winter  Dress,  1833 256 

104,  Boys  and  Girls,  1833 256 

105,  Men,  1833 A...  256 

106,  Women,  1833 256 

107,  “ 1840 256 

108,  Men,  1844 256 

109,  Women,  1850 256 

110,  Fashions  from  1850  to  1860 256 

111,  “ “ 1868  to  1869 256 

112,  Pleasant  Home,  (Steel  Plate) 260 

113,  Noah  Webster,  (Steel  Plate) 266 

114,  Laying  on  Gold.  272 

115,  Embossing  Press 272 

116,  Sawing  Machine 273 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


117, 

118, 

119, 

120, 
121, 
122, 

123, 

124, 

125, 

126, 

127, 

128, 

129, 

130, 

131, 

132, 

133, 

134, 

135, 

136, 

137, 

138, 

139, 

140, 

141, 

142, 

143, 

144, 

145, 

146, 

147, 

148, 

149, 

150, 

151, 

152, 

153, 

154, 

155, 

156, 

157, 

158, 

159, 

160, 
161, 
162, 

163, 

164, 

165, 

166, 

167, 

168, 

169, 

170, 

171, 

172, 

173, 

174, 

175, 

176, 

177, 

178, 

179, 

180, 
181, 
182, 

183, 

184, 

185, 

186, 


Finishing  Room. 
Gentlemen  Auth< 
Lady  Authors.. 
Franklin  Statue. 


Improved  Inking  Apparatus 

Patent  Single  Cylinder  Machine. 


Four  Color  Machine 

Bed  and  Platen  Power  Machine. 


Telegraph  Apparatus. . . 
Gentlemen  in  Fine  Arts. 
Women  in  Fine  Arts. . . 


Spring 

Summer 

Fall 

First  Map  Engraved 

Map  of  the  Present  Day.. . . 
School,  Interior  of,  in  1770. 
“ “ “ 1870. 


“ as  they  are 

Village  School  House 

Brown  School  .House,  Hartford. 
View  of  Girard  College 


“ “ “ Garden  Front . . 

“ “ “ Interior 

Norwich  Free  Academy 

Chicago  City  University 

Horn  Book  of  the  18th  Century 

John  Hancock 

Burning  of  John  Rogers  at  the  Stake.. . . 

In  Adam’s  Fall  we  sinned  all 

Heaven  to  Find,  the  Bible  Mind 

Christ  Crucified,  for  Sinners  died 

The  Deluge  Drowned,  the  Earth  Around, 

Elijah  hid,  by  Ravens  fed 

The  ,J  udgment  made  Felix  afraid 

As  Runs  the  Glass 

My  Book  and  Heart  must  never  part. . . . 

Job  Feels  the  Rod 

Proud  Korah’s  Troop  was  Swallowed  up, 

Lot  fled  to  Zoar 

Moses  was  he  who  Israel’s  host  led  through 

the  Sea 

Noah  did  view  the  Old  World  and  New, 

Young  Obadias,  David,  Josias 

Peter  denied  his  Lord  and  cried 

Queen  Esther  sues 

Young  Pious  Ruth  left  all  for  Truth,. . . 
Young  Samuel  dear,  the  Lord  did  fear. . 

Young  Timothy  learnt  Sin  to  fly 

Vasthi  for  Pride  was  set  aside 

Whales  in  the  Sea 

Xerxes  did  die  

While  Youth  doth  cheer,  &c 


Page. 

. 273 

187, 

. 283 

188, 

. 283 

189, 

. 286 

190, 

. 289 

191. 

. 289 

192, 

. 290 

193, 

. 290 

294, 

, 291 

195, 

, 292 

196, 

, 293 

197, 

294 

198, 

295 

199, 

296 

200, 

, 306 

201, 

, 306 

202, 

306 

203, 

, 307 

204, 

307 

205, 

315 

206, 

322 

207, 

322 

208, 

330 

209, 

, 330 

210, 

, 331 

211, 

, 331 

212, 

331 

213, 

, 332 

214, 

. 332 

215, 

, 372 

216, 

. 372 

217, 

. 380 

218, 

, 392 

219, 

, 406 

220, 

, 406 

221, 

, 407 

222, 

, 407 

223, 

, 407 

224, 

, 408 

225, 

409 

226, 

. 410 

227, 

. 410 

228, 

, 411 

229, 

. 412 

230, 

, 413 

231, 

. 414 

232, 

414 

233, 

415 

234, 

415 

235, 

415 

236, 

, 415 

236, 

415 

237, 

415 

238, 

415 

239, 

415 

240, 

415 

241, 

, 415 

242, 

415 

243, 

L 

244, 

415 

245, 

415 

246, 

415 

247, 

. 415 

248, 

. 415 

249, 

. 415 

250, 

. 415 

251, 

. 415 

252, 

. 415 

253, 

. 415 

254, 

. 415 

1 255, 

. 415 

J 257, 

Zacheus  he  did  climb  the  Tree 

The  Boy  that  Stole  Apples 

Country  Maid 

Cat  and  Rat 

Fox  and  Swallow  

Fox  and  Bramble 

The  Partial  Judge. 

Bear  and  Two  Friends 

Two  Dogs 

Eye,  Nose,  &c 

Arm,  Hand,  &c . 

Eagle’s  Nest 

Vertebrates 

Articulates 

Mollusks, 

Radiates 

Animals  of  the  Seal  Kind 

Birds 

Flowers 

Geological  Chart 

School  Apparatus  as  it  was 

School  Apparatus  as  it  is 

Desk  and  Settee  Combined 

Platform  Desk 

Assistant  Teacher’s  Desk 

Tinsby’s  Globe  Time  Piece 

Numeral  Frame 

Eureka  Wall  Slate 

School  Globe 

Black  Board  Support 

Crayon  Holder 

Assembly  School  Desks  and  Settees. 

Boston  City  Library,  Exterior 

“ “ Interior 

Alphabet,  Deaf  and  Dumb,  A 

it  ii 

it  it 

it  it 

it  a 

a a 

it  tt 

tt  tt 

tt  tt 

it  tt 

tt  tt 

tt  tt 

tt  it 

*tt  a 

tt  tt 

a tt 

tt  it 

tt  tt 

tt  tt 

tt  tt 

tt  tt 

tt  tt 

tt  tt 

tt  »t 

tt  a 

it  tt 


“ B. 
“ C 
“ D, 
“ E 
“ F, 
“ G. 
“ H. 
“ I, 
“ J 
“ K. 
“ L 
“ M, 
"•<  N, 
“ 0. 
“ P, 

“ Q 

“ R. 
“ . S. 
“ T. 
“ U. 
“ V. 

“ w 

“ X. 
“ Y. 

“ z 


Page. 
. 415 
, 416 
417 

417 
. 418 

418 
, 418 

419 
, 419 
, 420 

420 
420 

, 420 
, 420 
. 420 

420 
, 420 

421 

421 
, 421 

422 
, 422 

422 

422 

422 

422 
, 423 

423 
, 423 

423 
, 423 
423 
, 425 
, 426 
, 436 
. 436 
. 436 
, 436 
, 436 
, 436 
436 
436 
436 
, 436 
436 
436 
436 
436 
436 
436 
436 
436 
436 
436 
436 
436 
436 
436 
436 
436 


“ “ “ & 436 

American  Asylnm  for  Deaf  and  Dumb.. . 437 

Pennsylvania  Asylum  for  Blind 440 

Asylum  for  Idiots,  Syracuse,  N.  Y 444 

Camp  Meeting 

Baptism  by  Immersion,  (Steel  Plate).... 
Baptism  by  Sprinkling.  “ “ .... 

South  Church,  New  Britain,  Ct 

First  Church  built  in  Connecticut 

Ancient  Dutch  Church  in  Albany 

Ancient  Swedish  Church  in  Philadelphia, 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


INTRODUCTORY  REMARKS. 

The  mineral  wealth  of  the  American 
colonies  does  not  appear  to  have  been  an 
object  of  much  interest  to  the  early  settlers. 
Congregated  near  the  coast,  they  were  little 
likely  to  become  acquainted  with  many  of 
the  mineral  localities,  most  of  which  are  in 
the  interior,  in  regions  long  occupied  by  the 
Indian  tribes.  The  settlers,  moreover,  prob- 
ably possessed  little  knowledge  of  mining, 
and  certainly  lacked  capital  which  they  could 
appropriate  in  this  direction.  Some  discov- 
eries, however,  were  made  by  them  very 
soon  after  their  settlement,  the  earliest  of 
which  were  on  the  James  river,  in  Virginia. 
Beverly,  in  his  “ History  of  the  Present 
State  of  Virginia,”  published  in  London  in 
1705,  makes  mention  of  iron  works  which 
wrere  commenced  on  Falling  Creek,  and  of 
glass-houses  which  were  about  to  be  con- 
structed at  Jamestown  just  previous  to  the 
great  massacre  by  the  Indians,  in  1622. 
This  undertaking  at  Falling  Creek  is  referred 
to  by  other  historians,  as  by  Stith,  in  his 
“History  of  Virginia”  (1753),  p.  279.  A 
Captain  Nathaniel  Butler,  it  appears,  present- 
ed to  the  king,  in  1623,  a very  disparaging 
account  of  the  condition  of  the  colony,  men- 
tioning, among  other  matters,  that  “ the  Iron 
Works  were  utterly  wasted,  and  the  People 
dead  ; the  Glass  Furnaces  at  a stand,  and  in 
small  Hopes  of  proceeding.”  The  commit- 
tee of  the  company,  in  their  reply  to  this, 
affirm  that  “ great  Sums  had  been  expended, 
and  infinite  Care  and  Diligence  bestowed  by 
the  Officers  and  Company  for  setting  forward 
various  Commodities  and  Manufactures ; as 
Iron  Works,”  etc.,  etc.  Salmon,  in  his 
“Modem  History”  (1746),  vol.  iii,  pp.  439 
and  468,  refers  to  the  statement  of  Bever- 
ly, mentioning  that  “an  iron  work  was  set 
up  on  Falling  Creek,  in  James  River,  where 
they  found  the  iron  ore  good,  and  had  near 
brought  that  work  to  perfection.  The  iron 
proved  reasonably  good  ; but  before  they  got 
into  the  body  of  the  mine,  the  people  were 
Vol.  II.  2 


cut  off  in  that  fatal  massacre  (of  March, 
1622),  and  the  project  has  never  been  set  on 
foot  since,  until  of  late ; but  it  has  not  had 
its  full  trial.”  This  author  also  refers  to  the 
representations  of  the  Board  of  Trade  to 
the  House  of  Commons,  in  1732,  as  contain- 
ing notices  of  the  iron  works  in  operation  in 
New  England.  From  various  reports  of  the 
governor  of  Massachusetts  Bay  and  other 
officials  of  this  colony,  there  appear  to  have 
been,  in  1731,  as  many  as  six  furnaces  and 
nineteen  forges  for  making  iron  in  New  Eng- 
land, as  also  a slitting  mill  and  nail  factory 
connected  with  it. 

The  first  blast  furnace  in  the  colonies  ap- 
pears to  have  been  built  in  1702,  by  Lambert 
Despard,  at  the  outlet  of  Mattakeeset  pond, 
in  Plymouth  County,  Massachusetts,  and  a 
number  more  were  afterward  set  in  operation 
to  work  the  bog  ores  of  that  district.  Their 
operations  are  described  in  the  “ Collections 
of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society”  for 
1804,  by  James  Thacher,  M.  D.,  who  was 
himself  engaged  in  the  manufacture.  In 
Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plantations, 
the  same  kinds  of  ore  were  found  and  work- 
ed at  about  the  same  period.  Alexander 
gives  the  year  1715  as  the  epoch  of  blast 
furnaces  in  Maryland,  Virginia,  and  Pennsyl- 
vania. These  enterprises  were  regarded 
with  great  disfavor  in  the  mother  country. 
In  1719  an  act  was  brought  forward  in  the 
House  of  Lords,  forbidding  the  erection  of 
rolling  or  slitting  mills  in  the  American  col- 
onies, and  in  1750  this  was  made  a law. 

In  Connecticut,  Governor  Winthrop  was 
much  interested  in  investigating  the  charac- 
ter of  the  minerals  about  Iladdam  and  Mid- 
dletown. In  1651  he  obtained  a license  giv- 
ing him  almost  unlimited  privileges  for 
working  any  mines  of  “lead,  copper,  or  tin, 
or  any  minerals ; as  antimony,  vitriol,  black 
lead,  alum,  salt,  salt  springs,  or  any  other 
the  like,  * % * to  enjoy  forever  said 

mines,  with  the  lands,  woods,  timber,  and 
water  within  two  or  three  miles  of  said 
mines.”  And  in  1661,  another  special  grant 


18 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


was  made  to  him  of  any  mines  he  might 
discover  in  the  neighborhood  of  Middletown. 
It  does  not  appear,  however,  that  he  derived 
any  special  advantage  from  these  privileges, 
although  he  used  to  make  frequent  excur- 
sions to  the  different  localities  of  minerals, 
especially  to  the  Governor’s  Ring,  a moun- 
tain in  the  north-west  corner  of  East  Had- 
dam,  and  spend  three  weeks  at  a time  there 
with  his  servant,  engaged,  as  told  by  Gover- 
nor Trumbull  to  President  Styles,  and  record- 
ed in  his  diary,  in  “ roasting  ores,  assaying 
metals,  and  casting  gold  rings.”  John  Win- 
throp,  F.R.S.,  grandson  of  Governor  Win- 
throp,  was  evidently  well  acquainted  with 
many  localities  of  different  ores  in  Connecti- 
cut, and  sent  to  the  Royal  Society  a consid- 
erable collection  of  specimens  he  had  made. 
It  is  supposed  that  among  them  Hatchett 
found  the  mineral  columbite,  and  detected 
the  new  metal  which  he  named  columbium. 
At  Middletown,  an  argentiferous  lead  mine 
was  worked,  it  is  supposed,  at  this  period,  by 
the  Winthrops,  and  the  men  employed  were 
evidently  skilful  miners.  When  the  mine 
was  reopened  in  1852,  shafts  were  found 
well  timbered  and  in  good  preservation,  that 
had  been  sunk  to  the  depth  of  120  feet,  and, 
with  the  other  workings,  amounted  in  all  to 
1,500  feet  of  excavation.  The  oldest  Ameri- 
can charter  for  a mining  company  was  grant- 
ed in  1709,  for  working  the  copper  ores  at 
Simsbury,  Connecticut.  Operations  were 
carried  on  here  for  a number  of  years,  the 
ore  raised  being  shipped  to  England,  and  a 
similar  mining  enterprise  was  undertaken  in 
1719,  at  Belleville,  in  New  Jersey,  about  six 
miles  from  Jersey  City.  The  products  of 
the  so-called  Schuyler  mine  at  this  place 
amounted,  before  the  year  1731,  to  1,386 
tons  of  ore,  all  of  which  were  shipped  to 
England.  At  this  period  (1732)  the  Gap 
mine,  in  Lancaster  county,  Pennsylvania, 
was  first  opened  and  worked  for  copper,  and 
about  the  middle  of  the  century  various 
other  copper  mines  were  opened  in  New 
Jersey;  also,  the  lead  mine  at  Southamp- 
ton, Mass.,  and  the  cobalt  mine  at  Chatham, 
Conn.  In  1754  a lead  mine  was  success- 
fully worked  in  Wythe  county,  in  south- 
western Virginia,  and  this  is  still  productive. 
It  is  probable  that,  by  reason  of  the  higher 
value  of  copper  at  that  period,  and  the  lower 
price  paid  for  labor  than  at  present,  some  of 
the  copper  mines  may  have  proved  profit- 
able to  work,  though  it  is  certain  this  has 
not  been  the  cast?  with  them  of  late  years. 


The  existence  of  copper  in  the  region  about 
Lake  Superior  was  known,  from  the  reports 
of  the  Jesuit  missionaries,  in  1660,  and  one 
or  two  unsuccessful  attempts  were  made  to 
work  it  during  the  last  century  by  parties  of 
Englishmen.  The  lead  mines  of  the  upper 
Mississippi,  discovered  by  Le  Sueur  in  his  ex- 
ploring voyage  up  the  river  in  1700  and 
1701,  were  first  worked  by  Dubuque,  a 
French  miner,  in  1788,  upon  the  tract  of 
land  now  occupied  by  the  city  in  Iowa  bear- 
ing his  name. 

Such,  in  general,  was  the  extent  to  which 
this  branch  of  industry  had  been  carried  up 
to  the  close  of  the  last  century.  The  only 
coal  mines  worked  were  some  on  the  James 
river,  twelve  miles  above  Richmond,  and  the 
capacity  of  these  for  adding  to  the  wealth 
of  the  country  was  not  by  any  means  appre- 
ciated. The  gold  mines  were  entirely  un- 
known, and  the  dependence  of  the  country 
upon  Great  Britain  for  the  supply  of  iron 
had  so  checked  the  development  of  this 
branch  of  manufacture,  that  comparatively 
nothing  was  known  of  our  own  resources  in 
the  mines  of  this  metal.  The  most  impor- 
tant establishments  for  its  manufacture  were 
small  blast  furnaces,  working  bog  ores,  and 
the  bloomaries  of  New  York  and  New  Jer- 
sey, making  bar  iron  direct  from  the  rich 
magnetic  ores. 

The  progress  of  the  United  States  in  these 
branches  will  be  traced  in  the  succeeding 
chapters,  one  of  which  will  be  devoted  to 
each  of  the  principal  metals. 


CHAPTER  I. 

IRON. 

The  early  history  of  the  iron  manufacture  * 
in  the  American  colonies  has  been  noticed 
in  the  introductory  remarks  which  precede 
this  chapter.  Since  the  year  1750  the  re- 
strictions imposed  upon  the  business  by  the 
mother  country  had  limited  the  operations  to 
the  production  of  pig  iron  and  castings,  and 
a few  blast  furnaces  were  employed  in  New 
England  and  the  middle  Atlantic  states.  A 
considerable  portion  of  the  pig  iron  was  ex- 
ported  to  Great  Britain,  where  it  was  admit- 
ted free  of  duty,  and  articles  of  wrought 
iron  and  steel  were  returned  from  that  coun- 
try. In  1771  the  shipment  of  pig  iron  from 
the  colonies  amounted  to  7,525  tons.  By 
the  sudden  cessation  of  commercial  relations 


IRON. 


19 


on  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  the  country 
was  thrown  upon  its  own  resources,  but  was 
illy  prepared  to  meet  the  new  and  extraor- 
dinary demands  for  iron.  The  skill,  experi- 
ence, and  capital  for  this  business  were  all 
alike  wanting,  and  even  the  casting  of  can- 
non was  an  undertaking  that  few  of  the  fur- 
nace masters  were  prepared  to  venture  upon. 
The  bog  ores  found  in  Plymouth  county, 
Mass.,  together  with  supplies  from  New  Jer- 
sey, sustained  ten  furnaces ; and  in  Bridge- 
water,  cannon  were  successfully  cast  and  bored 
by  Hon.  Hugh  Orr,  for  the  supply  of  the 
army.  They  were  also  made  at  Westville, 
Conn.,  by  Mr.  Elijah  Bachus,  who  welded 
together  bars  of  iron  for  the  purpose.  The 
Continental  Congress,  also,  was  forced  to 
establish  and  carry  on  works  for  furnishing 
iron  and  steel,  and  in  the  northern  part  of 
New  Jersey,  the  highlands  of  New  York,  and 
the  valley  of  the  Housatonic  in  Connecticut, 
they  found  abundance  of  rich  ores,  and  forests 
of  the  best  wood  for  the  charcoal  required 
in  the  manufacture.  At  their  armory  at  Car- 
lisle, Pa.,  the  first  trials  of  anthracite  for  manu- 
facturing purposes  were  made  in  1775.  But 
the  condition  of  the  country  was  little  favor- 
able for  the  development  of  this  branch  of 
industry,  and  after  the  war,  without  capital, 
a currency,  or  facilities  of  transportation,  the 
iron  business  long  continued  of  little  more 
than  local  importance.  The  chief  supplies 
were  again  furnished  from  the  iron  works  of 
Great  Britain,  the  establishment  of  which 
had  in  great  part  been  owing  to  the  restric- 
tions placed  upon  the  development  of  our 
own  resources;  and  while  that  country  con- 
tinued to  protect  their  own  interest  by  pro- 
hibitory duties  that  for  a long  period  exclu- 
ded all  foreign  competition,  the  iron  inter- 
est of  the  United  States  languished  under  a 
policy  that  fostered  rather  the  carrying  trade 
between  the  two  countries  than  the  building 
up  of  highly  important  manufactories,  and 
the  establishment  around  them  of  perma- 
nent agricultural  settlements  through  the 
home  market  they  should  secure.  Hence  it 
was  that  the  manufacture  in  Great  Britain 
was  rapidly  accelerated,  improved  by  new 
inventions,  strengthened  by  accumulated 
capital,  and  sustained  by  the  use  of  mineral 
coal  for  fuel,  almost  a century  before  wo  had 
learned  in  the  discouraging  condition  of  the 
art,  that  this  cheap  fuel,  mines  of  which 
were  worked  near  Richmond  in  Virginia, 
before  1790,  could  be  advantageously  em- 
ployed in  the  manufacture.  The  natural  ad- 


vantages possessed  by  Great  Britain  power- 
fully co-operated  with  her  wise  legislation  ; 
and  as  her  rich  deposits  of  iron  ore  and  coal 
were  developed  in  close  juxtaposition,  and 
in  localities  not  far  removed  from  the  coast, 
the  iron  interest  became  so  firmly  established 
that  no  nation  accessible  to  her  ships  could 
successfully  engagein  the  same  pursuit,  until, 
by  following  the  example  set  by  Great  Britain, 
its  own  mines  and  resources  might  be  in  like 
manner  developed.  Thus  encouraged  and 
supported,  the  iron  interest  of  Great  Britain 
has  prospered  at  the  expense  of  that  of  all 
other  nations,  till  her  annual  production 
amounts  to  more  than  one-half  of  the  seven 
millions  or  eight  millions  of  tons  produced 
throughout  the  world ; and  the  products  of 
her  mines  and  furnaces  have,  until  quite  re- 
cently, been  better  known,  even  in  the  ex- 
treme western  states,  where  the  cost  of 
“ Scotch  pig  iron  ” has  been  more  than 
doubled  by  the  transportation,  than  has  that 
of  the  rich  ores  of  these  very  states.  And 
thus  it  is  the  annual  production  of  the  Uni- 
ted States  has  only  recently  reached  2,000,- 
000  tons,  notwithstanding  the  abundance 
and  richness  of  her  mines,  both  of  iron  ores 
and  of  coal,  and  the  immense  demands  of 
iron  for  her  own  consumption.  So  great  are 
the  advantages  she  possesses  in  the  quality 
of  these  essential  materials  in  the  production 
of  iron,  that  according  to  the  statement  of 
an  able  writer  upon  this  subject,  who  is  him- 
self largely  engaged  in  the  manufacture,  less 
than  half  the  quantity  of  raw  materials  is 
required  in  this  country  to  the  ton  of  iron, 
that  is  required  in  Great  Britain,  “thus 
economizing  labor  to  an  enormous  extent. 
In  point  of  fact,  the  materials  for  making  a 
ton  of  iron  can  be  laid  down  in  the  United 
States  at  the  furnace  with  less  expenditure 
of  human  labor  than  in  any  part  of  the 
known  world,  with  the  possible  exception  of 
Scotland.”  (“On  the  Statistics  and  Geog- 
raphy of  the  Production  of  Iron,”  by  Abram 
S.  Hewitt,  N.  Y.,  1856,  p.  20).  The  tables 
presented  by  this  writer,  of  the  annual  pro- 
duction, show  striking  vicissitudes  in  the 
trade,  which  is  to  be  accounted  for  chiefly 
by  the  fluctuations  in  prices  in  the  English 
market  depressing  or  encouraging  our  own 
manufacture,  and  by  the  frequent  changes  in 
our  tariff. 

“In  1810  the  production  of  iron,  en- 
tirely charcoal,  was  54,000  tons.  In  1820, 
in  consequence  of  the  commercial  ruin  which 
swept  over  the  country  just  before,  the  busi' 


20 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


ness  was  in  a state  of  comparative  ruin,  and 


; over  20,000  tons  were  produced. 

In  1828  the  product 

was  130,000  tons. 

44 

1829 

44 

44 

“ 142,000 

44 

44 

1830 

44 

“ 165,000 

44 

44 

1831 

“ 

44 

“ 191,000 

44 

44 

1832 

U 

“ 200,000 

44 

a 

1840 

it 

“ 

“ 347,000 

it 

tt 

1842 

“ 

it 

“ 215,000 

it 

“ 

1845 

tt 

ii 

“ 486,000 

ii 

“ 

1846 

“ 

if 

“ 765,000 

“ 

1847 

a 

“ 

“ 800,000 

ii 

a 

1852 

“ 

tt 

“ 564,000 

“ 716,674 

it 

a 

1854 

“ 

it 

tt 

“ 

1855 

“ 

it 

“ 754,178 

ii 

a 

1856 

a 

tt 

“ 874,423 

it 

“ 

1857 

a 

it 

“ 798,157 

it 

a 

1858 

“ 

tt 

“ 705,094 

“ 840,427 

ft 

ii 

1859 

it 

“ 

it 

ii 

1860 

a 

it 

“ 913,774 
“ 731,564 

a 

1861 

ft 

it 

a 

“ 

1862 

it 

ii 

“ 787,662 

a 

“ 

1863 

u 

“ 

“ 947,604 

“ 

“ 

1864 

tt 

it 

“ 1,135,497 

tt 

it 

1865 

“ 

tt 

“ 931,582 

tt 

“ 

1866 

a 

it 

“ 1,350,943 

a 

H 

1867 

“ 

“ 

“ 1,461,626 

a 

a 

1868 

tt 

if 

“ 1,103,500 

a 

“ 

1869 

.t 

it 

“ 1,916,641 

ft 

ii 

1870 

a 

it 

“ 2.000.000 

it 

There  was  a 

protective  duty  on 

iron  from 

1825  to  1837,  but  none  from  1837  to  1843. 
From  1843  to  1848  there  was  protection, 
but  none  from  1848  to  18G3.  The  high 
protective  duty  was  modified  in  1866,  and 
since  that  time  the  protection  has  been  more 
and  more  moderate  as  the  premium  on  gold 
declined.  The  tariff  of  1870  reduced  the 
duty  from  nine  to  seven  dollars  per  ton  on 
pig  iron,  and  from  eight  to  six  dollars  per 
ton  on  scrap  iron. 

Until  the  year  1840,  charcoal  had  been  the 
only  fuel  used  in  the  manufacture  of  iron ; 
and  while  it  produced  a metal  far  superior 
in  quality  to  that  made  with  coke,  the  great 
demands  of  the  trade  were  for  cheap  irons, 
and  the  market  was  chiefly  supplied  with 
these  from  Great  Britain.  The  introduction 
of  anthracite  for  smelting  iron  ores  in  1840 
marked  a new  era  in  the  manufacture,  though 
its  influence  was  not  sensibly  felt  for  several 
years.* 

MATERIALS  EMPLOYED  IN  THE  MANUFACTURE. 

Before  attempting  to  exhibit  the  resources 
of  the  United  States  for  making  iron,  and 
the  methods  of  conducting  the  manufacture, 
it  is  well  to  give  some  account  of  the  mate- 
rials employed,  and  explain  the  conditions 
upon  which  this  manufacture  depends.  Three 
elements  are  essential  in  the  great  branch  of 
the  business — that  of  producing  pig  iron, 


viz : ores,  fuel  to  reduce  them,  and  a suit- 
able flux  to  aid  the  process  by  melting  with 
and  removing  the  earthy  impurities  of  the 
ore  in  a freely  flowing,  glassy  cinder.  The 
flux  is  usually  limestone,  and  by  a wise  pro- 
vision, evidently  in  view  of  the  uses  to 
which  this  would  be  applied,  limestone  is 
almost  universally  found  conveniently  near 
to  iron  ores ; so  also  are  stores  of  fuel  com- 
mensurate with  the  abundance  of  the  ores. 

The  principal  ores  are  hematites,  magnetic 
and  specular  ores,  the  red  oxides  of  the  sec- 
ondary rocks,  and  the  carbonates.  Probably 
more  than  three-quarters  of  the  iron  made 
in  the  United  States  is  from  the  first  three 
varieties  named,  and  a much  larger  propor- 
tion of  the  English  iron  is  from  the  last — 
from  the  magnetic  and  specular  ores  none. 
Hematites,  wherever  known,  are  favorite  ores. 
They  are  met  with  in  great  irregular-shaped 
deposits  (apparently  derived  from  other 
forms  in  which  the  iron  was  distributed),  in- 
termixed with  ochres,  clays,  and  sands,  some- 
times in  scattered  lumps  and  blocks,  and 
sometimes  in  massive  ledges ; they  also 
occur  in  beds  interstratified  among  the  mica 
slates.  Although  the  deposits  are  regarded 
as  of  limited  capacity,  they  are  often  worked 
to  the  depth  of  more  than  100  feet;  in  one 
instance  in  Berks  county,  Penn.,  to  165  feet; 
and  when  abandoned,  as  they  sometimes  are, 
it  is  questionable  whether  this  is  not  rather 
owing  to  the  increased  expenses  incurred  in 
continuing  the  enormous  excavations  at  such 
depths,  than  from  failure  of  the  ore.  Mines 
of  hematite  have  proved  the  most  valuable 
mines  in  the  United  States.  At  Salisbury, 
in  Connecticut,  they  have  been  worked 
almost  uninterruptedly  for  more  than  100 
years,  supplying  the  means  for  supporting 
an  active  industry  in  the  country  around, 
and  enriching  generation  after  generation  of 
proprietors.  The  great  group  of  mines  at 
‘Chestnut  Hill,  in  Columbia  county,  Penn., 
and  others  in  Berks  and  Lehigh  counties  in 
the  same  state,  are  of  similar  character. 

The  ore  is  a hydrated  peroxide  of  iron, 
consisting  of  from  72  to  85  percent,  of  per- 
oxide of  iron  (which  corresponds  to  about 
50  to  60  per  cent,  of  iron),  and  from  10  to 
14  per  cent,  of  wrater.  Silica  and  alumina, 
phosphoric  acid,  and  peroxide  of  manganese 
are  one  or  more  present  in  very  small  quanti- 
ties ; but  the  impurities  are  rarely  such  as  to 
interfere  with  the  production  of  very  excel- 
lent iron,  either  for  foundry  or  forge  pur- 
poses— that  is,  for  castings  or  bar  iron.  It  is 


IRON. 


21 


easily  and  cheaply  mined,  and  works  easily 
in  the  blast  furnace.  On  account  of  its  de- 
ficiency in  silica  it  is  necessary  to  use  a lime- 
stone containing  this  ingredient,  that  the 
elements  of  a glassy  cinder  may  be  provided, 
which  is  the  first  requisite  in  smelting  iron  ; 
or  the  same  end  may  be  more  advantageously 
attained  by  adding  a portion  of  magnetic 
ore,  which  is  almost  always  mixed  with 
silica  in  the  form  of  quartz ; and  these  two 
ores  are  consequently  very  generally  worked 
together — the  hematites  making  two-thirds 
or  three-quarters  of  the  charge,  and  the  mag- 
netic ores  the  remainder. 

Magnetic  ore  is  the  richest  possible  com- 
bination of  iron,  the  proportion  of  which 
cannot  exceed  *72.4  per  cent.,  combined  with 
27.6  per  cent  of  oxygen.  It  is  a heavy, 
black  ore,  compact  or  in  coarse  crystalline 
grains,  and  commonly  mixed  with  quartz 
and  other  minerals.  It  affects  the  magnetic 
needle,  and  pieces  of  it  often  support  small 
bits  of  iron,  as  nails.  Such  ore  is  the  load- 
stone. It  is  obtained  of  various  qualities ; 
some  sorts  work  with  great  difficulty  in  the 
blast  furnace,  and  others  are  more  easily 
managed  and  make  excellent  iron  for  any 
use ; but  all  do  better  mixed  with  hematite. 
The  magnetic;  ores  have  been  largely  em- 
ployed in  the  ancient  processes  of  making 
malleable  iron  direct  from  the  ore  in  the 
open  forge,  the  Catalan  forge,  etc.,  and  at 
the  present  time  they  are  so  used  in  the 
bloomary  fires.  They  are  found  in  inex- 
haustible beds  of  all  dimensions  lying  among 
the  micaceous  slates  and  gneiss  rocks.  These 
beds  are  sometimes  so  extensive  that  they 
appear  to  make  up  the  greater  part  of  the 
mountains  in  which  they  lie,  and  in  common 
language  the  mountains  are  said  to  be  all 
ore. 

Specular  ore,  or  specular  iron,  is  so  named 
from  the  shining,  mirror-like  plates  in  which 
it  is  often  found.  The  common  ore  is  some- 
times red,  steel  gray,  or  iron  black,  and  all 
these  varieties  are  distinguished  by  the 
bright  red  color  of  the  powder  of  the  ore, 
which  is  that  of  peroxide  of  iron.  Mag- 
netic ore  gives  a black  powder,  which  is  that 
of  a less  oxidized  combination.  The  specu- 
lar ore  thus  contains  less  iron  and  more  oxy- 
gen than  the  magnetic ; the  proportions  of  its 
ingredients  are  70  parts  in  100  of  iron,  and 
30  of  oxygen.  Though  the  difference  seems 
slight,  the  qualities  of  the  two  ores  are  quite 
distinct.  The  peroxide  makes  iron  fast,  but 
some  sorts  of  it  produce  an  inferior  quality 


of  iron  to  that  from  the  hematite  and  mag- 
netic ores,  and  better  adapted  for  castings 
than  for  converting  into  malleable  iron.  The 
pure,  rich  ores,  however,  are  many  of  them 
unsurpassed.  It  is  found  in  beds  of  all  di- 
mensions, and  though  in  the  eastern  part  of 
the  United  States  they  prove  of  limited  ex- 
tent, those  of  Missouri  and  Lake  Superior 
are  inexhaustible.  Magnetic  and  specular 
ores  are  associated  together  in  the  same  dis- 
trict, and  sometimes  are  accompanied  by- 
hematite  beds ; and  it  is  also  the  case,  that 
iron  districts  are  characterized  by  the  preva- 
lence of  one  kind  only  of  these  ores,  to  the 
exclusion  of  the  others. 

The  red  oxides  of  the  secondary  rocks 
consist,  for  the  most  part,  of  the  red  fossil- 
iferous  and  oolitic  ores  that  accompany  the 
so-called  Clinton  group  of  calcareous  shales, 
sandstones,  and  argillaceous  limestones  of 
the  upper  silurian  along  their  lines  of  out- 
crop in  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  east- 
ern Tennessee,  and  from  Oneida  county,  N. 
Y.,  westward  past  Niagara  Falls,  and  through 
Canada  even  to  Wisconsin.  The  ore  is  found 
in  one  or  two  bands,  rarely  more  than  one  or 
two  feet  thick,  and  the  sandstone  strata  with 
which  they  are  associated  are  sometimes  so 
ferruginous  as  to  be  themselves  workable 
ores.  The  true  ores  are  sometimes  entirely 
made  up  of  the  forms  of  fossil  marine  shells, 
the  original  material  of  which  has  been 
gradually  replaced  by  peroxide  of  iron.  The 
oolitic  variety  is  composed  of  fine  globular 
particles,  united  together  like  the  roe  of  a 
fish.  The  ore  is  also  found  in  compact 
forms,  and  in  Wisconsin  it  is  in  the  condi- 
tion of  fine  sand  or  seed.  Its  composition 
is  very  variable,  and  its  per-centage  of  iron 
ranges  from  40  to  60.  By  reason  of  the 
carbonate  of  lime  diffused  through  some  of 
the  varieties,  these  work  in  the  blast  furnace 
very  freely,  and  serve  extremely  well  to  mix 
with  the  silicious  ores. 

Of  the  varieties  of  carbonate  of  iron,  the 
only  ones  of  practical  importance  in  the 
United  States  are  the  silicious  and  argilla- 
ceous carbonates  of  the  coal  formation,  and 
the  similar  ores  of  purer  character  found 
among  the  tertiary  clays  on  the  western 
shores  of  Chesapeake  Bay.  The  former  va- 
rieties are  the  chief  dependence  of  the  iron 
furnaces  of  Great  Britain,  where  they  abun- 
dantly occur  in  layers  among  the  shales  of 
the  coal  formation,  interstratified  with  the 
beds  of  coal — the  shafts  that  are  sunk  for 
the  exploration  of  one  also  penetrating  beds 


22 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


of  the  other.  The  layers  of  ore  are  in  flat- 
tened blocks,  balls,  and  kidney-shaped  lumps, 
which  are  picked  out  from  the  shales  as  the 
beds  of  these  are  excavated.  The  ore  is 
lean,  affording  from  30  to  40  per  cent,  of 
iron ; but  it  is  of  easy  reduction,  and  makes, 
when  properly  treated,  iron  of  fair  quality. 
In  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  western  Virginia, 
Kentucky,  and  Tennessee,  the  ores  occur 
with  the  same  associations  as  in  England  ; 
but  the  supply  is,  for  the  most  part,  very  pre- 
carious, and  many  furnaces  that  have  de- 
pended upon  them  are  now  kept  in  opera- 
tion only  by  drawing  a considerable  portion 
of  their  supplies  from  the  mines  of  Lake 
Superior,  more  than  one  thousand  miles  off. 
Among  the  horizontally  stratified  rocks  west 
of  the  Alleghanies,  the  same  bands  of  ore 
are  traced  over  extensive  districts,  and  are 
even  recognized  in  several  of  the  different 
states  named.  One  of  the  most  important 
of  these  bands  is  the  buhrstone  ore,  so  call- 
ed from  a cellular,  flinty  accompaniment 
which  usually  underlies  it,  the  whole  con- 
tained in  a bed  of  peculiar  fossiliferous  lime- 
stone. So  much  carbonate  of  lime  is  some- 
times present  in  the  ore,  that  it  requires  no 
other  flux  in  the  blast  furnace.  Its  per-cent- 
age  of  iron  is  from  25  to  35.  Along  the  line 
of  outcrop  of  some  of  the  carbonates  are 
found  deposits  of  hematite  ores,  the  result 
of  superficial  changes  in  the  former,  due  to 
atmospheric  agencies  long  continued.  In 
southern  Ohio,  at  Hanging  Rock  particularly, 
numerous  furnaces  have  been  supported  by 
these  ores,  and  have  furnished  much  of  the 
best  iron  produced  at  the  west. 

The  carbonates  of  the  tertiary  are  found 
in  blocks  and  lumps  among  the  clays  along 
the  shores  of  the  Chesapeake  at  Baltimore, 
and  its  vicinity.  The  ores  are  of  excellent 
character,  work  easily  in  the  furnace,  make  a 
kind  of  iron  highly  esteemed — particularly 
for  the  manufacture  of  nails — and  are  so 
abundant  that  they  have  long  sustained  a 
considerable  number  of  furnaces.  They  lie 
near  the  surface,  and  are  collected  by  exca- 
vating the  clay  beds  and  sorting  out  the 
balls  of  ore.  The  excavations  have  been 
carried  out  in  some  places  on  the  shore  be- 
low the  level  of  tide,  the  water  being  kept 
back  by  coffer  dams  and  steam  pumps. 

Bog  ores,  with  which  the  earliest  furnaces 
in  the  country  were  supplied,  are  now  little 
used.  They  arc  rarely  found  in  quantities 
sufficient  for  running  the  large  furnaces  of 
the  present  day,  and,  moreover,  make  but  an 


inferior,  brittle  quality  of  cast  iron.  They 
are  chiefly  found  near  the  coast,  and  being 
easily  dug,  and  also  reduced  to  metal  with 
great  facility,  they  proved  very  convenient 
for  temporary  use  before  the  great  bodies  of 
ore  in  the  interior  were  reached.  Some  fur- 
naces are  still  running  on  these  ores  in  the 
south-west  part  of  New  Jersey,  and  at  Snow- 
hill,  on  the  eastern  shore  of  Maryland,  and 
the  iron  they  make  is  used  to  advantage  in 
mixing  at  the  great  stove  foundries  in  Albany 
and  Troy  with  other  varieties  of  cast  iron. 
It  increases  the  fluidity  of  these,  and  pro- 
duces with  them  a mixture  that  will  flow 
into  and  take  the  forms  of  the  minutest 
markings  of  the  mould. 

Charcoal  has  been  the  only  fuel  employed 
in  the  manufacture  of  iron  until  anthracite 
was  applied  to  this  purpose,  about  the  year 
1840,  and  still  later — in  the  United  States— 
coke  and  bituminous  coal.  So  long  as  wood 
continued  abundant  in  the  iron  districts,  it 
was  preferred  to  the  mineral  fuel,  as  in  the 
early  experience  of  the  use  of  the  latter  the 
quality  of  the  iron  it  produced  was  inferior 
to  that  made  from  the  same  ores  with  char- 
coal, and  even  at  the  present  time,  most  of 
the  highest-priced  irons  are  made  with  char- 
coal. The  hard  woods  make  the  best  coal, 
and  after  these,  the  yellow  pine.  Hemlock 
and  chestnut  are  largely  used,  because  of 
their  abundance  and  cheapness.  The  char- 
coal furnaces  are  of  small  size  compared 
with  those  using  the  denser  mineral  coal, 
and  their  capacity  rarely  exceeds  a produc- 
tion of  ten  or  twelve  tons  of  pig  iron  in 
twenty-four  hours.  In  1840  they  seldom 
made  more  than  four  tons  a day ; the  differ- 
ence is  owing  to  larger  furnaces,  the  use  of 
hot  blast,  and  much  more  efficient  blowing 
machinery.  The  consumption  of  charcoal 
to  the  ton  of  iron  is  one  hundred  bushels  of 
hard-wood  coal  at  a minimum,  and  from  this 
running  up  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  bushels 
or  more,  according  to  the  quality  of  flic  coal 
and  the  skill  of  the  manager.  The  economy 
of  the  business  depends,  in  great  part,  upon 
the  convenience  of  the  supplies  of  fuel  and 
of  ores,  of  each  of  which  rather  more  than 
two  tons  weight  are  consumed  to  every  ton 
of  pig  iron.  As  the  woods  are  cut  off  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  furnaces,  the  supplies  are 
gradually  drawn  from  greater  distances,  till 
at  last  they  are  sometimes  hauled  from  ten 
to  fourteen  miles.  The  furnaces  near  Balti- 
| more  have  been  supplied  with  pine  wood  dis- 
i charged  from  vessels  at  the  coaling  kilns 


AMERICAN  IRON  WORKS,  PITTSBURf 


Wo 


SMELTING  PIG  IRON. 


FORGES  AT  CHALONS. 


IRON. 


23 


.close  by  the  furnaces.  Transportation  of 
the  fuel  in  such  cases  is  a matter  of  second- 
ary importance. 

The  mineral  coals  are  a more  certain  de- 
pendence in  this  manufacture,  and  are  cheap- 
ly conveyed  from  the  mines  on  the  great 
lines  of  transportation,  so  that  furnaces  may 
be  placed  anywhere  upon  these  lines,  with 
reference  more  especially  to  proximity  of 
ores.  Thus  they  can  be  grouped  togeth- 
er in  greater  numbers  than  is  practicable 
with  charcoal  furnaces.  Their  establishment, 
however,  involves  the  outlay  of  much  capital, 
for  the  anthracite  furnaces  are  all  built  upon 
a large  scale,  with  a capacity  of  producing 
from  twenty  to  thirty  tons  of  pig  iron  a day. 
This  requires  machinery  of  great  power  to 
furnish  the  immense  quantities  of  air, 
amounting  in  the  large  stacks  to  fifteen  tons 
or  more  every  hour,  and  propel  it  through 
the  dense  column,  of  fifty  to  sixty  feet  in 
height,  of  heavy  materials  that  fill  the  furnace. 
The  air  actually  exceeds  in  weight  all  the 
other  materials  introduced  into  the  furnace, 
and  its  efficiency  in  promoting  combustion 
and  generating  intensity  of  heat  is  greatly 
increased  by  the  concentration  to  which  it 
is  subjected  when  blown  in  under  a pressure 
of  six  or  eight  pounds  to  the  square  inch. 
It  is  rendered  still  more  efficient  by  being 
heated  to  temperature  sufficient  to  melt  lead 
before  it  is  introduced  into  the  furnace ; and 
this  demands  the  construction  of  heating 
ovens,  through  which  the  blast  is  forced  from 
the  blowing  cylinders  in  a series  of  iron 
pipes,  arranged  so  as  to  absorb  as  much  as 
possible  of  the  waste  heat  from  the  combust- 
ible gases  that  issue  from  the  top  of  the 
stack,  and  are  led  through  these  ovens  before 
they  are  finally  allowed  to  escape.  The 
weight  of  anthracite  consumed  is  not  far 
from  double  that  of  the  iron  made,  and  the 
ores  usually  exceed  in  weight  the  fuel.  The 
flux  is  a small  and  cheap  item,  its  weight 
ranging  from  one-eighth  to  one-third  that  of 
the  ores. 

The  location  of  furnaces  with  reference  to 
the  market  for  the  iron  is  a consideration  of 
no  small  importance,  for  the  advantages  of 
cheap  material  may  be  overbalanced  by  the 
difference  of  a few  dollars  in  the  cost  of 
placing  in  market  a product  of  so  little  value 
to  the  ton  weight  as  pig  iron. 

The  following  statement  gave  the  cost  of 
the  different  items  which  went  to  make  up 
the  total  expense  of  production  at  the  locali- 
ties named  in  1859.  The  advance  in  the 
2 * 


value  of  ores,  cost  of  transportation,  labor, 
and  coal,  have  increased  these  items  about 
75  per  cent,  since  1863. 

At  different  points  on  the  Hudson  river, 
anthracite  furnaces  are  in  operation,  which 
are  supplied  with  hematites  from  Columbia 
and  Dutchess  counties,  N.  Y.,  and  from  the 
neighboring  counties  in  Massachusetts,  at 
prices  varying  from  $2.25  to  $3.00  per  ton; 
averaging  about  $2.50.  They  also  use  mag- 
netic ores  from  Lake  Champlain,  and  some 
from  the  Highlands  below  West  Point,  the 
latter  costing  $2.50,  and  the  former  $3.50  to 
$4.50  per  ton;  the  average  being  about 
$3.50.  The  quantities  of  these  ores  pur- 
chased for  the  ton  of  iron  produced  are 
about  two  tons  of  hematite  and  one  of  mag- 
netic ore,  making  the  cost  for  the  ores  $6.75. 
Two  tons  of  anthracite  cost  usually  $9,  and 
the  flux  for  fuel  about  35  cents.  Actual  con- 
tract prices  for  labor  and  superintendence 
have  been  $4  per  ton.  Thus  the  total  ex- 
pense for  the  ton  of  pig  iron  is  about  $20.10  ; 
or,  allowing  for  repairs  and  interest  on 
capital,  full  $21. 

In  the  Lehigh  valley,  in  Pennsylvania, 
are  numerous  furnaces,  which  are  supplied 
with  anthracite  at  the  low  rate  of  $3  per  ton, 
or  $6  to  the  ton  of  iron.  The  ores  are  mixed 
magnetic  and  hematites,  averaging  in  the 
proportions  used  about  $3  per  ton,  or,  at  the 
rate  consumed  of  2k  tons,  $7.50  to  the  ton 
of  iron.  Allowing  the  same  amount — $4.35 
— for  other  items,  as  at  the  Hudson  river 
furnaces,  the  total  cost  is  $17.85;  or,  with 
interest  and  repairs,  nearly  $19  per  ton.  The 
difference  is  in  great  part  made  up  to  the 
furnaces  on  the  Hudson  by  their  convenience 
to  the  great  markets  of  New  York,  Troy,  and 
Albany. 

The  charcoal  iron  made  near  Baltimore 
shows  a higher  cost  of  production  than  either 
of  the  above,  and  it  is  also  subject  to  greater 
expenses  of  transportation  to  market,  which 
is  chiefly  at  the  rolling  mills  and  nail  fac- 
tories of  Massachusetts.  Its  superior  quality 
causes  a demand  for  the  product  and 
sustains  the  business.  For  this  iron  per  t<?n 
2k  tons  of  ore  are  consumed,  costing  $3.62i 
per  ton,  or  $9.06  ; fuel,  3 k cords  at  $2.50, 
$8.75;  flux,  oyster  shells,  30  cts. ; labor  (in- 
cluding $1.50  for  charring)  $2.75  ; other  ex- 
penses, $2  ; total,  $22.86. 

At  nymy  localities  in  the  interior  of 
Pennsylvania  and  Ohio,  iron  is  made  at  less 
cost,  but  their  advantages  are  often  counter- 
balanced by  additional  expenses  incurred  in 


24 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


delivering  the  metal,  and  obtaining  the  pro- 
ceeds of  its  sale.  Increased  facilities  of 
transportation,  however,  are  rapidly  remov- 
ing these  distinctions.  At  Danville,  on  the 
Susquehanna  river,  Columbia  county,  Penn- 
sylvania, the  cost  of  production  has  been  re- 
duced to  an  unusually  low  amount,  by  reason 
of  large  supplies  of  ore  close  at  hand,  the 
cheapness  of  anthracite,  and  the  very  large 
scale  of  the  operations.  Pig  iron,  as  shown 
by  the  books  of  the  company,  has  been  made 
for  $11  per  ton.  Its  quality,  however,  was 
inferior,  so  that,  with  the  expenses  of  trans- 
portation added,  it  could  not  he  placed  in 
the  eastern  markets  to  compete  with  other 
irons.  Pig  iron  is  produced  more  cheaply 
on  the  Ohio  river  and  some  of  its  tributaries 
than  elsewhere,  but  there  are  no  furnaces  in 
the  United  States  which  can  make  a good 
article  much  less  than  $27  per  ton. 

DISTRIBUTION  OF  THE  ORES. 

The  magnetic  and  specular  ores  of  the 
United  States  are  found  in  the  belt  of 
metamorphic  rocks — the  gneiss,  quartz  rock, 
mica  and  talcose  slates, and  limestones — which 
ranges  along  to  the  east  of  the  Alleghanies, 
and  spreads  over  the  principal  part  of  the 
New  England  states.  It  is  only,  however, 
in  certain  districts,  that  this  belt  is  produc- 
tive in  iron  ores.  The  hematites  belong  to 
the  same  group,  and  the  important  districts 
of  the  three  ores  may  he  noticed  in  the  or- 
der in  which  they  are  met  from  Canada  to 
Alabama.  Similar  ores  are  also  abundant 
in  Missouri,  and  to  the  south  of  Lake 
Superior. 

New  England  States. — In  New  Hamp- 
shire magnetic  and  specular  ores  are  found 
in  large  quantities  in  a high  granitic  hill 
called  the  Baldface  Mountain,  in  the  town 
of  Bartlett.  The  locality  is  not  conveniently 
accessible,  and  its  remoteness  from  coal 
mines  will  probably  long  keep  the  ore,  rich 
and  abundant  as  it  is,  of  no  practical  value. 
At  Piermont,  on  the  western  border  of  the 
state,  specular  ore,  very  rich  and  pure,  is 
also  abundant,  but  not  worked.  At  Fran- 
conia a small  furnace,  erected  in  1811,  was 
run  many  years  upon  magnetic  ores,  obtain- 
ed from  a bed  of  moderate  size,  and  which 
in  1824  had  been  worked  to  the  depth  of 
200  feet.  In  1830  the  iron  establishments 
of  this  place  were  still  objects  of  considerable 
interest,  though  from  the  accounts  of  them 
published  in  the  American  Journal  of  Science 
of  that  year,  it  appears  that  the  annual  pro- 


duction of  the  blast  furnace  for  the  preceding 
nine  years  had  averaged  only  about  “216 
tons  of  cast  iron  in  hollow  ware,  stoves, 
machinery,  and  pig  iron” — a less  quantity 
than  is  now  produced  in  a week  by  some  of 
the  anthracite  furnaces.  One  forge  making 
bar  iron  direct  from  the  ore  produced  forty 
tons  annually,  and  another  100  tons,  con- 
suming 550  bushels  of  charcoal  to  the  ton. 
The  cost  of  this,  fortunatel}r,  was  only  from 
$3.75  to  $4.00  per  hundred  bushels.  A 
portion  of  the  product  was  transported  to 
Boston, the  freight  alone  costing  $25  per  ton. 

In  Vermont  these  ores  are  found  in  the 
metamorphic  slates  of  the  Green  Mountains, 
and  are  worked  to  some  extent  for  mixing 
with  the  hematite  ores,  which  are  more 
abundant,  being  found  in  many  of  the  towns 
through  the  central  portion  of  the  state,  from 
Canada  to  Massachusetts.  In  1850  the 
number  of  blast  furnaces  was  ten,  but  their 
production  probably  did  not  reach  4,000 
tons  per  annum,  and  has  since  dwindled 
away  to  a much  less  amount.  At  the  same 
time  there  were  seven  furnaces  in  Berkshire, 
Mass.,  near  the  hematite  beds  that  are  found 
in  the  towns  along  the  western  line  of  the 
state.  These  had  a working  capacity  of 
about  12,000  tons  of  pig  iron  annually,  and 
this  being  made  from  excellent  ores,  with 
charcoal  for  fuel,  its  reputation  was  high  and 
the  prices  remunerative ; but  as  charcoal  in- 
creased in  price,  and  the  cheaper  anthracite- 
made  iron  improved  in  quality,  the  business 
became  unprofitable ; so  that  the  extensive 
hematite  beds  are  now  chiefly  valuable  for 
furnishing  ores  to  the  furnaces  upon  the 
Hudson  river,  where  anthracite  is  deliv- 
ered from  the  boats  that  have  come  through 
the  Delaware  and  Hudson  canal,  and  magnetic 
ores  are  brought  by  similar  cheap  conveyance 
from  the  mines  on  the  west  side  of  Lake 
Champlain.  Through  Connecticut,  down  the 
Ilousatonic  valley,  very  extensive  beds  of 
hematite  have  supplied  the  sixteen  furnaces 
which  were  in  operation  ten  years  ago.  The 
great  Salisbury  bed  has  already  been  named. 
In  the  first  half  of  the  present  century  it 
produced  from  250,000  to  300,000  tons  of 
the  very  best  ore  ; the  iron  from  which,  when 
made  with  cold  blast,  readily  brought  from 
$6  to  $10  per  ton  more  than  the  ordi- 
nary kinds  of  pig  iron.  The  Kent  ore  bed  was 
of  similar  character,  though  not  so  extensive. 

New  York. — Across  the  New  York  state 
line,  a number  of  other  very  extensive  de- 
posits of  hematite  supported  seven  blast  fur- 


IRON. . 


25 


naces  in  Columbia  and  Dutchess  counties, 
and  now  furnish  supplies  to  those  along  the 
Hudson  river.  In  Putnam  county,  magnetic 
ores  succeed  the  hematites,  and  are  devel- 
oped in  considerable  beds  in  Putnam  Val- 
iev, east  from  Cold  Spring,  where  they  were 
worked  for  the  supply  of  forges  during  the 
last  century.  These  beds  can  again  furnish 
large  quantities  of  rich  ore.  On  the  other 
side  of  the  river,  very  productive  mines  of 
magnetic  ore  have  been  worked  near  Fort 
Montgomery,  six  miles  west  from  the  river. 
At  the  Greenwood  furnace,  back  from  West 
Point,  was  produced  the  strongest  cast  iron 
ever  tested,  which,  according  to  the  report 
of  the  officers  of  the  ordnance  department, 
made  to  Congress  in  1856,  after  being  re- 
melted several  times  to  increase  its  density, 
exhibited  a tenacity  of  45,970  lbs.  to  the 
square  inch.  The  beds  at  Monroe,  near  the 
New  Jersey  line,  are  of  vast  extent;  but  a 
small  portion  of  the  enormous  quantities  of 
ore  in  sight,  however,  makes  the  best  iron. 
Mining  was  commenced  here  in  1750,  and  a 
furnace  w'as  built  in  1751,  but  operations 
have  never  been  carried  on  upon  a scale 
commensurate  with  the  abundance  of  the 
ores.  In  the  northern  counties  of  New 
York,  near  Lake  Champlain,  are  numerous 
mines  of  rich  magnetic  ores.  Some  of  the 
most  extensive  bloomary  establishments  in 
the  United  States  are  supported  by  them  in 
Clinton  county,  and  many  smaller  forges  are 
scattered  along  the  course  of  the  Ausable 
river,  where  water  power  near  some  of  the 
ore  beds  presents  a favorable  site.  Bar  iron 
is  made  at  these  establishments  direct  from 
the  ores;  and  at  Keeseville  nail  factories  are 
in  operation,  converting  a portion  of  the 
iron  into  nails.  In  Essex  county  there  are 
also  many  very  productive  mines  of  the  same 
kind  of  ore,  and  Port  Henry  and  its  vicinity 
has  furnished  large  quantities,  not  only  to 
the  blast  furnaces  that  were  formerly  in 
operation  here,  but  to  those  on  the  Hudson, 
and  to  puddling  furnaces  in  different  parts 
of  the  country,  particularly  about  Boston. 
In  the  interior  of  Essex  county,  forty  miles 
back  from  the  lake,  are  the  extensive  mines 
of  the  Adirondac.  The  ores  arc  rich  as 
well  as  inexhaustible,  but  the  remoteness  of 
the  locality,  and  the  difficulty  attending  the 
working  of  them,  owing  to  their  contamina- 
tion with  titanium,  detract  greatly  from  their 
importance.  On  the  other  side  of  the  Adi- 
rondac mountains,  in  St.  Lawrence  county, 
near  Lake  Ontario,  arc  found  large  beds  of  I 


specular  ores,  which  have  been  worked  to 
some  extent  in  several  blast  furnaces.  They 
occur  along  the  line  of  junction  of  the  gran- 
ite and  the  Potsdam  sandstone.  The  iron 
they  make  is  inferior — suitable  only  for  cast- 
ings. The  only  other  ores  of  any  importance 
in  the  state  are  the  fossiliferous  ores  of  the 
Clinton  group,  which  are  worked  near  Oneida 
Lake,  and  at  several  points  along  a narrow 
belt  of  country  near  the  south  shore  of  Lake 
Ontario.  They  have  sustained  five  blast 
furnaces  in  this  region,  and  are  transported 
in  large  quantities  by  canal  to  the  anthra- 
cite furnaces  at  Scranton,  in  Pennsylvania, 
the  boats  returning  with  mineral  coal  for  the 
furnaces  near  Oneida  Lake. 

New  Jersey. — From  Orange  county,  in 
New  York,  the  range  of  gneiss  and  horn- 
blende rocks,  which  contain  the  magnetic 
and  specular  ores,  passes  into  New  Jersey, 
and  spreads  over  a large  part  of  Passaic  and 
Morris,  and  the  eastern  parts  of  Sussex  and 
Warren  counties.  The  beds  of  magnetic  ore 
are  very  large  and  numerous,  and  have  been 
worked  to  great  extent,  especially  about 
Ringwood,  Dover,  Rockaway,  Boonton,  and 
other  towns,  both  in  blast  furnaces  and  in 
bloomaries.  At  Andover,  in  Sussex  county, 
a great  body  of  specular  ores  furnished  for  a 
number  of  years  the  chief  supplies  for  the 
furnaces  of  the  Trenton  Iron  Compahy,  situ- 
ated at  Philipsburg,  opposite  the  mouth  of 
the  Lehigh.  On  the  range  of  this  ore,  a few 
miles  to  the  north-east,  are  extensive  deposits 
of  Frankliniteiron  ore  accompanying  the  zinc 
ore  of  this  region.  This  unusual  variety 
of  ore  consists  of  peroxide  of  iron  about 
66  per  cent.,  oxide  of  zinc  17,  and  oxide  of 
manganese  16.  It  is  smelted  at  the  wrorks 
of  the  New  Jersey  Zinc  Company  at  New- 
ark, producing  annually  about  2,000  tons  of 
pig  iron.  The  metal  is  remarkable  for  its 
large  crystalline  faces  and  hardness,  and  is 
particularly  adapted  for  the  manufacture  of 
steel,  as  well  as  for  producing  bar  iron  of 
great  strength. 

As  the  forests,  which  formerly  supplied 
abundant  fuel  for  the  iron  works  of  this  re- 
gion, disappeared  before  the  increasing  de- 
mands, attention  was  directed  to  the  inex- 
haustible sources  of  anthracite  up  the  Lehigh 
valley  in  Pennsylvania,  with  which  this  iron 
region  was  connected  by  the  Morris  canal 
and  the  Lehigh  canal ; and  almost  the  first 
successful  application  of  this  fuel  to  the 
smelting  of  iron  ores  upon  a large  scale  was 
I made  at  Stanhope,  by  Mr.  Edwin  Post.  A new 


26 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


era  in  tie  iron  manufacture  was  thus  intro- 
duced, and  an  immense  increase  in  the  pro- 
duction soon  followed,  as  the  charcoal  fur- 
naces gave  place  to  larger  ones  constructed 
for  anthracite.  The  Lehigh  valley,  lying  on 
the  range  of  the  iron  ores  toward  the  south- 
west, also  produced  large  quantities  of  ore, 
which,  however,  was  almost  exclusively 
hematite.  Hence,  an  interchange  of  ores 
has  been  largely  carried  on  for  furnishing 
the  best  mixtures  to  the  furnaces  of  the  two 
portions  of  this  iron  district ; and  the  oper- 
ations of  the  two  must  necessarily  be  consid- 
ered together.  The  annual  production,  in- 
cluding that  of  the  bloomaries  of  New  Jer- 
sey, has  reached,  within  a few  years,  about 
140,000  tons  of  iron.  But  in  a prosperous 
condition  of  the  iron  business  this  can  be 
largely  increased  without  greatly  adding  to 
the  works  already  established,  while  the  ca- 
pacity of  the  iron  mines  and  supplies  of  fuel 
are  unlimited.  The  proximity  of  this  dis- 
trict to  the  great  cities,  New  York  and  Phil- 
adelphia, adds  greatly  to  its  importance. 

Pennsylvania. — Although  about  one- 
third  of  all  the  iron  manufactured  in  the 
United  States  is  the  product  of  the  mines  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  of  the  ores  carried  into 
the  state,  the  comparative  importance  of  her 
mines  has  been  greatly  overrated,  and  their 
large  development  is  rather  owing  to  the 
abundant  supplies  of  mineral  coal  conveni- 
ently at  hand  for  working  the  ores,  and,  as 
remarked  by  Mr.  Lesley  (“Iron  Manufac- 
turer’s Guide,”  p.  433),  “to  the  energetic, 
persevering  German  use  for  a century  of 
years  of  what  ores  do  exist,  than  to  any  ex- 
traordinary wealth  of  iron  of  which  she  can 
boast.  Her  reputation  for  iron  is  certainly 
not  derived  from  any  actual  pre-eminence  of 
mineral  over  her  sister  states.  New  York, 
New  Jersey,  Virginia,  and  North  Carolina, 
are  far  more  liberally  endowed  by  nature  in 
this  respect  than  she.  The  immense  mag- 
netic deposits  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey 
almost  disappear  just  after  entering  her  lim- 
its. The  brown  hematite  beds  of  her  great 
valley  will  not  seem  extraordinary  to  one 
who  has  become  familiar  with  those  of  New 
York,  Massachusetts,  Vermont,  Virginia,  and 
Tennessee.  Her  fossil  ores  are  lean  and  un- 
certain compared  with  those  of  the  south ; 
and  the  carbonate  and  hematized  carbonate 
outcrops  in  and  under  her  coal  measures 
will  hardly  bear  comparison  with  those  of 
the  grander  outspread  of  the  same  forma- 
tions in  Ohio,  Kentucky,  and  western  Vir- 


ginia.” The  principal  sources  of  iron  in  the 
state  are,  first,  the  hematites  of  Lehigh  and 
Berks  counties — the  range  continuing  pro- 
ductive through  Lancaster,  also  on  the  other 
side  of  the  intervening  district  of  the  new 
red  sandstone  formation.  The  ores  are 
found  in  large  beds  in  the  limestone  valley, 
between  the  South  and  the  Kittatinny 
mountains  ; those  nearest  the  Lehigh  supply 
the  furnaces  on  that  river,  already  amounting 
to  twenty-three  in  operation  and  four  more  in 
course  of  construction,  and  those  nearer  the 
Schuylkill  supply  the  furnaces  along  this 
river.  The  largest  bed  is  the  Moselem,  in 
Berks  county,  six  miles  west-south-west  from 
Kutztown.  It  has  been  very  extensively 
worked,  partly  in  open  excavation  and  partly 
by  underground  mining,  the  workings  reach- 
ing to  the  depth  of  165  feet.  Over  20,000 
tons  a year  of  ore  have  been  produced,  at  a 
cost  of  from  $1.30  to  $1.50  per  ton. 

Magnetic  ores  are  found  upon  the  Lehigh, 
or  South  mountain,  the  margin  on  the  south 
of  the  fertile  limestone  valley  which  con- 
tains the  hematite  beds.  These,  how- 
ever, are  quite  unimportant,  the  dependence 
of  the  great  iron  furnaces  of  the  Lehigh 
for  these  ores  being  on  the  more  extensive 
mines  of  New  Jersey;  while  the  only  sup- 
plies of  magnetic  ores  to  the  furnaces  of  the 
Schuylkill  and  the  Susquehanna  are  from  the 
great  Cornwall  mines,  four  miles  south  of  Leb- 
anon. An  immense  body  of  magnetic  iron 
ore,  associated  with  copper  ores,  has  been 
worked  for  a long  time  at  this  place,  at  the 
junction  of  the  lower  silurian  limestones 
and  the  red  sandstone  formation.  The  bed 
lies  between  dikes  of  trap,  and  exhibits  pe- 
culiarities that  distinguish  it  from  the  other 
bodies  of  iron  ore  on  this  range.  The  War- 
wick, or  Jones’  mine,  in  the  south  corner  of 
Berks  county,  resembles  it  in  some  particu- 
lars. Its  geological  position  is  in  the  upper 
slaty  layers  of  the  Potsdam  sandstone,  near 
the  meeting  of  this  formation  with  the  new 
red  sandstone.  Trap  dikes  penetrate  the 
ore  and  the  slates,  and  the  best  ore  is  found 
at  both  mines  near  the  trap.  Not  far  from 
York,  Pa.,  an  ore  known  as  the  Codorus  Iron 
Ore  has  been  raised  for  some  years,  but  was 
regarded  as  almost  worthless,  but  recent  ex- 
periments have  led  to  the  discovery  that  it 
contains  the  exact  ingredients  necessary  to 
make  it  the  best  of  fluxes  for  reducing  the 
other  ores  of  that  region  to  steel  of  excellent 
quality  without  any  intermediate  process. 
Along  the  Maryland  line,  on  both  sides  of  the 


IRON. 


27 


Susquehanna,  chrome  iron  has  been  found  in 
considerable  abundance  in  the  serpentine 
rocks,  and  lias  been  largely  and  very  profita- 
bly mined  forborne  consumption  and  for  ex- 
portation. It  furnishes  the  different  chrome 
pigment",  and  their  preparation  has  been 
carried  on  chiefly  at  Baltimore. 

A portion  of  the  hematites  which  supply 
the  furnaces  on  the  Schuylkill,  occur  along  a 
narrow  limestone  belt  of  about  a mile  in 
width,  that  crosses  the  Schuylkill  at  Spring 
Mill,  and  extends  north-east  into  Montgomery 
county,  and  south-west  into  Chester  county. 
Their  production  has  been  very  large,  and 
that  of  the  furnaces  of  the  Schuylkill  valley 
dependent  upon  these  and  the  other  mines 
of  this  region  has  been  rated  at  100,000 
tons  of  iron  annually. 

The  great  Chestnut  hill  hematite  ore  bed, 
three  and  a half  miles  north-east  of  Columbia, 
Lancaster  county,  covers  about  twelve  acres 
of  surface,  and  has  been  worked  in  numer- 
ous great  open  excavations  to  about  100  feet 
in  depth,  the  ore  prevailing  throughout 
among  the  clays  and  sands  from  top  to  bot- 
tom. “ The  floor  of  the  mine  is  hard,  white 
Potsdam  sandstone,  or  the  gray  slaty  layers 
over  it.  The  walls  show  horizontal  wavy 
layers  of  blue,  yellow,  and  white  laminated, 
unctuous  clays,  from  forty  to  sixty  feet  deep, 
containing  ore,  and  under  these  an  irregular 
layer  of  hard  concretionary,  cellular,  fibrous, 
brown  hematite  from 
ten  to  thirty  feet 
thick  down  to  the 
sandstone.”  (“  Iron 
Manufacturer’s 
Guide,  p.  562.”)  In 
the  accompanying 
wood-cut,  the  dark- 
ly shaded  portions 
represent  the  hema- 
tites, while  the  light- 
er portions  above  are 
chiefly  clays.  Pro- 
fessor Rogers  sup- 
poses that  the  ore 
has  leached  down 
from  the  upper  slaty 
beds  through  which 
it  was  originally  dif- 
fused, and  has  col- 
lected upon  the  im- 
pervious sandstone, 
which  in  this  vicinity  is  the  first  water 
bearing  stratum  for  the  wells. 

The  repeated  occurrence  of  the  lower 


silurian  limestones  and  sandstones  along  the 
valleys  of  central  Pennsylvania,  from  the 
Susquehanna  to  the  base  of  the  Alleghany 
mountain,  is  accompanied  through  these  val- 
leys with  numerous  beds  of  hematite  ; and 
to  the  supplies  of  ore  they  have  furnished 
for  great  numbers  of  furnaces,  is  added  the 
fossiliferous  ore  of  the  Clinton  group,  the  out- 
crop of  which  is  along  the  slopes  of  the  ridges 
and  around  their  ends.  Many  furnaces  have 
depended  upon  this  source  of  supply  alone. 
As  stated  by  Lesley,  there  were,  in  185V, 
14  anthracite  furnaces  that  used  no  other, 
and  11  anthracite  furnaces  which  mixed  it 
either  with  magnetic  ore  or  hematite,  or  with 
both.  Montour’s  ridge,  at  Danville,  Colum- 
bia county,  referred  to  on  page  24,  is  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  localities  of  this  ore. 
Professor  Rogers  estimated,  in  184V,  that 
there  were  20  furnaces  then  dependent  upon 
the  mines  of  this  place,  and  producing*annually 
an  average  of  3,000  tons  of  iron  each,  with 
a consumption  of  9,000  tons  of  ore,  or  a 
total  annual  consumption  of  180,000  tons. 
At  this  rate,  he  calculated  that  the  availa- 
ble ore  would  be  exhausted  in  20  years. 

Between  the  Clinton  group  and  the  coal 
measures  arc  successive  formations  of  lime- 
stones, sandstones,  shales,  etc.,  which  form  a 
portion  of  the  geological  column  of  many  thou- 
sand feet  in  thickness;  and  among  these  strata, 
ores  like  the  carbonates  of  the  coal  measures 


CHESTNUT  HILL  MINE. 

are  occasionally  developed,  and  these  are 
recognized  and  worked  at  many  localities 
along  the  outcrop  of  the  formations  to 


28 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


which  they  belong.  Though  of  some  local 
importance,  they  do  not  add  very  largely  to 
the  iron  production  of  the  state.  Along  the 
summit  of  the  Alleghany  mountain  the  base 
of  the  coal  measures  is  reached,  which 
thence  spread  over  the  western  portion  of 
the  state,  nearly  to  its  northern  line.  The 
ores  which  belong  to  this  formation  are 
chiefly  contained  among  its  lower  mem- 
bers, and  found  in  the  outcrop  of  these 
around  the  margin  of  the  basin.  At  some 
localities  they  have  been  obtained  in  consider- 
able abundance,  and  many  furnaces  have  run 
upon  them  alone ; but  for  large  establish- 
ments of  several  furnaces  together,  they 
prove  a very  uncertain  dependence. 

Maryland. — The  metamorphicbelt  crosses 
this  state  back  of  Baltimore,  and  is  pro- 
ductive in  chromic  iron  and  copper  ores, 
rather  than  in  magnetic  and  specular  ores. 
Some  of  the  former,  highly  titaniferous,  have 
been  worked  near  the  northern  line  of  the 
state,  on  the  west  side  of  the  Susquehanna ; 
and  at  Sykesville,  on  the  Potomac,  a furnace 
has  been  supplied  with  specular  ores  from  its 
vicinity.  Several  hematite  beds  within 
twenty  miles  of  Baltimore  have  supplied 
considerable  quantities  of  ore  for  mixture 
with  the  tertiary  carbonates,  upon  which 
the  iron  production  of  the  state  chiefly 
depends.  Beds  of  these  occur  near  the  bay 
from  Havre  de  Grace  to  the  District  of 
Columbia.  In  the  western  part  of  the  state 
large  furnaces  were  built  at  Mount  Savage  and 
Lonaconing  to  work  the  ores  of  the  coal 
formation;  but  the  supply  has  proved  in- 
sufficient to  sustain  them.  In  1853  the 
capacity  of  the  blast  furnaces  of  the  state 
was  equal  to  a production  of  over  70,000 
tons  of  iron.  This,  however,  has  never  been 
realized. 

Southern  States. — South  of  Maryland 
the  same  iron  belt  continues  through  Vir- 
ginia, the  Carolinas,  and  Georgia ; and  al- 
though it  is  often  as  productive  in  immense 
beds  of  the  three  varieties  of  ore — the 
magnetic,  specular,  and  hematite — as  in  the 
other  states  along  its  range,  these  resources 
add  comparatively  little  to  the  material 
wealth  of  the  states  to  which  they  belong. 
Through  Virginia,  east  and  west  of  the  Blue 
Ridge,  hematite  ores  abound  in  the  limestone 
valleys,  and  magnetic  ores  are  often  in  con- 
venient proximity  to  them.  Many  small 
furnaces  have  worked  them  at  different 
times,  but  their  product  was  always  small. 
Three  belts  of  magnetic  ore,  associated  with 


specular  iron  and  hematites,  are  traced 
across  the  midland  counties  of  North  Caro- 
lina, and  have  furnished  supplies  for  fur- 
naces and  forges  in  a number  of  counties — 
as  Lincoln,  Cleveland,  Rutherford,  Stokes, 
Surry,  Yadkin,  Catawba;  and  Chatham, 
Wake,  and  Orange  counties  upon  the  east- 
ern belt.  The  belt  of  ore  from  Lincoln 
county  passes  into  South  Carolina,  and 
through  York,  Union,  and  Spartanburg 
districts.  It  crosses  the  Broad  River  at  the 
Cherokee  ford,  and  though  the  whole  belt 
is  only  half  a mile  wide,  it  presents  numer- 
ous localities  of  the  three  kinds  of  ore,  and  of 
limestone  also  in  close  proximity,  and  finely 
situated  for  working.  Several  other  locali- 
ties are  noticed  in  the  “ State  Geological 
Report,”  by  M.  Tuomey,  who  remarks,  on 
page  278,  that  “if  iron  is  not  manfactured 
in  the  state  as  successfully  as  elsewhere,  it  is 
certainly  not  due  to  any  deficiency  in 
natural  advantages.”  In  northern  Georgia 

o o 

the  ferruginous  belt  is  productive  in  im- 
mense bodies  of  hematite,  associated  with 
magnetic  and  specular  ores,  in  the  Allatoona 
hills,  near  the  Etowah  river,  in  Cherokee 
and  Cass  counties.  This,  which  appears  to 
be  one  of  the  great  iron  districts  of  the 
United  States,  though  bountifully  provided 
with  all  the  materials  required  in  the  manu- 
facture, and  traversed  by  a railroad  which 
connects  it  with  the  bituminous  coal  mines 
of  eastern  Tennessee,  supports  only  six 
small  charcoal  furnaces  of  average  capacity, 
not  exceeding  600  or  700  tons  per  annum 
each.  In  Alabama,  hematites  and  specular 
ores  accompany  the  belt  of  silurian  rocks 
to  its  southern  termination,  and  are  worked 
in  a few  bloomary  fires  and  two  or  three 
blast  furnaces.  The  fossiliferous  ore  of 
the  Clinton  group  is  also  worked  in  this 
state. 

Tennessee  in  1840  ranked  as  the  third 
iron-producing  state  in  the  Union.  The 
counties  ranging  along  her  eastern  border 
produced  hematite  ores,  continuing  the 
range  of  the  silurian  belt  of  the  great  val- 
ley of  Virginia ; those  bordering  the  Clinch 
river  produced  the  fossil  ore  of  the  Clinton 
group,  there  known  as  the  dyestonc  ore ; 
and  western  Tennessee  presented  a very  in- 
teresting and  important  district  of  hematites 
belonging  to  the  subcarboniferous  limestone 
in  the  region  lying  east  of  the  Tennessee 
and  south  of  the  Cumberland  river.*  The 


* “It  is  remarkable  that  most  of  these  deposits 


t 


IRON. 


29 


furnaces  of  this  district,  which  have  num- 
bered 42  in  all,  were  the  greater  part  of 
them  in  Dickson,  Montgomery,  and  Stewart 
counties.  They  were  all  supplied  with 
charcoal  for  fuel,  at  a cost  of  $4  per  hundred 
bushels.  In  1854  the  product  of  pig  iron 
was  37,918  tons;  but  it  gradually  declined 
to  27,050  tons  in  1857;  and  in  August, 
1858,  only  15  furnaces  were  in  operation. 
The  clo-e  of  the  war  gave  a new  impulse  to 
the  production  of  iron  in  Tennessee,  and 
with  her  excellent  ores  and  her  extensive 
forests  she  is  already  taking  the  lead  among 
the  southwestern  States  in  the  production 
of  a charcoal  iron  of  superior  quality,  and 
will  soon  produce,  also,  large  quantities  of 
coke  or  bituminous  coal  iron. 

Kentucky. — The  western  part  of  this 
state  contains,  in  the  counties  of  Calloway, 
Trigg,  Lyon,  Caldwell,  Livingston,  and 
Crittenden,  an  important  district  of  hema- 
tite ores — the  continuation  northward  of 
that  of  Tennessee.  In  1857  10  charcoal 
furnaces  produced  15,600  tons  of  iron. 
Eastern  Kentucky,  however,  has  a much 
more  productive  district  in  the  counties  of 
Carter  and  Greenup,  which  is  an  extension 
south  of  the  Ohio  of  the  Hanging  Rock 
iron  district  of  Ohio.  The  ores  are  car- 
bonates and  hematite  outcrops  of  carbon- 
ates, belonging  to  the  coal  measures  and  the 
subcarboniferous  limestone.  They  are  in 
great  abundance;  a section  of  740  feet  of 
strata  terminating  below  with  the  limestone 
named,  presenting  no  less  than  14  distinct 
beds  of  ore,  from  three  inches  to  four  feet 
each,  and  yielding  from  25  to  60  per  cent, 
of  iron.  One  bed  of  32  per  cent,  iron  con- 
tains also  1 1 per  cent,  bitumen — a composi- 
tion like  that  of  the  Scotch  “black  band” 
ore.  Others  contain  so  much  lime,  that  the 
ores  are  valuable  for  fluxing  as  well  as  for 
producing  iron.  The  furnaces  use  charcoal 


are  of  what  is  called  pot  ore,  that  is,  hollow  balls  of 
ore,  which,  when  broken  open,  look  like  broken 
caldrons.  One  of  them,  preserved  by  Mr.  Lewis,  is 
8 feet  across  the  rim  I Another  is  six  feet  across. 
The  majority  are  crossed  within  by  purple  diaphragms 
or  partitions  of  ore,  and  the  interstitial  spaces  arc 
filled  with  yellow  ochre.  Some,  like  the  great  eight- 
foot  pot,  are  found  to  be  full  of  water.  The  inside  sur- 
face is  mammillary,  irregular,  sometimes  botryoidal 
or  knobby,  but  the  outside  is  pretty  smooth  and  reg- 
ular. All  these  pots  were  undoubtedly  once  balls 
of  carbonates  of  lime  and  iron  segregated  in  the  orig- 
inal deposit.  . . . Gypsum  and  pyrites  are  both 

often  found  in  these  Tennessee  pots.” — Iron  Mamtr 
facturer'a  Guide,  p.  603. 


and  coke.  Their  production,  taken  with 
that  of  the  same  district  in  Ohio,  places 
this  region,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  tables  to 
follow,  among  the  first  in  importance  in  the 
United  States. 

Ohio. — The  ores  of  this  state,  like  those 
of  Kentucky,  belong  almost  exclusively  to 
the  coal  measures  and  the  limestone  forma- 
tions beneath.  In  both  states  some  of  the 
fossiliferous  ore  also  is  found,  but  it  is  com- 
paratively unimportant.  The  productive 
beds  are  near  the  base  of  the  coal  formation, 
ranging  from  the  Hanging  Rock  district  of 
Scioto  and  Lawrence  counties  north-east 
through  Jackson,  Hocking,  Athens,  Perry, 
Muskingum,  Tuscarawas,  Mahoning,  and 
Trumbull  counties,  to  the  line  of  Mercer 
county  in  Pennsylvania.  The  uncertain 
character  of  the  ores,  both  as  to  supply  and 
quality,  is  strikingly  shown  by  the  fact  that 
many  of  the  furnaces  of  the  more  northern 
counties  depend  for  a considerable  portion 
— one-fourth  or  more — of  the  ores  they  use 
upon  the  rich  varieties  from  Lake  Superior 
and  Lake  Champlain.  Although  the  long 
transportation  makes  these  ores  cost  nearly 
three  times  as  much  per  ton  as  those  of  the 
coal  formation,  some  furnaces  find  it  more 
profitable  to  use  the  former,  even  in  the  pro- 
portion of  three-fourths,  on  account  of  the 
much  better  iron  produced,  the  greater  num- 
ber of  tons  per  day,  and  the  less  consump- 
tion of  fuel  to  the  ton.  The  fuel  employed 
is  charcoal  in  many  of  the  furnaces;  some 
have  introduced  raw  bituminous  coal  to  good 
advantage. 

Indiana,  Illinois,  and  Iowa  contain  no 
important  bodies  of  iron  ore.  The  coal 
measures,  which  cover  large  portions  of 
these  states,  are  productive  in  some  small 
quantities  of  the  carbonates,  in  the  two 
former,  which  give  support  to  a very  few  fur- 
naces ; but  in  Iowa  they  contain  no  worka- 
ble beds  at  all. 

Michigan. — The  iron  region  of  this  state 
is  in  the  upper  peninsula,  between  Green 
Bay  and  Lake  Superior.  Magnetic  and 
specular  ores  are  found  throughout  a large 
portion  of  this  wild  territory,  in  beds  more 
extensive  than  are  seen  in  any  other  part  of 
the  United  States — perhaps  than  are  any- 
where known.  The  district  approaches 
within  twelve  miles  of  the  coast  of  Lake 
Superior,  from  which  it  is  more  conveniently 
reached  than  from  the  south  side  of  the 
peninsula.  The  ores  arc  found  in  a belt  of 
crystalline  slates,  of  six  to  ten  miles  in 


30 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


width,  that  extends  west  from  the  lake  shore, 
and  is  bounded  north  and  south  by  a 
granitic  district.  They  are  developed  in 
connection  with  great  dikes  and  ridges  of 
trap,  which  range  east  and  west,  and  dip 
with  the  slates  at  a high  angle  toward  the 
north. . The  ores  also  have  the  same  direc- 
tion and  dip.  Localities  of  them  are  of 
frequent  occurrence  for  eighteen  miles  in  a 
westerly  direction  from  the  point  of  their 
nearest  approach  to  Lake  Superior.  A second 
range  of  the  beds  is  found  along  the  south- 
ern margin  of  the  slate  district ; and  about 
thirty  miles  back  from  the  lake,  where  the 
slates  extend  south  into  Wisconsin,  similar 
developments  of  ore  accompany  them  to  the 
Menomonee  river  and  toward  Green  Bay. 
The  quality  of  the  ore  found  at  different 
places  varies  according  to  the  amount  of 
quartz,  jasper,  hornblende,  or  feldspar  that 
may  be  mixed  with  it ; but  enormous 
bodies  are  nearly  pure  ore,  yielding  from  68 
to  70  per  cent,  of  iron,  and  free  from  a trace 
even  of  manganese,  sulphur,  phosphorus,  or 
titanium.  A single  ridge,  traced  for  about  six 
miles,  rising  to  a maximum  height  ot  fifty 
feet  above  its  base,  and  spreading  out  to  a 
width  of  one  thousand  feet,  has  been  found 
to  consist  of  great  longitudinal  bands  of 
ore,  much  of  which  is  of  this  perfectly  pure 
character.  Another  ridge  presents  precipi- 
tous walls  fifty  feet  high,  composed  in  part 
of  pure  specular  ore,  fine  grained,  of  imper- 
fect slaty  structure,  and  interspersed  with 
minute  crystals  of  magnetic  oxide ; and  in 
part  of  these  minute  crystals  alone.  Another 
body  of  one  thousand  feet  in  width,  and 
more  than  a mile  long,  forms  a hill  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty  feet  high,  which  is  made  up 
of  alternate  bands  of  pure,  fine  grained,  steel- 
gray  peroxide  of  iron,  and  deep  red  jaspery 
ore — the  layers  generally  less  than  a fourth 
of  an  inch  in  thickness,  and  curiously  con- 
torted. Their  appearance  is  very  beautiful 
in  the  almost  vertical  walls.  On  one  of  the 
head  branches  of  the  Esconaba  is  a cascade 
of  thirty-seven  feet  in  height,  the  ledge  over 
which  the  water  falls  being  a bed  of  peroxide 
of  iron,  intermixed  with  silicious  matter. 

For  the  supply  of  the  few  furnaces  and 
bloomarv  establishments  already  in  operation 
in  this  district,  and  for  the  larger  demands 
of  distant  localities,  the  ores  are  collected 
from  open  quarries,  and  from  the  loose 
masses  lying  around.  A railroad  affords  the 
means  of  transporting  them  to  Marquette,  on 
the  lake  shore,  whence  they  are  shipped  by 


vessels  down  the  lake.  The  business  already 
amounts  to  more  than  100,000  tons  per 
annum,  and  is  increasing  very  rapidly.  The 
name  Bay  de  Noquet  and  Marquette  railroad 
suggests  a southern  terminus  of  this  road  on 
Green  Bay,  and  when  an  outlet  is  opened  in 
this  direction,  the  production  of  iron  ores 
will  no  doubt  exceed  that  of  any  other  region 
upon  the  globe.  Large  quantities  will  be 
reduced  with  charcoal  in  blast  furnaces  and 
bloomaries  in  the  region  itself;  and  when 
the  forests  in  the  vicinity  of  the  works  are  cut 
off,  the  extensive  timbered  lands  around 
Lake  Michigan  and  Lake  Huron  will  furnish 
inexhaustible  supplies  of  fuel,  which  may  be 
brought  in  vessels  to  the  furnaces,  as  the 
pine  wood  from  the  forests  around  Chesa- 
peake Bay  has  long  been  delivered  to  the 
furnaces  on  its  western  shore.  Anthracite 
and  bituminous  coal  will  also  be  brought 
back  as  return  cargoes  by  the  vessels  that 
carry  the  ores  to  the  coal  fields  of  Ohio  and 
Pennsylvania.  With  its  vast  inland  naviga- 
tion and  wonderful  resources  of  iron  and 
of  copper  also,  the  north-western  portion  of 
our  country  promises  to  be  the  scene  of  a 
more  extended  and  active  industry  than 
has  over  grown  out  of  the  mines  of  any  part 
of  the  world. 

Wisconsin. — Magnetic  and  specular  ores 
in  bodies,  somewhat  resembling  those  of  the 
region  just  described,  are  found  in  the  ex- 
treme northern  part  of  Wisconsin,  upon 
what  is  known  as  the  Penokie  range,  distant 
about  25  miles  from  Chegwomigon  Bay, 
Lake  Superior.  Bad  River  and  Montreal 
River  drain  this  district.  The  ores,  from 
their  remoteness,  are  not  soon  likely  to  be  of 
practical  importance.  Other  immense  bodies 
of  these  ores,  estimated  to  contain  many 
millions  of  tons,  are  found  on  Black  River, 
which  empties  into  the  Mississippi  below  St. 
Croix  river,  on  the  line  of  the  Land  Grant 
Branch  railroad.  A furnace  has  been  built 
by  a German  company  to  work  these  mines. 
In  the  eastern  part  of  Wisconsin  the  oolitic 
ore  of  the  Clinton  group  is  met  with  in  Dodge 
and  Washington  counties, and  again  at  Depere, 
seven  miles  south-east  of  Green  Bay.  In  the 
town  of  Hubbard,  Dodge  county,  forty  miles 
west  from  Lake  Michigan,  is  the  largest  de- 
posit of  this  ore  ever  discovered.  It  spreads 
in  a layer  ten  feet  thick  over  500  acres,  and 
is  estimated  to  contain  27,000,000  tons.  It 
is  in  grains,  like  sand,  of  glistening  red 
color,  staining  the  hands.  Each  grain  has  a 
minute  nucleus  of  silex,  around  which  the 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


31 


oxide  of  iron  collected.  The  per-centage  of 
metal  is  about  fifty.  This  ore  will  probably 
be  worked  near  Milwaukee  with  Lake 
Superior  ores,  the  La  Crosse  railroad,  which 
passes  by  the  locality,  already  affording  the 
means  of  cheap  transportation. 

Missouri. — This  state  must  be  classed 
among  the  first  in  the  abundance  of  its  iron 
ores,  though  up  to  this  time  comparatively 
little  has  been  done  in  the  development  of 
its  mines.  The  ores  are  exclusively  hema- 
tites, and  the  magnetic  and  specular,  and  all 
occur  in  the  isolated  district  of  silurian 
rocks — formations  which  almost  everywhere 
else  in  the  western  middle  states  are  con- 
cealed beneath  the  more  recent  forma- 
tions. In  the  counties  along  the  line  of  the 
Pacific  railroad  south-west  branch,  Prof. 
Swallow,  the  state  geologist,  reports  no  less 
than  ninety  localities  of  hematite.  These 
are  in  Jefferson,  Franklin,  Crawford,  Phelps, 
Pulaski,  Marion,  Green,  and  other  counties. 
The  first  attempts  to  melt  iron  in  Missouri, 
and  probably  in  any  state  west  of  Ohio,  were 
made  in  Washington  county,  in  1823  or 
1824,  and  with  the  hematites  of  the  locality 
were  mixed  magnetic  ores  from  the  Iron 
mountain.  In  Franklin  county  there  is  but 
one  furnace,  though  on  both  sides  of  the 
Maramec  are  beds  of  hematite  pipe  ore, 
which  cover  hundreds  of  acres.  The  Iron 
mountain  district  is  about  sixty  miles  back 
from  the  Mississippi  river  (the  nearest  point 
on  which  is  St.  Genevieve),  and  extends  from 
the  Iron  mountain  in  the  south-east  part  of 
Washington  county  into  Madison  county. 
It  includes  three  important  localities  of 
specular  ore : the  Iron  Mountain,  Pilot 
Knob,  and  Shepherd  mountain.  The  first  is 
a hill  of  gentle  slopes,  228  feet  high  above 
its  base,  and  covering  about  500  acres — a 
spur  of  the  porphyritic  and  syenitic  range  on 
the  east  side  of  Bellevue  valley.  In  its 
original  state,  as  seen  by  the  writer  in  1841, 
it  presented  no  appearance  of  rock  in  place, 
its  surface  was  covered  with  a forest  of  oak, 
the  trees  thriving  in  a soil  wholly  composed 
of  fragments  of  peroxide  of  iron,  comminuted 
and  coarse  mixed  together.  Loose  lumps 
of  the  ore  were  scattered  around  on  every 
side  but  the  north,  and  upon  the  top  were 
loose  blocks  of  many  tons  weight  each. 
Mining  operations,  commenced  in  1845,  de- 
veloped only  loose  ore  closely  packed  with  a 
little  red  clay.  An  Artesian  well  was  after- 
ward sunk  to  the  depth  of  152  feet.  It  pass- 
ed through  the  following  strata  in  succession  : 


iron  ore  and  clay,  16  feet;  sandstone,  34 
feet;  magnesian  limestone,  *lh  inches;  gray 
sandstone,  inches;  “hard  blue  rock,”  37 
feet;  “pure  iron  ore,”  5 feet;  porphyritic 
rock,  7 feet;  iron  ore  50  feet  to  the  bottom. 
The  ore  appears  to  be  interstratified  with 
the  silicious  rocks  with  which  it  is  associated 
in  a similar  manner  to  its  occurrence  at  the 
other  localities,  and  data  are  yet  wanting  to 
determine  how  much  may  exist  in  the  hill 
itself,  as  well  as  below  it.  Enough  is  seen  to 
justify  any  operations,  however  extensive, 
that  depend  merely  upon  continued  supplies 
of  ore.  In  quality  the  ore  is  a very  pure 
peroxide ; it  melts  easily  in  the  furnace, 
making  a strong  forge  pig,  well  adapted  for 
bar  iron  and  steel.  Two  charcoal  furnaces 
have  been  in  operation  for  a number  of 
years,  and  up  to  the  close  of  1 854  had  pro- 
duced 24,600  tons  of  iron.  The  flux  is  ob- 
tained from  the  magnesian  limestone,  which 
spreads  over  the  adjoining  valley  in  horizon- 
tal strata. 

Pilot  Knob  is  a conical  hill  of  580  feet 
height  above  its  base,  situated  six  miles  south 
of  the  Iron  mountain.  Its  sides  are  steep, 
and  present  bold  ledges  of  hard,  slaty,  sili- 
cious rock,  which  lie  inclined  at  an  angle  of 
25°  to  30°  toward  the  south-west.  Near  the 
top  the  strata  are  more  or  less  charged  with 
the  red  peroxide  of  iron,  and  loose  blocks 
of  great  size  are  seen  scattered  around, 
some  of  them  pure  ore,  and  some  ore  and 
rock  mixed.  At  the  height  of  440  feet 
above  the  base,  where  the  horizontal  section 
of  the  mountain  is  equal  to  an  area  of  fifty- 
three  acres,  a bed  of  ore  is  exposed  to  view 
on  the  north  side,  which  extends  273  feet 
along  its  line  of  outcrop,  and  is  from  nineteen 
to  twenty-four  feet  in  thickness.  It  is  in- 
cluded in  the  slaty  rocks,  and  dips  with 
them.  Other  similar  beds  are  said  to  occur 
lower  down  the  hill ; and  higher  up  others 
are  met  with  to  the  very  summit.  The 
peak  of  the  mountain  is  a craggy  knob  of 
gray  rocks  of  ore,  rising  sixty  feet  in  height, 
and  forming  so  conspicuous  an  object  as  to 
have  suggested  the  name  by  which  the  hill 
is  called.  The  ore  is  generally  of  more  slaty 
structure  than  that  of  the  Iron  mountain, 
and  some  of  it  has  a micaceous  appearance. 
The  quantity  of  very  pure  ore  conveniently  at 
hand  is  inexhaustible.  The  production  of  iron 
will  be  limited  more  for  want  of  abundance 
of  fuel  than  of  ore.  Charcoal,  however,  may 
be  obtained  in  abundance  for  many  years  to 
come,  and  bituminous  coal  may  also  be 


32 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


brought  from  the  coal  mines  of  Missouri  and 
Illinois,  as  the  ores  also  can  be  carried  to 
the  river  to  meet  there  the  fuel.  The  local- 
ity is  already  connected  with  St.  Louis  by  a 
railroad.  A blast  furnace  was  built  here  in 
1846,  and  another  in  1855.  A bloomary 
with  six  fires  was  started  in  1850,  and  has 
produced  blooms  at  an  estimated  cost  of 
$30  per  ton. 

Shepherd  mountain,  about  a mile  distant 
from  the  Pilot  Knob  toward  the  south-west, 
is  composed  of  porphyritic  rocks,  which  are 
penetrated  with  veins  or  dikes  of  both  mag- 
netic and  specular  ores.  These  run  in  vari- 
ous directions,  and  the  ores  they  afford  are 
of  great  purity.  They  are  mined  to  work 
together  with  those  of  the  Pilot  Knob.  The 
mountain  covers  about  800  acres,  and 
rises  to  the  height  of  660  feet  above  its  base. 
Other  localities  of  these  ores  are  also  known, 
and  the  occurrence  of  specular  ore  is  reported 
by  the  state  geologists  in  several  other  coun- 
ties, as  Phelps,  Crawford,  Pulaski,  La  Clede, 
etc. 

In  many  parts  of  the  United  States  and  its 
territories  iron  is  known  to  exist  in  great  quan- 
tities. In  Nebraska  and  Wyoming  territory, 
near  the  line  of  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad, 
large  beds  of  iron  ore  of  good  quality  are  found,- 
in  proximity  to  extensive  coal  deposits,  and 
these  will  be  utilized  for  making  rails  of  iron 
or  steel  for  that  great  thoroughfare.  In 
Kansas,  Colorado,  and  New  Mexico,  are  beds 
of  specular  and  other  ores  in  great  profusion. 
The  northern  territories,  as  well  as  the  Pa- 
cific States  and  territories,  have  abundant 
ores  of  the  richest  qualities,  and  coal  enough 
and  wood  enough  to  melt  them  success- 
fully. 

IRON  MANUFACTURE. 

Iron  is  known  in  the  arts  chiefly  in  three 
forms — cast  iron,  steel,  and  wrought  iron. 
The  first  is  a combination  of  metallic  iron, 
with  from  1^  to  5 or  5^  per  cent,  of  carbon  ; 
the  second  is  metallic  iron  combined  with 
to  1 h per  cent,  of  carbon  ; and  the  third  is 
metallic  iron,  free  as  may  be  from  foreign 
substances.  These  differences  of  composi- 
tion are  accompanied  with  remarkable  differ- 
ences in  the  qualities  of  the  metal,  by  which 
its  usefulness  is  greatly  multiplied.  The 
three  sorts  are  producible  as  desired  directly 
from  the  ores,  and  they  are  also  convertible 
one  into  the  other;  so  that  the  methods  of 
manufacture  are  numerous,  and  new  processes 
are  continually  introduced.  The  production 


of  wrought  iron  direct  from  the  rich  natural 
oxides,  was  until  modern  times  the  only 
method  of  obtaining  the  metal.  Cast  iron 
was  unknown  until  the  15th  century.  Rude 
nations  early  learned  the  simple  method  of 
separating  the  oxygen  from  the  ores  by  heat- 
ing them  in  the  midst  of  burning  charcoal ; 
the  effect  of  which  is  to  cause  the  oxygen  to 
unite  with  the  carbon  in  the  form  of  carbonic 
acid  or  carbonic  oxide  gas,  and  escape,  leav- 
ing the  iron  free,  and  in  a condition  to  be 
hammered  at  once  into  bars.  The  heat  they 
could  command  in  their  small  fires  was  in- 
sufficient to  effect  the  combination  of  the 
iron,  too,  with  the  carbon,  and  produce  the 
fusible  compound  known  as  cast  iron.  In 
modern  times  the  great  branch  of  the  busi- 
ness is  the  production  of  pig  metal  or  cast 
iron  in  blast  furnaces ; and  this  is  afterward 
remelted  and  cast  in  moulds  into  the  forms 
required,  or  it  is  converted  into  wrought  iron 
to  serve  some  of  the  innumerable  uses  of 
this  kind  of  iron,  or  to  be  changed  again  into 
steel.  In  this  order  the  principal  branches 
of  the  manufacture  will  be  noticed. 

The  production  of  pig  metal  in  blast  fur- 
naces is  the  most  economical  mode  of  separa- 
ting iron  from  its  ores,  especially  if  these  are 
not  extremely  rich.  The  process  requiring 
little  labor,  except  in  charging  the  'furnaces, 
and  this  being  done  in  great  part  by  labor- 
saving  machines,  it  can  be  carried  on  upon 
an  immense  scale  with  the  employment  of 
few  persons,  and  most  of  those  ordinary  la- 
borers. The  business,  moreover,  has  been 
greatly  simplified  and  its  scale  enlarged  by 
the  substitution  of  mineral  coal  for  charcoal — 
the  latter  fuel,  indeed,  could  never  have  been 
supplied  to  meet  the  modern  demands  of  the 
manufacture. 

Blastfurnaces  are  heavy  structures  of  stone 
work,  usually  in  pyramidal  form,  built  upon 
a base  of  30  to  45  feet  square,  and  from  30 
to  60  feet  in  height.  The  outer  walls,  con- 
structed with  immense  solidity  and  firmly 
bound  together,  inclose  a central  cavity, 
which  extends  from  top  to  bottom  and  is 
lined  with  large  fire  brick  of  the  most  refrac- 
tory character,  and  specially  adapted  in  their 
shapes  to  the  required  contour  of  the  interior. 
The  form  of  this  cavity  is  circular  in  its  hori- 
zontal section,  and  from  the  top  goes  on  en- 
larging to  the  lower  portion,  where  it  begins 
to  draw  in  by  the  walls  changing  their  slope 
toward  the  centre.  This  forms  what  are 
called  the  boshes  of  the  furnace — the  part 
which  supports  the  great  weight  of  the  ores 


CASTING  PIG  IKON. 


BLAST  FURNACE.  CASTING  STEEL  INGOTS. 


IRON. 


33 


and  fuel  that  fill  the  interior.  For  ores  that 
melt  easily  and  fast  they  are  made  steeper 
than  for  those  which  are  slowly  reduced. 
The  boshes  open  below  into  the  hearth — the 
central  contracted  space  which  the  French 
name  the  crucible  of  the  furnace.  The 
walls  of  this  are  constructed  of  the  most  re- 
fractory stones  of  large  size,  carefully  selected 
for  their  power  to  resist  the  action  of  fire, 
and  seasoned  by  exposure  for  a year  or  more 
after  being  taken  from  the  quarry.  Being 
the  first  portion  to  give  out,  the  stack  is  built 
so  that  they  can  be  replaced  when  necessary. 
The  hearth  is  reached  on  each  side  of  the 
stack  by  an  arch,  extending  in  from  the  out- 
side. On  three  sides  the  blast  is  introduced 
by  iron  pipes  that  pass  through  the  hearth- 
stones, and  terminate  in  a hollow  tuyere, 
which  is  kept  from  melting  by  a current  of 
water  brought  by  a lead  or  block-tin  pipe, 
and  made  to  flow  continually  through  and 
around  its  hollow  shell.  The  fourth  side  is 
the  front  or  working-arch  of  the  furnace,  at  the 
bottom  of  which  access  is  had  to  the  melted 
materials  as  they  collect  in  the  receptacle  pro- 
vided for  them  at  the  base  of  the  hearth  or 
crucible.  This  arch  opens  out  into  the  cast- 
ing-house, upon  the  floor  of  which  are  the 
beds  in  the  sand  for  moulding  the  pigs  into 
which  the  iron  is  to  be  cast.  Upon  the  top 
of  the  stack  around  the  central  cavity  are 
constructed,  in  first-class  furnaces,  large  flues, 
which  open  into  this  cavity  for  the  purpose 
of  taking  off  a portion  of  the  heated  gaseous 
mixtures,  that  they  may  be  conveyed  under 
the  boilers,  to  be  there  more  effectually  con- 
sumed, and  furnish  the  heat  for  raising  steam 
for  the  engines.  A portion  of  the  gases  is 
also  led  into  a large  heating-oven,  usually 
built  on  the  top  of  the  stack,  in  which  the 
blast  (distributed  through  a series  of  cast  iron 
pipes)  is  heated  by  the  combustion.  These 
pipes  are  then  concentrated  into  one  main, 
which  passes  down  the  stack  and  delivers  the 
heated  air  to  the  tuyeres,  thus  returning  to 
the  furnace  a large  portion  of  the  heat 
which  would  otherwise  escape  at  the  top,  and 
adding  powerfully  to  the  efficiency  of  the 
blast  by  its  high  temperature.  The  boilers, 
also  conveniently  arranged  on  the  top  of  the 
furnace,  especially  when  two  furnaces  are 
constructed  near  together,  are  heated  by  the 
escape  gases  without  extra  expense  of  fuel, 
and  they  furnish  steam  to  the  engines,  which 
are  usually  placed  below  them.  On  account 
of  the  enormous  volume  of  air,  and  the 
great  pressure  at  which  it  is  blown  into  the 


furnace,  the  engines  are  of  the  most  power- 
ful kind,  and  the  blowing  cylinders  are  of 
great  dimensions  and  strength.  Some  of 
the  large  anthracite  furnaces  employ  cylin- 
ders 7 h feet  diameter,  and  9 feet  stroke.  One 
of  these  running  at  the  rate  of  9 revolutions 
per  minute,  and  its  piston  acting  in  both  di- 
rections, should  propel  every  minute  7,128 
cubic  feet  of  air  (less  the  loss  by  leakage) 
into  the  furnace — a much  greater  weight  than 
that  of  all  the  other  materials  introduced. 
It  is,  moreover,  driven  in  at  a pressure  (pro- 
duced by  the  contracted  aperture  of  the 
nozzle  of  the  tuyeres  in  relation  to  the  great 
volume  of  air)  of  7 or  8 lbs.  upon  the  square 
inch.  Two  such  cylinders  answer  for  a pair 
of  the  largest  furnaces,  and  should  be  driven 
by  separate  engines,  so  that  in  case  of  acci- 
dent the  available  power  may  be  extended  to 
either  or  both  furnaces.  It  is  apparent  that 
the  engines,  too,  should  be  of  the  largest  class 
and  most  perfect  construction  ; for  the  blast 
is  designed  to  be  continued  with  only  tem- 
porary interruptions  that  rarely  exceed  an 
hour  at  a time,  so  long  as  the  hearth  may 
remain  in  running  order — a period,  it  may  be, 
of  18  months,  or  even  4 or  5 years.  Fur- 
naces were  formerly  built  against  a high  bank, 
upon  the  top  of  which  the  stock  of  ore  and 
coal  was  accumulated,  and  thence  carried 
across  a bridge,  to  be  delivered  into  the 
tunnel-head  or  mouth  of  the  furnace.  The 
more  common  arrangement  at  present  is  to 
construct,  a little  to  one  side,  an  elevator, 
provided  with  two  platforms  of  sufficient 
size  to  receive  several  barrows.  The  moving 
power  is  the  weight  of  a body  of  water  let 
into  a reservoir  under  the  platform  when  it 
is  at  the  top.  This  being  allowed  to  descend 
with  the  empty  barrows,  draws  up  the  other 
platform  with  its  load,  and  the  water  is  dis- 
charged by  a self-regulating  valve  at  the 
bottom.  The  supply  of  water  is  furnished 
to  a tank  in  the  top  either  by  pumps  con- 
nected with  the  steam  engine  or  by  the  head 
of  its  source. 

The  furnaces  of  the  United  States,  though 
not  congregated  together  in  such  large  num- 
bers as  at  some  of' the  great  establishments 
in  England  and  Scotland,  arc  unsurpassed  in 
the  perfection  of  their  construction,  apparatus, 
and  capacity  ; and  none  of  large  size  are  prob- 
ably worked  in  any  part  of  Europe  with  such 
economy  of  materials.  The  Siemen’s  regen- 
erating furnace  is  adopted  in  those  more 
recently  built,  wherever  an  intense  heat  is 
required  for  the  reduction  of  the  ores. 


34 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


WROUGHT  IRON. 

It  has  been,  in  the  past,  a just  ground  of 
complaint  against  the  producers  of  wroug  lit 
iron  and  steel,  that  they  could  not  reduce 
either  directly  from  the  ore — but  must  go 
through  the  long  and  tedious  processes  of  first 
making  pig  or  cast  iron,  then  eliminating  the 
carbon  from  the  cast  iron  by  a still  more 
tedious  process  to  produce  the  wrought  iron, 
and  then  restore  a part  of  the  carbon  to  make 
steel.  It  was  said  with  truth  that  the  half 
civilized  Hindoo  tribes  and  even  the  barbar- 
ous Fans  of  West  Africa,  made  their  native 
wrought  iron  (the  wootz  of  India)  directly 
from  the  ore  of  an  excellent  quality,  and  by 
a much  simpler  process  than  was  adopted 
either  in  Europe  or  the  United  States. 

There  has  been,  until  within  the  past  fif- 
teen or  eighteen  years,  a spirit  strongly  ad- 
verse to  progress  or  improvement  among 
iron  producers.  By  their  rude  and  wasteful 
processes  and  their  adherence  to  traditional 
methods  and  tests,  they  succeeded  in  making 
a fair  though  not  very  uniform  quality  of 
wrought  iron,  at  a pretty  high  cost,  but  they 
deprecated  any  change  even  if  it  were  for 
the  better.  The  philosophy  and  chemistry 
of  iron-making  were  not  well  understood, 
and  the  time  and  way  of  its  “ coming  to  na- 
ture ” a term  which  conveys  the  idea  of  a 
mystery,  was  a secret  which  could  only  be 
learned,  it  was  thought,  by  some  supernatural 
inspiration  or  some  extraordinary  skill,  only 
to  be  acquired  by  long  experience  and  care- 
ful observation. 

The  Bessemer  process,  invented  and  put 
in  practice  about  1852,  first  disturbed  this 
popular  idea ; but  in  its  earlier  history  this  pro- 
cess was  not  entirely  free  from  guess-work  and 
the  coming-to-nature  theory  by  some  sudden 
and  unexplicable  change  ; subsequent  discov- 
eries and  experiments  removed  this  mystery 
entirely,  and  there  is  not,  to-day,  in  practical 
chemistry  and  metallurgy  a more  thoroughly- 
defined  science  than  that  of  making  iron 
The  iron  master,  who  is  fully  educated  foi 
his  business,  having  before  him  an  accurate 
analysis  of  his  ores,  and  knowing,  as  lie  can 
if  he  will,  that  they  are  constant  in  their 
composition,  proceeds  with  the  utmost  cer- 
tainty to  add  other  ores,  or  to  permeate  the 
molten  ore  with  atmospheric  air,  or  to  force 
additional  oxygen  through  it  by  means  of 
nitrate  of  soda,  nitrate  of  potassa,  peroxide 
of  iron,  or  other  oxygen-yielding  compound, 
or  introduces  a definite  quantity  of  man- 


ganese, powdered  charcoal,  or  spiegeleisen, 
or  in  some  cases  silica,  to  act  as  flux  and 
remove  the  sulphur,  phosphorus,  or  other  im- 
purity, and  to  destroy  the  excess  of  carbon. 
He  knows,  too,  just  what  heat  is  requisite, 
and  how  long  it  must  be  continued  to  pro- 
duce a certain  result  every  time.  Here  is 
no  guess-work,  no  “ rule  of  thumb,”  no  un- 
certainty. If  he  requires  the  best  steel  for 
rails,  he  can  furnish  it  of  precisely  standard 
quality  every  time ; if  he  is  producing  steel 
for  the  finest  cutlery  he  can  produce  that ; if 
he  desires  a wrought  iron  which  shall  be  so 
tough  and  flexible  that  it  can  be  bent  double 
cold  without  any  symptoms  of  flaw  or  crack, 
he  knows  just  what  percentage  of  the  differ- 
ent ores,  what  eliminating  processes,  and 
what  amount  and  duration  of  heat  is  neces- 
sary to  produce  it. 

Now,  as  in  the  past,  there  are  different 
grades  and  qualities  of  cast  iron,  wrought 
iron,  and  steel,  intended  for  different  pur- 
poses, made  from  different  ores,  and  possess- 
ing different  degrees  of  tenacity,  hardness, 
and  ductility  ; but  the  iron-maker  who  can- 
not produce  from  a given  ore,  or  ores,  that 
description  of  iron  which  he  desires,  without 
failure,  does  not  understand  his  business. 

Cast  iron  contains,  according  to  the  pur- 
pose for  which  it  is  intended,  from  five  to 
six  and  a half  per  cent  of  pure  carbon, 
either  chemically  or  mechanically  combined, 
and  except  the  combination  of  iron  with  hy- 
drogen, which  is  its  normal  condition,  it  is 
not  the  better  for  any  admixture  of  other 
metals  or  elements,  though  for  some  purposes 
a small  percentage  of  manganese,  tungsten, 
or  even  a little  silicon,  are  not  disadvantage- 
ous. As  a matter  of  practical  fact,  however, 
both  sulphur  and  phosphorus  are  usually 
present,  though  in  good  samples  in  very 
small  amount.  By  sufficient  care  they  can 
be  almost  entirely  eliminated,  and  are  so  in 
the  best  steel  and  wrought  iron. 

Steel,  according  to  the  purpose  to  which 
s»  is  to  be  applied,  contains,  in  chemical  com- 
oination  it  is  believed,  from  six-tenths  to  one 
and  six-tenths  per  cent,  of  carbon,  and  should 
have  no  other  ingredient.  Wrought  iron, 
apart  from  its  ordinary  combination  with 
hydrogen,  should  be  entirely  free  from  sul- 
phur, phosphorus,  or  silicon,  and  though  for 
some  purposes,  a little  manganese,  tungsten, 
and  a very  small  percentage  of  carbon  may 
not  prove  disadvantageous,  yet  practically  a 
pure  iron  is  preferable  to  any  alloy,  "i  et  it 
is  seldom  actually  free  from  impurities. 


IRON. 


35 


What  is  usually  denominated  pure  iron,  melts 
with  great  difficulty  and  only  at  a very  much 
greater  heat  than  either  steel  or  cast  iron. 
In  actual  practice  it  is  never  melted,  but  when 
the  mass  attains  a pasty  or  semi-glutinous 
condition,  it  is  by  one  process  or  another, 
either  hammered,  pressed,  or  squeezed  till 
the  impurities  are  forced  out  of  it.  Abso- 
lutely pure  iron,  i.  e.  iron  free  from  hydrogen 
as  well  as  other  impurities,  is  one  of  the 
rarest  metals  in  the  world,  and  was  isolated 
completely  for  the  first  time  in  1860.  It  is 
a white  metal  very  ductile,  and  tenacious  and 
so  soft  as  to  be  easily  cut  with  a knife.  The 
Bessemer  process  for  eliminating  the  car- 
bon both  for  producing  wrought  iron  and 
steel,  as  now  conducted,  is  as  follows  : A 
quantity  of  pig  iron  of  some  grade  whose 
percentage  of  carbon  is  known,  is  melted  in 
one  or  more  reverberating  furnaces,  accord- 
ing to  the  size  of  the  converting  vessel  to  be 
used,  which  varies  in  capacity  from  five  to 
twelve  tons.  When  the  metal  becomes  fluid, 
it  is  run  into  the  converting  vessel,  to  which 
is  applied  a strong  blast  of  air,  which  com- 
bines with  the  carbon  at  an  intense  white 
heat.  This  is  continued  for  about  eight  or 
ten  minutes,  until  the  whole  of  the  carbon  is 
consumed,  when  the  blast  is  stopped.  It  is 
now  wrought  iron,  requiring  only  to  be 
squeezed  or  hammered  to  force  out  whatever 
impurities  there  may  be  in  it.  If,  as  is  gen- 
erally the  case,  it  is  deemed  desirable  to 
make  it  into  the  Bessemer  steel  or  homoge- 
neous steel  or  iron,  as  it  is  called  on  the  con- 
tinent, a quantity  of  metal,  usually  a pure 
pig  iron,  with  a known  quantity  of  carbon, 
is  melted  and  run  into  the  converting  vessel 
to  furnish  carbon  in  the  exact  proportion  to 
make  the  quality  of  steel  desired,  and  this 
combining  with  the  refined  iron  gives  to  the 
mass  all  the  properties  and  characteristics  of 
steel.  This  process,  though  practically  a 
very  rapid  one,  is  liable  to  the  objection 
which  held  against  the  old  processes,  that 
there  is  a time  in  the  process  of  eliminating 
the  carbon  from  the  pig  iron  when  the  mass 
of  iron  has  just  enough  carbon  to  form  good 
steel ; and  that  by  this  process  that  point  is 
passed  and  the  whole  of  the  carbon  expelled, 
the  mass  reduced  to  the  condition  of  wrought 
iron,  and  then  brought  up  to  the  condition 
of  steel  by  the  addition  of  a percentage  of 
cast  iron.  This  elimination  and  restoration 
of  the  carbon  involves  waste  of  time,  of  heat, 
and  of  iron ; and  hence  efforts  have  been 


made  to  convert  pig  iron  and  iron  ore  into 
steel  by  a single  process. 

Most  of  the  methods  proposed  and  abiding 
the  test  of  actual  manufacture  are  intended 
for  the  reduction  of  pig  iron  or  ore  to  steel, 
and  so  come  more  properly  under  the  head 
of  steel ; but  a few  of  them  are  equally  ap- 
plicable to  the  production  of  wrought  iron. 

Among  these  were  the  ingenious  sugges- 
tions of  a New  York  chemist,  Prof.  A.  K. 
Eaton,  at  first  applied  to  the  malleable  cast 
iron  to  partially  decarbonize  it.  He  pro- 
posed the  use  of  the  native  carbonate  of  zinc 
as  a flux  to  furni-h  the  oxygen  to  consume 
the  excess  of  carbon.  The  objection  to  this 
process  was  two-fold — that  the  zinc  com- 
bined in  a small  proportion  with  the  iron, — 
and  that  the  process  was  too  expensive  to  be 
successful.  He  afterward  proposed  to  sub- 
stitute crude  soda-ash  for  the  zinc — a su£- 
gestion  in  the  right  direction  ; for  the  sodium 
will  combine  with  the  sulphur  and  phospho- 
rus, and  thus  help  to  remove  the  impurities 
from  the  iron ; but  the  crude  soda  ash  is  too 
uncertain  in  its  composition,  too  full  of  im- 
purities, and  does  not  yield  its  oxygen  with 
sufficient  readiness  to  be  practically  the  best 
flux  for  this  purpose. 

The  process  of  Messrs.  Whelpley  & Storer 
seems  one  of  the  best  of  the  numerous  Ameri- 
can processes.  The  oxide  of  carbon,  i.  e* 
coal  gas,  half  or  imperfectly  burned,  is  the 
grand  agent  for  making  iron  and  steel  from 
all  the  German  and  English  furnaces,  but 
the  great  difficulty  has  been  to  apply  the 
powerful  agent  in  such  a way  as  to  reduce 
directly  from  the  ore  without  going  through 
the  pig  iron  manufacture,  the  wrought  or 
bar  iron,  or  steel,  and  free  it  from  the  impu- 
rities which  exist  more  or  less  in  all  ores  as 
well  as  in  much  of  the  pig  iron.  Messrs. 
Whelpley  & Storer  effect  this  by  means  of  a 
machine  of  their  own  invention,  which  is 
really  nothing  less  than  the  chemist’s  blow 
pipe  on  a grand  scale.  The  oxide  of  carbon 
is  generated  at  the  moment  of  using  it  upon 
the  mass  of  ore,  by  the  injection  of  a column 
of  hot  air  carrying  an  excessively  fine  dust 
of  coal  or  charcoal.  The  ore  spread  out 
upon  the  floor  of  a common  reverberating 
furnace  receives  the  red  hot  blast,  while  it 
is  rapidly  stirred  by  the  workman,  and  pure 
iron  in  minute  grains  is  produced  in  any 
desired  quantity,  from  100  to  2,000  pounds 
or  more  at  a heat.  If  the  mass  is  balled  up, 
squeezed,  and  passed  through  roller  it  is 


36 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


bar  iron  of  superior  quality.  If  the  time  of 
the  process  is  extended  one  hour,  or  even 
less,  the  iron  absorbs  carbon  from  the  blast 
and  becomes  a light  sponge  of  steel,  which 
melts  in  the  crucible  or  steel  puddling  fur- 
nace, and  is  cast  into  ingots  of  sound  and  pure 
metal.  If  continued  still  longer  larger  quan- 
tities of  carbon  are  absorbed  and  the  mass  is 
converted  into  cast  iron.  The  steel  and  cast 
iron  as  well  as  the  bar  iron  are  of  superior 
quality,  and  remarkable  tenacity  and  strength. 
Steel  is  made  in  this  process  in  eight  hours 
from  crude  ore  to  finished  bar  ; and  bar  iron 
in  little  more  than  half  that  time.  It  is  re- 
quisite to  the  success  of  the  process  that  the 
carbon  should  be  pulverized  to  an  impalpa- 
ble powder  of  the  last  degree  of  fineness,  that 
thus  infinitely  subdivided  and  blown  upon 
the  mass  it  may  carry  condensed  upon  its 
surface  nearly  oxygen  enough  to  consume 
it,  and  thus  produce  extreme  rapidity,  in- 
tensity, and  thoroughness  of  combustion. 
This  pulverization  is  effected,  for  the  first 
time,  by  an  ingenious  machine  invented  by 
Messrs.  Whelpley  & Storer.  What  Messrs. 
Whelpley  & Storer  accomplish  by  their  great 
blow-pipe  and  minute  pulverization  of  car- 
bon, Mr.  C.  W.  Siemens  effects  in  an  en- 
tirely different  way  by  his  regenerating  fur- 
nace ; an  apparatus  requiring  in  the  first 
place,  a somewhat  more  extensive  and  costly 
structure,  but  in  the  end  accomplishing  the 
same  result  of  producing  a rapid  and  intense 
heat  and  an  atmosphere  of  oxide  of  carbon 
with  a comparatively  small  expenditure  of 
fuel.  The  necessity  that  the  furnace  linings 
should  be  almost  absolutely  indestructible  by 
the  intense  heat  generated  makes  the  first 
cost  of  a regenerating  furnace  very  heavy. 

There  are  three  distinct  principles  em- 
bodied in  the  Siemens’  furnace,  viz : the 
applica  tion  of  gaseous  fuel ; the  regeneration 
of  heat  by  means  of  piles  of  bricks  alternately 
passed  over  by  the  waste  gases  and  by  the  | 
atmospheric  air  entering  the  furnace  before 
their  combustion  ; and  the  chemical  action  of 
these  gases  in  combining  with  the  impurities 
of  the  ore  or  the  pig  iron,  and  in  modifying 
the  quantity  of  carbon  in  combination  with 
the  iron,  for  the  production  of  steel. 

The  gas  producer  is  a brick  chamber  of 
convenient  size,  say  six  feet  wide  by  twelve 
long,  with  its  front  wall  inclined  at  an  angle 
of  45°  to  60°,  according  to  the  nature  of  the 
fuel  used.  The  inclined  plane  is  solid  about 
half  way  down,  and  below  this  it  is  con-  j 
structed  as  a grate  with  horizontal  bars.  It 


is  what  is  called  a base-burner,  the  openings 
for  introducing  the  coal  being  on  the  top  or 
roof  of  this  chamber,  and  the  air  which  en- 
ters through  the  grate  effects  the  oombustion 
of  the  coal  at  the  lowest  points  of  the  cham- 
ber. The  products  of  this  combustion  rise 
and  are  decomposed  by  the  superposed  strata 
of  .coal  above  them ; they  are,  moreover, 
mixed  with  a quantity  of  steam  which  is 
drawn  in  through  the  grate  from  a constant 
supply  of  water  maintained  underneath  the 
latter.  The  steam  in  contact  with  the  in- 
candescent coal  also  decomposes  and  produ- 
ces hydrogen  and  carbonic  oxide  gas,  which 
are  mixed  with  the  gases  produced  by  the 
coal  direct.  The  whole  volume  of  these 
gases  is  then  conducted  to  the  furnace  itself 
by  means  of  wrought  iron  pipes.  The  gases 
enter  one  of  the  regenerators.  The  regen- 
erators are  chambers  packed  with  fire-bricks, 
which  are  built  up  in  walls,  with  interstices 
and  air-spaces  between  them  (cob-house  fash- 
ion as  we  should  say)  allowing  of  a free  pas- 
sage of  gas  around  each  brick.  Each  regen- 
erator consists  of  two  adjoining  chambers  of 
this  kind,  with  air-passages  parallel  to  each 
other,  one  passage  destined  for  the  gaseous 
fuel,  and  the  other  for  the  supply  of  atmos- 
pheric air  required  for  combustion.  Each 
furnace  has  two  such  regenerators,  and  a 
set  of  valves  is  provided  in  the  main  passa- 
ges or  flues,  which  permit  of  directing  the 
gases  from  the  producer  to  the  bottom  of 
either  of  the  two  regenerators.  The  gases 
after  passing  one  regenerator  arrive  at  the 
furnace,  where  they  are  mixed  with  the  air 
drawn  in  at  the  same  time,  and  produce  a 
flame  of  great  heat  and  intensity  within  the 
body  of  the  furnace  itself.  They  then  pass, 
after  combustion,  into  the  second  regenerator 
wThich  forms  a set  of  down  flues  for  the  waste 
gases,  and  ultimately  leads  ihem  off*  into  a 
common  chimney.  On  their  way  from  the 
furnace  to  the  chimney  the  heated  products 
of  combustion  raise  the  temperature  of  the 
fire-bricks,  over  which  they  pass,  to  a very 
high  degree,  and  the  gases  are  so  much 
cooled  that,  at  the  base  of  the  chimney,  they 
do  not  produce  a temperature  of  much  more 
than  300°  Fahrenheit.  After  a certain  time 
the  fire-bricks  close  to  the  furnace  obtain  a 
temperature  almost  equal  to  that  of  the  fur- 
nace itself,  and  a gradually  diminishing  tem- 
perature exists  in  the  bricks  of  the  regenera- 
tor proportionate  to  their  distance  from  the 
furnace.  At  this  moment  the  attendant,  by 
reversing  the  different  valves  of  the  furnace, 


IRON. 


37 


opens  the  heated  regenerator  for  the  entrance 
of  the  gaseous  fuel  and  atmospheric  air,  at 
the  same  time  connecting  the  other  regen- 
erator with  the  chimney  for  taking  off  the 
products  of  combustion  The  entire  current 
of  gases  through  the  furnace  is  thus  reversed. 
The  cold  air  from  the  atmosphere,  and  the 
comparatively  cold  gases  from  the  producer, 
in  passing  over  bricks  of  gradually  increas- 
ing temperature  as  they  approach  the  furnace 
become  intensely  heated,  and  when  they  are 
mixed  in  the  furnace  itself,  enter  into  com- 
bustion under  the  most  favorable  circumstan- 
ces for  the  production  of  an  intense  heat,  often 
rising  to  4000°  Fahrenheit  in  the  furnace. 
By  changing  the  relative  proportion  of  air 
and  gas  admitted  through  the  flues^  the  na- 
ture of  the  flame  may  be  altered  at  will.  A 
surplus  of  oxygen  from  the  introduction  of 
more  than  half  the  volume  of  atmospheric 
air  will  produce  an  oxidizing  flame,  suited  to 
the  production  of  very  pure  bar  iron.  By 
the  admission  of  a surplus  of  gas,  on  the  con- 
trary, the  flame  can  be  made  of  a reductive 
character  and  used  accordingly  for  deoxida- 
tion. 

Berard’s  process  for  making  steel  by  gas, 
directly  from  pig  iron,  or  ore,  requires  the 
Siemens  furnace,  which  he  constructs  with 
the  bottom  formed  into  two  parts  each  hol- 
lowed out  like  a dish,  with  a bridge  between 
them,  upon  which  the  pigs  introduced  into 
the  furnace  receive  a preliminary  heating. 
The  flame  is  maintained  with  a surplus  of 
oxygen,  and  a quantity  of  pig  iron  is  melted 
in  one  of  the  chambers  or  dishes.  The  oxi- 
dizing action  of  the  flame  decarbonizes  and 
refines  the  pig  iron,  and  after  a certain  time 
a second  quantity  of  pigs  is  thrown  into 
the  second  dish  and  melted  there.  The  flame 
is  now  reversed  in  its  direction ; the  oxidiz- 
ing flame  is  made  to  enter  at  the  side  where 
the  fresh  pig  is  placed.  In  passing  over  this, 
and  oxidizing  the  carbon,  silicon,  and  other 
impurities  in  the  iron,  the  flame  loses  its  sur- 
plus oxygen,  and  becomes  of  a neutral,  or  at 
least  only  slightly  oxidizing  character.  In 
dhis  state  it  passes  over  the  other  bath  of 
molten  iron,  now  partly  refined,  and  it  con- 
tinues to  act  upon  the  impurities  without  at- 
tacking the  iron  itself.  At  a certain  moment 
this  portion  of  iron  is  completely  converted 
into  steel,  and  that  part  of  the  furnace  is  then 
tapped,  so  as  to  make  room  for  a fresh  charge 
of  pigs  in  that  place.  After  that,  the  current 
of  gases  is  again  reversed,  the  second  bath 
now  entering  into  the  position  previously 


taken  by  the  first,  and  so  the  process  is  car- 
ried on  continuously  with  two  portions  of 
iron — one  freshly  introduced  and  acted  upon 
by  the  oxidizing  flame,  the  other  partly  con- 
verted into  steel  and  exposed  to  the  neutral 
flame  passing  away  from  the  first.  M.  Be- 
rard  states  that  by  protracting  his  process, 
and  by  adding  spiegeleisen  he  can  remove 
sulphur  and  phosphorus  from  the  iron,  and 
make  steel  from  inferior  pigs. 

The  Messrs.  Martin  of  Sireuil,  France, 
have,  with  a Siemens  furnace,  succeeded  in 
melting  with  pig  iron,  old  iron  rails,  wrought 
iron  scrap,  puddled  steel,  &c.,  in  the  propor- 
tion of  two-thirds  old  rails  to  one-third  pig 
iron,  and  have  made  from  the  compound  an 
excellent  and  low-priced  steel  for  rails. 

Mr.  Siemens  himself  patented,  in  1868, 
and  has  since  that  time  worked,  a process  for 
making  natural  or  “ raw  ” steel  directly  from 
the  ore  by  means  of  a modification  of  his 
furnace.  This  can  only  be  done  successfully 
it  is  said  by  the  use  of  the  purest  and  best 
ores.  Of  other  processes  we  may  mention 
that  of  Mr.  James  Henderson,  an  eminent 
founder,  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  who,  using  the 
Bessemer  process,  has  improved  it  by  charg- 
ing the  blast  furnace  with  a mixture  of  iron 
and  Manganese  ores,  or  any  of  the  Manga- 
niferous  iron  ores,  thus  incorporating  the 
indispensable  manganese,  and  causing  it  to 
exert  its  beneficial  influence,  in  purifying  and 
refining  the  iron,  at  the  beginning,  instead 
of  the  end  of  the  pneumatic  process. 

Mr.  John  Heaton  of  Nottingham,  England, 
has  been  successful  in  oxidizing  and  remov- 
ing the  carbon  and  other  impurities  with 
great  rapidity  by  the  use  of  nitrate  of  soda 
with  the  molten  metal  in  the  following  way : 
The  “ converter  ” consists  of  a large  wrought 
iron  pot,  lined  with  fire  clay ; into  the  bot- 
tom of  this  a suitable  quantity  (about  6 per 
cent,  usually  of  the  weight  of  the  pig  iron  or 
ore),  of  crude  nitrate  of  soda  combined  with 
silicious  sand,  is  introduced,  and  the  whole 
' covered  with  a cast-iron  perforated  plate, 
j The  molten  pig  is  then  poured  in  and  in 
about  two  minutes  the  reaction  commences ; 
at  first,  brown  nitrous  fumes  are  evolved, 
and  after  a lapse  of  five  or  six  minutes,  a 
I violent  deflagration  occurs  attended  with  a 
loud  roaring  noise,  and  a burst  from  the  top 
I of  the  chimney  of  brilliant  yellow  flame, 

I which,  in  about  a minute  and  a half  subsides 
as  rapidly  as  it  commenced.  When  all  has 
become  tranquil  the  converter  is  detached 
from  the  chimney  and  its  contents  emptied 


38 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


upon  the  iron  pavement  of  the  foundry.  The 
steel  thus  produced  is  pronounced  by  eminent 
metallurgists  of  excellent  quality  and  prac- 
tically free  from  impurities  (the  sodium  com- 
bining with  the  sulphur  and  phosphorus), 
and  it  was  satisfactorily  demonstrated  that 
uniformity  of  quality  was  attainable.  The 
process  is  much  more  rapid  than  any  other, 
but  Mr.  Bessemer  asserts  that  the  addition  of 
the  nitrate  of  soda  makes  the  cost  of  a ton  of 
steel  about  five  dollars  more  than  by  his 
method.  Mr.  Hargreaves  has  patented  a 
modification  of  this  process,  combining  the 
nitrate  of  soda  with  hematite  ore  to  form  a 
paste,  and  claims  that  he  thus  obtains  addi- 
tional supply  of  oxygen.  He  states  that  he 
can  make  refined  iron  for  puddling  by  the 
use  of  about  3 per  cent,  of  nitrate  of  soda 
and  six  per  cent,  of  hematite  ; steel  by  eight 
to  ten  per  cent,  of  nitrate  of  soda  and  an 
equal  weight  of  binoxide  of  manganese,  and 
the  best  quality  of  wrought  iron. 

Mr.  F.  Kohn,  an  English  steel  manufac- 
turer, had,  in  1868,  made  use  of  the  Siemens 
regenerating  furnace  by  a new  process,  melt- 
ing a given  quantity  of  the  best  and  finest 
wrought  iron  in  a bath  of  molten  cast  iron, 
carried  to  the  highest  heat  of  that  furnace 
and  thus  making  a pure  steel  at  one  heat 
without  puddling  or  cementation.  By  his 
process  old  railroad  iron,  scrap  iron,  and  scrap 
steel,  can  be  converted  at  once  into  steel  of 
the  best  quality  for  rails. 

A Mr.  Wilson,  of  Stockton-on-Tees,  Eng- 
land, has  patented  a modification  of  the  Sie- 
mens furnace  which  attains  the  same  object 
with  a still  greater  saving  of  fuel,  by  forcing 
air  into  the  flue-bridge  by  a 'steam-jet,  and 
causing  it  to  pass  into  a conduit  at  the  back 
of  the  furnace,  ancl  thence  into  the  flame- 
bridge  and  up  into  a chamber  from  which,  in 
a red-hot  condition,  it  passes  into  and  on  to 
the  incandescent  fuel.  By  this  improvement 
there  is  no  necessity  of  grate-bars  to  the  fur- 
nace, most  of  the  fettling  is  saved,  the  steam 
from  the  heated  water  is  at  once  decomposed 
and  adds  its  quota  to  the  intensity  of  the  heat 
which  burns  up  all  the  smoke  and  nearly  all 
the  cinder  and  slag.  The  saving  in  fuel  is 
said  to  be  about  one-third  over  the  Siemens 
furnace,  and  the  heat  is  all  applied  directly 
to  the  removal  of  impurities  and  slag  from 
the  ores  and  cast  iron. 

The  Shoenberger  Junta  Works,  at  Pitts- 
burgh, Pa.,  have  patented  a method  of  mak- 
ing refined  iron  and  steel  by  a new  process 
which  is  both  simple  and  ingenious,  melting 


in  a blast  furnace  a quantity  of  crude  cast 
iron  of  whatever  quality  they  may  have,  they 
run  it  into  a large  kettle  of  a capacity  of  five 
tons  and  thence  from  it  in  a stream  about  a 
foot  wide  into  a circular  revolving  trough, 

©O’ 

twelve  inches  wide  and  ten  inches  deep  and 
let  fall  upon  the  molten  metal  from  a hopper, 
pulverized  iron  ore,  Lake  Superior,  Cham- 
plain, or  Iron  mountain,  in  sufficient  quantity 
to  cover  the  melted  metal  as  fast  as  it  is 
poured  in.  When  the  trough  is  full,  and 
before  the  iron  cools,  it  is  broken  up  into 
slabs  of  suitable  size  for  a heating  furnace, 
when  it  is  only  necessary  to  heat  it  as  blooms 
are  heated,  and  put  it  through  the  machinery 
to  produce  the  best  quality  of  horse-shoe  bars, 
or  by  a (Slight  variation  of  the  process,  ex- 
cellent steel. 

Mr.  David  Stewart,  of  Kittaniny,  Pa.,  has 
patented  a method  of  freeing  cast  iron  from 
its  carbon,  sulphur,  phosphorus,  &c.,  by  pour- 
ing the  melted  metal  at  full  heat  from  a 
height  of  perhaps  thirty  feet  in  a thin  stream 
or  shower  upon  the  ground  in  such  a way  as 
that  it  shall  receive  the  action  of  atmospheric 
air  over  its  entire  surface,  or  if  preferred, 
through  a cylinder  thirty  feet  or  more  in 
height,  and  open  at  both  ends,  into  which  air 
is  constantly  forced.  He  claims  to  have 
tested  this  process  very  thoroughly  and  to  be 
capable  of  making  pure  iron  or  steel  by  it 
without  puddling  and  without  retaining  any 
cinder  or  impurities.  Messrs.  J.  R.  Bradley 
and  M.  D.  Brown  of  Chicago,  111.,  patented 
in  1868  eight  recipes  of  ingredients  to  be 
added  to  melted  scrap  or  malleable  iron 
which  they  claimed  would  produce  in  each 
case  the  precise  kind  of  steel  wanted,  and  of 
the  best  quality.  A Mr.  J.  Edwin  Sherman, 
formerly  a blacksmith  of  Bucksport,  Me.,  but 
more  recently  a Government  clerk  at  Wash- 
ington, D.  C.,  is  said  to  have  hit  upon  a 
method  of  converting  iron  into  steel  of  great 
simplicity  and  cheapness,  and,  in  the  autumn 
of  1870,  went  by  invitation  to  England  to  lay 
his  process  before  the  lords  of  the  Admiralty. 

Among  the  most  remarkable  discoveries 
of  the  present  day,  in  relation  to  the  manu- 
facture of  iron,  we  must  count  those  by  which 
iron  ores,  hitherto  regarded  as  worthless,  have 
proved  either  by  new  processes  or  by  mix- 
ture with  other  ores,  or  with  cast  iron,  the 
best  of  all  factors  for  producing  the  purest 
wrought  iron  and  steel.  Thus  far  there  are 
two  of  these  instances  worthy  of  special  no- 
tice. In  the  township  of  North  Codorus, 
York  Co.,  Pa.,  there  are  extensive  beds  of  a 


IRON. 


39 


peculiar  micaceous  iron  ore  ; some  of  which 
were  opened  in  1854  or  1855,  and  attempts 
were  made  to  make  iron  from  them,  but  the 
ore  contained  but  41.5  per  cent,  of  magnetic 
iron,  and  its  reduction,  owing  to  its  peculiar 
combination,  was  attended  with  much  labor 
and  no  profit ; the  ore  beds  were  therefore 
abandoned.  In  1868,  it  was  discovered  by 
accident  that  this  unpromising  ore,  mixed 
with  cast  or  pig  iron  of  ordinary  quality  in 
the  proportion  of  one  to  five  or  six  in  a re- 
verberating furnace,  produced  by  the  ordin- 
ary puddling  process,  a pure  steel  of  admira- 
ble quality  and  remarkably  uniform  in  char- 
acter. Having  tested  this  by  a very  great 
number  of  experiments  the  discoverers  pur- 
chased the  Codorus  ore  beds,  and  put  up  a 
puddling  furnace  and  rolling  mill  at  York  to 
carry  on  the  business  of  making  steel  for 
railway  rails,  and  other  purposes.  The  an- 
alysis of  the  Codorus  ore,  as  made  by  the 
eminent  practical  chemist,  Otto  Wurth,  of 
Pittsburg,  is  as  follows  : 

Silica,  37.35  Potash,  1.87 

Alumina,  3.21  Magnetic  Iron,  41.57 

Manganese,  4.45  Peroxide  of  Iron,  10.46 

Lime,  .74  Water  and  Loss,  .35 

, , — 

100.06 

F urther  experiments,  conducted  under  the 
eye  of  the  veteran  iron  master,  J.  N.  Wins- 
low, satisfied  the  owners  of  the  ore  that  they 
could  safely  dispense  with  the  puddling  pro- 
cess and  produce  directly  from  the  ore  and 
cast  iron  the  very  best  quality  of  steel.  We 
have  ourselves  examined  the  steel  and  the 
wrought  iron  produced  by  this  combination, 
and  in  every  test  to  which  it  can  be  subject- 
ed, whether  of  tenacity,  tensile  strength, 
hardness,  elasticity,  or  capacity  of  receiving 
and  retaining  the  highest  temper,  it  is  unsur- 
passed by  any  steel  or  iron  known  to  manu- 
facturers. Whether  wrought  iron  and  steel 
can  be  made  without  puddling  from  a com- 
bination of  this  ore  with  other  ores  of  good 
quality  has  not  yet  been  ascertained,  but  we 
believe  that  it  will.  By  the  processes  at 
present  employed,  the  best  of  steel  can  be 
made  with  the  use  of  fifteen  or  twenty  per 
cent,  of  this  ore  at  a cost  of  not  above  $70 
or  $75  per  ton,  and  possibly  lower. 

Of  the  other  ore,  found  at  Port  Leyden, 
Lewis  Co.,  N.  Y.,  still  more  remarkable 
things  are  stated.  The  following  account 
of  the  ores  and  process  of  reduction,  made  in 
the  New  York  Tribune,,  is  believed  to  be 
fully  authenticated.  The  steel  is  certainly 
of  excellent  quality 
*3 


“ The  discovery  of  an  inexhaustible  bed 
of  iron  ore  at  Port  Leyden,  Lewis  County, 
about  40  miles  above  Utica,  a few  years  ago, 
tempted  citizens  of  the  latter-named  place  to 
invest  about  $500,000  in  the  effort  to  estab- 
lish the  manufacture  of  iron  there.  The 
‘ Port  Leyden  Iron  Works’  were  a sad  fail- 
ure, and  the  entire  amount  of  money  invested 
in  them  was  lost,  as  pig  iron  could  not  be 
produced  from  the  ore.  From  this  impracti- 
cable ore,  steel  is  now  produced,  at  one  fus- 
ion, by  a process  invented  by  Prof.  E.  L. 
Seymour,  a metallurgist  and  chemist,  who 
resides  in  this  vicinity.  The  outlines  of  the 
process  are  as  follows : The  ore  is  crushed, 
in  something  like*an  ordinary  quartz-crusher, 
until  it  is  reduced  to  about  the  fineness  of 
rifle  powder.  It  is  then  thrown  into  a re- 
volving cylinder,  in  which  are  set  numer- 
ous magnets.  The  ore  is  of  the  kind  known 
as  i magnetic.’  By  an  arrangement  cn  small 
brushes,  the  metallic  particles  are  separated 
from  the  refuse,  which  is  principally  stony 
and  earthy  matter  in  the  shape  of  fine  dust. 
The  application  of  certain  chemicals  and 
fusion  by  charcoal  are  the  next  steps  in  the 
process,  and  the  immediate  product  is  pure 
steel,  ready  for  molding  into  ‘ ingots.  Speci- 
mens of  steel  thus  manufactured  and  con- 
verted into  finely-tempered  table  cutlery, 
and  other  articles,  and  the  certificate  of  a 
well-known  cutler  of  Brooklyn,  who  made 
the  articles,  that  it  is  as  good  steel  as  he  ever 
worked,  and  adapted  to  all  cutlery  purposes, 
have  been  exhibited.  The  estimated  cost  of 
this  steel  is  less  than  four  cents.  By  the 
Seymour  process,  it  is  claimed  that  the  aim 
of  iron-masters  and  chemists  for  the  last  200 
years  is  accomplished — viz : to  rid  iron  of 
its  arch  enemies,  sulphur  and  phosphorus — 
the  former  rendering  the  metal  what  is  tech- 
nically called  ‘ red-short,’  so  that  it  flies  to 
pieces  under  the  hammer  when  at  a red  heat, 
though  it  may  be  quite  strong  when  cold ; 
while  the  least  quantity  of  phosphorus  ren- 
ders the  metal  ‘ cold-short,’  making  it  weak 
and  brittle  when  cold,  though  quite  strong 
when  hot. 

“The  Port  Leyden  Works  are  about  one- 
eighth  of  a mile  from  the  railroad  and  the 
canal.  The  buildings,  furnaces,  etc.,  were 
erected  several  years  ago  at  great  expense ; 
and  for  some  time  there  have  lain  in  the 
forest  near  by  nearly  100,000  bushels  of 
charcoal,  the  overplus  of  what  was  made  be- 
fore it  was  found  that  iron  could  not  be  pro- 
duced from  the  ore  by  the  old  processes.” 


40 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


It  has  recently  been  discovered  that  there 
are  extensive  veins  of  a peculiar  coal,  called 
block  coal  in  Indiana,  which  is  remarkably 
adapted  to  the  production  of  the  best  iron. 
In  its  constituents  and  its  working,  it  is  very 
nearly  a pure  charcoal  and  containing  nei- 
ther sulphur  nor  phosphorus,  it  does  not  im- 
part to  iron  in  the  smelting  process  any  in- 
gredient which  impairs  its  value.  These 
veins  of  block  coal  are  of  great  thickness, 
and  extend  widely  over  the  central  and 
southern  part  of  the  state.  It  has  not  thus 
far  been  discovered  in  any  other  state.  In- 
diana has  no  great  variety  of  iron  ores,  but 
her  railroad  facilities  present,  and  prospec- 
tive, for  bringing  the  Missouri  ores  from 
Pilot  Knob  and  Iron  Mountain  and  the  rich 
hematitic  ores  from  the  Lake  Superior  re- 
gion in  Michigan,  are  such  that  with  this 
excellent  coal,  her  citizens  can  manufacture 
the  finest  qualities  of  iron  and  steel  at  con- 
siderably lower  prices  than  they  can  be  pro- 
duced for,  elsewhere.  As  a consequence 
numerous  furnaces  have  been  erected  in 
1870  and  1871,  along  the  line  of  the  block 
coal  veins,  and  many  more  are  now  going 
up.  The  improved  processes  and  new  discov-* 
eries  to  which  we  have  alluded,  while  they 
will  materially  reduce  the  cost  of  making 
steel,  do  not,  thus  far,  greatly  lower  the  cost 
of  producing  iron,  except  in  Indiana,  and 
hence  the  reduction  of  ten  per  cent,  on  iron 
and  iron  manufactures  m the  new  tariff  of 
1872,  may  impede  the  progress  of  this  de- 
sirable manufacture,  now  fast  attaining  to 
the  first  rank  among  our  national  produc- 
tions. 

Though  the  total  production  of  pig  iron 
each  year  is  now  very  definitely  ascertained, 
there  is  more  difficulty  in  learning  the  de- 
tails of  the  other  branches  of  iron  manufac- 
ture. The  rolling  mills  are  really  unceasing 
in  numbers  and  in  their  aggregate  production 
of  rails  both  iron  and  steel,  but  the  re-roll- 
ing of  old  rails  is  a large  and  yet  very  vari- 
able item  in  their  annual  amount  of  work, 
and  it  is  difficult  to  ascertain  with  any  con- 
siderable exactness  what  number  of  tons  of 
new  rails  are  produced  by  each  mill.  The 
aggregate  product  in  1871  was  stated  in 
round  numbers  at  about  275,000  tons  of 
iron  and  180,000  tons  of  steel  rails.  This 
latter  item  will,  undoubtedly,  be  largely 
increased  during  the  present  and  coming 
years. 

Sheet  Iron. — For  making  sheet  iron  the 


bars  are  gradually  spread  out  between  smooth 
rolls,  which  are  brought  nearer  together  as 
the  metal  grows  thinner.  The  Russians  have 
a method  of  giving  to  sheet  iron  a beautifully 
polished  surface,  and  a pliability  and  dura- 
bility which  no  other  people  have  been  able 
to  imitate.  All  attempts  that  have  been 
made  to  learn  the  secret  of  this  process  have 
entirely  failed,  and  the  business  remains  a 
monopoly  with  the  Russians.  The  nearest 
imitation  of  this  iron  is  produced  at  Pitts- 
burg, Pennsylvania,  and  several  eastern  estab- 
lishments, by  what  is  called  Wood’s  process. 
This  consists  in  rolling  the  common  sheet  at 
a certain  temperature  while  it  is  covered 
with  linseed  oil.  A very  fine  surface  is  thus 
produced,  but  the  pliability  and  toughness 
of  the  Russian  iron  are  wanting,  even  though 
the  sheets  are  often  annealed  in  close  vessels, 
and  the  glaze  and  color  are  also  inferior. 
Sheet  iron  is  now  extensively  prepared  for 
roofing,  and  other  uses  requiring  exposure  to 
the  weather,  by  protecting  its  surface  with  a 
coating  of  zinc.  This  application  is  an 
American  invention,  having  been  discovered 
in  1827,  by  the  late  Prof.  John  W.  Revere, 
of  New  York.  In  March,  1859,  he  exhibited, 
at  a meeting  of  the  Lyceum  of  Natural  His- 
tory, specimens  of  iron  thus  protected,  which 
had  been  exposed  for  two  years  to  the  action 
of  salt  water  without  rusting.  He  recom- 
mended it  as  a means  of  protecting  the  iron 
fastenings  of  ships,  and  introduced  the  proc- 
ess into  Great  Britain.  Sheets  thus  coated 
are  known  as  galvanized  iron,  though  the 
iron  is  now  coated  with  zinc  by  other  means 
as  well  as  by  the  galvanic  current.  One 
method,  that  of  Mallet,  is  to  place  the 
sheets,  after  they  are  well  cleaned  by  acid 
and  scrubbed  with  emery  and  sand,  in  a satu- 
rated solution  of  hydrochlorate  of  zinc  and 
sulphate  of  ammonia;  and  after  this  in  a 
bath  composed  of  202  parts  of  mercury  and 
1,292  of  zinc,  to  every  ton  weight  of  which 
a pound  of  potassium  or  sodium  is  added. 
The  compound  fuses  at  680°  Fahrenheit, 
and  the  zinc  is  immediately  deposited  upon 
the  iron  surface.  Another  method  is  to  stir 
the  sheets  in  a bath  of  melted  zinc,  the  sur- 
face of  which  is  covered  with  sal  ammoniac. 

The  use  of  heavy  sheets  or  plates  for  build- 
ing purposes  is  also  a recent  application  of 
iron,  that  adds  considerably  to  the  demand 
for  the  metal.  The  plates  are  stiffened  by 
the  fluting,  or  corrugating,  which  they  re- 
ceive in  a powerful  machine,  and  may  be 
protected  by  a coating  of  zinc.  Their  prep- 


STEAM  HAMMER.  FORGES  AND  TRIP  HAMMERS. 


* ; 


The  time  required  to  roll  a R.  Road  rail  from  20  to  30  feet  long,  and  to  saw  off  the  ends  to  proper  length,  is  from  to  2 minutes. 


IRON. 


41 


aration  is  largely  carried  on  in  Philadelphia ; 
and  in  the  same  works  a great  variety  of 
other  articles  of  malleable  iron,  for  domestic 
and  other  uses,  are  similarly  protected  with 
zinc,  as  window  shutters,  water  and  gas 
pipes,  coal  scuttles,  chains  for  pumps,  bolts 
for  ships’  use,  hoop  iron,  and  telegraph  and 
other  wire. 

The  production  of  the  principal  boiler-plate 
and  sheet  iron  establishments  of  the  United 
States  is  thus  given  for  the  year  1856  : — 

Tons. 

East  of  the  Delaware  there  are  but  two  mills, 
both  of  which  are  in  Jersey  Cit}r.  Product 


in  1856 550 

In  E.  Pennsylvania,  on  the  Schuylkill  and 

lower  Susquehanna,  25  mills 21,218 

Near  Wilmington,  Delaware,  3 mills 1,374 

Betweeu  Wilmington  and  Baltimore,  7 mills.  2,998 
Pittsburg,  Penn..  14  mills.  Sheet  iron,  6,437  ; 
boiler  iron,  3,212;  besides  bars,  rods,  hoops, 

and  nails 9,649 

Sheet  iron  at  the  Sharon  mill,  Mercer  Co.  Penn.  500 

Bloom  mill,  Portsmouth,  S.  Ohio,  and  Globe 

mill,  Cincinnati,  about 2,000 


38,289 

A mill  for  boiler  plate  has  been  erected  at  St.  Louis. 

Iron  Wire. — The  uses  of  iron  wire  have 
greatly  increased  within  a few  years  past. 
The  telegraph  has  created  a large  demand 
for  it ; and  with  the  demand  the  manufac- 
ture has  been  so  much  improved,  especially 
in  this  country,  that  the  wire  has  been  found 
applicable  to  many  purposes  for  which  brass 
or  copper  wire  was  before  required.  It  is 
prepared  from  small  rods,  which  are  passed 
through  a succession  of  holes,  of  decreasing 
sizes,  made  in  steel  plates,  the  wire  being 
annealed  as  often  as  may  be  necessary  to 
prevent  its  becoming  brittle.  In  this  branch 
the  American  manufacturers  have  attained 
the  highest  perfection.  The  iron  prepared 
from  our  magnetic  and  specular  ore  is  un- 
equalled in  the  combined  qualities  of  strength 
and  flexibility,  and  is  used  almost  exclusively 
for  purposes  in  which  these  qualities  are  es- 
sential. But  where  stiffness  combined  with 
strength  is  more  important,  Swedish  and 
Norwegian  iron  also  are  used.  Much  of  the 
iron  wire  now  made  is  almost  as  pliable  as 
copper  wire,  while  its  strength  is  about  50 
per  cent,  greater.  In  Worcester,  Mass.,  a 
large  contract  has  been  satisfactorily  filled 
for  No.  10  wire,  one  of  the  conditions  of 
which  was  that  the  wire,  when  cold,  might 
be  tightly  wound  around  another  wire  of  the 
same  size  without  cracking  or  becoming 
rough  on  the  surface.  Such  wire  is  an  ex- 


cellent material  for  ropes,  and  considerable 
American  iron  is  already  required  for  this 
use,  especially  for  suspension  bridges.  Wires 
are  also  used  for  fences,  and  are  ingeniously 
woven  into  ornamental  patterns.  The  so- 
called  “netting  fence,”  thus  made,  can  be 
rolled  up  like  a carpet.  For  heavier  railing 
and  fences,  as  for  the  front  yards  of  houses, 
for  balconies,  window  guards,  etc.,  iron  bars 
and  rods  are  now  worked  into  ornamental 
open  designs,  by  powerfully  crimping  them 
and  weaving  them  together  like  wires. 

Nails. — Among  the  multitude  of  other 
important  applications  of  malleable  iron,  that 
of  nail  making  is  particularly  worthy  of  no- 
tice, as  being  in  the  machine  branch  of  it — 
the  preparation  of  cut  nails — entirely  an 
American  process.  Our  advance  in  this  de- 
partment is  ascribed  to  the  great  demand  for 
nails  among  us  in  the  construction  of  wooden 
houses.  In  England,  even  into  the  present 
century,  nails  were  wrought  only  by  hand, 
employing  a large  population.  In  the  vi- 
cinity of  Birmingham  it  was  estimated  that 
60,000  persons  were  occupied  wholly  in  nail 
making.  Females  and  children,  as  well  as 
men,  worked  in  the  shop,  forging  the  nails 
upon  anvils,  from  the  “ split  iron  rods”  fur- 
nished for  the  purpose  from  the  neighboring 
iron  works.  The  contrast  is  very  striking 
between  their  operations  and  those  of  the 
great  establishments  in  Pennsylvania,  con- 
sisting of  the  blast  furnaces,  in  which  the 
ores  are  converted  into  pig ; of  the  puddling 
furnaces,  in  which  this  is  made  into  wrought 
iron  ; of  the  rolling  and  slitting  mills,  by 
which  the  malleable  iron  is  made  into  nail- 
plates  ; and  of  the  nail  machines,  which  cut 
up  the  plates  and  turn  them  into  nails — all 
going  on  consecutively  under  the  same  roof, 
and  not  allowing  time  for  the  iron  to  cool 
until  it  is  in  the  finished  state,  and  single 
establishments  producing  more  nails  than  the 
greater  part  of  the  workshops  of  Birming- 
ham fifty  years  ago.  Public  attention  was 
directed  to  machine-made  nails  as  long  ago 
as  1810,  by  a report  of  the  secretary  of  the 
treasury,  in  which  he  referred  to  the  success 
already  attained  in  their  manufacture  in  Mas- 
sachusetts. “ Twenty  years  ago,”  he  states, 
“ some  men,  now  unknown,  then  in  ob- 
scurity, began  by  cutting  slices  out  of  old 
hoops,  and,  by  a common  vice  gripping  these 
pieces,  headed  them  with  several  strokes  of 
the  hammer.  By  progressive  improvements, 
slitting  mills  were  built,  and  the  shears  and 
the  heading  tools  were  perfected,  yet  much 


42 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


labor  and  expense  were  requisite  to  make 
nails.  In  a little  time,  Jacob  Perkins,  Jona- 
than Ellis,  and  a few  others,  put  into  execu- 
tion the  thought  of  cutting  and  of  heading 
nails  by  water ; but  being  more  intent  upon 
their  machinery  than  upon  their  pecuniary 
affairs,  they  were  unable  to  prosecute  the 
business.  At  different  times  other  men  have 
spent  fortunes  in  improvements,  and  it  may 
be  said  with  truth  that  more  than  a million 
of  dollars  have  been  expended ; but  at  length 
these  joint  efforts  are  crowned  with  com- 
plete success,  and  we  are  now  able  to  manu- 
facture, at  about  one-third  of  the  expense 
that  wrought  nails  can  be  manufactured  for, 
nails  which  are  superior  to  them  for  at  least 
three-fourths  of  the  purposes  to  which  nails 
are  applied,  and  for  most  of  those  purposes 
they  are  full  as  good.  The  machines  made 
use  of  by  Odiorne,  those  invented  by  Jona- 
than Ellis,  and  a few  others,  present  very 
fine  specimens  of  American  genius.”  The 
report  then  describes  the  peculiar  character 
of  the  cut  nail — that  it  was  used  by  northern 
carpenters  without  their  having  to  bore  a 
hole  to  prevent  its  splitting  the  wood ; that 
it  would  penetrate  harder  wood  than  the 
wrought  nail,  etc.  At  that  time,  it  states, 
there  were  twelve  rolling  and  slitting  mills 
in  Massachusetts,  chiefly  employed  in  rolling 
nail  plates,  making  nail  rods,  hoops,  tires, 
sheet  iron,  and  copper,  and  turning  out  about 
3,500  tons,  of  which  about  2,400  tons  were 
cut  up  into  nails  and  brads.  From  that  time 
to  the  present  the  manufacture  of  nails  by 
machinery  has  been  a profitable  branch  of 
industry  in  the  south-eastern  part  of  Massa- 
chusetts, the  iron  and  the  coal  being  fur- 
nished from  the  middle  Atlantic  states,  and 
the  nails,  in  great  part,  finding  a market 
at  the  south.  The  following  table  presents 
the  number  of  nail  mills  in  operation  in 
1856.  The  smaller  establishments  are  grad- 
ually going  out  of  the  business,  and  this  is 
becoming  more  concentrated  in  the  coal  and 
iron  regions,  thus  saving  the  cost  of  trans- 
portation in  these  heavy  articles.  The  man- 
ufacturers of  New  England,  however,  ingeni- 
ously divert  a part  of  their  operations  to  the 
production  of  smaller  articles,  with  which 
the  cost  of  transportation  is  a less  item  in 
proportion  to  their  value,  such  as  tacks,  riv- 
ets, screws,  butts,  wire,  and  numerous  fin- 
ished articles,  the  value  of  which  consists 
more  in  the  labor  performed  upon  them  and 
in  the  use  of  ingenious  machinery  than  in 
the  cost  of  the  crude  materials  employed. 


NAIL  FACTORIES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES,  AND  THEIR  PRO- 


In  south  New  England,  12  mills,  nails  prin- 
cipally  25,000 

Troy,  New  York 4,000 

Rockaway,  Boonton,  New  Jersey,  nails  and 

spikes 8,250 

Southern  New  Jersey 4,167 

On  the  Schuylkill,  5 mills,  about. 9,000 

On  the  lower  Susquehanna,  2 mills,  about.. . 2,600 

Middle  Pennsylvania,  2 mills,  about 2,000 

Maryland,  2 mills 2,155 

Richmond,  1 mill- 1,075 

Pittsburg,  14  mills,  nails,  spikes,  rivets,  tacks  14,195 

Wheeling,  2 mills 6,465 

Ironton,  southern  Ohio,  1 mill  775 

Mahoning  Co.,  N.  E.  £)hio,  1 mill 380 

Buffalo 1,400 


Total 81.462 


The  number  of  nail  machines  employed  in  these 
mills  was  2,645. 

A great  variety  of  machines  have  been 
devised  for  nail  making,  very  ingenious  in 
their  designs,  and  all  too  complicated  for 
description.  The  iron  is  rolled  out  into  bars 
for  this  manufacture,  of  10  or  12  feet  in 
length,  and  wide  enough  to  make  three  or 
more  strips,  each  one  of  which  is  as  wide  as 
the  length  of  the  nail  it  is  to  make.  The 
cutting  of  these  strips  from  the  wider  bars 
is  the  special  work  of  the  slitting  mill,  which 
is,  in  fact,  but  a branch  of  the  rolling  opera- 
tion, and  carried  on  in  conjunction  with  it. 
The  slitting  machine  consists  of  a pair  of 
rolls,  one  above  the  other,  each  having  5 or 
6 steel  disks  upon  its  axis,  set  as  far  apart  as 
the  width  required  for  the  nail-rod.  Those 
upon  one  roll  interlock  with  those  upon  the 
other,  so  that  when  the  wide  bar  is  intro- 
duced it  is  pressed  into  the  grooves  above 
and  below,  and  cut  into  as  many  strips  as 
there  are  spaces  between  the  disks.  This 
work  is  done  with  wonderful  rapidity,  several 
bars  being  passed  through  at  once.  In  the 
nail  factory  each  nail-making  machine  works 
upon  one  of  these  strips,  or  nail-rods,  at  a 
time,  first  clipping  off  a piece  from  the  end 
presented  to  it,  and  immediately  another,  as 
the  flat  rod  is  turned  over  and  the  end  is 
again  presented  to  the  cutter.  The  reason 
of  turning  it  over  for  each  successive  cut  is 
because  the  piece  cut  off  for  the  nail  is 
tapering,  in  order  to  make  it  a little  wider 
at  the  end  intended  for  the  head  than  at  the 
other,  and  thus,  making  the  wider  cut  on  al- 
ternate sides  of  the  rod,  this  is  regularly 
worked  up  into  pieces  of  the  proper  shape. 
In  the  older  operations  a workman  always 
sat  in  front  of  each  machine,  holding  the 


IRON. 


43 


rod  and  turning  it  over  with  every  clip ; but 
by  a modern  improvement  this  work  is  also 
done  by  mechanical  contrivance.  Each 
piece,  as  fast  as  it  is  clipped  off,  disappears 
in  the  machine.  There  it  is  seized  between 
powerful  jaws,  and  the  head  is  pressed  up 
from  the  large  end  by  the  short,  powerful 
motion  imparted  to  the  piece  of  apparatus 
called  the  header.  As  it  is  released,  it  slides 
down  and  drops  upon  the  floor,  or  in  a vessel 
placed  to  receive  the  nails. 

Machinery  has  been  applied  in  the  United 
States  to  the  manufacture  of  horse-shoe  nails, 
according  to  a number  of  patented  plans. 
Of  these,  the  most  successful  is  probably  that 
invented  about  the  year  1848,  by  Mr.  L.  G. 
Reynolds,  of  Providence ; also  the  inventor 
of  the  solid-headed  pin.  The  form  of  this 
nail  could  not  be  given  as  in  ordinary  cut 
nails  by  the  cutter,  but  the  sides  required  to 
be  pressed  as  well  as  the  head.  This  in- 
volved the  use  of  movable  plates  of  suitable 
figure ; and  as  it  was  found  that  the  nails 
could  not  be  shaped  except  when  the  metal 
was  softened  by  heat,  the  plates  must  neces- 
sarily be  of  the  hardest  steel,  and  protected 
as  effectually  as  possible  from  the  effects  of 
constant  working  of  heated  iron.  These 
difficulties  were  fully  overcome,  and  the 
nails,  after  being  turned  out,  were  toughened 
by  annealing,  giving  them  all  the  excellent 
qualities  of  hand-made  nails,  with  the  ad- 
vantage of  perfect  uniformity  of  size,  so  that 
one  nail  answers  as  well  as  another  for  the 
holes  in  the  horse-shoes.  They  are,  more- 
over, made  with  great  rapidity,  each  machine 
producing  half  a ton  of  nails  in  12  hours. 
The  process  has  been  taken  to  Europe,  and 
is  there  in  successful  operation.  Spikes,  also, 
have  been  made  and  headed  in  similar  ma- 
chines ; and  among  all  small  articles  in  iron, 
none,  perhaps,  has  proved  so  profitable  to 
the  inventor  as  the  hook-headed  spike,  used 
for  holding  down,  by  its  projecting  head,  the 
edge  of  the  iron  rails  to  the  sill.  This  was 
the  invention  of  Mr.  Henry  Burden,  of  Troy, 
whose  machines  for  wrought-iron  spikes  and 
for  horse-shoes  have  also  proved  very  success- 
ful. By  the  latter,  perfect  shoes  are  turned 
out  at  the  rate  of  60  in  a minute.  This  proc- 
ess has  been  introduced  in  most  of  the 
European  countries. 

STEEL. 

As  already  remarked,  steel  differs  in  com- 
position from  metallic  iron  only  by  contain- 
ing from  £ to  14  per  cent,  of  carbon,  and 


from  cast-iron  by  the  latter  containing  a 
larger  proportion  of  carbon,  which  may 
amount  to  5.5  per  cent.  To  readily  convert 
these  varieties  into  each  other  is  an  object 
of  no  small  importance,  for  their  properties 
are  so  entirely  distinct,  that  they  really  serve 
the  purposes  of  three  different  metals.  Steel 
is  particularly  valuable  for  its  extreme  hard- 
ness, fine  grain,  and  compact  texture,  which 
admits  of  its  receiving  a high  polish.  It  is 
the  most  elastic  of  metals,  and  much  less 
liable  to  rust  than  iron.  It  has  the  peculiar 
property  of  assuming  different  degrees  of 
hardness,  according  to  the  rapidity  with 
which  it  is  chilled  when  heated  ; and  it  may 
be  melted  and  run  into  moulds  like  cast  iron, 
and  the  ingots  thus  prepared  may  be  ham- 
mered, rolled,  and  forged  into  shapes  Tike 
wrought  iron  ; and  these  may  finally  be  tem- 
pered to  any  degree  of  hardness  desired. 
Differing  so  little  in  composition  from  me- 
tallic iron  and  from  cast  iron,  and  being 
so  universally  in  demand  for  a multitude  of 
uses,  it  would  seem  that  it  ought  to  be  pro- 
duced as  cheaply  as  one  or  the  other  of  the 
varieties,  between  which  its  composition 
places  it.  But  this  is  far  from  being  the 
case.  While  pig  iron  is  worth  only  $20  to 
$30  per  ton,  and  bar  iron  $60  to  $90,  cast 
steel  in  bars  is  worth  from  $250  to  $300  per 
ton.  This  is  chiefly  owing  to  the  difficulty 
of  procuring  in  large  quantities  steel  of  uni- 
form character,  which  the  consumers  of  the 
article  can  purchase  with  perfect  confidence 
that  it  is  what  they  require  and  have  been 
accustomed  to  use.  The  English  boast,  with 
good  reason,  of  the  position  they  occupy  in 
this  manufacture,  which  is  almost  a monopoly 
of  the  steel  trade  of  the  whole  world.  Though 
producing  themselves  little  or  no  iron  fit  for 
making  alone  the  best  steel,  they  have  im- 
ported enough  of  the  Swedish  and  Norwe- 
gian bar  iron  to  insure  a good  quality,  and 
have  been  especially  cautious  to  render  this 
as  uniform  as  possible.  Their  method  of 
manufacture  is  to  introduce  carbon  into  the 
wrought  iron  by  what  is  called  the  cementing 
process.  On  the  continent  of  Europe  steel 
is  made  to  some  extent,  in  Silesia  and  Styria, 
by  removing  from  cast  iron  enough  of  its 
carbon  to  leave  the  proper  proportion  for 
steel,  and  then  melting  the  product  and  cast- 
ing it  into  ingot  moulds.  But  this  cheaper 
method  does  not  appear  to  have  been  taken 
up  in  Great  Britain.  In  the  United  States 
several  processes  are  in  operation,  two  of 
which  are  peculiarly  American.  The  ce- 


44 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


menting  method,  as  conducted  in  England, 
has  been  longest  known,  and  will  be  first  de- 
scribed. The  cementing  furnace  is  a sort  of 
oven,  furnished  wfith  troughs  or  shelves,  upon 
which  charcoal  dust  is  laid  for  receiving  the 
bars.  These  are  placed  edgewise  in  the 
charcoal,  half  an  inch  apart,  and  the  spaces 
are  filled  in  with  more  sifted  coal.  Enough 
is  added  to  cover  the  bars,  and  upon  this  a 
second  tier  is  laid  in  the  same  way,  and  so 
on  till  the  trough  is  filled  with  several  tons 
of  iron,  all  of  which  is  perfectly  excluded 
from  the  air.  The  trough  being  secured 
with  others  in  the  oven,  a fire  is  started 
under  them.  In  about  six  days  the  bars 
have  absorbed  enough  carbon  to  acquire  the 
properties  of  the  softer  kinds  of  steel,  such 
as  are  used  for  saws  and  springs.  In  a day 
or  two  longer  it  answers  for  cutting  instru- 
ments, and  some  time  after  this  it  gains  in 
hardness,  so  as  to  be  fitted  for  cold  chisels, 
for  drills  such  as  miners  use,  etc.  Its 
character  is  ascertained  at  any  time  by 
drawing  out  one  of  the  bars.  After  the 
change  is  effected  the  fire  is  extinguished, 
and  about  a week  is  allowed  for  the  furnace 
and  its  contents  to  cool.  When  at  last  the 
bars  are  obtained,  their  surface  is  found  to  be 
covered  with  blisters,  whence  the  steel  is 
called  blistered  steel.  The  fibrous  texture 
of  the  iron  has  given  place  to  a granular 
structure,  but  is  so  irregular  and  uneven  that 
the  metal  requires  further  treatment  to  per- 
fect it.  To  make  the  English  shear-steel,  so 
called  from  its  being  originally  employed  for 
shears  used  in  sheep-shearing,  the  bars  are 
cut  into  lengths  of  a foot  and  a half,  and 
a number  of  these  are  bound  together  to 
make  a faggot.  This  is  brought  to  a weld- 
ing heat,  and  drawn  down  first  under  a forge- 
hammer,  and  then  under  the  tilt-hammer. 
This  weighs  from  150  to  200  pounds,  and 
strikes  from  150  to  360  strokes  a minute. 
The  rapidity  of  the  work  keeps  the  steel  at 
a glowing  heat,  and  it  is  soon  fashioned  into 
a dense  bar  of  smooth  surface,  susceptible 
of  a polish,  and  suited  for  the  manufacture 
of  cutting  instruments.  Sometimes  it  is  cut 
into  pieces  to  be  refaggoted,  and  drawn vdown 
again  into  bars,  which  are  then  called  double- 
shear. 

Cast  steel  is  a still  more  dense  and  perfect 
variety.  It  is  prepared  by  melting,  in  large 
crucibles,  blistered  steel  broken  into  small 
pieces,  and  pouring  the  metal  into  moulds. 
These  are  then  worked  into  shapes  by  the 
forge  hammer  and  the  rolls. 


The  American  methods  of  making  steel 
were  discovered  by  Prof.  A.  K.  Eaton,  of 
New  York,  and  the  one  now  employed  by  the 
Damascus  Steel  Company  was  practically 
demonstrated  by  him  in  Rochester  and  its  vi- 
cinity in  1851  and  1852.  This  consists  in  car- 
bonizing and  melting  malleable  iron  in  cruci- 
bles at  one  operation,  by  introducing  into  the 
pot  with  the  pieces  of  iron  a carbonaceous  salt, 
such  as  the  ferro-cyanide  of  potassium,  either 
alone  or  in  combination  with  charcoal  powder. 
At  an  intense  heat  this  salt  rapidly  carbon- 
izes the  iron,  which  thus  first  becomes  steel, 
then  fuses,  and  is  poured  into  moulds.  The 
quantity  of  the  salt  employed  is  proportional 
to  the  quantity  of  the  iron  and  the  quality 
of  the  steel  required.  The  operation  is  suc- 
cessfully carried  on  in  different  establish- 
ments in  New  Jersey,  New  York,  and  Penn- 
sylvania, and  cast  steel  of  the  very  best 
quality  is  produced  at  less  expense  than  the 
article  has  ever  before  cost  in  this  country. 
For  bar  steel,  according  to  the  prospectus  of 
the  company,  the  best  charcoal-made  iron  is 
employed,  costing  $85  per  ton,  and  this,  to- 
gether with  the  coal  used  for  fuel,  the  chem- 
ical materials,  the  melting,  crucibles,  and 
hammering,  make  the  whole  cost  about  $142 
per  ton,  while  that  of  the  imported  article  is 
$300  or  more.  The  great  difficulty  in  the 
process  is  to  obtain  suitable  crucibles  for 
withstanding  the  intense  heat  required  to 
melt  the  charge  of  60  lbs.  of  malleable  iron. 
Those  in  use  are  blue-pots,  costing  $1.60 
each.  Though  made  of  the  best  of  plum- 
bago, they  stand  only  two  or  three  meltings. 

The  other  process,  which  is  just  now  in- 
troduced into  practice,  is  based  upon  the  prop- 
erty 6f  carbonate  of  soda  to  remove  from  cast 
iron  the  carbon  it  contains,  when  the  metal  is 
kept  for  a few  hours  in  a bath  of  the  melted 
alkali.  The  decarbonizing  effect  is  in  part  due 
to  the  action  of  the  oxygen  of  the  alkaline 
base,  which  is  given  up  to  the  carbon  of  highly 
heated  cast  iron,  but  principally  to  the  decom- 
position of  the  combined  carbonic  acid,  which 
gives  to  the  carbon  one  of  its  atoms  of  oxygen, 
and  is  resolved  into  carbonic  oxide.  Th is  prop- 
erty of  soda  was  discovered  by  Prof.  Eaton  in 
1856,  but  the  fact  that  the  carbonated  or  bi- 
carbonated  alkalies  act  principally  by  virtue 
of  their  carbonic  acid,  was  only  recently  rec- 
ognized and  made  practically  available  by 
him.  The  action  of  soda  or  its  carbonates  is 
not  limited  to  the  removal  of  the  excess  of 
carbon  in  cast  iron.  It  combines  with  and 
removes  those  impurities  which  would  prove 


IRON. 


45 


fatal  to  the  quality  of  the  steel  if  remaining 
in  it,  as  sulphur,  phosphorus,  and  silicon ; 
and  the  method  thus  admits  of  the  use  of 
crude  irons,  such  as  could  never  he  applied 
to  this  manufacture  by  any  other  mode. 
The  cast  iron,  in  the  form  of  thin  plates,  hav- 
ing been  kept  at  a bright  red  heat  in  the 
bath  of  melted  carbonate  for  a sufficient  time, 
which  is  determined  by  occasionally  taking 
out  and  testing  some  of  the  pieces,  is  trans- 
ferred to  the  crucible,  and  is  then  melted 
and  poured  into  moulds,  as  in  the  ordinary 
method  of  making  cast  steel.  The  crucibles, 
not  being  subjected  to  greater  heat  than  is 
required  for  melting  cast  steel,  endure  much 
longer  than  when  employed  for  melting 
wrought  iron  in  the  carbonizing  process; 
thus  a great  saving  is  effected  in  the  expense 
of  the  conversion  ; and  this  economy  is  still 
further  increased  by  the  use  of  a crude  ma- 
terial, costing  only  from  $20  to  $30  per  ton, 
in  place  of  the  superior  qualities  of  wrought 
iron,  worth  $85  per  ton.  So  great,  indeed, 
is  the  saving,  that  the  cost  of  the  cast  steel, 
when  obtained  in  ingots,  is  found  not  to  ex- 


ceed the  cost  of  the  malleable  iron  employed 
in  the  other  process. 

Statistics. — The  records  of  the  produc- 
tion of  iron  of  the  United  States  are  very  in- 
complete up  to  the  year  1854.  Even  the  cen- 
sus returns  are  highly  defective,  as  they  often 
make  no  distinction  between  iron  made 
from  the  ore  and  the  products  of  the  second- 
ary operations  of  remelting  and  puddling. 
The  first  systematic  attempts  to  obtain  com- 
plete accounts  of  the  business,  as  conducted 
in  Pennsylvania,  were  made  in  1850  by  the 
Association  of  Iron  Manufacturers,  organized 
in  Philadelphia.  Mr.  Charles  E.  Smith  col- 
lected the  returns,  and  published  them  in  a 
small  volume,  together  with  other  papers  re- 
lating to  the  manufacture.  In  1856  the  as- 
sociation, through  their  secretary,  Mr.  J.  P. 
Lesley,  and  their  treasurer,  Mr.  C.  E.  Smith, 
obtained  full  returns  from  832  blast  furnaces, 
488  forges,  and  225  rolling  mills  in  the  Unit- 
ed States,  besides  others  in  Canada,  exhibit- 
ing their  operations  for  the  preceding  three 
years.  Some  of  these  results  are  presented 
in  the  following  tables  : — 


NO  1.— TABLE  OF  IRON  WORKS  IN  OPERATION  AND  ABANDONED  IN  1858. 


Maine 

Anthracite 

Furnaces. 

Charcoal 
and  Coke 
Furnaces. 
1 

Abandoned  Bloomary  Abandoned  Refinery  Abandoned  Rolling 
Furnaces.  Forges.  Bloomaries.  Forges.  Refineries.  Mills. 

1 

Abandoned. 

New  Hampshire. 

1 

1 

Vermont 

5 

5 

1 

Massachusetts . . . 

3 

7 

5 

1 

19 

Rhode  Island 

m 

2 

Connecticut .... 

1 

14 

m t 

6 

5 

New  York  

....  14 

29 

6 

42 

1 

3 

2 

11 

5 

New  Jersey 

. . ..  4 

6 

12 

48 

29 

2 

10 

1 

Pennsylvania. . . . 

...  93 

150 

102 

1 

3 

110 

44 

91 

5 

Delaware 

1 

4 

Maryland 

....  6 

24 

7 

. . 

13 

Virginia 

39 

56 

43 

12 

North  Carolina. . 

3 

3 

36 

. , 

1 

i 

South  Carolina. . 

4 

4 

2 

3 

Georgia 

7 

1 

4 

2 

Alabama 

3 

1 

14 

, # 

Tennessee 

41 

33 

50 

*2 

9 

3 

3 

2 

Kentucky 

30 

17 

4 

9 

8 

Ohio 

54 

26 

. . 

5 

15 

i 

Indiana 

2 

3 

, , 

. # 

1 

* 

Illinois. 

2 

. . 

* 

1 

Michigan 

7 

3 

. . 

2 

Wisconsin 

3 

. , 

Missouri 

7 

# , 

3 

5 

i 

Arkansas 

1 

• • 

Total .... 

121 

439 

272 

206 

35 

186 

64 

210 

15 

I 


In  working  order,  560  Furnaces,  389  Forges,  210  Rolling  Mills.  Total,  1,159 

Abandoned,  272  “ 99  “ 15  “ “ 386 


In  all,  832  “ 488  “ 225  “ “ 1,545 


The  production  of  the  blast  furnaces  in  the 
different  iron  districts  for  the  years  1854, 
1855,  and  1856,  is  exhibited  in  Table  No. 


2 ; their  arrangement  being  according  to  the 
fuel  employed  and  the  quantities  of  iron 
produced  in  each  district  in  1856 : — 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


TABLE  NO.  2.— PRODUCTION  OF  PIG  IRON. 


Fuel. 


District. 


1854. 


Anthracite Pennsylvania 

“ Out  of  Pennsylvania 

Charcoal  and  Coke 8.  Ohio 5 

“ “ “ E.  Kentucky 2 

“ “ “ W.  Pennsylvania 7 

“ “ “ N.  Ohio 1 

“ “ “ E.  Pennsylvania 

Charcoal W.  Tennessee 3' 

“ W.  Kentucky 1 

“ S.  Indiana 

11  8.  Illinois 

Charcoal  and  Coke 8.  W.  Pennsylvania 1 

“ “ “ N.  W.  Virginia 

“ “ “ Maryland  

Charcoal E.  of  the  Hudson 

“ N.  and  W.  New  York 

“ Missouri 

“ 8.  New  York  and  N.  New  Jersey 

“ E.  and  Middle  Virginia 

“ North  and  South  Carolina 

“ . f Georgia 

“ E.  Tennessee  and  Alabama 

“ Michigan  

“ Wisconsin 


208,603 
99.007 
j-  79,010 

J-  90,216 
’ 62,724 

53,054 

12,9S2 

36,658 

30,420 

19.197 

7,591 

13,435 

5,880 


1855. 

....  255,326 
. . . 87,779 

47,982  ) „. 

16,180  f M’162 


59,388 


33,683 

13,664 

1,500 

1,500 

18,217 

2,342 


j-  69, 


314 


50,347 


20,559 

36,309 

32,826 

19,736 

10,181 

7,901 

6,926 


1856. 


70.455 

21,661 

59,597 

17,056 

32,162 

14,902 

1,800 

1,800 

29,400 

1,46" 


806,972 

87,537 

92,116 

76,653 

52,775 

50,664 


Total  production  of  pig  iron  in  the  United  States Tons  . 725,823 


j-  6,056 

1,830 

2,715 

V 6,061 

1,956  1 
2,807 

990 

1,516 

950 

2,931  \ 
3,678  1 

2,500  j 

725,823 

728,973 

30,867 

30,998 

29,937 

18,847 

10,138 

5,683 

5,780 

7,694 

6,178 


812,789 


TABLE  NO.  3.— DISTRIBUTION  OF  THE  FUR- 
NACES BY  STATES. 


I.  ANTHRACITE  FURNACES. 


No. 

States. 

Product. 

Tons. 

3 

Massachusetts 

. 4,443 

1 

Connecticut 

0 

14 

New  York 

..  47,257 

4 

New  Jersey 

. 26,117 

93 

Pennsylvania 

.306,972 

6 

Maryland 

. 10,720 

121 

II.  COKE  FURNACES. 

394,509 

21 

Pennsylvania 

. 39,953 

3 

Maryland 

. 4,528 

24 

44,481 

iii. 

RAW  BITUMINOUS  COAL  FURNACES. 

6 

Pennsylvania 

. 8,417 

13 

Ohio 

. 16,656 

"l9 

25,073 

IV.  CHARCOAL  FURNACES. 

1 

Maine 

..  2,100 

1 

New  Hampshire 

0 

5 

Vermont 

2,420 

7 

Massachusetts 

. . 8,564 

14 

Connecticut 

, . 12,876 

29 

New  York 

21,774 

6 

New  Jersey 

..  2,100 

143 

Pennsylvania. . j.  . 

. . 96,154 

21 

Maryland 

. . 26,470 

39 

Virginia 

..  14,828 

3 

North  Carolina 

450 

4 

South  Carolina 

. . 1,506 

7 

Georgia 

. . 2,807 

3 

Alabama 

..  1,495 

41 

Tennessee 

..  28,476 

30 

Kentucky 

..  36,563 

41 

Ohio 

. . 70,355 

2 

Indiana 

..  1,800 

2 

Illinois 

. . 1,900 

7 

Missouri 

..  10,138 

3 

Wisconsin  

. . 2,500 

7 

Michigan 

416 

348,954 

Anthracite,  as  above. . . 

No.  of  Furnaces. 
121 

Tons. 
..  394,509 

Coke, 

24 

. . 44,481 

Raw  Coal,  “ 

19 

..  25,073 

Charcoal,  “ 

416 

. 348.954 

Total  pig. . 

580 

813,017 

Table  No.  4.— PRODUCT  OF  WROUGHT  iflON 
DIRECT  FROM  THE  ORE,  1856. 


Bloomaries.  States.  Tons! 

5 Vermont 1,65*0 

42  New  York ‘ 18,710 

48  New  Jersey 4,487 

36  North  Carolina 1,182 

2 South  Carolina 640 

4 Georgia 40 

14  Alabama 252 

50  Tennessee 1,222 

3 Michigan 450 


204  28,633 

Pig  iron  as  above 812,917 


Grand  total  production  of  iron  from 

the  ore  in  1856 841,550 

In  addition  to  this  amount,  the  importa- 
tions for  the  year  1856  of  iron  designed  for 
manufacture  are  estimated  at  363,998  tons, 
consisting  of  Scotch  pig,  55,403  tons  ; rolled 
and  hammered  iron,  298,275  tons;  and  scraps, 
10,320  tons;  and  if  to  this  be  added  for  old 
rails  reworked,  100,000  tons,  and  for  scrap, 
25,000  tons,  the  total  amount  of  iron  enter- 
ing into  domestic  consumption  was  1,330,548 
tons.  The  importation  of  railroad  iron  not 
included  in  the  above  was  167,400  tons. 
The  proportion  of  foreign  iron  introduced 
into  the  general  consumption,  not  including 
rails,  was  about  30  per  cent. 

The  value  of  the  immediate  products  of 
the  manufacture  of  domestic  iron  is  thus 
given  at  the  prices  current  in  1856  : — 


IRON. 


4? 


Foundry  pig 302,154  tons  a $27,  $8,158,158 

Foundry  cold-blast ) 

charcoal  iron  for  v 35,000  “ a 35,  1,225,000 

car  wheels,  &c. . . . ) 


Rails 142,555 

Boiler  and  sheet ... . 38,639 

Nails 81,462 

Bar,  rod,  hoop,  and  ) 235  425 

band ) ’ 

Hammered  iron ... . 21,000 


“ a 63,  8,980,965 

“ a 120,  4,636,680 

“ a 84,  6,842,808 

“ a 65,  15,302,625 
“ a 125,  2,625,000 


Total 


$47,771,236 


Mr.  Smitli  presents  the  following  conclu- 
sion to  the  “ Statistical  Report  of  the  Iron 
Manufacture  : ” “ The  great  facts  demon- 
strated are,  that  we  have  nearly  1,200  effi- 
cient works  in  the  Union ; that  these  pro- 
duce annually  about  850,000  tons  of  iron, 
the  value  of  which  in  an  ordinary  year  is 
$50,000,000 ; of  this  amount  the  portion 
expended  for  labor  alone  is  about  $35,000,- 
000.” 

The  following  table  gives  the  different 
kinds  of  pig  metal  and  the  total  amount  pro- 
duced in  each  year  since  1856  : 

Tons  Tons  raw  Tons 

Anthracite  Bituminous  Charcoal 


TEAR. 

Pig  Iron. 

Coal  and  Coke 
Pig  Iron. 

Pig  Iron. 

Total. 

1857, 

390,385 

77,451 

330,321 

285,313 

798,157 

1858, 

361.430 

58,351 

705,095 

1859, 

471,745 

84,841 

284,041 

840,627 

919,770 

1860, 

619.211 

122,228 

278,331 

1861, 

409,229 

127,037 

195,278 

731,544 

1862, 

470,315 

130,687 

186,660 

787,662 

1863, 

577,6:38 

157,961 

212,005 

947,604 

1864, 

684,018 

209.626 

241,853 

1,135,497 

1^65, 

479,588 

189,682 

262,342 

831,282 

l->66, 

749,367 

286,996 

332,280 

1,350,943 

1,461,626 

1867, 

798.638 

318,647 

344,311 

1868, 

893,000 

340,000 

370,000 

1,603,000 

1859, 

971,150 

553,341 

392,150 

1,916,641 

1870, 

940,500 

5.50,000 

360,000 

1,850,000 

1871, 

875,999 

650,000 

375,000 

1,900,000 

The  manufacture  of  iron  rails  has  existed 
for  nearly  twenty-five  years  in  the  United 
States,  but  has  only  assumed  any  great  mag- 
nitude since  1854.  The  annual  production 
of  American  rails  since  18G1  has  been  : 1861, 
189,818  tons;  1862,  213,912;  1863,  275,- 
768;  1864,335,369;  1865,  356,292  ; 1866, 
430,778;  1867,  462,108;  1868,  506,714; 
1869,  593,586  ; 1870,  620,000  ; 1871,  722,- 
000  tons.  In  the  last  named  year,  572,386 
tons  were  imported  from  Great  Britain. 

The  census  of  1860  gives  the  following 
statistics  of  the  iron  production  and  manu- 
facture of  that  year.  There  had  been  very 
little  progress  in  the  production  of  iron  in 
the  country  for  several  years  previous,  in 
consequence  of  the  very  low  rafce  of  duty  at 
which  foreign  railroad  and  other  iron  was 
admitted. 


Iron  blooms,  valued  at $2,623,178 

Pig  iron 20,870,120 


Bar,  sheet  and  railroad  iron..  31,888,705 


Iron  wire 1,643, S57 

Iron  forgings 1,907,460 

Car  wheels 2,083,350 

Iron  castings  of  all  kinds 36,132,033 


$97,148,705 


The  opening  of  the  war,  in  1861,  gave  an 
extraordinary  impetus  to  iron  production 
and  manufacture.  The  tariff  and  other 
causes  reduced  the  importation  to  a mini- 
mum, while  the  demand  for  iron  for  the 
fabrication  of  small  arms  and  cannon ; for 
the  construction  of  the  large  fleet  of  iron- 
clads, and  for  the  other  war  vessels ; for  the 
building  of  locomotives,  the  casting  of  car 
wheels  and  furnishing  the  vast  quantity  of 
railroad  iron  needed  to  repair  the  old  tracks 
destroyed  by  the  contending  armies,  and  to 
lay  the  tracks  of  new  roads,  extended  the 
business  vastly  beyond  all  former  precedent ; 
and  the  requirement  that  the  Pacific  railroad 
and  its  branches  shall  be  constructed  solely 
of  American  iron,  as  well  as  the  increase  in 
its  use  for  buildings,  and  for  shipping,  have 
maintained  it  in  a prosperous  condition. 

The  manufacture  of  steel  and  the  other 
manufactures  of  iron,  aside  from  those  al- 
ready enumerated,  brought  the  aggregate 
production  and  manufacture  of  iron  and 
steel,  in  1860,  up  to  $285,879,510.  The 
revenue  tax  paid  on  iron  and  steel  manufac- 
tures in  1864  indicates  that  the  product  of 
the  branches  taxed  amounted  to  about 
$123,000,000.  This  estimate  was  far  below 
the  production,  as  many  branches  were  not 
taxed,  and  the  returns  of  that  year  were  im- 
perfect. The  production  and  manufacture  of 
1865  were  not  less  than  400  millions  of  dollars. 
There  is  every  reason  to  expect  that  the  de- 
velopment of  the  iron  mines  will  be  pushed 
forward  with  constantly  increasing  energy, 
and  that  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when 
many  of  the  great  repositories  of  ores  we 
have  described — now  almost  untouched — 
will  be  the  seats  of  an  active  industry  and 
centres  of  a thriving  population,  supported 
by  the  home  markets  they  will  create.  The 
great  valley  of  the  west,  when  filled  with 
the  population  it  is  capable  of  supporting, 
and  intersected  in  every  direction  with  the 
vast  system  of  railroads,  of  which  the  present 
lines  form  but  the  mere  outlines,  will  itself 
require  more  iron  than  the  world  now  pro- 
duces, and  the  transportation  of  large  por- 
tions of  this  from  the  great  iron  regions  of 
northern  Michigan  and  Wisconsin,  and  of 


48 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


coal  back  to  the  mines,  will  sustain  larger 
lines  of  transportation  than  have  ever  yet  been 
employed  in  conveying  to  their  markets  the 
most  important  products  of  the  country. 
The  importation  of  foreign  iron — already 
falling  off  in  proportion  to  the  increased  con- 
sumption— must,  before  many  years,  cease, 
and  be  succeeded  by  exports  for  the  supplies 
of  other  nations  less  bountifully  provided  for 
in  this  respect  than  the  United  States  and 
Great  Britain. 


CHAPTER  II. 

COPPER. 

The  early  attempts  to  work  copper  mines 
in  the  United  States  have  already  been  al- 
luded to  in  the  introductory  remarks  to  the 
department  of  this  work  relating  to  mining 
industry.  The  ores  of  this  metal  are  widely 
distributed  throughout  the  country,  and  in 
almost  every  one  of  the  states  have  been 
found  in  quantities  that  encouraged  their  ex- 
ploration— in  the  great  majority  of  cases  to 
the  loss  of  those  interested.  The  metal  is 
met  with  in  all  the  New  England  states,  but 
only  those  localities  need  be  named  which 
have  at  times  been  looked  upon  as  important. 

Copper  occurs  in  a native  or  metallic  state, 
and  also  in  a variety  of  ores,  or  combi- 
nations of  the  metal  with  other  substances. 
In  these  forms  the  metallic  appearance  is 
lost,  and  the  metal  is  obtained  by  different 
metallurgical  operations,  an  account  of  some 
of  which  will  be  presented  in  the  course  of 
this  chapter.  Until  the  discover}7  of  the 
Lake  Superior  mines,  native  copper,  from  its 
scarcity,  was  regarded  rather  as  a curiosity 
than  as  an  important  source  of  supply.  The 
workable  ores  were  chiefly  pyritous  copper, 
vitreous  copper,  variegated  copper,  the  red 
oxide,  the  green  carbonate  or  malachite,  and 
chrysocolla.  The  first  named,  though  con- 
taining the  least  proportion  of  copper,  has 
furnished  more  of  the  metal  than  all  the 
other  ores  together,  and  is  the  chief  depen- 
dence of  most  of  the  mines.  It  is  a double 
sulphuret  of  copper  and  iron,  of  bright  yel- 
low color,  and  consists,  when  pure,  of  about 
34  per  cent,  of  copper,  35  of  sulphur,  and 
30  of  iron.  But  the  ore  is  always  inter- 
mixed with  quartz  or  other  earthy  minerals, 
by  which  its  richness  is  greatly  reduced.  As 
brought  out  from  the  mine  it  may  not  con- 
tain more  than  1 per  cent,  of  copper,  and 
when  freed  as  far  as  practicable  from  foreign 


substances  by  the  mechanical  processes  of 
assorting,  crushing,  washing,  jigging,  etc., 
and  brought  up  to  a percentage  of  6 or  7 of 
copper,  it  is  in  Cornwall  a merchantable  ore, 
and  the  mine  producing  in  large  quantity  the 
poor  material  from  which  it  is  obtained  may 
be  a profitable  one.  Vitreous  copper,  known 
also  as  copper  glance,  and  sulphuret  of  cop- 
per, is  a lead  gray  ore,  very  soft,  and  con- 
tains 79.8  per  cent,  of  copper,  united  with 
20.2  per  cent,  of  sulphur.  It  is  not  often 
found  in  large  quantity.  V ariegated  or  pur- 
ple copper  is  distinguished  by  its  various 
shades  of  color  and  brittle  texture.  It  yields, 
when  pure,  from  56  to  63  per  cent,  of  copper, 
21  to  28  of  sulphur,  and  7 to  14  of  iron. 
The  red  oxide  is  a beautiful  ore  of  ruby  red 
color,  and  consists  of  88.8  per  cent,  of  cop- 
per and  11.2  per  cent,  of  oxygen.  It  is 
rarely  found  in  sufficient  quantity  to  add 
much  to  the  products  of  the  mines.  Green 
malachite  is  a highly  ornamental  stone,  of 
richly  variegated  shades  of  green,  famous  as 
the  material  of  costly  vases,  tables,  etc.,  man- 
ufactured in  Siberia  for  the  Russian  govern- 
ment. It  is  always  met  with  in  copper 
mines,  especially  near  the  surface,  but  rarely 
in  large  or  handsome  masses.  It  consists 
of  copper  57.5,  oxygen  14.4,  carbonic  acid 
19.9,  and  water  8.2  per  cent.  Chrysocolla 
is  a combination  of  oxide  of  copper  and 
silica,  of  greenish  shades,  and  is  met  with  as 
an  incrustation  upon  other  copper  ores.  It 
often  closely  resembles  the  malachite  in  ap- 
pearance. It  contains  about  36  per  cent,  of 
copper. 

The  first  mines  worked  in  the  United 
States  were  peculiar  for  the  rich  character 
of  their  ores.  These  were,  in  great  part, 
vitreous  and  variegated  copper,  with  some 
malachite,  and  were  found  in  beds,  strings, 
and  bunches  in  the  red  sandstone  formation, 
especially  along  its  line  of  contact  with  the 
gneiss  and  granitic  rocks  in  Connecticut,  and 
with  the  trap  rocks  in  New  Jersey.  The 
mine  at  Simsbury,  in  Connecticut,  furnished 
a considerable  amount  of  such  ores  from  the 
year  1709  till  it  was  purchased,  about  the 
middle  of  the  last  century,  by  the  state, 
from  which  time  it  was  occupied  for  sixty 
years  as  a prison,  and  worked  by  the  con- 
victs; not,  Jiowever,  to  much  profit.  In 
1830  it  came  into  possession  of  a company, 
but  was  only  worked  for  a short  time  after- 
ward. On  the  same  geological  range,  but 
lying  chiefly  in  the  gneiss  rocks,  the  most 
productive  of  these  mines  was  opened  in 


COPPER. 


49 


1836,  in  Bristol,  Conn.  It  was  vigorously; 
worked  from  1847  to  1857,  and  produced 
larger  amounts  of  rich  vitreous  and  pyritous 
ores  than  have  been  obtained  from  any  other 
mine  in  the  United  States.  No  expense  was 
spared  in  prosecuting  the  mining,  and  in 
furnishing  efficient  machinery  for  dressing  the 
ores.  Although  1800  tons  of  ore,  producing 
over  $200,000,  were  sent  to  market,  the  ore 
yielding  from  18  to  50  per  cent,  of  copper, 
the  mine  proved  a losing  affair,  and  was 
finally  abandoned  in  1857. 

The  New  Jersey  mines  have  all  failed, 
from  insufficient  supply  of  the  ores.  The 
Schuyler  mine,  at  Belleville,  produced  rich 
vitreous  copper  and  chrysocolla,  disseminated 
through  a stratum  of  light  brown  sandstone, 
of  20  to  30  feet  in  thickness,  and  dipping  at 
an  angle  of  12°.  During  the  periods  of  its 
being  worked  in  the  last  century,  the  exca- 
vations reached  the  depth  of  200  feet,  and 
were  carried  to  great  distances  on  the  course 
of  the  metalliferous  stratum.  The  mine  was 
then  so  highly  valued  that  an  offer  of  £500,- 
000,  made  for  it  by  an  English  company,  was 
refused  by  the  proprietor,  Mr.  Schuyler.  In 
1857—58  attempts  were  made  by  a New 
York  company  to  work  the  mine  again,  but 
the  enterprise  soon  failed.  Among  the  other 
mines  which  have  been  worked  to  consid- 
erable extent  in  New  Jersey  are  the  Flem- 
ington  mine,  which  resembled  in  the  char- 
acter of  its  ore  the  Schuyler  mine,  and  the 
Bridgewater  mine,  near  Somerville,  at  which 
native  copper  in  some  quantity  was  found  in 
the  last  century;  two  pieces  met  with  in  1754 
weighing  together,  it  was  reported,  1,900  lbs. 
A mine  near  New  Brunswick  also  furnished 
many  lumps  of  native  copper,  and  thin  sheets 
of  the  metal  were  found  included  in  the  sand- 
stone. At  different  times  this  mine  has  been 
thoroughly  explored,  to  the  loss  of  those  en- 
gaged in  the  enterprise.  In  Somerset  county, 
the  Franklin  mine,  near  Griggstown,  has  been 
worked  to  the  depth  of  100  feet.  Carbonate 
and  red  oxide  of  copper  were  found  in  the 
shales  near  the  trap,  but  not  in  quantity  suf- 
ficient to  pay  expenses.  In  Pennsylvania, 
near  the  Schuylkill  river,  in  Montgomery  and  i 
Chester  counties,  many  mines  have  been ' 
worked  for  copper  and  lead  at  the  junction 
of  the  red  sandstone  and  gneiss.  Those 
veins  included  wholly  in  the  shales  of  the 
red  sandstone  group  were  found  to  produce 
copper  chiefly,  while  those  in  the  gneiss  were 
productive  in  lead  ores.  At  the  Perkiomen 
and  Ecton  mines — both  upon  the  same  lode 


— extensive  mining  operations  have  been 
carried  on ; a shaft  upon  the  latter  having 
reached  in  1853  the  depth  of  396  feet.  The 
sales  of  copper  ores  during  the  three  years 
the  mines  were  actively  worked  amounted 
to  over  $40,500  ; but  the  product  was  not 
sufficient  to  meet  the  expenditures. 

The  mines  in  Frederick  county,  Maryland, 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Liberty,  were  near 
the  red  sandstone  formation,  though  included 
in  argillaceous  and  talcose  slates.  A num- 
ber of  them  have  been  worked  at  different 
times  up  to  the  year  1853,  when  they  were 
finally  given  up  as  unprofitable. 

A more  newly  discovered  and  richer  cop- 
per district  in  Maryland  is  near  Sykesville, 
on  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  railroad,  32  miles 
from  Baltimore,  in  a region  of  micaceous, 
talcose,  and  chloritic  slates.  A large  bed  of 
specular  iron  ore  lying  between  the  slates 
was  found  to  contain,  at  some  depth  below 
the  surface,  carbonates  and  silicates  of  cop- 
per, and  still  further  down  copper  pyrites. 
In  the  twelve  months  preceding  April  1, 
1857,  300  tons  had  been  mined  and  sent  to 
market,  the  value  of  which  was  $17,896.92, 
and  the  mine  was  reported  as  improving. 
The  ore  sent  to  the  smelting  works  at  Balti- 
more, in  December  of  that  year,  yielded 
16.03  per  cent,  of  copper.  Within  seven 
miles  of  Baltimore  the  Bare  Hill  mine  has 
produced  considerable  copper,  associated 
with  the  chromic  iron  of  that  region. 

Like  the  last  two  named,  all  the  other  lo- 
calities of  copper  ores  of  any  importance 
along  the  Appalachian  chain  and  east  of  it 
are  remote  from  the  range  of  the  red  sand- 
stone, and  belong  to  older  rock  formations. 
In  the  granites  of  New  Hampshire,  pyritous 
copper  has  been  found  in  many  places,  but  has 
nowhere  been  mined  to  any  extent.  In  Ver- 
mont, mining  operations  were  carried  on  for 
several  years  upon  a large  lode  of  pyritous 
copper,  which  was  traced  several  miles 
through  Vershire  and  Corinth.  At  Straf- 
ford, pyritous  ores  were  worked  in  1829  and 
afterward,  both  for  copperas  and  copper.  In 
New  York,  excellent  pyritous  ores  were  pro- 
duced at  the  Ulster  lead  mine  in  1853. 
Among  other  sales  of  similar  qualities  of  ore, 
one  lot  of  50  tons  produced  24.3  per  cent,  of 
copper. 

In  Virginia,  rich  ores  of  red  oxide  of  cop- 
per, associated  with  native  copper  and  pyri- 
tous copper,  are  found  in  the  mctamorphic 
slates  at  Manasses  Gap,  and  also  in  many 
other  places  further  south  along  the  Blue 


50 


MINING-  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


Ridge.  The  very  promising  appearance  of 
the  ores,  and  their  numerous  localities,  would 
encourage  one  to  believe  that  this  will  prove 
to  he  a copper  region,  were  it  not  that,  when 
explored,  the  ores  do  not  seem  to  lie  in  any 
regular  form  of  vein.  In  the  southern  part 
of  the  state,  in  Carroll,  Floyd,  and  Grayson 
counties,  copper  was  discovered  in  1852,  and 
mines  were  soon  after  opened  in  a district 
of  metamorphic  slates,  near  their  junction 
with  the  lower  silurian  limestones.  The 
copper  was  met  with  in  the  form  of  pyritous 
ore,  red  oxide,  and  black  copper,  beneath 
large  outcropping  masses  of  hematite  iron 
ore,  or  gossan.  Some  of  the  shipments  are 
said  to  have  yielded  over  20  per  cent,  of 
copper.  The  amount  of  ores  sent  east,  over 
the  Virginia  and  Tennessee  railroad,  in  1855, 
was  1,931,403  lbs.;  in  1856,  1,972,834  lbs. ; 
and  in  the  nine  months  ending  June  30, 
1857,  1,085,997  lbs.;  1858,  688,418  lbs.; 

.1859,  1,151,132  lbs.;  and  1860,  2,679,673 
lbs.  Copper  ores  are  very  generally  met  with 
in  the  gold  mines  of  this  state,  and  further 
south,  but  the  only  one  of  them  that  has  been 
worked  expressly  for  copper  is  that  of  the 
North  Carolina  Copper  Company,  in  Guilford 
county.  From  this  a considerable  amount 
of  pyritous  copper  ores  were  sent  to  the 
north  in  1852  and  1853. 

In  Tennessee,  an  important  copper  region 
lies  along  the  southern  line  of  Polk  county, 
and  extends  into  Gilmer  county,  Georgia. 
The  ore  was  first  found  in  1847,  associated 
with  masses  of  hematite  iron  ores,  which 
formed  great  outcropping  ledges,  traceable 
for  miles  from  south-west  to  north-east  along 
the  range  of  the  micaceous  and  talcose  slates. 
An  examination  of  the  ores,  made  to  ascer- 
tain the  cause  of  their  working  badly  in  the 
furnace,  was  the  means  of  corroborating  or 
giving  importance  to  the  discovery  of  the 
copper.  In  1851  copper  mining  was  com- 
menced, and  afterward  prosecuted  with  great 
activity  by  a number  of  companies.  The 
ore  was  found  in  seven  or  eight  parallel  lodes 
of  the  ferruginous  matters,  all  within  a belt 
of  a mile  in  width.  At  the  surface  there 
was  no  appearance  of  it,  but  as  the  explora- 
tions reached  the  depth  of  seventy-five  or 
one  hundred  feet  below  the  surface  of  the 
hills,  it  was  met  with  in  various  forms,  re- 
sulting from  the  decomposition  of  pyritous 
copper,  and  much  mixed  with  the  ochreous 
matters  derived  from  a similar  source.  In  a 
soft  black  mass,  easily  worked  by  the  pick, 
and  of  extraordinary  dimensions,  were  found 


intermixed  different  oxides  and  other  ores 
of  copper,  yielding  various  proportions  of 
metal,  and  much  of  it  producing  20  per  cent, 
and  more,  fit  to  be  barrelled  up  at  once  for 
transportation.  This  ore  spread  out  in  a 
sheet,  varying  in  width  at  the  different 
mines ; at  the  Eureka  mine  it  was  50  feet 
wide,  and  at  the  Hiwassee  45  feet,  while  at 
the  Isabella  mine  the  excavations  have  been 
extended  between  two  walls  250  feet  apart. 
In  depth  this  ore  is  limited  to  a few  feet  only, 
except  as  it  forms  bunches  running  up  into 
the  gossan  or  ochreous  ores.  Below  the 
black  ore  is  the  undecomposed  lode,  consist- 
ing of  quartz,  more  or  less  charged  with 
pyritous  copper,  red  oxide,  green  carbonate, 
and  gray  sulphuret  of  copper ; and  it  is  upon 
these  the  permanent  success  of  the  mines 
must  depend.  About  14  mining  companies 
have  been  engaged  in  this  district,  and  the 
production  of  the  most  successful  of  them 
was  as  follows,  up  to  the  year  1858:  Isa- 
bella, 2,500  tons ; Calloway,  200 ; Mary’s, 
1,500  ; Polk  county,  2,100  ; Tennessee, 
2,200  ; Hiwassee,  2,500  ; Hancock,  2,000 — 
making  a total  of  13,000  tons,  yielding  from 
15  to  40  per  cent,  of  copper,  and  worth  $100 
per  ton,  or  $1,300,000.  In  addition  to  this, 
the  products  of  the  London  mine,  yielding 
an  average  of  45  per  cent,  of  copper,  amount- 
ed to  over  $200,000  in  value ; and  the  prod- 
ucts of  the  Eureka  mine  were  rated  for 
1855  at  $86,000;  for  1856  at  $123,000; 
and  for  1857  at  $136,000.  The  value  of  the 
ores  remaining  at  the  mines  too  poor  to 
transport,  but  valuable  to  smelt  in  furnaces 
on  the  spot,  was  estimated  at  $200,000  more. 
Furnaces  for  smelting,  on  the  German  plan, 
were  in  operation  in  1857,  and  produced 
the  next  year  850  tons  of  matt,  or  regulus. 
At  the  Eureka  mine,  in  1858,  there  were  4 
reverberatory  furnaces,  2 blast,  and  2 cal- 
cining furnaces.  The  fuel  employed  is  wood 
and  charcoal.  By  the  introduction  of  smelt- 
ing operations,  ores  of  5 to  6 per  cent,  are 
now  advantageously  reduced. 

In  1857  the  mines  of  a large  portion  of 
this  district  were  incorporated  into  the  so- 
called  Union  Consolidated  Mining  Company, 
and  most  of  the  other  mines  were  taken  up 
by  the  Burra  Burra  Company  and  the  Polk 
County  Company.  The  principal  interests 
in  the  last  two  are  held  in  New  Orleans. 
The  first  named  own  11  mines,  of  which 
they  are  working  three  only,  with  a monthly 
production  of  750  to  800  tons  of  12  per  cent, 
copper,  besides  5 or  6 tons  of  precipitate 


COPPER. 


51 


copper.  This  is  metallic  copper,  precipitated 
from  the  waters  of  the  mine  by  means  of 
scrap  iron  thrown  into  tbe  vats  in  which 
these  waters  are  collected.  The  iron  being 
taken  up  by  the  acids  which  hold  the  cop- 
per in  solution,  the  latter  is  set  free,  and  de- 
posited in  fine  metallic  powder.  The  ore  is 
smelted  in  furnaces  constructed  on  the  Ger- 
man plan,  and  being  put  through  twice,  pro- 
duce a regulus  of  55  per  cent.  As  soon  as 
the  proper  furnaces  and  refineries  can  be 
constructed,  it  is  intended  to  make  ingot 
copper,  and  by  working  more  of  the  mines 
belonging  to  the  company  it  is  expected  the 
monthly  production  will  soon  be  raised  to 

2.000  tons  of  10  to  12  per  cent.  ore. 

The  two  other  companies  have  erected  ex- 
tensive smelting  works ; and  the  mines  of 
the  Burra  Burra  are  producing  450  to  500 
tons  per  month  of  14  per  cent,  ore,  and 
those  of  the  Polk  County  Company  about 
300  tons  of  15  per  cent.  ore.  Both  com- 
panies will  soon  be  able  to  make  ingot  cop- 
per. The  report  of  the  Union  Consolidated 
Company  for  the  first  year  of  their  opera- 
tions presents,  against  expenditures  amount- 
ing to  $307,182.77,  receipts  of  $457,803.73, 
leaving  a profit  of  $150,620.96.  A large 
portion  of  the  regulus  is  shipped  to  England 
for  sale. 

The  profits  of  these  mines  were  greatly 
reduced  the  first  few  years  of  their  operation 
by  the  necessity  of  transporting  the  ores  40 
miles  to  a railroad,  and  thence  more  than 

1.000  miles  by  land  and  water  to  the  north- 
ern smelting  works.  The  establishment  of 
furnaces  at  the  mines  not  only  reduces  this 
source  of  loss,  but  renders  the  great  body 
of  poorer  ores  available,  which  they  were  not 
before.  A railroad  is  now  in  process  of  con- 
struction to  connect  the  mines  with  the 
Georgia  railroads. 

West  of  the  Alleghanies,  the  only  copper 
mines,  besides  those  of  Lake  Superior,  are 
in  the  lead  region  of  Wisconsin,  Iowa,  and 
Missouri.  A considerable  number  of  them 
have  been  worked  to  limited  extent,  and 
small  blast  furnaces  have  been  in  operation 
smelting  the  ores.  These  were  found  only 
near  the  surface,  in  the  crevices  that  con- 
tained the  lead  ores ; and  in  Missouri,  in 
horizontal  beds  in  the  limestone,  along  the 
line  of  contact  of  the  granite.  The  ores 
were  mixed  pyritous  copper  and  carbonate, 
always  in  very  limited  quantity.  The  amount 
of  copper  produced  has  been  unimportant, 
and  it  is  not  likely  that  any  considerable  in- 


crease in  the  supply  of  the  metal  will  be  de- 
rived from  this  source. 

The  existence  of  native  copper  on  the 
shores  of  Lake  Superior,  is  noticed  in  the 
reports  of  the  Jesuit  missionaries  of  1659 
and  1666.  Pieces  of  the  metal  10  to  20  lbs. 
in  weight  were  seen,  which  it  is  said  the 
Indians  reverenced  as  sacred ; similar  reports 
were  brought  by  Father  Dablouin  1670,  and 
by  Charlevoix  in  1744.  An  attempt  was 
made  in  1771  by  an  Englishman,  named 
Alexander  Henry,  to  open  a mine  near  the 
forks  of  the  Ontonagon,  on  the  bank  of  the 
river,  where  a large  mass  of  the  metal  lay  ex- 
posed. He  had  visited  the  region  in  1763, 
and  returned  with  a party  prepared  for  more 
thoroughly  exploring  its  resources.  They, 
however,  found  no  more  copper  besides  the 
loose  mass,  which  they  were  unable  to  re- 
move. They  then  went  over  to  the  north 
shore  of  the  lake,  but  met  with  no  better 
success  there.  General  Cass  and  Mr.  II.  R. 
Schoolcraft  visited  the  region  in  1819,  and 
reported  on  the  great  mass  upon  the  Onton- 
agon. Major  Long,  also,  in  1823,  bore  wit- 
ness to  the  occurrence  of  the  metal  along 
the  shores  of  the  lake.  The  country,  till 
the  ratification  of  the  treaty  with  the  Chip- 
pewa Indians  in  1842,  was  scarcely  ever 
visited  except  by  hunters  and  fur-traders, 
and  was  only  accessible  by  a tedious  voyage 
in  canoes  from  Mackinaw.  The  fur  com- 
panies discouraged,  and  could  exclude  from 
the  territory,  all  explorers  not  going  there 
under  their  auspices.  Dr.  Douglass  Hough- 
ton, the  state  geologist  of  Michigan,  in  the 
territory  of  which  these  Indian  lands  were 
included,  made  the  first  scientific  examina- 
tion of  the  country  in  1841,  and  his  reports 
first  drew  public  attention  to  its  great  re- 
sources in  copper.  11  is  explorations  were 
continued  both  under  the  state  and  general 
government  until  they  were  suddenly  termi- 
nated with  his  life  by  the  unfortunate  swamp- 
ing of  his  boat  in  the  lake,  near  Eagle  river, 
October  13,  1845. 

In  1844  adventurers  from  the  eastern  states 
began  to  pour  into  the  country,  and  mining 
operations  were  commenced  at  various  places 
near  the  shore,  on  Keweenaw  Point.  The 
companies  took  possession  under  permits 
from  the  general  land  office,  in  anticipation 
of  the  regular  surveys,  when  the  tracts  could 
be  properly  designated  for  sale.  , Nearly 
one  thousand  tracts,  of  one  mile  square  each, 
were  selected — the  greater  part  of  them  at 
random-,  and  afterward  explored  and  aban- 


52 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


doned.  In  1846  a geological  survey  of  the 
region  was  authorized  by  Congress,  which 
was  commenced  under  Dr.  C.  T.  Jackson, 
and  completed  by  Messrs.  Foster  and  Whit- 
ney in  1850.  At  this  time  many  mines  were 
in  full  operation,  and  titles  to  them  had  been 
acquired  at  the  government  sales. 

The  copper  region,  as  indicated  by  Dr. 
Houghton,  was  found  to  be  nearly  limited  to 
the  range  of  trap  hills,  which  are  traced  from 
the  termination  of  Keweenaw  Point  toward 
the  south-west  in  a belt  of  not  more  than  two 
miles  in  width,  gradually  receding  from  the 
lake  shore.  The  upper  portion  of  the  hills 
is  of  trap  rock,  lying  in  beds  which  dip  to- 
ward the  lake,  and  pass  in  this  direction 
under  others  of  sandstone,  the  outcrop  of 
which  is  along  the  northern  flanks  of  the 
hills.  Isle  Royale,  near  the  north  shore  of 
the  lake,  is  made  up  of  similar  formations, 
which  dip  toward  the  south.  These  rocks 
thus  appear  to  form  the  basin  in  which  the 
portion  of  Lake  Superior  lying  between  is 
held.  The  trap  hills  are  traced  from  Kewee- 
naw Point  in  two  or  three  parallel  ridges  of 
500  to  1,000  feet  elevation,  crossing  Portage 
lake  not  far  from  the  shore  of  Lake  Superior, 
and  the  Ontonagon  river  about  1 3 miles  from 
its  mouth.  They  thence  reach  further  back 
into  i;he  country  beyond  Agogebic  lake,  full 
120  miles  from  the  north-eastern  termina- 
tion. Another  group  of  trap  hills,  known  as 
the  Porcupine  mountains,  comes  out  to  the 
lake  shore  some  20  miles  above  the  mouth 
of  the  Ontonagon,  and  this  also  contains 
veins  of  copper,  which  have  been  little  de- 
veloped until  the  explorations  commenced 
near  Carp  lake  in  these  mountains  in  1859. 
These  have  resulted  in  a shipment  of  over  20 
tons  of  rough  copper  in  1860,  and  give  en- 
couragement to  this  proving  a copper-pro- 
ducing district.  The  formations  upon  Isle 
Royale,  which  is  within  the  boundary  of  the 
United  States,  although  they  are  similar  to 
those  of  the  south  shore,  and  contain  copper 
veins  upon  which  explorations  were  vigor- 
ously prosecuted,  have  not  proved  of  impor- 
tance, and  no  mines  are  now  worked  there. 
The  productive  mines  are  comprised  in  three 
districts  along  the  main  range  of  the  trap 
hills.  The  first  is  on  Keweenaw  Point,  the 
second  about  Portage  lake,  and  the  third 
near  the  Ontonagon  river.  All  the  veins 
are  remarkable  for  producing  native  copper 
alone,  the  only  ores  of  the  metal  being 
chiefly  of  vitreous  copper  found  in  a range 
of  hills  on  the  south  side  of  Keweenaw  Point, 


and  nowhere  in  quantities  to  justify  the  con- 
tinuation of  mining  operations  that  were 
commenced  upon  them.  The  veins  on  Ke- 
weenaw Point  cross  the  ridges  nearly  at  right 
angles,  penetrating  almost  vertically  through 
the  trap  and  the  sandstones.  Their  produc- 
tiveness is,  for  the  most  part,  limited  to  cer- 
tain amygdaloidal  belts  of  the  trap,  which 
alternate  with  other  unproductive  beds  of 
gray  compact  trap,  and  the  mining  explora- 
tions follow  the  former  down  their  slope  of 
40°,  more  or  less,  toward  the  north.  The 
thickness  of  the  veins  is  very  variable,  and 
also  their  richness,  even  in  the  amygdaloid. 
The  copper  is  found  interspersed  in  pieces 
of  all  sizes  through  the  quartz  vein  stones 
and  among  the  calcareous  spar,  laumonite, 
prehnite,  and  other  minerals  associated  with 
the  quartz.  These  being  extracted,  piles  are 
made  of  the  poorer  sorts,  in  which  the  metal 
is  not  sufficiently  clear  of  stone  for  shipment, 
and  these  are  roasted  by  firing  the  wood  in- 
termixed through  the  heaps.  By  this  proc- 
ess the  stone  entangled  among  the  copper 
is  more  readily  broken  and  removed.  The 
lumps  that  will  go  into  barrels  are  called 
“ barrel  work,”  and  are  packed  in  this  way 
for  shipment.  Larger  ones,  called  “ masses,” 
some  of  which  are  huge,  irregular-shaped 
blocks  of  clean  copper,  are  cut  into  pieces 
that  can  be  conveniently  transported,  as  of 
one  to  three  tons  weight  each.  This  is  done 
by  means  of  a long  chisel  with  a bit  three- 
fourths  of  an  inch  wide,  which  is  held  by  one 
man  and  struck  in  turns  by  two  others  Avith 
a hammer  weighing  7 or  8 lbs.  A groove  is 
thus  cut  across  the  narrowest  part  of  the 
mass,  turning  out  long  chips  of  copper  one- 
fourth  of  an  inch  thick,  and  with  each  suc- 
ceeding cut  the  groove  is  deepened  to  the 
same  extent  until  it  reaches  through  the  mass. 
The  process  is  slow  and  tedious,  a single  cut 
sometimes  occupying  the  continual  labor  of 
three  men  for  as  many  weeks,  or  even  long- 
er. This  work  is  done  in  great  part  be- 
fore the  masses  can  be  got  out  of  the 
mine.  The  masses  are  found  in  working  the 
vein,  often  occupying  the  whole  space  be- 
tween the  walls  of  trap  rock,  standing  up- 
on their  edges,  and  shut  in  as  solidly  as  if 
all  were  one  material.  To  remove  one  of  the 
very  large  masses  is  a work  of  many  months. 
It  is  first  laid  bare  along  one  side  by  extend- 
ing the  level  or  drift  of  the  mine  through 
the  trap  rock.  The  excavation  is  carried 
high  enough  to  expose  its  upper  edge  and 
down  to  its  lower  line ; but  on  account  of  ir- 


COPPER. 


53 


regular  shape  and  projecting  arms  of  copper, 
which  often  stretch  forward,  and  up  and  down, 
connecting  with  other  masses,  it  requires  long 
and  tedious  mining  operations  to  determine 
its  dimensions.  When  it  is  supposed  to 
be  nearly  freed  along  one  side,  very  heavy 
charges  of  powder  are  introduced  in  the  rock 
behind  the  mass,  with  the  view  of  starting 
it  from  its  bed.  When  cracks  are  produced 
by  these,  heavier  charges  are  introduced  in 
the  form  of  sand-blasts,  and  these  are  re- 
peated until  the  mass  is  thrown  partly  over  on 
its  side  as  well  as  the  space  excavated  will 
admit.  In  speaking  further  of  the  Minesota 
mine,  the  enormous  sizes  of  some  of  the 
masses,  and  the  amount  of  powder  consumed 
in  loosening  them,  will  be  more  particularly 
noticed. 

To  separate  the  finer  particles  of  copper 
from  the  stones  in  which  they  are  contained, 
these,  after  being  roasted,  are  crushed  under 
heavy  stamps  to  the  condition  of  fine  sand, 
and  this  is  then  washed  after  the  usual 
method  of  washing  fine  ores,  until  the  earthy 
matters  are  removed  and  the  metallic  par- 
ticles are  left  behind.  This  is  shovelled  into 
small  casks  for  shipment,  and  is  known  as 
stamp  copper.  The  stamping  and  crushing 
machinery,  such  as  have  long  been  used  at 
the  mining  establishments  of  other  countries, 
were  found  to  be  entirely  too  slow  for  the 
requirements  of  these  mines,  and  they  have 
been  replaced  by  new  apparatus  of  Amer- 
ican contrivance,  which  is  far  more  efficient 
than  any  thing  of  the  kind  ever  before  ap- 
plied to  such  operations.  The  stamps  here- 
tofore in  use  have  been  of  100  lbs.  to  300  lbs. 
weight,  and  at  the  California  mines  were  first 
introduced  of  800  lbs.  to  1,000  lbs.  weight. 
At  Lake  Superior  they  are  in  use  on  the  plan 
of  the  steam  hammer,  weighing,  with  the  rod 
or  stamp-ieg,  2,500  lbs.  and  making  90  to 
100  strokes  in  a minute.  The  capacity  of 
each  stamp  is  to  crush  over  one  ton  of  hard 
trap  rock  every  hour.  It  falls  upon  a large 
mortar  that  rests  upon  springs  of  vulcanized 
rubber,  and  the  force  of  its  fall  is  increased 
by  the  pressure  of  steam  applied  above  the 
piston  to  throw  it  more  suddenly  down.  The 
stamp-head  covers  about  one-fourth  of  the 
face  of  the  mortar,  and  with  every  succeed- 
ing stroke  it  moves  to  the  adjoining  quarter, 
covering  the  whole  face  in  four  strokes. 

The  only  other  metal  found  with  the  cop- 
per is  silver,  and  this  does  not  occur  as  an 
alloy,  but  the  two  are  as  if  welded  together, 
and  neither,  when  assayed,  gives  more  than 


a trace  of  the  other.  It  is  evident  from  this 
that  they  cannot  have  been  in  a fused  state 
in  contact.  The  quantity  of  silver  is  small ; 
the  largest  piece  ever  found  weighing  a little 
more  than  8 lbs.  troy.  This  was  met  with 
at  the  mines  near  the  mouth  of  Eagle  river, 
where  a considerable  number  of  loose  pieces, 
together  with  loose  masses  of  copper,  were 
obtained  in  exploring  deep  under  the  bed  of 
the  stream  an  ancient  deposit  of  rounded 
boulders  of  sandstone  and  trap.  The  veins 
of  even  the  trap  rocks  themselves  of  this  lo- 
cality exhibited  so  much  silver  that  in  the 
early  operations  of  the  mines  a very  high 
value  was  set  upon  them  on  this  account. 
But  at  none  of  the  Lake  Superior  mines  has 
the  silver  collected  paid  the  proprietors  for 
the  loss  it  has  occasioned  by  distracting  the 
attention  of  the  miners,  and  leading  them  to 
seek  for  it  with  the  purpose  of  appropriating 
it  to  their  own  use.  Probably  they  have  car- 
ried away  much  the  greater  part  of  this 
metal ; at  least  until  the  stamp  mills  were  in 
operation. 

The  principal  mine  of  this  district  is  the 
Cliff  mine  of  the  Pittsburg  and  Boston  Com- 
pany, opened  in  1 845,  and  steadily  worked  ever 
since.  In  1858  the  extent  of  the  horizontal 
workings  on  the  vein  had  amounted  to 
12,368  feet,  besides  831  feet  in  cross-cuts. 
Five  shafts  had  been  sunk,  one  of  which  was 
817  feet  deep,  587  feet  being  below  the  adit 
level,  and  230  feet  being  from  this  level  to  the 
summit  of  the  ridge.  The  shaft  of  least 
depth  was  sunk  422  feet. 

The  production  of  the  mine  from  the  year 
1853  is  exhibited  in  the  following  table : — 


Price  per  lb. 


Mineral 

Refined 

Yield 

deducting 

Value 

Year. 

produced. 

lbs. 

copper. 

lbs. 

per  cent. 

cost  of 
smelting. 

realized. 

1853, 

2,263, 1S2 

1,071,298 

47.33  cts.  27.32 

$292,647  05 

1854, 

2,382,614 

1,3 ' 5,808 

56.35 

-.4.38 

320,783  01 

1855, 

2,995,837 

1,874,197 

62.56 

25  33 

475,911  26 

1856, 

3.291,289 

2,220,934 

67.48 

24.12 

535.843  67 

1857, 

8,363,557 

2,363.850 

70.28 

20.44 

497,870  47 

1858, 

8,183,085 

2,381.964 

71.00 

21.03 

475.321  89 

1859, 

2,189,682 

1,415,007 

64.35 

20.50 

290,097  97 

1860 

2,805,442 

22,374,5SS 

Product  from  accu- 
mulated slags . . . . 

j-  71,530,  exclusive  of  slags. 

The  quantities  of  the  different  sorts  for 
the  year  1857  are  as  follows: — 


941  masses 1, 9158,1 81  lbs. 

869  bbls.  of  barrel  work 618,781  “ 

1,020  “ of  stampings 791,645  “ 


Total 8,363,557  “ 


The  Portage  lake  mining  district  is  from 
twenty  to  twenty-five  miles  west  from  the 


54 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


Cliff  mine  on  the  same  range  of  hills.  This 
region  is  of  more  recent  development,  the 
explorations  having  been  attended  with  little 
success  previous  to  1854.  The  veins  are 
here  found  productive  in  a gray  variety  of 
trap  as  well  as  the  amygdaloidal,  and  instead 
of  lying  across  the  ridges,  follow  the  same 
course  with  them,  and  dip  in  general  with 
the  slope  of  the  strata.  Some  of  the  larger 
veins  consist  in  great  part  of  epidote,  and 
the  copper  in  these  is  much  less  dense 
than  in  the  quartz  veins,  forming  tangled 
masses  which  are  rarely  of  any  considerable 
size.  On  the  eastern  side  of  this  lake  are 
worked,  among  other  mines,  the  Quincy, 
Pewabic,  and  Franklin,  and  on  the  opposite 
side  the  Isle  Royale,  Portage,  and  Columbian 
mines.  The  most  successful  of  these  has 
been  the  Pewabic.  Operations  were  com- 
menced here  in  1855  upon  an  unimproved 
tract,  requiring  the  construction  of  roads  and 
buildings,  clearing  of  land,  etc.  etc.,  all  in- 
volving for  several  years  a continued  heavy 
outlay.  The  immediate  and  rapid  produc- 
tion of  the  mine  required  the  construction  of 
costly  mills,  without  which  a large  propor- 
tion of  the  copper  would  be  unavailable  for 
the  market.  The  first  three  years  the  as- 
sessments were  $50,000,  and  the  shipments 
of  barrel  and  mass  copper  were  in  1856 
97*Vo6o  tons;  in  1857,  209^Vo  tons ; in 

1858,  402  tons;  in  1859,  tons.  The 

proceeds  from  the  sales  up  to  this  time  paid 
off  all  the  expenditures,  and  left  besides  a 
considerable,  surplus.  The  Franklin  Com- 
pany, working  the  same  lode  upon  the  ad- 
joining location,  commenced  operations  in 
July,  1857,  and  that  year  shipped  20  tons 
of  copper,  the  next  year  110  tons,  and  in 

1859,  218  tons;  the  total  amount  in  capital 
furnished  by  assessments  was  $1 0,000.  These 
two  mines  have  been  the  most  rapidly  de- 
veloped of  any  of  the  Lake  Superior  mines. 

The  Ontonagon  river  crosses  the  trap  hills 
about  forty  miles  south-west  from  Portage 
lake,  and  the  mines  worked  in  the  Onton- 
agon district  are  scattered  along  the  hills 
north-east  from  the  river  for  a distance  of 
nearly  twenty  miles.  The  outlet  for  the 
greater  number  of  them  is  by  a road  through 
'the  woods  to  the  village  at  the  mouth  of  the 
river.  The  veins  of  this  district  also  lie 
along  the  course  of  the  ridges,  and  dip  with 
the  trap  rocks  toward  the  lake.  As  they 
are  worked,  however,  they  are  found  occa- 
sionally to  cut  across  the  strata,  and  neighbor- 
ing veins  to  run  into  each  other.  In  some 


places  copper  occurs  in  masses  scattered 
through  the  trap  rock  with  no  sign  of  a 
vein,  not  even  a seam  or  crevice  connecting 
one  mass  with  another.  They  appear,  how- 
ever, to  be  ranged  on  the  general  course  of 
the  strata.  At  the  Adventure  mine  they 
were  so  abundant,  that  it  has  been  found 
profitable  to  collect  them,  and  the  cliffs  of 
the  trap  rock  present  a curious  appearance, 
studded  over  with  numerous  dark  cavities  in 
apparently  inaccessible  places  leading  into 
the  solid  face  of  the  mountain. 

The  great  mine  of  this  district  for  fifteen 
years  was  the  Minnesota,  two  miles  east  from 
the  Ontonagon  river.  The  explorers  in  this 
region  in  the  winter  of  1847-48,  found  par- 
allel lines  of  trenches,  extending  along  the 
trap  hills,  evidently  made  by  man  at  some 
distant  period.  They  were  so  well  mark- 
ed, as  to  be  noticed  even  under  a cover  of 
three  feet  depth  of  snow.  On  examination 
they  proved  to  be  on  the  course  of  veins 
of  copper,  and  the  excavations  were  found 
to  extend  down  into  the  solid  rock,  por- 
tions of  which  were  sometimes  left  standing 
over  the  workings.  Mhen  these  pits  wrere 
afterward  explored,  there  were  found  in 
them  large  quantities  of  rude  hammers,  made 
of  the  hardest  kind  of  greenstone,  from  the 
trap  rocks  of  the  neighborhood.  These 
were  of  all  sizes,  ranging  from  four  to  forty 
pounds  weight,  and  of  the  same  general 
shape — one  end  being  rounded  off  for  the 
end  of  the  hammer,  and  the  other  shaped 
like  a wedge.  Around  the  middle  was  a 
groove — the  large  hammers  had  two — evi- 
dently intended  for  securing  the  handle  by 


STONE  HAMMER. 


which  they  were  wielded.  In  every  instance 
the  hammers  were  more  or  less  broken,  evi- 


COPPER. 


55 


dently  in  service.  One  of  them  brought  from 
the  mine  by  the  writer,  and  now  in  the  col- 
lection of  the  Cooper  Union  of  New  York, 
is  represented  in  the  accompanying  sketch. 
It  measures  6£  inches  in  length,  the  same  in 
breadth,  and  2£  inches  in  thickness. 

The  quantity  of  hammers  found  in  these 
old  workings  was  so  great  that  they  were  col- 
lected by  cart-loads.  How  they  could  have 
been  made  with  such  tools  as  the  ancient 
miners  had,  is  unaccountable,  for  the  stone 
itself  is  the  hardest  material  they  could  find. 
And  it  is  not  any  more  clear,  how  they  ap- 
plied such  clumsy  tools  to  excavating  solid 
rock  nearly  as  hard  as  the  hammers  them- 
selves. Every  hammer  is  broken  on  the 
edge,  as  if  worn  out  in  service.  The  only 
tools  found  besides  these  were  a copper  gad 
or  wedge,  a copper  chisel  with  a socket  head, 
and  a wooden  bowl.  The  great  extent  of 
the  ancient  mining  operations  indicates  that 
the  country  must  have  been  long  occupied 
by  an  industrious  people,  possessed  of  more 
mechanical  skill  than  the  present  race  of  In- 
dians. They  must  also  have  spread  over  the 
whole  of  the  copper  region,  for  similar  evi- 
dences of  their  occupancy  are  found  about 
all  the  copper  mines,  and  even  upon  Isle 
Royale.  It  is  not  improbable  that  they  be- 
longed to  the  race  of  the  mound  builders  of 
the  western  states,  among  the  vestiges  of 
whom,  found  in  the  mounds,  various  utensils 
of  copper  have  been  met  with.  But  of  the 
period  when  they  lived,  the  copper  mines 
afford  no  more  evidence  than  the  mounds. 
Some  of  the  trenches  at  the  Minesota  mine, 
originally  excavated  to  the  depth  of  more 
than  twenty-five  feet,  have  since  filled  up 
with  gravel  and  rubbish  to  within  a few 
feet  of  the  surface,  a work  which  in  this 
region  would  seem  to  require  centuries ; and 
upon  the  .surface  of  this  material  large  trees 
are  now  standing,  and  stumps  of  much  older 
ones  are  seen,  that  have  long  been  rotting. 
In  clearing  out  the  pits  a mass  of  copper 
was  discovered,  buried  in  the  gravel  nearly 
twenty  feet  below  the  surface,  which  the  an- 
cients had  entirely  separated  from  the  vein. 
They  had  supported  it  upon  blocks  of  wood, 
and,  probably  by  means  of  fire  and  their 
hammers,  had  removed  from  it  all  the  adhering 
stone  and  projecting  points  of  copper.  Under 
it  were  quantities  of  ashes  and  charred  wood. 
The  weight  of  the  mass,  after  all  their  at- 
tempts to  reduce  it,  appears  to  have  been 
too  great  for  them  to  raise ; and  when  it  was 
finally  taken  out  in  1848,  it  was  found  to 
4 * 


weigh  over  six  tons.  It  was  about  ten  feet 
long,  three  feet  wide,  and  nearly  two  feet 
thick.  Beneath  this  spot  the  vein  after- 
ward proved  extremely  rich,  affording  many 
masses  of  great  size. 

The  veins  worked  by  the  Minesota  Com- 
pany all  lie  along  the  southern  slope  of  the 
northern  trap  ridge,  not  far  below  the  sum- 
mit. Three  veins  have  been  discovered  which 
lie  nearly  parallel  to  each  other.  The  lowest 
one  is  along  the  contact  of  the  gray  trap  of 
the  upper  part  of  the  hill  and  a stratum  of 
conglomerate  which  underlies  this.  It  dips 
with  the  slope  of  this  rock  toward  the  north- 
north-west  at  an  angle  of  about  46°  with  the 
horizon.  The  next  upper  vein  outcropping,  80 
or  90  feet  further  up  the  hill,  dips  about  61°, 
and  falls  into  the  lower  vein  along  a very 
irregular  line.  Both  veins  are  worked,  and 
the  greatest  yield  of  the  mine  has  been  near 
their  line  of  meeting. 

The  position  of  the  veins  along  the  range 
of  the  rocks,  instead  of  across  them,  gives  to 
the  mines  of  this  character  a great  advantage, 
as  their  productiveness  is  not  limited  to  the 
thickness  of  any  one  belt  which  proves  favor- 
able for  the  occurrence  of  the  metal ; and 
the  outcrop  of  the  vein  can  be  traced  a great 
distance  along  the  surface,  affording  conve- 
nient opportunities  for  sinking  directly  upon 
it  at  any  point. 

The  Minnesota  Company,  having  abund- 
ant room,  were  soon  able  to  sink  a large 
number  of  shafts  along  a line  of  outcrop 
of  1,800  feet,  and  several  of  the  levels  be- 
low extended  considerably  further  than  this 
entire  length.  In  1858  nine  shafts  were 
in  operation,  and  ten  levels  were  driven  on 
the  vein,  the  deepest  at  536  feet  down  the 
slope.  The  ten  fathom  level  at  that  time 
was  1,960  feet  in  length.  This  mine  has 
been  remarkable  for  the  large  size  and  great 
number  of  its  masses.  The  largest  one  of 
these,  taken  out  during  the  year  1857,  after 
being  uncovered  along  its  side,  refused  to 
give  way,  though  1,450  pounds  of  powder 
had  been  exploded  behind  it  in  five  succes- 
sive sand-blasts.  A charge  of  625  pounds 
being  then  fired  beneath  it,  the  mass  was  so 
much  loosened  that  by  a succeeding  blast  of 
750  pounds  it  was  torn  off  from  the  masses 
with  which  it  connected,  and  thrown  over 
in  one  immense  piece.  It  measured  forty- 
five  feet  in  length,  and  its  greatest  thickness 
was  over  eight  feet.  Its  weight  was  estima- 
ted at  about  500  tons.  What  it  proved  to 
be  is  not  certain,  as  no  account  was  preserved 


!56 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


of  the  pieces  into  which  it  was  cut,  but  it  is 
known  to  have  exceeded  400  tons.  Other 
masses  have  been  taken  out  which  presented 
a thickness  of  over  five  feet  solid  copper. 
The  value  of  the  silver  picked  out  from 


among  the  copper  has  amounted  in  one  year 
to  about  $1,000. 

The  reports  of  the  company  present  the 
following  statistics  of  the  mine  from  its 
earliest  operations: — 


Mineral 


Years. 

No.of  men 

Expenditure. 

product.  Per-centage 

Value  of 

Assessments 

Dividends. 

employed. 

Tons. 

Copper. 

paid. 

1848, 

20 

$14,000 

6£ 

$1,700 

$10,500 

1849, 

60 

28,000 

52 

14,000 

16,500 

1850, 

90 

58,000 

103 

29,000 

36,000 

1851, 

175 

88,000 

3071 

90,000 

3,000 

, # 

1852, 

212 

108,000 

520 

196,000 

$30,000 

1853, 

280 

168,000 

523 

210,000 

60,000 

1854, 

392 

218,000 

763 

290,000 

90,000 

1855, 

471 

280,933 

1.434 

71 

549,876 

200,000 

1856, 

537 

356.541 

1,859 

72.5 

701,906 

300,000 

1857, 

615 

402,538 

2,058 

74 

736,000 

300,000 

1858, 

713 

384,827 

1,833 

70.1 

595,000 

180,000 

1859, 

718 

384,394 

1,626 

71 

515,786 

120,000 

1860, 

j 8 months  to  Sept.  1 . . . . 

. . 1,431 

( Estimate,  for  the  year. . 

..  2,250 

In  consequence  of  recent  discoveries  of 
masses  of  copper  running  into  the  sandstone 
off*  from  the  vein  itself,  the  product  of  the 
year  1860  will  considerably  exceed  that  of 
any  other  year  ; the  profits,  however,  are  not 
proportionally  large,  owing  to  the  low  price 
of  copper.  To  this  the  diminished  prof- 
its of  1858  and  1859  are  partly  to  he  attrib- 
uted. The  product  for  185V,  1858,  and 
1859  was  divided  as  follows  : — 


Years. 

Masses. 

lbs. 

Barrel  work, 
lbs. 

Stamp  work, 
lbs. 

1857, 

3,015,581 

819,900 

280,512 

1858, 

2,429,989 

903,871 

333,352 

1859, 

2,040,454 

929,571 

282,092 

Besides  the  dividends  named,  the  original 
stockholders  have  derived  large  profits  from 
the  sale  of  portions  of  the  extensive  terri- 
tory, three  miles  square,  which  belonged  to 
the  company,  and  the  organization  upon 
these  tracts  of  new  companies. 

Before  the  completion  of  the  St.  Mary’s 
Canal,  no  exact  records  were  preserved  of 
the  amount  of  copper  sent  from  Lake  Su- 
perior. But  up  to  the  close  of  navigation  in 
1854  it  is  supposed  the  total  shipments  from 
the  commencement  of  mining  in  1845  had 
been  about  7642  tons  of  pure  copper. 

Since  that  time,  the  annual  product  of 
rough  copper  has  been  as  follows : — 


Districts.  1855.  1856.  1857.  1858.  1S59.  1860. 

Keweenaw 2,245  2,128  2,200  2,125  1,910.3  1,910.8 

Portage 315  462  704  1,116  1,533.1  3,064.8 

Ontonagon 1,984  2,767  3,190  2,655  2,597.6  3,588.7 

Porcupine,  Mo.,  etc . . . . . . . . 28.1 


Total 4,544  5,357  6,094  5,896  6,041.0  8,543.4 


The  condition  of  the  Lake  Superior  mines 
at  the  close  of  the  year  1860  is  well  pre- 
sented in  the  business  circular  of  Messrs. 
Dupee,  Beck,  <k  Sayles,  of  Boston,  received 
since  the  preceding  pages  passed  through 
the  hands  of  the  printer  and  stereotyper. 
From  this  we  introduce  the  following  ad- 
ditional matter.  The  depreciation  in  the 
price  of  copper  from  a maximum  of  29£ 
cents  a pound  of  the  few  preceding  years  to 
a maximum  of  24£  cents  and  a minimum  of 
19  cents,  had  induced  increased  economy 
and  care  in  the  administration  of  the  mines, 
the  good  effects  of  which  were  already  be- 
ginning to  be  experienced  : — 


“Freights  to  and  from  the  mines  from 
May  to  September  were  25  per  cent,  less 
than  in  1859.  The  transportation  of  a ton 
of  copper  from  the  lake  shore  to  Boston, 
cost,  after  the  opening  of  St.  Mary’s  Canal, 
1855,  $20;  in  1860,  to  Boston,  $11,  and  to 
New  York,  $9.  The  substitution  of  bitu- 
minous coal  for  wood,  which  has  been  de- 
livered during  the  past  summer  at  the 
wharves  of  Portage  Lake  for  $3.25  per  ton, 
will  save  much  money  and  leave  the  forests 
of  the  country  for  building  materials  and 
for  timbering  of  the  mines.  With  the  wants 
of  a rapidly  increasing  population,  new  and 
cheaper  sources  of  supply  are  constantly 


COrPER. 


57 


opening  in  the  region  itself.  Many  agricul- 
tural products,  hitherto  sent  up  at  great  cost 
from  Lower  Michigan,  are  now  raised  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  mines,  and  at  the  new 
settlements  on  the  south-western  shores  of 
the  lake,  cheaply  and  abundantly.  At 
Portage  Lake,  a machine  shop,  an  iron 
foundry,  and  a manufactory  of  doors,  sash- 
es, blinds,  etc.,  have  been  put  in  operation 
during  1860.  The  smelting  works  of  the 
Portage  Lake  Company  are  now  success- 
fully refining  the  products  of  that  district. 
These  works  consist  of  four  reverberatory  and 
two  cupola  furnaces,  capable  of  refining  6000 
tons  per  annum.  The  buildings  are  of  the 
most  thorough  and  substantial  character, 
and  the  location  of  the  works  accessible,  at 
a very  small  cost  of  transportation,  to  all  the 
mines  now  wrought,  or  likely  to  be  wrought 
for  many  years  hence,  in  that  neighbor- 
hood. Hitherto,  to  save  cost  of  transporta- 
tion to  the  smelting  companies  in  other 
states,  it  has  been  necessary  to  dress  the 
rough  copper  to  an  average  probably  of  70 
per  cent.  Now,  by  the  proximity  of  the 
furnaces  to  the  mines,  a dressing  of  50  per 
cent,  will  answer  the  same  purpose,  while 
the  refined  copper,  hitherto  rarely  ready  for 
the  market  before  the  1st  to  15th  July,  will 
be  sent  directly  from  the  lake  to  New 
York  or  Boston,  arriving  there  in  ordinary 
seasons  by  the  1st  of  June.  Further,  there 
will  be  added  the  new  facility  of  obtaining 
cash  advances  through  the  winter  on  the 
warehouse  receipts  of  the  smelting  company. 

u The  opening  of  the  entry  into  Portage 
Lake  during  the  past  season  has  been  one  of 
the  greatest  improvements  in  the  navigation 
of  the  Lake  Superior  region  since  the  com- 
pletion of  the  ship  canal  around  the  falls  of 
St.  Mary’s  river.  At  the  comparatively 
small  cost  of  $50,000,  steamers  of  the  larg- 
est class  able  to  pass  through  the  St.  Mary’s 
Canal  may  now  enter  Portage  Lake,  and  dis- 
charge their  cargoes  at  the  docks  of  the  sever- 
al companies  located  on  its  shores.  Besides 
avoiding  the  loss  of  time  and  expense  of  tran- 
shipment hitherto  necessary,  the  opening  of 
Portage  Lake  has  provided  one  of  the  most 
capacious  and  safest  harbors  in  the  world. 

“ In  the  Ontonagon  district,  a plank  road 
has  been  completed  recently,  facilitating  to 
a very  great  extent  the  transportation  to 
and  from  the  Minesota,  National,  Rock- 
land, and  Superior  mines. 

“The  iron  interests  of  Lake  Superior  arc 
rapidly  attaining  great  importance.  The 


amount  brought  down  to  Marquette,  the 
port  of  shipment,  in  1860,  was  : of  iron  ore 
from  the  Jackson  Company,  62,980  tons  ; 
Cleveland  Company,  47,889 ; Lake  Superior 
Company,  39,394;  total,  150,263.  Of  pig 
iron,  Pioneer  Company,  3050  tons;  S.  R. 
Gay,  1800;  Northern  Company,  650;  total, 
6500.  Ore  valued  at  $3  ; pig  at  $25  ; ag- 
gregate value,  $588,289.” 

The  following  statistics  are  presented  of 
the  principal  mines  : — 

COMPARATIVE  TABLE  OP  SHIPMENTS  OP  ROUGH  COPPER 
FROM  LAKE  SUPERIOR  DURING  THE  SEASONS  OP  1859 
AND  1860. 

The  weights  of  the  barrels  have  been  deducted,  and  the 
results  are  given  iu  tons  (2000  lbs.)  and  tenths. 


KEWEENAW 

DISTRICT. 

1859. 

1860. 

Central 

...  172.3 

78.6 

Clark 

5.6 

7.2 

Connecticut 

24. 

5.3 

Copper  Falls 

. . . 329.4 

328. 

Eagle  River 

6. 

North  American 

8.7 

Northwest 

73.8 

103.5 

Phoenix 

32. 

31.2 

Pittsburg  and  Boston 

. . . 1,254.5 

1,357. 

Summit 

4. 

1,910.3 

1,910.8 

PORTAGE  DISTRICT. 

C.  C.  Douglass 

24. 

Isle  Royale 

...  241.3 

458.6 

Franklin  

. ..  204.7 

267. 

Hancock 

7.2 

Huron 

7.4 

78. 

Mesnard 

.6 

Pewabic. . 

1,363.8 

Portage 

8.7 

Quincy 

. . . 336. 

866.2 

1,533.1 

3,064.8 

ONTONAGON 

DISTRICT. 

Adventure 

...  139,4 

29.7 

Aztec 

15.3 

4.9 

Bohemian 

3. 

Evergreen  Bluff 

27. 

41.9 

Hamilton 

7.9 

Mass. 

12.3 

9 # 

Minesota 

2,183.4 

National 

727.8 

Nebraska 

9.8 

26.4 

Norwich 

...  22. 

, , 

Ogima 

35.4 

Ridge 

Rockland 

....  347. 

552.7 

Superior 

1.7 

14. 

Toltec 

2,597.6 

3,588.7 

Keweenaw  District 

...  1,910.3 

1,910.8 

Portage 

3,060  8 

Ontonagon 

...  2,597.6 

3,553.7 

Porcupine  Mountain 

20.5 

Sundry  mines 

7.6 

6,041.0 

8,543.4 

58 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


Franklin : the  product  for  the  year  end- 
ing November  30  has  been  112  masses, 
weighing  72,166  lbs. ; 721  barrels  of  barrel 
work,  469,116  lbs.;  and  67  barrels  stamp 
work,  63,816  lbs.  Total,  605,098  lbs., 
equal  to  180T\  tons  refined  copper.  The 
actual  shipments  were  about  267  tons  rough, 
or  158  tons  ingot  copper.  The  stamps  are 
Ball’s,  consisting  of  two  pairs  of  two  heads 
each.  They  did  not  commence  work  till 
November  19. 

Huron:  total  shipments  this  year,  65T4¥ 
tons  of  64i  per  cent,  barrel  work,  and  12,- 
311  lbs.  of  refined  copper,  smelted  at  the 
Portage  Lake  works.  There  is  ready  for 
the  stamps  an  amount  equivalent,  at  a fair 
estimate,  to  the  quantity  shipped  this  sea- 
son. 

Isle  Royal e : total  shipments  this  season 
458T<V  tons,  averaging  over  70  per  cent. 
Preparations  have  been  made  for  opening  a 
large  amount  of  ground  during  the  winter, 
with  a view  to  large  shipments  at  the  open- 
ing of  navigation. 

Minesota:  November  returns,  150  tons. 
The  total  shipments  in  1860  were  1992 
masses,  and  2127  barrels  of  barrel  and 
stamp  work.  Net  weight,  4,366,718  lbs. 
This  is  the  largest  shipment  made  in  one 
year  by  any  mine  at  the  lake.  The  promise 
for  future  production  is  as  great,  at  least,  as 
the  result  for  this  year. 

Pewabic  : November  product,  304T8„  tons. 
The  actual  shipments  for  the  season  have 
been  2,727,632  lbs.  The  product  for  one 
year  to  November  30  was  as  follows:  467 
masses,  weighing  348,658  lbs. ; 2294  bar- 
rels kiln  or  barrel  work,  weighing  net, 
1,450,778  lbs. ; 342  barrels  No.  1,  stamp, 
379,718  lbs.;  399  barrels  No.  2,  stamp, 
389,973  lbs.;  401  barrels  No.  3,  stamp, 
346,912  lbs.;  add  on  tributers’  account, 
27,428.  Total,  2,943,467  lbs. 

The  smelting  returns  are  not  yet  all  made, 
but  on  an  estimate  based  on  past  experience, 
the  result  will  not  vary  much  from  2,030,- 
992  lbs.,  or  about  1000  tons  of  ingot  cop- 
per. 

During  the  year  there  have  been  shipped 
1533  ounces  of  silver. 

Pittsburg  and  Boston  : November  prod- 
uct, 114  tons.  Total  shipments,  1357  tons. 
Total  product  for  the  year,  1402  tons.  The 
annual  report  recently  published  gives  the 
result  of  the  year  ending  December  1, 1859. 
The  product  for  that  year  was  1,099T8?  tons, 
yielding  64T3^  per  cent.,  or  707^  tons  in- 


got copper.  The  receipts,  including  $2,- 
405  17  from  sales  of  silver,  were  $292,- 
503  14.  The  expenditures  were  $272,- 
175  75,  leaving  net  profit,  $20,327  39. 

COPPER  SMELTING 

The  ores  of  copper,  unlike  those  of  most 
of  the  other  metals,  are  not  in  general  re- 
duced at  the  mines ; but  after  being  concen- 
trated by  mechanical  processes  called  dress- 
ing— which  consist  in  assorting  the  piles  ac- 
cording to  their  qualities,  and  crushing,  jig- 
ging, and  otherwise  washing  the  poorer  sorts 
— they  are  sold  to  the  smelters,  whose  estab- 
lishments may  be  at  great  distances  otf,  even 
on  the  other  side  of  the  globe.  The  richer 
ores,  worth  per  ton  three  or  four  times  as 
many  dollars  as  the  figures  that  represent 
their  percentage  of  metal,  well  repay  the 
cost  of  transportation,  and  are  conveniently 
reduced  at  smelting  works  situated  on  the 
coast  near  the  markets  for  copper,  and  where 
the  fuel  required  for  their  reduction  is  cheap. 
At  Swansea,  in  South  Wales,  there  are  eight 
great  smelting  establishments,  to  which  all 
the  ores  from  Cornwall  and  Devon  are  car- 
ried, and  which  receive  other  ores  from  al- 
most all  parts  of  the  world.  It  is  stated  that 
in  this  district  there  are  nearly  600  furnaces 
employed,  which  consume  about  500,000 
tons  of  coal  per  annum,  and  give  employ- 
ment to  about  4,000  persons  besides  colliers. 
The  amount  of  copper  they  supply  is  more 
than  half  of  that  consumed  by  all  nations. 
The  total  product  of  fine  copper  produced 
by  all  the  smelting  establishments  of  Great 
Britain  for  1857  is  stated  to  be  18,238  tons, 
worth  £2,079,323. 

The  copper  smelting  works  of  the  United 
States  are  those  upon  the  coast,  depending 
chiefly  upon  foreign  supplies  of  ores,  and 
those  of  the  interior  for  melting  and  refining 
the  Lake  Superior  copper.  There  are  also 
the  furnaces  at  the  Tennessee  mines,  which 
have  been  already  noticed.  The  former  are 
situated  at  the  following  localities : At 
Point  Shirley,  in  Boston  harbor,  are  the 
furnaces  of  the  Revere  Copper  Company, 
which  also  has  rolling  mills  and  other  works 
connected  with  the  manufacture  of  copper 
at  Canton,  on  the  Boston  and  Providence 
railroad.  At  Taunton,  Mass.,  a similar  estab- 
lishment to  that  at  Canton  is  owned  by  the 
Messrs.  Crocker,  of  that  town.  There  are 
smelting  furnaces  at  New  Ilaven,  Conn. ; at 
Bergen  Point,  in  New  York  harbor  ; and  at 
Baltimore,  on  a point  in  the  outer  harbor. 


COPPER. 


59 


The  furnaces  established  for  working  the 
Lake  Superior  copper  are  at  Detroit,  Cleve- 
land, and  Pittsburg.  At  the  last  named 
are  two  separate  establishments,  with  each 
of  which  is  connected  a rolling  mill,  at 
which  the  ingot  copper  is  converted  into 
sheets  for  home  consumption  and  the  eastern 
market.  A furnace  was  also  built  at  Port- 
age lake,  Lake  Superior,  in  1860,  of  capacity 
equal  to  melting  6000  tons  of  copper  annu- 
ally. The  details  and  extent  of  the  opera- 
tions carried  on  by  the  smelting  works  ap- 
pear to  have  been  carefully  kept  from  publi- 
cation. In  a work  on  “ Copper  and  Copper 
Smelting,”  by  A.  Snowdon  Piggott,  M.  D., 
who  had  charge  of  the  chemical  assays,  etc., 
for  the  Baltimore  Company,  published  in 
1858,  while  the  English  processes  are  fully 
described,  no  information  is  given  as  to  the 
methods  adopted  at  the  American  works ; 
and  of  their  production  all  the  information 
is  contained  in  the  two  closing  sentences  of 
the  appendix,  as  follows:  “Of  the  copper- 

smelting  establishments  of  the  United  States 
I have  no  statistics.  Baltimore  turns  out 
about  8,000,000  pounds  of  refined  copper 
annually.”  Applications  which  have  been 
made  by  the  writer  to  the  proprietors  of 
several  of  the  establishments  for  information 
as  to  the  business,  have  been  entirely  unsuc- 
cessful. The  total  production  of  copper  in 
1858  was  supposed  to  be  about  13,000  tons 
per  annum;  and  of  this  about  7000  tons 
were  required  by  the  rolling  mills  for  mak- 
ing sheet  copper,  sheet  brass,  and  yellow 
metal. 

The  French  treatise  on  Metallurgy  by 
Professor  Rivot  contains  the  only  published 
description  of  the  American  method  of 
smelting  copper.  By  the  English  process, 
the  separation  of  the  metal  from  its  ores  is 
a long  and  tedious  series  of  alternate  roast- 
ings  or  calcinations,  and  fusions  in  rever- 
beratory furnaces.  The  system  is  particu- 
larly applicable  to  the  treatment  of  poor, 
sulphurous  ores  contaminated  with  other 
metals,  as  iron,  arsenic,  etc.,  and  can  only  be 
conducted  to  advantage  where  fuel  is  very 
cheap,  the  consumption  of  this  being  at  the 
rate  of  about  20  tons  to  the  ton  of  copper 
obtained.  The  process  employed  in  Ger- 
many is  much  more  simple,  and  the  methods 
in  use  at  the  American  smelting  works  are 
more  upon  the  plan  of  these.  Blast  or  cu- 
pola furnaces  supply  at  some  of  them  the 
place  of  reverberatories,  and  the  separation 
of  the  metal  is  completed  in  great  part  by 


one  or  two  smeltings.  The  treatment  of  the 
Lake  Superior  copper  is  comparatively  an 
easy  operation.  For  this  large  reverberatory 
furnaces  are  employed,  through  the  roof  of 
which  is  an  opening  large  enough  to  admit 
masses  of  3 to  3*  tons  weight,  which  are 
raised  by  cranes  and  lowered  into  the  fur- 
nace. The  barrels  of  barrel  work  are  intro- 
duced in  the  same  way,  and  left  in  the  fur- 
nace without  unpacking.  When  the  furnace 
is  charged,  the  opening  in  the  top  is  secure- 
ly closed  by  fire-proof  masonry,  and  the  fire 
of  bituminous  coal  is  started,  the  flame  from 
which  plays  over  the  bridge,  and,  reflected 
from  the  roof,  strikes  upon  the  copper,  caus- 
ing it  gradually  to  sink  down  and  at  last 
flow  in  a liquid  mass.  A small  portion  of 
the  copper  by  the  oxidizing  action  of  the 
heated  gases  is  converted  into  a suboxide, 
which  is  partially  reduced  again,  and  in  part 
goes  into  the  slags  in  the  condition  of  a 
silicate  of  copper,  the  metal  of  which  is  not 
entirely  recovered.  The  mixture  of  quartz, 
calcareous  spar,  and  epidote  accompanying 
the  copper,  is  sometimes  such  as  to  melt 
and  form  a good  cinder  without  addition  of 
any  other  substance,  but  usually  some  lime- 
stone or  other  suitable  material  is  added  as 
a flux.  Complete  fusion  is  effected  in  12  to 
15  hours  according  to  the  size  of  the  masses, 
and  this  is  kept  up  for  about  an  hour  in 
order  that  the  fine  particles  of  copper  may 
find  their  way  through  the  fluid  slag,  which 
floats  upon  the  metal.  Working  tools  call- 
ed rabbles  are  then  introduced  through  the 
side-doors  of  the  furnace,  and  the  charge  is 
stirred  up  and  the  slag  is  drawn  out  through 
the  door.  It  falls  upon  the  ground,  and  is 
taken  when  sufficiently  cool  to  the  cupola  or 
slag  furnaces  where  it  is  chilled  with  water 
to  render  it  easy  to  break  up.  Those  por- 
tions which  contain  as  much  as  one  fourth 
per  cent,  of  copper  are  reserved  to  be  pass- 
ed through  the  slag  furnace.  The  total 
amount  of  slag  is  usually  less  than  20  per 
cent,  of  the  whole  charge.  In  the  melting 
the  copper  absorbs  carbon,  which  if  allow- 
ed to  remain  would  render  it  brittle  and 
unfit  for  use.  To  remove  it  the  fire  is  so 
arranged  that  the  gases  pass  through  with 
much  unconsumed  air ; this  playing  on  the 
surface  of  the  copper  produces  a suboxide 
of  the  metal,  which  in  the  course  of  half  an 
hour  is  quite  taken  up  by  the  copper,  and 
coming  in  contact  with  the  particles  of  car- 
bon the  oxygen  combines  with  this,  and  re- 
moves it  in  the  form  of  carbonic  acid  gas. 


60  • 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


It  now  remains  to  remove  the  excess  of 
oxygen  introduced,  which  is  effected  by  the 
ordinary  method  of  refining.  A large  pro- 
portion of  fuel  is  employed  on  the  grate  for 
the  amount  of  air  admitted  through  it,  so 
that  the  flames  as  they  pass  over  the  bridge 
convey  little  free  oxygen,  and  the  surface  of 
the  metal  is  covered  with  fine  charcoal. 
After  a little  time  a pole  of  green  wood  is 
thrust  into  the  melted  copper  and  stirred 
about  so  long  as  gases  escape  from  the  sur- 
face. It  is  then  taken  out,  and  if  on  testing 
the  copper  some  suboxide  still  remains,  the 
refining  is  cautiously  continued  with  char- 
coal, and  just  when,  as  appears  by  the  tests, 
all  the  oxide  is  reduced,  the  work  of  dipping 
out  the  metal  is  commenced.  This  is  done 
by  large  iron  ladles,  the  whole  set  of  men 
employed  at  two  furnaces,  to  the  number 
of  about  12,  coming  to  this  work  and  tak- 
ing turns  in  the  severe  task.  They  protect 
themselves  from  the  intense  heat  by  wet 
cloths  about  their  arms,  and  as  quickly  as 
possible  bale  out  a ladle  full  of  copper  and 
empty  it  into  one  or  more  of  the  ingot 
moulds,  of  which  36  are  arranged  in  front 
of  the  furnace-door  upon  three  parallel  bars 
over  a trough  of  water.  As  the  metal  be- 
comes solid  in  each  mould,  this  is  upset, 
letting  the  ingot  fall  into  the  water.  The 
weight  of  the  ingot  being  20  pounds,  the 
filling  of  them  all  removes  720  pounds  of 
copper  from  the  furnace.  The  metal  that 
remains  is  then  tested,  and  according  to  its 
condition  the  discharging  may  be  continued 
or  it  may  be  necessary  to  oxidize  the  copper 
again  and  repeat  the  refining,  or  merely  to 
throw  more  charcoal  upon  the  surface  and 
increase  the  heat.  The  time  required  to 
ladle  out  the  whole  charge  is  from  four  to 
six  hours.  When  this  is  completed  the  sole 
of  the  furnace  is  repaired,  by  stopping  the 
cracks  with  sand  and  smoothing  the  surface 
to  get  all  ready  for  the  next  charge  ; and  at 
the  same  time  the  second  furnace  has  reach- 
ed the  refining  stage  of  the  process.  One 
charge  to  a furnace  is  made  every  evening, 
and  as  in  the  night  it  is  necessary  only  to 
keep  up  the  fires,  the  great  labor  of  the  proc- 
ess comes  wholly  in  the  day  time. 

The  following  is  the  estimated  cost  at 
Detroit  of  the  smelting,  on  a basis  of  two 
furnaces,  each  of  which  is  charged  with  four 
and  a half  to  five  tons  of  mass  copper,  con- 
suming two  and  a half  tons  of  coal,  and  pro- 
ducing from  three  to  three  and  a half  tons 
of  ingots : — 


Labor,  15  hands,  at  $1.50 $22.50 

Bituminous  coal,  5 tons,  at  $5 25.00 

Wood  and  charcoal 1.25 

Repairs  to  furnace,  average  for  the  season..  2.00 


$50.75 

To  this  should  be  added,  for  superintend- 
ence, office,  and  general  expenses,  perhaps 
ten  dollars  more,  which  would  make  the 
cost  for  six  or  seven  tons  of  ingot  copper, 
$60.75,  or  $9  to  $10  per  ton.  At  Pitts- 
burg the  rate  charged  has  been  $11  per  ton; 
and  fuel  is  there  afforded  at  about  one  third 
the  amount  allowed  in  the  above  estimate. 

The  cupola  furnaces  for  treating  the  slags 
are  of  very  simple  plan  and  construction. 
They  are  of  cylindrical  form,  about  ten  feet 
high,  and  three  feet  diameter  inside.  Their 
walls,  the  thickness  of  a single  length  of 
fire  brick,  are  incased  in  boiler-plate  iron, 
and  stand  upon  a cast-iron  ring,  which  is 
itself  supported  upon  four  cast-iron  columns 
about  three  feet  above  the  ground.  Trans- 
verse iron  bars  support  a circular  plate,  and 
upon  this  the  refractory  sand  for  the  sole  of 
the  furnace  is  placed,  and  well  beaten  down 
to  the  thickness  of  a foot,  with  a sharp  slope 
toward  the  tapping  hole.  A low  chimney 
conveys  away  the  gaseous  products  of  com- 
bustion, and  through  the  base  of  it  the 
workmen  introduce  the  charges.  The  blast 
is  introduced  by  three  tuyeres  a foot  above 
the  sole ; but  before  it  enters  the  furnace  it 
is  heated  bypassing  through  achannel  around 
the  furnace.  A steady  current  is  obtained  by 
the  use  of  three  double  acting  blowing  cylin- 
ders, which  give  a pressure  equal  to  about 
three  and  a half  inches  of  mercury. 

The  hands  employed  at  the  Detroit  es- 
tablishment, besides  the  superintendent  and 
head  smelter,  are  eighteen  furnace  men  and 
from  five  to  ten  workmen,  according  to  the 
arrivals  of  copper  during  the  season  of  navi- 
gation. After  the  stock  thus  received  is 
worked  up,  the  furnaces  remain  idle  during 
the  remainder  of  the  winter. 

USEFUL  APPLICATIONS  OF  COPPER. 

The  uses  of  copper  are  so  numerous  and 
important  that  the  metal  must  rank  next  in 
value  to  iron.  In  ancient  times,  indeed,  it 
was  the  more  useful  metal  of  the  two,  being 
abundant  among  many  nations  to  whom  iron 
was  not  known.  In  the  ancient  Scandina- 
vian tumuli  recently  opened  in  Denmark, 
among  the  various  implements  of  stone  were 
found  swords,  daggers,  and  knives,  the  blades 
of  which  were,  iu  some  instances,  of  copper, 


COPPER. 


and  in  some  of  gold,  while  the  cutting  edges 
were  formed  of  iron,  showing  that  this  was 
more  rare  and  valuable  than  either  copper  or 
gold.  It  has  been  supposed  that  several  of 
the  ancient  nations,  as  the  Egyptians,  Greeks, 
etc.,  possessed  the  art  of  hardening  copper, 
so  as  to  make  it  serve  the  purposes  of  steel. 
That  they  employed  it  for  such  uses  as  those 
to  which  we  now  apply  tools  of  steel  is  cer- 
tain, and  also  that  the  specimens  of  some  of 
their  copper  tools  are  considerably  harder 
than  any  we  make  of  the  same  metal.  These 
are  found,  on  analysis,  to  contain  about  one 
part  in  ten  of  tin,  which,  it  is  known,  in- 
creases, when  added  in  small  proportions, 
the  hardness  of  copper,  and  this  was  prob- 
ably still  further  added  to  by  hammering. 

Among  the  most  important  uses  of  the  metal 
at  present  is  that  of  sheathing  the  bottoms 
of  ships  in  order  to  protect  the  timbers  from 
the  ravages  of  marine  animals,  and  present  a 
smooth  surface  for  the  easy  passage  of  the 
vessel  through  the  wrater.  The  metal  is  well 
adapted,  from  its  softness  and  tenacity,  for 
rolling  into  sheets,  and  these  were  first  pre- 
pared for  this  use  for  the  Alarm  frigate  of 
the  royal  navy,  in  1761.  Sheet  lead  had 
been  in  use  before  this  time,  but  was  soon 
after  given  up  for  copper.  On  account  of 
ihe  rapid  deterioration  of  the  copper  by  the 
action  of  the  sea-wrater,  the  naval  department 
of  the  British  government  applied,  in  1823, 
to  the  Royal  Society  for  some  method  of 
preserving  the  metal.  This  was  furnished 
by  Sir  Humphry  Davy,  who  recommend- 
ed applying  strips  of  cast  iron  under  the 
copper  sheets,  which,  by  the  galvanic  cur- 
rent excited,  would  be  corroded  instead 
of  the  copper.  The  application  answered 
the  purpose  intended,  but  soon  had  to  be 
given  up,  for  the  copper,  protected  from 
chemical  action,  it  was  found,  became  cov- 
ered with  barnacles  and  other  shell-fish,  so 
as  seriously  to  impair  the  sailing  qualities  of 
the  vessels,  and  for  this  reason  it  has  been 
found  necessary  to  submit  to  the  natural  wast- 
ing of  the  metal,  and  replace  the  sheets  as  fast 
as  they  become  corroded. 

Various  alloys  have  been  proposed  as  sub- 
stitutes for  copper.  That  known  as  yellow 
metal,  or  Muntz’s,  lias  been  the  most  success- 
ful and  has  been  very  generally  introduced. 
It  consists  of  copper  alloyed  with  about  40 
per  cent,  of  zinc,  and  is  prepared  by  plung- 
ing cakes  of  zinc  into  a bath  of  melted  cop- 
per contained  in  a reverberatory  furnace. 
The  volatilization  of  the  zinc  and  oxidation 


of  the  metals  is  guarded  against  by  a cover- 
ing of  fine  charcoal  kept  upon  the  melted 
surface.  The  bolts,  nails,  and  other  fasten- 
ings for  the  sheathing,  and  for  various  other 
parts  of  the  ship,  are  made  also  of  copper 
and  of  yellow  metal ; and  to  secure  the  great- 
est strength,  they  should  be  cast  at  once  in 
the  forms  in  which  they  are  to  be  used. 
The  manufacture  of  all  these  articles  is  ex- 
tensively carried  on  at  the  different  copper 
establishments  in  Massachusetts,  Connecti- 
cut, and  Baltimore. 

Sheet  copper  is  also  applied  to  many  other 
very  important  uses,  as  for  copper  boilers 
and  pipes,  for  large  stills  and  condensers, 
the  vacuum  pans  of  sugar  refineries,  and  a 
multitude  of  utensils  for  domestic  purposes, 
and  for  employment  in  the  different  arts. 
For  engraving  upon  it  is  prepared  of  the 
purest  quality  and  of  different  thicknesses,  ac- 
cording to  the  kind  of  engraving  for  which 
it  is  to  be  used.  The  engraver  cuts  it  to  the 
size  he  requires,  planishes  it, and  gives  to  it  the 
dead  smooth  surface  peculiar  to  engraving 
plates.  The  smaller  utensils  of  sheet  copper,  as 
urns,  vases,  etc.,  are  very  ingeniously  hammer- 
ed out  from  a flat  circular  sheet.  As  the  ham- 
mering is  first  applied  to  the  central  portion, 
this  spreads  and  takes  the  form  of  a bowl. 
As  the  metal  becomes  harder  and  brittle  by 
the  operation,  its  softness  and  ductility  are 
restored  by  annealing,  a process  that  must 
often  be  repeated  as  the  hammering  is  con- 
tinued, and  toward  the  last,  when  the  metal 
has  become  more  susceptible  to  the  change 
induced  by  the  application  of  the  hammer, 
the  annealing  must  be  very  carefully  attended 
to,  and  the  whole  process  be  conducted  with 
much  skill  and  judgment  acquired  by  long 
experience. 

For  larger  and  more  common  hollow  ar- 
ticles, the  sheet  copper  is  folded  around,  and 
lapped  by  various  sorts  of  joints,  some  of 
which  are  secured  by  rivets,  and  some  by  a 
double  lap,  the  two  edges  locking  into  each 
other,  and  made  close  by  hammering.  The 
edges  are  also  soldered  either  with  soft 
or  hard  solder.  For  the  latter  an  alloy  is 
made  for  the  purpose,  by  melting  in  a crucible 
a quantity  of  brass,  and  then  stirring  in  one- 
half  or  one-third  as  much  zinc,  until  the  blue 
flame  disappears.  The  mixture  is  then  turn- 
ed out  into  a shallow  pan,  and  when  cold  the 
plate  is  heated  nearly  red  hot,  and  beaten 
on  an  anvil  or  in  a mortar.  This  is  the  hard 
solder  of  the  braziers. 

A stiil  more  important  application  of  the 


62 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 


copper  is  in  the  manufacture  of  the  alloy 
known  as  brass ; and  that  called  bronze  also 
serves  many  useful  purposes.  The  former  is 
composed  of  copper  and  zinc,  the  latter  of 
copper  and  tin.  It  is  a curious  fact  in  met- 
allurgy that  brass  was  extensively  manufac- 
tured, and  used  more  commonly  than  any 
single  metal  or  other  alloy,  many  centuries 
before  the  existence  of  such  a metal  as  zinc 
was  known.  It  was  prepared  by  melting 
copper  and  introducing  fragments  of  the 
lapis  calaminaris , an  ore  of  zinc,  in  which 
the  oxide  of  the  metal  is  combined  with  car- 
bonic acid.  Charcoal  was  also  added  to  the 
mixture,  and  by  the  reaction  with  this  the 
zinc  ore  was  reduced  to  the  metallic  state, 
and  at  once  united  with  the  copper,  without 
appearing  as  a distinct  metal.  This  process 
is  still  in  use  for  making  brass,  but  the  more 
common  method  is  to  introduce  slips  of 
copper  into  melted  zinc,  or  to  plunge  beneath 
melted  copper  lumps  of  zinc  held  in  iron 
tongs.  The  proportion  of  the  two  metals  is 
always  uncertain,  owing  to  the  unknown 
quantity  of  zinc  that  is  consumed  and  es- 
capes in  fumes  This  is  prevented  as  much 
as  possible  by  covering  the  melted  metal 
with  fine  charcoal,  and  by  throwing  in  pieces 
of  glass,  which  melt  and  cover  the  mixture 
with  a thin  protecting  layer.  Old  brass  is 
much  used  in  making  new,  and  the  addition 
of  quantities  of  this  to  the  pot  containingfthe 
other  ingredients,  adds  to  the  uncertainty  of 
the  composition.  The  best  proportion  of 
the  two  metals  is  believed  to  be  two  parts  of 
copper  to  one  of  zinc,  which  is  expressed  by 
the  term  “ eight-ounce  brass,”  meaning  eight 
ounces  of  zinc  to  sixteen  of  copper.  Sixteen- 
ounce  brass — the  two  metals  being  equal — 
is  a beautiful  golden  yellow  alloy  called 
prince’s  metal.  But  all  brass  of  more  than 
ten  ounces  of  zinc  to  the  pound  of  copper  is 
whitish,  crystalline,  hard,  and  brittle  ; of  less 
than  ten  ounces  it  is  malleable,  soft,  and 
ductile.  The  alloys  known  as  pinchbeck, 
Manheim  gold,  bath  metal,  etc.,  formerly 
much  in  use  as  imitations  of  gold,  are  about 
three  to  four  ounce  brass. 

Brass  combines  a number  of  excellent 
qualities,  which  adapt  it  for  many  uses.  Its 
compactness,  durability,  strength,  and  soft- 
ness, render  it  an  excellent  material  for  fine 
work,  and  nothing,  except  tin,  perhaps,  is  bet- 
ter adapted  for  shaping  in  the  lathe.  In  use 
it  is  not  liable  to  rust  by  exposure,  is  easily 
kept  clean,  and  takes  a polish  almost  as  beau- 
tiful as  that  of  gold.  It  is  hence  a favorite 


material  for  the  works  of  watches  and  clocks, 
almost  all  sorts  of  instruments  in  which  great 
hardness  is  not  essential,  and  for  various 
household  utensils,  and  ornaments  upon  fur- 
niture. In  thin  plates  it  is  stamped  and  em- 
bossed in  figures,  and  is  thus  cheaply  applied 
to  many  useful  and  ornamental  purposes. 
Its  ductility  is  such,  that  those  sorts  contain- 
ing little  zinc  are  beaten  out,  as  in  Dutch 
gilding,  like  gold-leaf  itself,  so  as  to  be  used 
as  a cheap  substitute  for  this  in  gilding  in 
some  cases.  It  is  also  drawn  out  into  wire, 
often  of  great  fineness ; and  of  the  suitable 
sizes  of  this  there  is  a very  large  consumption 
in  the  manufacture  of  pins,  and  hooks  and 
eyes.  By  ingenious  machinery  the  brass 
wires  are  clipped  to  their  proper  length  for 
pins,  pointed,  headed,  and  after  being  tinned, 
are  stuck  in  paper,  with  very  little  atten- 
tion from  the  workmen.  This  manufacture 
serves  to  exemplify  the  perfection  of  machin- 
ery, and  some  of  the  most  admirable  of  this, 
particularly  that  by  which  the  finished  pins 
are  stuck  in  their  papers,  is  a peculiarly 
American  invention,  and  worth,  to  the  manu- 
facturers at  Waterbury  alone,  many  thousand 
dollars  annually.  The  solid-headed  pin, 
made  somewhat  after  the  manner  in  which 
cut  nails  are  headed,  was  invented  by  two  cit- 
izens of  Rhode  Island,  Mr.  Slocum  and  Mr.  S. 
G.  Reynolds.  This  was  before  the  year  1840. 
The  brass  pins  and  hooks  and  eyes  are  cov- 
ered with  a coating  of  tin  by  placing  them 
in  a barrel,  together  with  about  twice  their 
weight  of  tin  in  grains,  several  ounces  of 
cream  of  tartar,  and  several  gallons  of  warm 
water.  The  barrel  is  then  made  to  revolve 
upon  its  axis,  until  the  pins  or  other  articles 
are  perfectly  clean.  After  this  they  are 
boiled  in  a similar  mixture. 

Much  of  the  brass  of  the  ancients  was 
properly  bronze — that  is,  a compound  of  cop- 
per and  tin.  This  alloy,  in  different  propor- 
tions of  its  ingredients,  is  still  of  very  great 
service.  Gun  metal — the  material  of  the  so- 
called  brass  cannon — is  composed  of  copper 
96  to  108  parts,  and  tin  11  parts.  The  com- 
pound resists  wear  extremely  well,  but  its 
strength  is  only  about  one-half  that  of 
wrought  iron.  Statues,  and  hard  castings  for 
machinery,  are  formed  of  this  alloy.  Messrs. 
Mitchell,  Vance  & Co.,  of  New  York,  have 
been  very  successful  in  casting  bronze  statu- 
ettes and  ornaments,  clock  cases,  &c.,  which 
rival  the  antique  bronze  in  beauty.  One 
of  the  most  noted  foundries  for  the  casting 
of  cannon,  statues,  and  bronze  ornaments  in 


GOLD. 


63 


tha  United  States  is  that  of  the  Messrs. 
Ames,  at  Chicopee,  Mass.  The  equestrian 
statue  of  Washington,  in  Union  square,  New 
York,  is  one  of  their  most  successful  produc- 
tions. The  French  bronze  contains  2 parts 
of  tin,  1 of  lead,  6 of  zinc,  and  9 1 of  copper. 
Bell-metal  is  a bronze  usually  consisting  of 
7 parts  of  copper  and  22  of  tin.  The  larg- 
est bell  in  the  country,  that  formerly  on 
the  City  Hall,  in  New  York,  weighs  23,000 
pounds,  and  was  cast  in  Boston.  The 
largest  number  of  bells  is  probably  pro- 
duced at  the  foundry  of  the  Messrs.  Men- 
eely,  at  Troy,  N.  Y.  The  Chinese  gong  is 
now  an  American  manufacture,  composed  of 
bell-metal,  which,  after  being  cast,  is’  forged 
under  the  hammer,  between  two  disks  of 
iron.  The  casting  is  made  malleable  by 
plunging,  while  hot,  into  cold  water. 

As  with  zinc,  copper  forms  an  alloy  made 
to  imitate  gold,  so  with  tin  and  nickel  it  forms 
a combination  resembling  silver,  known  as 
German  silver.  The  proportions  of  the  met- 
als are  8 parts  of  copper  to  either  3 or  4 each 
of  the  two  other  metals.  This  is  used  in  the 
manufacture  of  spoons,  forks,  and  other  uten- 
sils, and  instead  of  brass  in  various  instru- 
ments. It  is  plated  with  silver,  and  is  as 
beautiful  as  the  genuine  silver. 

Another  alloy  of  copper  and  tin  is  the 
telescope  or  speculum  metal,  which  consists 
of  about  one-third  tin  and  two-thirds  copper. 
It  is  of  a steel-white  color,  very  hard  and 
brittle,  and  susceptible  of  a high  polish, 
w'hich  is  not  soon  tarnished,  qualities  that 
cause  it  to  be  used  for  the  mirrors  of  tele- 
scopes. 

Copper  is  largely  used  in  the  coinage,  pure 
in  the  cent,  combined  with  nickel  in  the 
three  and  five  cent  pieces,  and  as  an  alloy  in 
the  silver  and  gold  pieces.  Copper  is  also 
in  demand  both  for  electro-plating  purposes 
and  for  electrotype  plates,  which  have  almost 
superseded  the  old  stereotype  plates. 

Among  the  later  alloys  of  copper,  is  what 
is  called  oroide  of  gold , which  in  its  best 
qualities  consists  of  pure  copper,  100  parts  ; 
zinc  or  tin,  1 7 parts  ; magnesia,  6 parts  ; sal- 
ammonia,  0.5  parts ; quicklime,  0.125  parts  ; 
tartar  of  commerce,  9 parts.  Aluminium 
Bronze  90  parts  copper  and  10  of  aluminium. 

There  are  several  alloys  closely  imitating 
silver  in  which  copper  is  the  largest  constit- 
uent. One  consists  of  70  parts  copper,  20 
nickel,  5£  zinc,  and  cadnium.  Minargent 
consists  of  100  parts  copper,  70  nickel,  5 
tungsten,  and  1 aluminium. 


CHAPTER  III. 

GOLD. 

Although  the  discovery  of  gold  mines 
was  the  chief  motive  that  led  to  the  settle- 
ment of  the  American  continent,  those  of  the 
United  States  appear  to  have  escaped  notice 
until  the  present  century.  The  only  excep- 
tion to  this  may  be  in  the  discovery  made 
by  some  Europeans  of  the  gold  region  of 
northern  Georgia  at  a period  long  antece- 
dent to  the  occupation  of  this  district  by  the 
whites.  Of  this  fact  no  written  record  is 
preserved ; but  in  working  the  deposit  mines 
of  the  Nacoochee  valley,  in  Habersham  coun- 
ty, there  were  discovered,  about  the  year 
1842,  various  utensils  and  vestiges  of  huts, 
which  evidently  had  been  constructed  by 
civilized  men,  and  had  been  buried  there 
several  centuries.  It  is  supposed  they  be- 
longed to  De  Soto’s  party,  which  passed 
through  this  region  in  the  sixteenth  century 
on  their  exploring  expedition  from  Florida 
to  the  Mississippi  river.  The  earlier  his- 
torians hardly  mention  gold  as  even  being 
supposed  to  exist  in  the  colonies.  Salmon, 
in  the  third  volume  of  his  “Modern  His- 
tory,” 1746,  merely  alludes  to  a gold  mine 
in  Virginia,  which  of  late  “ had  made  much 
noise,”  but  does  not  even  name  the  locality, 
and  evidently  attaches  no  importance  to  it. 
In  Jefferson’s  “ Notes  on  Virginia”  mention 
is  made  of  the  discovery  of  a piece  of  gold 
of  17  dwts.  near  the  Rappahannock.  In 
1799,  as  mentioned  by  Wheeler  in  his  “ His- 
tory of  North  Carolina,”  a son  of  Conrad 
Reed  picked  up  a piece  of  gold  as  large  as 
a small  smoothing  iron  from  the  bed  of  a 
brook  on  his  father’s  farm,  in  Cabarrus  coun- 
ty, and  its  value  not  being  known  it  was 
kept  for  several  years  in  the  house  to  hold 
the  door  open,  and  was  then  sold  to  a silver- 
smith for  $3.50.  In  Drayton’s  “ View  of 
South  Carolina,”  1802,  the  metal  is  stated 
to  have  been  found  on  Paris  Mountain,  in 
Greenville  district.  About  this  time  it  be- 
gan to  be  met  with  in  considerable  lumps  in 
Cabarrus  county,  N.  C.,  and  not  long  after- 
ward in  Montgomery  and  Anson  counties. 
At  Reed’s  mine,  in  Cabarrus,  the  discovery 
by  a negro  of  a lump  weighing  28  lbs.  avoir- 
dupois, near  the  same  stream  already  referred 
to,  led  to  increased  activity  in  exploring  the 
gravelly  deposits  along  the  courses  of  the 
brooks  and  rivers  of  this  region,  and  numer- 
ous new  localities  of  the  metal  were  rapidly 
discovered.  A much  larger  proportion  of 


64 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


gold  was  collected,  during  these  earlier  work- 
ings, in  coarse  lumps  than  in  the  operations 
of  later  times — pieces  of  metal  of  one  to 
several  pounds  weight  being  often  found. 
Before  the  year  1820,  as  stated  in  Bruce's 
Mineralogical  Journal  (vol.  i.,  p.  125),  the 
quantity  of  American  gold  received  at  the 
mint  at  Philadelphia  amounted  to  $43,689. 
All  of  this  was  from  North  Carolina.  In 
1827  there  had  been  received  from  the  same 
source  $110,000.  But  besides  this  amount, 
a considerable  proportion  of  the  gold  prod- 
uct was  consumed  by  jewellers,  who  paid  a 
better  price  than  was  received  from  the  mint, 
and  was  retained  by  the  banks,  in  which  it 
was  deposited.  It  also  circulated  to  some 
extent  as  a medium  of  exchange  in  the  min- 
ing region,  being  carried  about  in  quills,  and 
received  by  the  merchants  usually  at  the  rate 
of  ninety  cents  a dwt.  The  total  product 
of  the  mines  must,  therefore,  have  been 
much  larger  than  appears  from  the  mint  re- 
turns. In  1829,  Virginia  and  South  Caro- 
lina began  to  appear  as  gold-producing  states 
— there  being  deposited  in  the  mint  from 
the  former  gold  to  the  value  of  $2,500,  and 
from  the  latter  of  $3,500.  The  same  year 
the  rich  gold  deposits  of  northern  Georgia 
were  discovered,  and  suddenly  became  very 
productive,  so  that  the  receipts  at  the  mint 
from  this  state  for  the  year  1830  amounted 
to  $212,000.  Gold  mining  had  now  become 
an  established  branch  of  the  productive  in- 
dustry of  the  states,  and  as  its  importance 
increased,  the  necessity  was  felt  of  the  estab- 
lishment of  branch  mints  in  the  mining 
region.  One  was  constructed  by  act  of  Con- 
gress at  Dahlonega,  Lumpkin  county,  Geor- 
gia, and  another  at  Charlotte,  Mecklenburg 
county,  N.  C. ; and  both  commenced  coining 
gold  in  1838.  From  the  irregular  manner 
in  which  the  gold  deposits  were  worked,  and 
their  uncertain  yield,  the  annual  production 
of  the  mines  was  very  variable.  In  a single 
year  the  mint  at  Dahlonega  received  and 
coined  gold  to  the  value  of  $600,000  ; and 
until  the  discovery  of  the  California  gold 
mines,  the  American  production  was  estima- 
ted to  average  annually  about  $100,000.  It 
was,  however,  gradually  declining  in  impor- 
tance from  the  year  1845 ; and  of  late  years 
has  dwindled  away,  so  as  not  to  amount  to 
enough  for  the  support  of  the  branch  mints, 
the  abolition  of  which  by  act  of  Congress 
was  generally  looked  for  in  1857  and  1858. 
The  late  introduction  at  the  mines  of  North 
Carolina  and  Georgia  of  the  hydraulic  and 


sluice  washing,  which  has  proved  highly  suc- 
cessful in  California,  gives  encouragement 
that  these  mines  may  again  soon  became  as 
productive  as  before. 

The  rock  formations  of  the  United  States, 
in  which  gold  mines  are  worked,  follow  the 
range  of  the  Appalachians,  and  are  produc- 
tive chiefly  along  their  eastern  side  in  a belt 
of  country  sometimes  attaining  a width  of 
75  miles,  as  along  the  southern  part  of  North 
Carolina,  and  in  Georgia  in  two  distinct  belts 
which  are  separated  by  a district  of  forma- 
tions unproductive  in  gold.  The  extreme 
northern  gold  mines  on  this  range  are  in 
Canada  East,  upon  the  Chaudiere  river  and 
its  tributaries,  the  Du  Loup  and  the  Toufte 
des  Pins.  In  1851  and  1852,  deposits  were 
worked  upon  these  streams,  and  about  1,900 
dwts.  were  collected  — found  among  the 
gravel  which  lay  in  the  crevices  formed  by 
the  ragged  edges  of  the  upturned  argillaceous 
and  talcose  slates.  The  pieces  were  all  small, 
only  one  weighing  as  much  as  4 ounces.  The 
returns  were  not  sufficient  to  cover  the  out- 
lays, and  the  working  was  consequently 
abandoned. 

The  next  localities  on  the  range  toward 
the  south  which  have  furnished  gold  are  in 
Vermont,  on  the  western  border  of  Wind- 
sor county,  in  the  towns  of  Bridgewater  and 
Plymouth.  At  Newfane,  in  Windham  county, 
a piece  of  gold  was  found  in  1826,  which 
weighed  8^  oz. ; but  the  only  successful  at- 
tempts to  work  the  deposits  were  com- 
menced in  1859,  in  Windsor  county,  and 
have  since  been  prosecuted  to  limited  ex- 
tent. At  Bridgewater,  the  gold  has  been 
found  in  place,  in  a quartz  vein,  associated 
with  galena,  and  pyritous  copper,  and  iron. 
It  has  not  proved  sufficiently  rich  to  work. 
Through  western  Massachusetts  and  Connect- 
icut, and  the  south-east  part  of  New  York, 
and  through  New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania, 
the  talcose  and  argillaceous  slates,  and  the 
other  rocks  of  the  gold  belt,  appear  to  be 
unproductive  in  this  metal,  a little  gold  only 
having  been  met  with  in  some  of  the  ores 
worked  for  lead  and  copper  in  Lancaster 
county,  near  the  borders  of  Maryland. 
Specimens  of  quartz  rich  in  gold  have  been 
found  in  Montgomery  county,  in  the  last- 
named  state  ; but  no  mine  has  been  worked 
there. 

In  Virginia  the  deposit  mines  of  Louisa 
county  especially  were  very  productive  even 
in  1833,  and  they  had  not  been  worked  long 
before  rich  veins  were  found,  and  operations 


HYDRAULIC  MINING. 


By  this  operation,  as  described  in  the  text,  hills  of  loose  materials  or  of  decomposed  slates  and  other 
rocks  containing  gold,  are  washed  down,  and  the  earthy  matters  are  swept  away  through  the  sluices 
made  either  of  wooden  troughs  or  by  excavating  channels  in  the  bed-rock.  In  these  the  coarse  gold  is 
caught  against  the  bars  placed  at  intervals  across  the  sluices.  This  is  a purely  Californian  method,  and 
has  proved  so  effectual  in  collecting  the  little  gold  buried  in  large  bodies  of  earth,  that  it  is  now  generally 
adopted  in  other  gold  regions  in  which  the  conditions  are  favorable  for  its  practice. 


TUNNELLING  AT  TABLE  MOUNTAIN,  CALIFORNIA. 


This  represents  a common  method  of  reaching  beds  of  rich  ores  that  lie  at  considerable  depths 
below  the  surface,  by  which  the  labor  of  removing  the  superficial  deposits  is  avoided.  Veins  of  ores, 
whether  lying  at  a steep  or  gentle  inclination,  are  often  explored  by  such  tunnels  driven  in  upon  their 
course.  The  sides  and  roof  may  be  protected  or  not,  as  the  ground  is  soft  or  solid,  by  timbering. 

At  the  outside  of  the  tunnel  below  the  railroad  track  is  the  machine  called  the  “long  tom,”  a shallow 
trough,  ten  to  twenty  feet  long,  and  about  sixteen  inches  wide.  The  lower  end,  which  turns  up  gently 
from  the  plane  of  the  bottom,  is  shod  with  iron  and  perforated  with  holes.  The  water  from  the  mine  is 
turned  on  the  upper  end,  and  flows  up  this  slope  and  through  the  holes,  carrying  with  it  the  finer  mud 
and  sand  which  are  continually  thrown  into  the  tom.  One  man  at  the  lower  end  keeps  the  mud  in  motion 
and  removes  the  coarse  lumps.  Under  the  lower  end  of  the  tom  is  placed  a “riffle  box,”  in  which  mer- 
cury may  be  used  to  advantage  if  the  gold  is  in  fine  particles. 


LARGE  ROCKER  USED  IN  CALIFORNIA  WITH  QUICKSILVER. 


Tho  above  cut  represents  a rocker  of  unusual  dimensions,  which  has  been  introduced  in  some  places 
in  California,  and  is  employed  particularly  for  auriferous  deposits  in  which  the  gold  is  in  too  fine  particles 
to  be  caught  in  the  long  tom.  It  is  slightly  inclined,  and  is  rocked  by  one  man  while  the  others  collect 
the  gravel  and  throw  it  upon  the  perforated  iron  plate.  Across  the  bottom  of  the  trough  are  placed 
“riffle  bars,”  and  behind  each  one  of  these  some  mercury.  The  fine  particles  of  gold  coming  in  contact 
with  this  are  caught  and  retained  in  the  form  of  amalgam.  The  coarse  gravel  falls  off  the  lower  end  of 
the  plate,  while  the  fine  mud  and  sand  are  washed  by  the  water  through  the  holes  in  the  plate. 


STAMPS  FOR  CRUSHING  GOLD  ORES. 


This  cut  represents  a common  form  of  stamps,  such  as  are  used  for  pulverizing  auriferous  quartz 
or  other  ores.  They  are  variously  arranged  at  different  mills ; sometimes  four  or  five  running  in  one 
set,  and  several  sets  being  placed  on  the  same  line,  but  separate  from  each  other.  This  arrangement  is 
more  convenient  for  stopping  a portion  at  a time  as  may  be  required  for  repairs  or  for  collecting  the  very 
coarse  gold  under  the  stamps  which  cannot  pass  through  the  grating  or  the  plates,  perforated  with  many 
holes,  that  are  usually  employed  in  front  of  the  stamps. 


GOLD. 


69 


upon  these  had  been  carried  on  to  consider- 
able extent  previous  to  1836,  principally  in 
the  counties  of  Spottsylvania,  Orange,  Louisa, 
Fluvanna,  and  Buckingham.  Some  of  the 
mines  produced  at  times  very  rich  returns,  but 
their  yield  was,  for  the  most  part,  exceedingly 
irregular,  the  gold  occurring  in  rich  pockets 
or  nests,  very  unequally  scattered  in  the  vein. 
The  occasional  richness  of  the  veins  caused 
the  attention  of  wealthy  capitalists  in  this 
country  and  in  England  to  be  directed  to 
this  region,  and  large  outlays  were  made,  in 
providing  powerful  engines  and  other  suita- 
ble machinery  for  working  the  ores,  and  in 
opening  the  mines.  But,  although  the  oper- 
ations have  been  directed  by  the  best  mining 
skill,  supported  by  abundant  capital,  the  en- 
terprise, on  the  whole,  has  not  proved  suc- 
cessful, and  since  1853  the  business  has 
greatly  declined  in  importance. 

In  North  Carolina  numerous  quartz  veins 
have  been  worked  during  the  last  30  years, 
and  operations  are  still  carried  on  with  mod- 
erate success  at  several  mines  in  Guilford, 
Davidson,  Montgomery,  Cabarrus,  Rowan, 
and  Mecklenburg  counties.  Deposit  mines 
have  been  worked  with  great  success,  also, 
in  Burke,  Rutherford,  and  McDowell  coun- 
ties. At  a single  time,  it  is  stated,  there 
might  have  been  seen,  from  one  point  of 
view  in  McDowell  county,  no  less  than  3,000 
persons  engaged  in  washing  the  deposits. 
In  this  district  sluice-washing  has  recently 
been  successfully  introduced  by  Dr.  Van 
Dyke,  who  is  also  engaged  in  the  same  proc- 
ess in  Georgia.  The  most  important  group 
of  mines  is  at  Gold  Hill,  on  the  southern 
line  of  Rowan  and  Cabarrus  counties.  Min- 
ing operations  were  begun  here  in  1843,  and 
for  10  years  the  annual  product  averaged 
about  $100,000;  the  last  four  years  of  this 
period  more  than  one-third  of  all  the  gold 
coined  at  the  Charlotte  mint  was  from  Gold 
Hill.  In  1853  the  property  was  purchased 
by  a New  York  company,  by  which  it  has 
since  been  worked,  but  with  greatly  reduced 
profits,  although  the  mines  have  been  fur- 
nished with  the  most  efficient  machinery. 
These  are  the  deepest  gold  mines  in  the  At- 
lantic states,  one  of  the  shafts  having  now 
reached  the  depth  of  680  feet.  The  ore  is  pyr- 
itous  iron,  containing  gold  in  particles  rarely 
visible,  and  probably  chemically  combined 
with  the  iron  and  sulphur  in  the  form  of  a 
double  sulphuret.  It  is  separated  with  difficul- 
ty, and  very  imperfectly,  by  the  processes  of 
crushing  and  amalgamating;  and  the  immense 


heaps  of  tailings  collected  below  the  mines, 
amounting  probably  to  over  two  million  bush- 
els, still  retain  quantities  of  gold  worth  from 
fifty  cents  to  two  dollars  the  bushel.  In  Da- 
vidso.n  county  a mine  was  opened  in  1839, 
which  produced  in  the  three  succeeding 
years  about  $7,000  worth  of  gold,  when  the 
ore  was  proved  to  be  more  valuable  for  sil- 
ver than  for  gold.  These  metals  were  as- 
sociated with  a variety  of  metallic  ores, 
among  which  the  sulphuret,  carbonate,  and 
phosphate  of  lead  were  especially  abundant. 
Furnaces  were  constructed  for  reducing  these, 
and. separating  the  silver  obtained  with  the 
lead.  This  is  the  only  mine  east  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains  which  has  furnished  any 
considerable  amount  of  silver  to  the  mint. 
It  is  now  known  as  the  Washington  mine. 

Although  many  gold  mines  have  been 
worked  in  South  Carolina,  the  only  one  of 
much  note  is  the  Dorn  mine,  in  Abbeville 
district.  In  1850  this  mine,  then  quite  new, 
produced  gold  to  the  value  of  $19,000,  and 
in  1852  the  production  rose  to  $202,216,  al- 
though the  mine  was  provided  with  very  im- 
perfect machinery  and  worked  in  a very 
rude  manner.  This  large  yield  was,  how- 
ever, of  short  duration,  the  gold  occurring 
in  great  quantity  only  in  streaks  or  pockets 
upon  a short  portion  of  the  vein. 

The  Georgia  gold  mines,  first  worked  in 
the  north-east  part  of  the  state  in  1829,  were 
soon  found  to  extend  south-west  into  the 
country  beyond  the  Chestatee  river,  which 
was  then  possessed  by  the  Cherokee  Indians. 
In  1830  the  borders  of  this  territory  were 
overrun  by  a reckless  set  of  adventurers,  not- 
withstanding the  attempts  made,  first  by  a 
force  of  United  States  troops  stationed  for 
the  protection  of  the  Indians,  and  afterward 
by  Georgia  troops,  when  the  state  extended 
her  laws  in  1830  over  the  Cherokee  country. 
On  the  removal  of  the  Indians,  their  lands 
were  distributed  in  40  acre  lots,  by  lottery, 
among  the  inhabitants  of  the  state,  and  thus 
titles  were  obtained  to  the  gold  mines.  The 
deposit  mines  yielded  richly  for  a few  years, 
and  the  whole  product  of  gold  for  the  first 
ten  years  of  their  working  is  supposed  to 
have  amounted  to  $16,000,000,  a large  por- 
tion of  which  never  reached  the  United  States 
mints,  but  was  distributed  in  barter  through- 
out the  neighboring  states  and  worked  up  in 
jewelry.  From  1839  to  1849  the  produc- 
tion did  not  probably  exceed  $4,000,000.  A 
number  of  quartz  veins  were  opened  in  Hab- 
ersham, Lumpkin,  Cherokee,  Carroll,  Colum- 


70 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


bia,  and  other  counties,  and  considerable 
amounts  of  gold  were  obtained  from  these. 
They  were,  however,  generally  abandoned 
when  the  workings  reached  a depth  at  which 
machinery  would  be  required  for  draining 
the  mines.  In  Columbia  county,  about  20  j 
miles  from  Augusta,  the  McCormack  mine 
has  been  worked  without  interruption  for 
about  20  years  steadily,  producing  very  fair 
profits.  The  gold  is  found  in  small  particles 
in  a honey-combed  quartz,  which  contains 
but  little  pyrites  and  some  galena.  Nearly 
all  the  gold  was  obtained  within  70  feet  of 
the  surface. 

In  Lumpkin  county  the  gold  is  found  in 
immense  beds  of  decomposed  micaceous  and 
talcose  slates,  which,  too  poor  to  be  worked 
by  the  slow  process  of  crushing  the  whole 
material  in  mills  and  then  washing  away  the 
earthy  matter,  will  probably  well  repay  the 
more  thorough  system  of  operations  accord- 
ing to  the  California  hydraulic  process.  Af- 
ter these  beds  had  remained  neglected  for 
many  years,  Dr.  II.  M.  Van  Dyke,  who  had 
gained  experience  in  California,  and  already 
applied  it  in  introducing  the  system  into 
North  California,  found  in  Boston,  Mass., 
capitalists  who  agreed  to  furnish  the  money 
required  for  securing  the  richest  tracts  in  the 
vicinity  of  Dahlonega,  and  conveying  to 
them  the  water  for  washing  down  the  hills 
on  the  plan,  which  will  be  more  particularly 
noticed  in  speaking  of  the  California  mines. 
In  1858  he  commenced  operations,  which 
have  since  been  actively  conducted ; taking 
the  water  of  the  Yahoola  river  at  a point 
about  13  miles  above  the  spot  where  it  will 
be  first  used,  and  conveying  it  by  a canal  or 
ditch  over  the  more  elevated  portion  of  the 
country,  crossing  the  valleys  by  means  of 
sluices  supported  upon  trestle-work,  the 
height  of  which  gradually  increases  with  the 
descent  of  the  streams,  until  at  the  crossing 
of  the  Yahoola  near  Dahlonega  the  high 
trestle  now  in  construction  is  at  the  level  of 
240  feet  above  the  bed  of  the  river,  with  a 
span  between  the  hills  of  1,400  feet.  Be- 
yond this  crossing  the  canal  is  to  be  extended 
two  miles  further,  to  reach  the  rich  deposits 
upon  which  the  hose  washing  will  be  first 
applied.  It  is  expected  that  the  arrange- 
ments will  be  completed  early  in  1801,  and 
that  from  the  numerous  localities  controlled 
by  the  company,  at  which  the  water  can  be 
used  to  advantage,  the  proceeds  will  revive 
the  reputation  of  the  Georgia  gold  mines. 

Another  association  was  formed  in  Bostop 


in  185V,  called  the  Nacoochee  Hydraulic^ 
Mining  Company,  for  the  purpose  of  apply- 
ing the  same  system  to  the  high  grounds  in 
White  county,  recently  a part  of  Haber- 
sham, in  which  are  the  mines  of  the  Nacoo- 
chee valley  and  its  vicinity,  at  one  period 
highly  productive,  and  where  many  deposits 
exist  at  so  great  an  elevation,  that  no  water 
has  heretofore  been  brought  to  bear  upon 
them.  By  damming  the  Nacoochee  river, 
this  company  can  carry  water  to  these  points ; 
and  their  arrangements  are  already  nearly 
completed.  In  some  experimental  trials  they 
have,  by  the  use  of  a current  of  water  that 
would  flow  through  a six-inch  pipe,  obtained 
several  hundred  dollars  per  week  with  the 
labor  of  two  miners.  From  one  spot  more 
than  1,500  dwts.  were  washed  out  in  small 
nuggets,  several  of  about  1 00  dwts.  each,  and 
one  of  387  dwts.  The  value  of  these  is  $1 
the  dwt.,  and  of  the  gold  dust  97  cents. 
The  auriferous  belt  of  rocks  consists  of  al- 
ternating beds  of  micaceous,  hornblende,  and 
talcose  slates  and  gneiss,  which  stand  nearly 
vertically,  and  contain  between  their  layers 
bands  of  quartz.  The  gold  is  found  in  the 
quartz  and  in  the  auriferous  pyrites  accom- 
panying it,  and  to  some  extent  in  the  slates, 
also.  Detached  or  “free”  gold  is  also  met 
with,  derived,  no  doubt,  from  pyrites  which 
has  decomposed  and  disappeared.  From 
the  general  disintegration  of  the  edges  of 
these  strata,  gold  has  been  distributed  in  the 
deposits  around. 

From  Georgia,  the  gold-bearing  rocks  are 
traced  into  eastern  Tennessee,  where  they 
have  been  worked  along  the  range  of  the 
Coweta  and  Smoky  Mountains;  and  from 
the  south  side  of  the  Blue  Bidge,  in  Georgia, 
they  have  proved  productive  in  a south-west 
direction,  through  Carroll  county,  into  Ala- 
bama ; but  the  formation  is  soon  lost  in  the 
last-named  state. 

The  gold  regions  along  both  slopes  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains  are,  however,  the  most  re- 
markable yet  discovered  on  this  continent. 
In  Colorado,  “the  whole  range  of  moun- 
tains seems  crowded  with  veins  of  rich 
mineral  ore.  They  run  into  and  through 
the  hill  sides  like  the  bars  of  a gridiron — 
every  hundred  feet,  every  fifty  feet,  every 
twenty  feet.”  The  first  and  largest  develop- 
ment of  these  mines  lies  along  and  up  the 
Clear  Creek  and  centres  around  its  sources. 
The  principal  mining  villages  of  this  section 
are  Central  City,  Black  Hawk  and  Nevada. 
Another  centre  of  productive  mining  interests 


GOLD. 


71 


is  in  the  South  Park.  The  gold  in  Colorado 
is  combined  with  sulphur  and  forms  a sort 
of  pyrites.  This  renders  its  extraction  more 
difficult ; but  processes  have  lately  been  de- 
vised which,  without  increasing  materially 
the  expense,  will  raise  the  production  of  gold 
per  cord  of  ore  to  three  or  five-fold  what  it 
has  hitherto  been.  There  are  also  large 
deposits  of  gold  in  New  Mexico  and  Utah, 
which  are  not  yet  developed  to  any  con- 
siderable extent. 

Idaho  and  Montana  are  also  immensely 
rich  in  gold  mines  and  placers.  The  Boise 
Basin,  in  Idaho,  has  yielded,  and  still  yields 
to  the  placer  miner  in  many  parts  a fair  re- 
turn for  his  labor,  and  possesses,  beside, 
many  valuable  gold-bearing  quartz  leads. 
The  South  Boise  has  also  many  valuable 
leads.  The  Owyhee  mines,  sixty  miles  south 
of  Boise  City.  They  are  almost  entirely 
silver-producing,  though  some  gold  is  ex- 
tracted from  the  silver.  In  Montana,  the 
placer  diggings  are  yet  paying  largely,  and 
the  quartz  leads  are  richer  in  gold  than  in 
any  section  yet  discovered;  and  the  two 
localities  which  have  been  thus  far  princi- 
pally worked,  Alder  Gulch,  and  the  vicinity 
of  Helena,  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  apart,  are  yielding  both  gold  and  sil- 
ver in  great  profusion. 

Still  another  region  rich  in  gold,  richer 
perhaps  than  either  of  the  others,  though  as 
yet  developed  with  difficulty,  on  account  of 
the  hostile  and  treacherous  Indians  who 
roam  over  it,  is  the  Territory  of  Arizona.  Its 
gulches  and  canons  abound  in  the  precious 
metal,  and  it  cannot  be  long  before  they 
yield  in  profusion  their  long  hidden  wealth. 
The  completion  of  the  Pacific  railroad  will 
soon  make  this  wealth  available. 

The  most  important  gold  region  of  the 
United  States  and  of  the  world  is  that  of 
California.  Its  development  has  not  only 
largely  multiplied  the  previous  gold  produc- 
tion of  the  globe,  but  it  has  been  the  means 
of  rapidly  bringing  into  the  use  of  civilized 
nations  large  territories  of  productive  lands, 
which  before  were  an  unprofitable  wilderness, 
founding  new  states,  enlarging  the  commerce 
of  the  world,  and  bringing  into  closer  inter- 
course nations  which  before  were  the  most 
widely  separated.  At  the  period  when  the 
wealth  of  the  gold  mines  of  California  began 
to  be  realized,  the  annual  production  of  gold 
throughout  the  world  had  gradually  fallen  to 
about  ^20,000,000,  and  more  than  half  of 
this  was  furnished  by  Russia  alone.  In  1853, 


only  five  years  later,  California  produced  an 
amount  estimated  at  870,000,000,  and  the 
total  production,  through  the  supplies,  nearly 
as  large,  furnished  at  the  same  time  by 
Australia,  had  increased  to  almost  double 
this  amount.  Little  was  known  of  California 
previous  to  the  discovery  of  gold  at  Sutter’s 
mill,  on  the  American  fork  of  the  Sacramento, 
in  February,  1848;  yet  its  being  a country 
containing  gold  wras  made  known  by  Hak- 
luyt in  his  account  of  Drake’s  expedition  of 
1577-9,  and  by  Cavello,  a Jesuit  priest  of 
San  Jose,  Bay  of  Francisco,  who  published  a 
work  on  the  country  in  Spain  in  1690.  Re- 
ports from  later  travellers  confirmed  these 
statements  at  various  times,  and  in  Hunt's 
Merchants'  Magazine  for  April,  1 847,  a report 
is  presented  by  Mr.  Sloat,  which  speaks  in 
very  decided  terms  of  the  richness  of  the 
gold  placers  of  the  country,  as  noticed  by 
him  during  his  observations  of  the  two  pre- 
ceding years.  The  Rev.  C.  S.  Lyman,  in  a 
letter  written  to  the  editor  of  the  American 
Journal  of  Science  from  San  Jose,  in  March 
1848,  notices  the  discovery  of  the  preceding 
month  as  very  promising.  In  August  of  that 
year  it  was  reported  that  four  thousand  men 
were  engaged  in  working  the  deposits  on  the 
American  fork,  and  were  taking  out  from 
$30,000  to  $40,000  a day.  This  com- 
prised a large  portion  of  the  population  of 
California.  San  Francisco  was  almost  de- 
serted, and  people  were  pouring  in  from 
distant  regions.  The  next  year  the  emigra- 
tion commenced  in  the  United  States,  both 
by  sea  around  Cape  Horn,  and  across  the 
plains  and  Rocky  Mountains  in  large  parties. 
By  the  close  of  the  year  1849  the  number 
of  persons  engaged  in  mining  was  estimated 
at  from  40,000  to  50,000  Americans,  and 
about  5,000  foreigners:  the  total  product  of 
gold  at  about  $40,000,000.  The  mining 
district  was  traced  up  the  valley  of  the 
Sacramento  toward  the  north,  and  the  con- 
tinuation of  the  same  formations  up  that  of 
the  San  Joaquin  in  the  opposite  direction  was 
also  beginning  to  be  understood.  Along  the 
valleys  of  the  streams,  which  flowed  into 
these  rivers  from  the  Sierra  Nevada  range  to 
the  east,  gold  was  almost  everywhere  found, 
and  upon  the  hills  and  elevated  plains  it  was 
met  with  beneath  the  sands  and  clays  which 
covered  the  surface  to  the  depth  of  fifteen  to 
thirty  feet  or  more ; all  the  materials,  earthy 
and  metallic,  appearing  either  to  have  been 
derived  from  the  superficial  disintegration  of 
the  slaty  formations,  or  to  have  been  depos- 


72 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


ited  by  ancient  rivers,  which  have  since  been 
diverted  in  other  directions.  Deposits  of 
this  character  were  called  dry  diggings,  and, 
except  in  the  wet  season,  were  worked  to 
great  disadvantage  for  the  want  of  water  to 
separate  the  earthy  matters  from  the  gold. 
In  the  bottoms  of  the  streams  the  deposits 
contained  much  coarse  gold,  derived  from 
the  wearing  down  of  the  slate  formations 
through  which  they  had  made  their  way  in 
their  rapid  descent  from  the  Sierra  Nevada 
mountains.  By  the  excavation  of  the  vast 
gulches  or  ravines  of  these  streams,  some  of 
which  presented  precipitous  walls  of  about 
3,000  feet  in  height,  an  immense  amount  of 
gold  must  have  been  removed  from  its  orig- 
inal beds,  which,  as  the  lighter  earthy  mat- 
ters were  swept  down  the  rivers,  remained 
behind,  forming  the  riches  of  the  auriferous 
deposits.  The  country  of  this  peculiar 
character  was  found  to  extend  along  the 
western  slopes  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  for  400 
or  500  miles,  and  the  gold-bearing  slates  to 
spread  over  a width  of  from  forty  to  sixty 
miles. 

Whether  or  no  the  natural  processes  by 
which  the  gold  had  been  collected  from  its 
original  beds  suggested  to  the  California 
miner  an  improved  method  of  washing  the 
auriferous  formations  upon  a gigantic  scale, 
it  was  soon  found  that  the  richness  of  the  de- 
posits would  justify,  especially  in  the  dry 
diggings,  large  outlays  in  conveying  water 
from  great  distances  by  canals  or  ditches, 
and  applying  this,  either  under  the  pressure 
of  a great  head,  to  tear  up  the  material  from 
its  bed  and  wash  away  the  earthy  portions, 
or  to  wash  the  auriferous  gravels  as  these 
were  carried  to  the  water  sluices  and  thrown 
into  them*  for  this  purpose.  On  this  plan 
hydraulic  operations  were  soon  laid  out  of 
extraordinary  extent.  Currents  were  di- 
verted well  up  the  slope  of  the  Sierra  Nevada 
mountains,  and  conveyed  in  canals  along  the 
sides  of  the  hills,  and  in  sluices,  supported 
upon  trestle-work,  from  one  hill  to  another, 
sometimes  at  a height  of  more  than  200  feet 
above  the  bottoms.  On  the  hills  where  the 
water  was  required  for  “ hose  washing,”  it 
was  taken  from  the  canal  or  sluice  in  a large 
and  strong  canvas  hose,  to  the  lower  end  of 
which  a nozzle,  like  that  of  a fire  engine,  was 
attached.  The  least  head  for  efficient  ser- 
vice was  about  60  feet,  and  a head  of  100 
feet  was  used  where  it  could  be  had  and  the 
hose  would  bear  it.  Large  hose  and  nozzles 
proved  much  more  efficient  than  several 


smaller  ones  of  equal  or  even  greater  capac- 
ity. As  estimated  by  Mr.  Wm.  P.  Blake, 
with  a pipe  of  an  inch  and  a half  or  two  inches 
aperture,  and  a pressure  of  90  feet  head, 
a boy  can  excavate  and  wash  as  much  aurif- 
erous earth  as  10  or  15  men  by  the  ordinary 
methods.  In  suitable  places,  where  the  waste 
water  can  flow  rapidly  away  though  the 
sluices  made  for  its  channel  and  for  catching 
the  gold,  the  jet  of  water  is  directed  against 
the  side  of  a hill,  which  it  rapidly  excavates, 
sweeping  off  the  earthy  portions,  undermin- 
ing the  trees,  and  rolling  down  the  loose 
stones,  and,  where  the  ground  is  favorable 
for  the  operation,  cutting  every  thing  away, 
it  may  be  to  a depth  of  100  feet  from  the 
top  to  the  bottom  of  the  excavation,  leaving 
behind  barren  acres  of  loose  stone  in  un- 
sightly piles — a perfect  picture  of  desola- 
tion. At  the  close  of  the  year  1858  it  was 
estimated  that  the  artificial  water-courses  al- 
ready constructed  for  mining  purposes  in 
California  amounted  to  5,726  miles  in  length, 
and  their  cost  to  $13,575,400;  and  besides 
these  there  were  branches  not  enumerated, 
and  others  in  construction,  to  the  extent  of 
about  1,000  miles  more.  Among  the  prin- 
cipal of  these  canals  are  the  Columbia  and 
Stanislaus,  in  Tuolumne  county,  which  is 
80  miles  long,  and  cost  $600,000  ; the  Butte, 
in  Amador  county,  50  miles  long,  cost 
$400,000;  that  of  the  Union  Water  Com- 
pany, in  Calaveras  county,  78  miles  long, 
cost  $320,000 ; and  that  of  the  Tuolumne 
Hydraulic  Company,  60  miles  long,  cost 
$300,000.  Notwithstanding  the  cost  of 
these  enterprises,  they  have  proved  in  gen- 
eral highly  profitable,  paying,  after  deducting 
the  expenses  of  keeping  them  up,  from  one  to 
more  than  five  per  cent,  a month.  The  water 
is  sold  to  the  miners  by  the  canal  companies 
at  so  much  per  inch  of  the  discharge — this 
being  from  a horizontal  aperture,  one  inch 
high,  at  the  bottom  of  a box  in  which  the 
water  is  kept  six  inches  deep.  The  length 
of  the  aperture  is  regulated  by  a slide.  The 
price  has  fallen  from  $3.00  an  inch  per  day 
in  1851,  to  50  cents  in  1854,  and  is  now 
still  less. 

Sluice-washing,  which  is  a necessary  part 
of  the  hydraulic  or  hose  process,  is  also 
carried  on  independently  of  it,  and  by  a 
method  which  was  first  adopted  in  Califor^ 
nia.  Channels  are  made  sometimes  upon 
the  surface  of  the  slaty  beds  in  place,  the 
ragged  edges  of  which  are  very  favorable  for 
catcliing  the  gold,  or  sometimes  of  boards, 


GOLD. 


73 


in  the  form  of  an  open  trough,  a foot  or  15 
inches  in  width,  and  8 or  ten  inches  deep, 
which  are  extended  to  several  hundred  feet 
in  length.  These  are  set  at  a suitable  slope, 
usually  about  one  in  twelve,  and  “ riffle  ” bars 
are  laid  across  to  obstruct  the  flow  of  the 
heavy  metallic  particles  which  sweep  along 
the  bottom,  while  the  muddy  portions  and 
stones  are  carried  over  with  a flow  of  the 
water,  and  discharged  at  the  lower  end. 
Fresh  gravel  is  continually  shoveled  into 
the  sluices,  and  once  a day,  or  oftener,  these 
are  cleaned  up  to  collect  the  gold  from  the 
riffles  and  pools,  which  are  sometimes  used 
at  the  head  of  one  joint  of  the  sluice  to  re- 
ceive the  discharge  from  the  next  one  above. 
Where  the  descent  is  rapid  enough  to  keep 
the  pool  “ in  a boil,”  a considerable  portion 
of  the  gold  may  be  caught  in  it,  especially  if 
mercury  be  introduced. 

In  1851,  attention  began  to  be  turned  to 
the  quartz  veins,  or  “ ledges,”  as  they  were 
called,  and  numerous  companies  were  soon 
established  in  the  United  States  and  in  Eng- 
land for  carrying  on  regular  mining  opera- 
tions upon  these.  Within  five  years  after, 
many  deep  shafts  had  been  sunk  upon  veins 
in  different  parts  of  the  country,  and  mills 
wire  in  operation,  furnished  with  the  most 
efficient  machinery  for  crushing  and  wash- 
ing the  ore.  The  uncertain  supply  of  wa- 
ter, and  the  great  expense  attending  the  pro- 
curing it  by  canals  from  a distance,  operated 
for  a time  strongly  against  the  success  of 
these  works.  Upon  the  Mariposa  estate, 
once  the  property  of  Gen.  J.  C.  Fremont, 
one  of  the  earliest  dhd  most  extensive  ex- 
periments in  quartz  mining  was  made.  The 
quartz  veins  on  that  estate  were  not  so  rich 
as  some  which  have  since  been  discovered 
elsewhere,  yielding  by  the  old  Mexican  pro- 
cess with  the  arasteus  only  eight  or  nine 
dollars  to  the  ton.  By  a new  and  improved 
method,  known  as  the  u Eureka  Process,” 
the  yield  was  increased  to  forty  or  fifty  dol- 
lars pnr  ton,  and  from  the  Princeton  mine 
alone  over  three  million  dollars  were  taken 
out  before  18G7.  Had  this  noble  property 
been  wisely  or  well  managed,  it  would  have 
made  the  General  the  wealthiest  of  Ameri- 
can millionaires  ; but,  unfortunately,  prose- 
cuting his  great  schemes  too  rapidly,  he  fell 
into  the  hands  of  men  who  stripped  him  of 
his  grand  estate  and  squandered  its  profits.  I 

But  whatever  may  be  the  ultimate  fate  of 
this  great  estate,  the  success  of  quartz  mining 


in  California  is  assured ; there  were  in  the 
State,  in  the  spring  of  1868,  472  quartz 
mills  carrying  a total  of  5,120  stamps,  and 
nearly  all  were  doing  a profitable  business. 
There  is,  of  course,  a great  difference  in  the 
yield  of  different  veil  s ; some  after  a period 
of  great  productiveness,  coming  upon  a con- 
siderable stretch  of  barren  quartz,  where  the 
yield  is  insufficient  to  pay  expenses,  and  then 
passing  on  to  a gangue  richer  and  more  pro- 
ductive than  the  portion  of  the  vein  first 
opened.  Others  will  have  the  precious 
metal  in  u chutes  ” or  “ chimneys  ” scattered 
here  and  there  along  the  course  of  the  vein, 
which  are  enormously  productive  while  the 
intervening  portions  are  entirely  barren. 
Others  still  will  yield  a steady  and  very  uni- 
form percentage,  not  large  but  fair.  In 
general  it  may  be  said  that  quartz  mining 
yields  a more  certain  though  more  moderate 
success  than  any  other  kind  of  gold  mining. 

The  total  production  of  the  mines  of  Cali- 
fornia, from  the  commencement  of  extensive 
mining  there  to  the  year  1870,  was  as  fol- 
lows, according  to  the  best  authorities  : 


1848, 

.$10,000,000 

I860,... 

, . .$4  5,000,000 

1849, 

. 40,000,000 

1861,... 

, . . 40,000,000 

1850, 

. 50,000,000 

1862,... 

, . . 34,700,000 

1851, 

. 55,000.000 

1863,.. . 

, 30,000,000 

1852, 

. 60.000,000 

1864,... 

185.3, 

. 65,000,000 

1865,. . , 

. . . 28,500,000 

1854, 

. 60,000.000 

1866,. . . 

, . . 26, 500, ((00 

1855, 

. 55,000,000 

1867,. . . 

, . . 25,000,000 

1856, 

. 55,000,0(  0 

1868,. . . 

. . . 2S, 000, 000 

1857, 

1869 

27  800  000 

1858,  

1859,  

. 50  000,000 
. 50.000,000 

1870,. . , 

$945,600,000 


The  deposits  of  gold  at  the  mint,  and  its 
branches,  for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1870, 
were  $29,485,. 03.45.  Of  silver,  for  the 
same  time,  $3,504,942.51.  Total  deposits 
$32,990,210.96. 

The  coinage  for  the  same  period  was — 
gold  coin,  number  of  pieces,  1,156,087  ; val- 
ue, $22,257,3 1 _.  )0  ; unparted  and  fine  gold 
bars,  $87,846,052.25  ; silver  coin,  pieces, 
4,649,398;  value,  $1,767,253.50;  silver 
bars,  $902, 800. (ill ; nickel,  copper,  and  bronze 
pieces,  18,154,000;  value,  $611,445;  total 
number  of  pieces  struck,  23,901,292  ; total 
value  of  coinage,  $43,384,863.91. 

New  localities  are  tested  by  trying  the 
earth  in  different  places,  by  washing  it  in  an 
iron  pan  or  upon  a shovel,  an  experienced 
hand  readily  throwing  the  heavy  particles 
by  themselves,  while  the  lighter  are  allowed 
I to  flow  away.  1 h.s  method  is  one  of  the 


74 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 


means  in  use  for  collecting  gold  upon  a 
small  scale,  and  the  Mexicans  of  the  gold 
regions,  by  long  practice,  are  particularly 
expert  in  it.  If  a vein  is  to  be  tested,  the 
quartz  is  finely  crushed,  and  the  powder  is 
then  washed  in  the  same  manner.  Gold 
may  be  thus  brought  to  view  when  none 
was  visible  in  the  stones,  however  closely  ex- 
amined. By  placing  a little  mercury  or 
quicksilver  in  the  pan,  the  gold  will  be  more 
perfectly  secured,  as,  by  coming  in  contact 
with  each  other,  these  metals  instantly  unite 
to  form  a heavy  amalgam,  and  the  mercury 
thus  holds  the  finest  particles  of  gold  so  that 
they  cannot  escape.  The  mixture,  separated 
from  the  sand,  is  squeezed  in  a piece  of  thick 
linen  or  deerskin,  through  which  the  excess 
of  mercury  escapes,  leaving  the  amalgam. 
This  may  then  be  heated  on  a shovel,  when 
the  mercury  goes  off  in  vapor,  and  the  gold 
is  left  in  its  original-shaped  particles,  coher- 
ing together  in  a cake.  If  the  quantity  of 
amalgafn  is  considerable,  it  is  distilled  in  a 
retort,  and  the  mercury  is  condensed  to  be 
used  again.  This  amalgamation  fails  entirely 
if  the  slightest  quantity  of  any  greasy  sub- 
stance is  present,  as  a film  of  the  grease  coats 
every  portion  of  the  mercury,  and  effectually 
prevents  its  contact  with  the  gold.  These 
processes  contain  the  principles  of  nearly  all 
the  methods  in  use  for  separating  gold.  A 
great  variety  of  machines  have  been  based 
upon  them,  the  simplest  of  which  have  proved 
the  most  valuable.  The  Burke  rocker  has 
always  been  a favorite  machine  in  the  south- 
ern states,  and  has  been  largely  used  in  Cali- 
fornia by  small  companies  of  miners,  and  in 
localities  where  operations  were  not  carried 


on  upon  a very  extensive  scale.  It  is  a cradle- 
shaped trough,  about  six  feet  long,  set  on 
two  rockers,  the  upper  end  a few  inches 
higher  than  the  lower,  and  placed  so  as  to 
receive  at  its  head  a current  of  water  from 
the  end  of  a leading  trough  above.  This 
falls  upon  a perforated  iron  plate,  set  as  a 
shelf  in  the  machine,  and  upon  this  the 
auriferous  gravel  is  thrown.  The  finer  par- 
ticles fall  through  as  the  rocker  is  kept  in 
motion  by  hand,  and  the  coarse  gravel  rolls' 
down  to  the  lower  end,  and  falls  off  upon 
the  ground.  Across  the  bottom  of  the 
rocker  are  placed,  at  intervals  of  6 or  8 
inches,  low  bars  or  partitions  which  catch 
the  heavy  sands,  and  prevent  their  being 
washed  out  of  the  lower  end  with  the  water 
and  mud.  This  lower  portion  is  sometimes 
arranged  as  a drawer,  which  can  be  secured 
by  a lock,  so  that  the  gold  which  falls  into 
it  is  safe  against  robbery.  The  drawer  is 
called  the  “ riffle  box.”  Some  rockers  are 
mere  open  troughs  without  a shelf.  The 
“ tom”  is  often  preferred  to  the  rocker,  which 
it  resembles,  except  in  its  being  a trough 
without  rockers,  on  the  plan  of  the  sluices 
already  described.  Both  it  and  the  rocker 
are  of  convenient  size  for  moving  about  from 
one  place  to  another,  as  the  working  of  the 
deposit  advances. 

Vein  mining  requires  more  efficient  ma- 
chinery, and  stamping  mills  are  constructed 
as  near  as  may  be  to  the  mines,  for  reducing 
the  stony  materials  to  powder,  and  the  sands 
from  the  stamps  are  passed  through  a variety 
of  machines  designed  to  catch  the  gold. 
Stamps  are  solid  blocks  of  the  heaviest  cast 
iron  attached  to  the  end  of  a wooden  or  iron 
rod  called  the  leg,  to  which  the  lifting  cam 
is  applied  for  raising  them.  They  common- 
ly weigh  about  300  lbs.  each,  though  in 
California  they  are  made  of  twice  and  even 
three  times  this  weight.  Several  of  them 
are  set  together  in  a frame  side  by  side,  and 
are  lifted  in  succession  by  the  cams  upon  a 
horizontal  shaft,  which  revolves  in  front  of 
them.  The  bed  in  which  they  stand,  and 
into  which  the  ore  to  be  crushed  is  thrown, 
is  sometimes  a massive  anvil,  hollow  in  the 
top,  firmly  imbedded  in  a heavy  stick  of 
timber,  or  is  formed  of  stones,  beaten  by  the 
stamps  themselves  into  a solid  bed.  Water 
is  usually  supplied  in  small  currents  to  the 
stamps,  and  sometimes  mercury  also  is  pour- 
ed into  the  bed.  The  only  exit  for  the 
crushed  materials  is  through  small  holes 
punched  in  a sheet  of  copper,  of  which  the 


BURKE  ROCKER. 


|H 


FATHER  OF  THE  FOREST. 


GOLD  MINING  IN  CALIFORNIA. 


CHINESE  IN  CALIFORNIA  GOLD  MINES. 


GOLD. 


15 


side  of  the  boxing  around  the  stamps  is  form- 
ed, opposite  to  that  at  which  the  ore  is  fed. 
Through  these  holes  the  mud  and  water 
are  projected  with  every  blow  into  a capa- 
cious box,  the  floor  of  which  inclines  gently 
back  toward  the  stamp,  and  contains  along 
this  edge  a quantity  of  mercury,  in  which  a 
considerable  portion  of  the  gold  is  caught. 
From  the  box  a spout  leads  the  current  into 
the  other  machines,  often  through  an  inclined 
trough,  in  the  bottom  of  which  baize  or 
blanket  stuff  is  laid  for  the  purpose  of  en- 
tangling in  its  fibres  the  particles  of  gold 
that  are  swept  along.  These  are  frequently 
taken  up  and  cleaned.  Much  of  the  gold, 
however,  always  escapes  them,  and  the  cur- 
rent is  variously  treated  before  it  is  finally 
allowed  to  flow  away.  The  sands  require  to 
be  more  finely  pulverized,  and  the  current 
first  flows  into  mills  of  some  sort,  as  the 
Chilian  mill,  arrastre,  etc.  The  former  con- 
sists of  a pair  of  heavy  wheels  of  granite,  from 
four  to  six  feet  in  diameter  when  new,  set  in 
a horizontal  frame,  one  on  each  side  of  an 
upright  shaft,  and  carried  around  with  the 
shaft  as  it  revolves  upon  its  axis.  The  stones 


They  revolve  in  a water-tight  box  or  tub 
upon  a granite  floor.  Sometimes  they  are 
used  in  the  place  of  stamps  for  breaking  up 
the  coarse  ore ; and  worked  at  the  rate  of 
eight  to  twelve  revolutions  a minute,  they 
should  crush  to  fine  sand  from  one  to  two 
tons  of  quartz  in  twelve  hours.  The  water, 
which  flows  in  one  side  the  tub,  passes  out 
over  the  opposite  edge  with  the  light  slime 
and  fine  mud,  while  much  of  the  gold  re- 
mains in  the  bottom,  caught  by  the  mercury 
placed  there  to  secure  it.  The  arrastre  is 
something  like  the  Chilian  mill,  only  instead 
of  revolving  stones,  heavy  flat  ones  are  drag- 
ged round  with  the  shaft  by  chains,  secured 
to  the  horizontal  arms.  These  machines  in 
Mexico  are  worked  by  horses  or  mules,  but 
in  this  country  by  water  or  steam  power. 
The  slowness  of  their  operation  is  not  regard- 
ed as  an  objectionable  feature,  but  on  the 
contrary  is  favorable  for  effectually  securing 
the  gold.  Among  the  simplest  and  best 
contrivances  employed  below  the  Chilian 
mill  are  the  “ shaking  tables.”  These  are 
platforms  seven  or  eight  feet  long,  of  plank 
in  a single  piece,  as  wide  as  can  be  procured. 


CRUSHING  MILL, 

being  as  close  as  possible  to  the  shaft,  have 
a twisting  motion  which  acts  powerfully  to 
grind  the  particles  crushed  by  their  weight.  ' 
5 * 


OR  A UR  AST  RK. 

The  planks,  of  two  inches  thickness,  aro 
worked  down  from  a line  across  the  middle 
to  a thin  edge  at  one  end,  and  from  the  other 


76 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


end  they  are  made  to  diminish  to  half  an  j 
inch  thickness  at  the  line  across  the  middle. 
Each  one  is  furnished  with  sides,  and  a strip 
across  the  thin  end  of  six  inches  in  height, 
the  joining  made  perfectly  tight,  and  is  then 
swung  between  four  posts  in  a horizontal 
position  by  four  rods  or  chains,  which  should 
be  at  least  eight  feet  long.  Mercury  is  pour- 
ed into  the  two  divisions,  until  they  are 
more  than  half  filled.  The  sands  are  made 
to  flow  in  upon  the  thin  end,  and  are  receiv- 
ed upon  the  surface  of  the  mercury  ; and  the 
table  is  made  to  swing  forward  and  back  by 
the  revolution  of  a crank.  By  the  motion 
the  sands  are  mixed  in  with  the  mercury, 
and  swept  along  in  successive  waves,  and 
tailing  over  the  middle  ridge  are  treated  in 
the  same  manner  in  the  succeeding  division. 
The  mercury  is  retained  by  its  weight  in  the 
depressed  portions  of  the  table,  and  the  wa- 
ter and  sands  are  discharged  over  the  open 
end.  Of  the  numerous  machines  designed 
for  effecting  the  amalgamation  of  the  gold 
patented  within  the  last  few  years ; few  in-  j 
volve  any  new  principles,  but  are  merely  j 
modified  forms  of  the  old  contrivances.  Prof,  j 
A.  K.  Eaton,  of  New  York,  found  that  amal-  j 
gamated  metallic  surfaces  could  be  made  to  i 
collect  most  completely  the  very  fine  parti-  J 
cles  of  gold,  which  by  all  other  processes  it 
has  been  found  impossible  to  secure.  The 
use  of  copper,  brass,  or  zinc  proved  trouble- 
some and  impracticable  from  the  rapidity 
with  which  they  were  dissolved  in  the  mer- 
cury, adulterating  the  amalgam.  An  amal- 
gamated iron  surface  proved  to  be  free  from 
this  objection,  and  the  following  description  | 
of  apparatus  was  finally  decided  on  as  the  j 
most  efficient:  A circular  plate  of  wrought! 
iron  is  amalgamated  over  what  is  intended  I 
to  be  its  inferior  surface,  and  an  open  tube 
is  fixed  in  its  center,  rising  three  or  four  feet ! 
high,  and  furnished  at  the  top  with  a bowl 
or  funnel.  This  tube  and  disk  are  supported 
upon  a surface  of  mercury  contained  in  a 
shallow  (ub  of  larger  diameter  than  the  disk, 
a frame-work  being  attached  to  the  tub  for 
this  purpose.  A pulley  is  fixed  upon  the 
hollow  shaft,  so  that  a belt  may  be  attached 
for  causing  the  disk  to  rotate  upon  the  mer- 
cury. The  sands  are  fed  with  water  into 
the  funnel  at  the  top  of  the  tube,  and  the 
pressure  caused  by  the  height  of  the  column  ! 
carries  them  down  upon  tbe  mercurial  sur- 
face, and,  by  reason  of  this  pressure  and  the 
centrifugal  action  of  the  revolving  disk,  they  I 
gradually  work  outward  between  this  sur-  j 


j face  and  the  amalgamated  surface  above,  be- 
ing  pressed  anil  rubbed  between  them  till 
they  escape  round  the  circumference  of  the 
disk,  and  flow  over  the  edge  of  the  tub. 
Hot  water,  as  in  all  other  modes  of  amalga- 
mating, is  preferable  to  cold.  By  this  pro- 
cess all  free  gold,  however  fine  the  particles, 
must  come  in  contact  with  the  amalgamated 
surface,  and  be  taken  up  by  the  mercury. 
It  perfectly  separates  the  gold  that  in  other 
machines  floats  off  in  the  fine  slime.  In  gold 
ores,  especially  those  of  sulphurous  character, 
much  of  the  gold  is  so  fine  that  it  remains 
suspended  a long  time  in  water,  and  is  en- 
tirely lost.  The  important  feature  of  this 
invention  is  the  use  of  an  inferior  amalga- 
mated surface,  against  which  these  floating 
particles  are  pressed.  The  pressure  is  se- 
cured by  any  desired  depth  of  the  mercury, 
but  in  practice  less  than  an  inch  above  the 
lower  edge  of  the  plate  is  found  to  be  suffi- 
cient. The  efficiency  of  the  machine  was 
fully  tested  in  November,  1860,  at  the  Gold 
Hill  mine,  in  North  Carolina,  where  good 
results  were  obtained  with  it.  In  the  same 
month  it  was  tried  at  the  U.  S.  assay  office, 
N.  Y.,  upon  the  tailings  of  the  sweeps  from 
which  all  the  gold  had  been  extracted  that 
could  be  removed  by  the  amalgamating  ma- 
chines in  use,  and  from  these  it  readily  sepa- 
rated the  remaining  portion. 

As  remarked  in  the  mention  made  of  the 
Gold  Hill  mines,  when  gold  is  associated 
with  iron  and  copper  pyrites  it  is  held  very 
tenaciously,  as  if  combined  itself  with  the 
sulphur,  like  the  other  metals.  However 
finely  such  ores  are  pulverized,  every  micro- 
scopic particle  of  pyrites  appears  to  retain  a 
portion  of  gold,  and  prevent  its  uniting  with 
the  mercury.  This  portion  of  the  gold,  con- 
sequently, escapes  in  the  tailings ; and  if 
these  are  kept  in  refuse  heaps,  exposed  to 
the  weather,  the  pyrites  slowly  decompose, 
and  more  gold  is  continually  set  free.  Thus 
it  is  the  heaps  may  be  washed  over  with 
profit  for  many  successive  years.  Roasting 
of  the  ores  is  recommended  by  high  authori- 
ties for  freeing  the  gold  at  once,  the  effect 
of  it  being  to  break  up  the  sulphurets,  caus- 
ing the  sulphur  to  escape  in  vapor,  and  the 
iron  to  crumble  down  in  the  state  of  an  oxide, 
or  an  ochreous  powder,  from  which  the  gold 
is  readily  separated.  This  is  objected  to  by 
others,  who  assert  that  it  involves  a great 
loss  of  gold,  which  is  volatilized  or  carried 
off  mechanically  in  the  sulphur  fumes.  Two 
other  methods  adopted,  since  1857,  for  the 


■ 


MAllRI AGE  CEREMONY  IN  CHINA. 


GOLD. 


77 


reduction  of  those  ores  containing  large  pro- 
portions of  the  sulphurets  of  iron  and  cop- 
per, deserve  notice — viz.,  the  “ Sodium  Amal- 
gamating Process,”  and  the  “ Plattner 
Chlorination  Process.” 

The  use  of  the  Sodium  in  mechanical  com- 
bination with  mercury  to  oxidize  and  thus 
remove  more  readily  the  impurities,  sulphur, 
arsenic,  and  antimony,  which  interfere  with 
the  reduction  or  extraction  of  gold  from  the 
quartz,  was  suggested  about  1861,  and  has 
been  made  the  subject  of  two  patents,  one 
by  Dr.  Chas.  Wurtz  in  New  York,  in  1864, 
the  other  by  Mr.  Crookes,  of  London,  in 
1865.  It  has  proved  very  successful  in  Col- 
orado, Nova  Scotia,  and  California,  in  those 
mines  where  the  gold  was  so  difficult  of  ex- 
traction, on  account  of  the  presence  of  a 
large  percentage  of  refractory  pyrites.  The 
yield  of  gold  from  these  ores  has  been  in- 
creased from  20  to  30  per  cent.  The  sodium 
is  however  as  yet  so  costly,  that  it  is  only 
the  richer  ores  in  which  it  pays,  commercial- 
ly, to  use  it.  Amalgams  are  now  put  up 
according  to  the  formulae  of  the  patentees, 
containing  the  requisite  quantity  of  sodium 
in  combination  with  other  metallic  com- 
pounds. These  are  to  be  used,  according 
to  the  amount  of  concentration,  with  from 
20  to  150  times  their  weight  of  mercury. 
The  Amalgam  varies  from  $1.25  to  $1.75 
per  pound.  Recently  it  has  been  announc- 
ed that  cyanide  of  potassium  was  to  be 
preferred  for  this  -purpose  to  sodium — 
while  it  is  much  cheaper.  The  Plattner 
chlorination  process  requires  as  a prelimin- 
ary a double  roasting  of  the  ores,  the  first 
time  at  a low  heat  to  oxidize  the  ore  and 
burn  out,  as  far  as  possible,  the  sulphurets 
and  other  impurities,  and  the  second  time,  at 
a higher  heat,  to  decompose  the  metallic  salts 
formed  at  the  first  roasting.  If  sulphates 
of  lime  and  magnesia  are  present  they  are 
removed  by  the  addition  of  some  common 
salt  to  the  roasting  mass.  When  the  roast-  J 
ing  is  completed  the  ore  is  discharged  from 
the  fuma-  e and  allowed  to  cool,  and  then  j 
being  damped  is  sifted  into  a large  vat,  lined 
with  bitumen,  and  having  a false  bottom  on  j 
which  rests  a filter  composed  of  broken  j 
quartz  and  sand.  The  vat  is  provided  with 
a close-fitting  covor  which  can  be  luted  on  j 
and  made  air-tight.  The  chlorine  is  then 
generated  in  a leaden  vessel  by  means  of 
sulphuric  acid,  and  conducted  into  the  bot- 
tom of  the  vat  through  a leaden  pipe.  As 
it  passes  up  through  the  ore  more  ore  is 


sifted  in  and  the  vat  is  gradually  thoroughly 
charged  with  the  gas,  when  the  cover,  having 
been  luted  on  and  all  escape  prevented,  and 
the  whole  allowed  to  stand  for  twelve  or 
eighteen  hours  the  gold  is  completely  chlori- 
dized.  Water  is  then  introduced  which  ab- 
sorbs the  chlorine  and  dissolves  the  chloride 
of  gold,  and  a stream  of  water  is  permitted  to 
rim  in  at  the  top  of  the  vat  till  the  lixiviation 
is  complete.  The  residue  in  the  vat  is  then 
thrown  away,  and  the  solution  of  chloride  of 
gold  goes  to  the  precipitating  vat  when  a 
solution  of  proto-sulphate  of  iron  is  added 
to  it,  and  it  is  permitted  to  stand  for  eight 
or  ten  hours.  The  water  is  then  carefully 
drawn  off,  the  precipitated  gold  collected 
upon  a paper  filter,  dried,  melted  and  run 
into  bars.  This  gold  will  be,  if  the  process 
is  carefully  conducted,  999  fine,  or  almost 
absolutely  pure  gold. 

In  the  “ branch  mining  ” of  the  southern 
states,  deposits  worked  by  the  rocker  are 
regarded  as  profitable  which  pay  a penny- 
weight or  nearly  one  dollar  per  day  to  the 
hand  employed.  The  great  beds  of  decom- 
posed slates  of  Georgia  can  be  worked  to 
profit  when  they  yield  from  four  to  five  cents 
worth  of  gold  to  the  bushel  of  stuff,  or  about 
100  lbs.  weight;  but  the  mill  for  crushing 
and  washing  it  must  then  be  close  at  hand. 
The  proportion  of  the  gold,  in  this  case,  is 
less  than  2 parts  in  1,000,000.  The  hard 
quartz  ores  must  contain  nearly  or  quite  20 
cents  worth  of  gold  in  the  bushel,  especially 
if  they  are  pyritiferous. 

Although  the  gold  is  obtained  in  a metal- 
lic state,  it  differs  very  much  in  value  in  dif- 
ferent localities.  Deposit  gold  from  the 
vicinity  of  Dahlonega,  in  Georgia,  is  worth 
93  cents  the  pennyweight;  that  of  Hart 
county,  in  the  same  state,  98  cents  ; of  Car- 
roll  county,  Georgia,  and  Chesterfield  dis- 
trict, South  Carolina,  $1.02  ; of  Union  coun- 
ty, Georgia,  or  the  Tennessee  line,  72  cents  ; 
Charlotte,  North  Carolina  $1.00;  and  that 
of  Burke  county,  North  Carolina,  only  50 
cents.  The  average  fineness  of  California 
gold  is  found  to  be  from  875  to  885  parts  in 
1,000,  which  is  very  near  that  of  our  gold 
coin,  viz,  900  in  1,000.  The  native  gold 
from  Australia  has  from  960  to  966  parts  in 
1,000  pure  gold,  and  some  from  the  Chau- 
diere,  in  Canada,  877.3  pure  gold,  and  122.3 
silver;  another  specimen  892.4, silver  107.6. 
The  specific  gravity  of  the  metal  has  been 
increased  by  casting  from  14.6  in  the  native 
state  to  17.48. 


78 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


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80 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


The  most  important  use  of  gold  is  as  a 
medium  of  exchange.  For  this  purpose  it 
is  converted  into  coin  at  the  mints,  and  into 
bars  or  bullion  at  the  government  assay  of- 
fice. In  this  form  a large  portion  of  the  re- 
ceipts from  California  is  immediately  ex- 
ported from  New  York  to  make  up  the  bal- 
ance of  foreign  trade.  Each  bar  is  stamped 
with  marks,  representing  its  fineness  and 
weight,  and  may  continue  to  be  thus  used, 
or  when  received  at  foreign  mints,  is  convert- 
ed into  coin.  A large  amount  of  gold  is 
consumed  in  jewelry,  trinkets,  watches,  and 
plate,  and  still  more  in  the  form  of  gold- 
leaf.  This  last  being  worn  out  in  the  using, 
or  being  distributed  in  too  small  quantities 
together  to  pay  for  recovering  it,  is  altogether 
lost  to  the  community,  after  the  articles  have 
served  the  purpose  intended.  This  loss  in 
the  time  of  James  I.  was  considered  so 
serious,  that  a special  act  was  passed,  re- 
stricting the  use  of  gold  and  silver-leaf,  ex- 
cept for  specified  objects,  which,  singularly 
enough,  were  chiefly  for  military  accoutre- 
ments. Gold  employed  in  the  recently  in- 
vented process  of  electrotyping,  in  which 
large  quantities  are  consumed,  is  similarly 
lost  in  the  using. 

Besides  the  use  of  gold-leaf  in  gilding,  it  is 
employed  quite  largely  by  dentists  as  the 
best  material  for  filling  teeth.  They  also 
use  much  gold  plate  and  wire  for  securing 
the  artificial  sets  in  the  mouth.  In  book- 
binding, gold  is  consumed  to  considerable 
extent  for  lettering  and  ornamenting  the 
backs  of  the  books.  The  manufacture  of 
gold-leaf  is  carried  on  in  various  places,  both 
in  the  cities  and  country.  It  is  a simple 
process,  known  in  ancient  times,  but  only  of 
late  years  carried  to  a high  degree  of  per- 
fection. The  ingots,  moulded  for  the  pur- 
pose, and  annealed  in  hot  ashes,  are  rolled 
between  rollers  of  polished  steel,  until  the 
sheet  is  reduced  from  its  original  thickness 
of  half  an  inch  to  a little  more  than  of 
an  inch,  an  ounce  weight  making  a strip  ten 
feet  long  and  li  inches  wide.  This  is  an- 
nealed and  cut  into  pieces  an  inch  square, 
each  weighing  about  six  grains.  A pile  is 
then  made  of  1 50  of  these  pieces,  alternating 
with  leaves  of  fine  calf-skin  vellum,  each  one 
of  which  is  four  inches  square,  and  a number 
of  extra  leaves  of  the  vellum  are  added  at 
the  top  and  bottom  of  the  pile.  The  heap, 
called  a tool  or  kutch,  is  slipped  into  a 
parchment  case  open  at  the  two  ends,  and 
this  into  a similar  one,  so  that  each  side  of 


the  pack  is  protected  by  one  of  the  case.  It 
is  placed  upon  a block  of  marble,  and  then 
beaten  with  a hammer  weighing  sixteen 
pounds,  and  furnished  with  a convex  face, 
the  effect  of  which  is  to  cause  the  gold  to 
spread  more  rapidly.  The  workman  wields 
this  with  great  dexterity,  shifting  it  from  one 
hand  to  the  other,  without  interfering  with 
the  regularity  of  the  blow.  The  pack  is  oc- 
casionally turned  over,  and  is  bent  and  rolled 
in  the  hands  to  cause  the  gold  to  extend 
freely  between  the  leaves,  as  it  is  expanded. 
The  gold-leaves  are  also  interchanged  to  ex- 
pose them  all  equally  to  the  beating.  When 
they  have  attained  the  full  size  of  the  vellum, 
which  is  done  in  about  twenty  minutes,  they 
are  taken  apart,  and  cut  each  one  into  four 
pieces,  making  600  of  the  original  150. 
These  are  packed  in  gold-beater’s  skin,  and 
the  pack  is  beaten  as  before,  but  with  a 
lighter  hammer,  until  they  are  extended 
again  to  sixteen  square  inches.  This  oc- 
cupies about  two  hours.  The  gold-leaves 
are  then  taken  out,  and  spread  singly  upon 
a leather  cushion,  where  they  are  cut  into 
four  squares  by  two  sharp  edges  of  cane,  ar- 
ranged in  the  form  of  a cross.  To  any 
other  kind  of  a knife  the  gold  would  adhere. 
These  leaves  are  again  packed,  800  together, 
in  the  finest  kind  of  gold-beater’s  skin,  and 
expanded  till  each  leaf  is  from  3 to  31- 
inches  square.  The  aggregate  surface  is 
about  1 92  times  larger  than  that  of  the  orig- 
inal sheet,  and  the  thickness  is  reduced  to 
about  the  yjoVo  o °f  an  inch.  The  beating 
is  sometimes  carried  further  than  this,  es- 
pecially by  the  French,  so  that  an  ounce  of 
gold  is  extended  over  160  square  feet,  and 
its  thickness  is  reduced  to  2 3 ?Vo  o °f  an  inch, 
or  even  to  , 5 0 o*  When  the  pack  is  open- 
ed, the  leaves  are  carefully  lifted  by  a pair 
of  wooden  pliers,  spread  upon  a leather 
cushion  by  the  aid  of  the  breath,  and  cut 
into  four  squares  of  about  3}  inches  each, 
which  are  immediately  transferred  one  by 
one  between  the  leaves  of  a little  book  of 
smooth  paper,  which  are  prevented  from  ad- 
hering to  the  gold-leaves  by  an  application 
of  red  ochre  or  red  chalk.  Twenty-five 
leaves  are  put  into  each  book,  and  when  fill- 
ed, it  is  pressed  hard,  and  all  projecting  edges 
of  the  gold  are  wiped  away  with  a bit  of 
linen.  The  books  are  then  put  up  in  pack- 
ages of  a dozen  together  for  sale. 

An  imitation  gold-leaf,  called  Dutch  gold- 
leaf,  is  used  to  some  extent.  It  is  prepared 
from  sheets  of  brass,  which  are  gilded,  and 


LEAD. 


81 


beaten  down  in  the  manner  already  described. 
When  new  it  appears  like  genuine  gold- 
leaf,  but  soon  becomes  tarnished  in  use. 
Party  gold-leaf  is  formed  of  leaves  of  gold 
and  of  silver,  laid  together  and  made  to  unite 
by  beating  and  hammering.  It  is  then  beaten 
down  like  gold-leaf. 

The  gold-beater’s  skin  used  in  this  manu- 
facture is  a peculiar  preparation  made  from 
the  .caecum  of  the  ox.  The  membrane  is 
doubled  together,  the  two  mucous  surfaces 
face  to  face,  in  which  state  they  unite  firmly. 
It  is  then  treated  with  preparations  of  alum, 
isinglass,  whites  of  eggs,  etc.,  sometimes 
with  creosote,  and  after  being  beaten  be- 
tween folds  of  paper  to  expel  the  grease,  is 
pressed  and  dried.  In  this  way  leaves  are 
obtained  5|  inches  square,  of  which  moulds 
are  made  up,  containing  each  850  leaves. 
After  being  used  for  a considerable  time,  the 
leaves  become  dry  and  stiff,  so  that  the  gold 
cannot  spread  freely  between  them.  To 
remedy  this,  they  are  moistened  with  wine 
or  with  vinegar  and  water,  laid  between 
parchment,  and  thoroughly  beaten.  They 
are  then  dusted  over  with  calcined  selenite 
or  gypsum,  reduced  to  a fine  powder.  The 
vellum,  which  is  used  before  the  gold-beater’s 
skin,  is  selected  from  the  finest  varieties, 
and  this,  too,  after  being  well  washed  and 
dried  under  a press,  is  brushed  over  with 
pulverized  gypsum. 

In  the  great  exhibition  at  London  in  1851, 
machines  were  exhibited  from  the  United 
States,  and  also  from  Paris,  which  were  de- 
signed for  gold-beating,  and  it  was  supposed 
they  would  take  the  place  of  the  hand  proc- 
ess. They  have  been  put  into  operation  at 
Hartford,  in  Connecticut,  but  after  being 
tried,  they  have  been  laid  aside  for  the  old 
method. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

LEAD. 

Lead  is  met  with  in  a great  number  of 
combinations,  and  has  also  been  found  in 
small  quantity, at  a few  localities  in  Europe, 
in  a native  shite.  The  common  ore,  from 
which  nearly  all  the  lead  of  commerce  is  ob- 
tained, is  the  sulphuret,  called  galena,  a com- 
bination of  86.55  per  cent,  of  lead  and  13.45 
of  sulphur.  It  is  a steel  gray  mineral  of  bril- 
liant metallic  lustre  when  freshly  broken,  and 
is  often  obtained  in  large  cubical  crystals : the 


fragments  of  these  are  all  in  cubical  forms. 
The  ore  is  also  sometimes  in  masses  of  gran- 
ular structure.  Very  frequently  galena  con- 
tains silver  in  the  form  of  sulphuret  of  that 
metal,  and  gold,  too,  has  often  been  detected 
in  it.  The  quantity  of  silver  is  estimated  by 
the  number  of  ounces  to  the  ton,  and  this 
may  amount  to  100  or  200,  or  even  more; 
but  when  lead  contains  three  ounces  of  silver 
to  the  ton  this  may  be  profitably  separated. 
Ores  of  this  character  are  known  as  argentif- 
erous galena ; if  the  silver  is  more  valuable 
than  the  lead  they  are  more  properly  called 
silver  ores.  In  Mexico  and  Germany  such 
are  worked,  but  not  in  the  United  States. 
Galena  is  easily  melted,  and  in  contact  with 
charcoal  the  sulphur  is  expelled  and  the  lead 
obtained.  The  ore  is  found  in  veins  in  rocks 
of  different  geological  formations,  as  in  the 
metam orphic  rocks  of  New  England,  the 
lower  silurian  rocks  of  Iowa,  Wisconsin, 
and  Missouri,  in  limestones  and  sandstones 
of  later  age  in  New  York  and  the  middle 
states,  belonging  to  higher  groups  of  the  Ap- 
palachian system  of  rocks,  and  in  the  new  red 
sandstone  of  Pennsylvania  at  its  contact  with 
the  gneiss. 

Carbonate  of  lead  is  another  ore  often  as- 
sociated with  galena,  though  usually  in  small 
quantity.  It  is  of  light  color,  whitish  or 
grayish,  commonly  crystallized,  and  in  an  im- 
pure form  is  sometimes  obtained  in  an  earthy 
powder.  At  St.  Lawrence  county,  New 
York,  large  quantities  of  it  have  been  col- 
lected for  smelting,  and  were  called  lead 
ashes.  The  ore  may  escape  notice  from  its 
unmetallic  appearance,  and  at  the  Missouri 
mines  large  quantities  were  formerly  thrown 
aside  as  worthless.  It  contains  77.5  per 
cent,  of  lead  combined  with  6 per  cent,  of 
oxygen,  and  this  compound  with  10.5  per 
cent,  of  carbonic  acid.  Beautiful  crystals  of 
the  ore,  some  transparent,  have  been  ob- 
tained at  the  mines  on  the  Schuylkill,  near 
Phcenixville.  Pennsylvania;  the  Washington 
mine,  Davidson  county,  North  Carolina ; and 
Mine  La  Motte,  Missouri. 

Another  ore,  the  phosphate  or  pyromor- 
phite,  has  been  known  only  as  a rare  min- 
eral until  it  was  produced  at  the  Phoenixville 
mines  so  abundantly  as  to  constitute  much 
the  larger  portion  of  the  ores  smelted.  It  is 
obtained  in  masses  of  small  crystals  of  a green 
color,  and  sometimes  of  other  shades,  as 
yellow,  orange,  brown,  etc.,  derived  from  the 
minute  portions  of  chrome  in  combination. 
With  these  a variety  of  other  compounds  of 


82 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


lead  are  mixed,  together  with  phosphate  of 
lime  and  fluoride  of  calcium,  so  that  the  per- 
centage of  the  metal  is  variable.  The  com- 
pounds of  lead  met  with  at  these  mines  are 
the  sulphuret,  sulphate,  carbonate,  phosphate, 
arseniate,  molybdate,  chromate,  chromo-mol- 
ybdate, arsenio-pliosphate,  and  antimonial 
argentiferous.  Besides  all  these,  a single 
vein  contained  native  silver,  native  copper, 
and  native  sulphur,  three  compounds  of  zinc, 
four  of  copper,  four  of  iron,  black  oxide  of 
manganese,  sulphate  of  barytes,  and  quartz. 

The  eastern  portion  of  the  United  States 
is  supplied  with  lead  almost  exclusively  from 
Spain  and  Great  Britain,  but  the  western 
states  are  furnished  with  this  metal  from 
mines  in  Iowa,  Wisconsin,  and  Missouri. 
The  lead  veins  of  the  eastern  and  southern 
states  are  of  little  importance.  In  Maine  the 
ores  are  found  in  Cobscook  Bay,  near  Lubec 
and  Eastport,  in  limestone  rocks  near  dikes 
of  trap.  A mine  was  opened  in  1832,  and 
a drift  was  carried  in  about  155  feet  at  the 
base  of  a rocky  cliff  on  the  course  of  the 
vein ; it  was  then  abandoned,  but  operations 
have  recently  been  recommenced.  In  New 
Hampshire  argentiferous  galena  is  found  in 
numerous  places,  but  always  in  too  small 
quantity  to  pay  the  expenses  of  extraction. 
At  Shelburne  a large  quartz  vein  was  worked 
from  1846  to  1849,  and  three  shafts  were 
sunk,  one  of  them  275  feet  in  depth.  The 
ore  was  found  in  bunches  and  narrow  streaks, 
but  in  small  quantity.  Some  of  it  was 
smelted  on  the  spot,  and  five  tons  were 
shipped  to  England,  which  sold  for  £16  per 
ton.  The  richest  yielded  84  ounces  of  silver 
to  the  ton.  Another  vein  of  argentiferous  ga- 
lena has  been  partially  explored  at  Eaton,  and 
this  is  most  likely  of  any  to  prove  valuable. 

Massachusetts,  also,  contains  a number  of 
lead  veins,  none  of  which  have  proved  prof- 
itable, though  some  of  them  have  been 
worked  to  considerable  extent.  The  most 
noted  are  those  of  Southampton  and  East- 
hampton.  Operations  were  commenced  at 
the  former  place  in  1765  upon  a great  lode 
of  quartz  containing  galena,  blende,  copper 
pyrites,  and  sulphate  of  barytes.  It  is  in  a 
coarse  granitic  rock  near  its  contact  with  the 
red  sandstone  of  the  Connecticut  valley. 
About  the  year  1810  an  adit  level  was 
boldly  laid  out  to  be  driven  in  from  1,100  to 
1,200  feet,  to  intersect  the  vein  at  140  feet 
below  the  surface.  A single  miner  is  said  to 
have  worked  at  it  till  his  death,  in  1828, 
when  it  had  reached  the  length  of  900  feet. 


At  different  times  this  adit  has  been  pushed 
on,  and  when  last  abandoned,  in  1854,  it  was 
supposed  to  be  within  a few  feet  of  the  vein. 
The  rock  was  so  excessively  hard  that  the 
cost  of  driving  the  adit  was  about  $25  per 
foot.  Lead  veins  are  found  in  Whately,  Hat- 
field, and  other  towns  in  Hampshire  county. 

In  Connecticut,  also,  several  veins  have 
been  worked  to  some  extent.  That  at  Mid- 
dletown, referred  to  in  the  introductory  re- 
marks as  one  of  the  earliest  opened  mines  in 
the  United  States,  is  the  most  noticeable. 
It  is  unknown  when  this  mine  was  first 
worked.  In  1852  operations  were  renewed 
upon  it,  and  a shaft  sunk  120  feet  below  the 
old  workings.  The  vein  is  among  strata  of 
a silicious  slate,  in  some  places  quite  rich, 
but  on  the  Avhole  it  has  proved  too  poor  to 
work.  The  ore  contained  silver  to  the  value 
of  from  $25  to  $75  to  the  ton  of  lead. 

Lead  mines  have  been  opened  m New 
York,  in  Dutchess,  Columbia,  Washington, 
Rensselaer,  Ulster,  and  St.  Lawrence  coun- 
ties. In  the  first  four  of  these  the  ore  is 
found  in  veins  near  the  junction  of  the  meta- 
morphic  slates  and  limestones.  The  Ancram 
or  Livingston  mine,  in  Columbia  county,  has 
been  worked  at  different  times  at  consider- 
able expense,  but  with  no  returns.  A mine  in 
Northeast,  Dutchess  county,  was  first  opened 
by  some  German  miners  in  1740,  and  ore 
from  it  was  exported.  The  Committee  of 
Public  Safety,  during  the  revolutionary  war, 
sought  to  obtain  supplies  of  lead  from  it. 
The  lead  veins  of  this  part  of  New  York  have 
attracted  more  interest,  on  account  of  their 
highly  argentiferous  character,  than  the  quan- 
tity of  ore  they  promise  would  justify ; but 
it  seems  to  be  almost  universally  the  case 
throughout  the  United  States  that  the  galena 
yielding  much  silver  fails  in  quantity.  The 
Ulster  county  mines  are  found  on  the  west 
side  of  the  Shawangunk  mountain  in  the 
strata  of  hard  grit  rock  which  cover  its  west- 
ern slope.  At  different  places  along  this 
ridge  veins  have  been  found  cutting  across 
the  strata  in  nearly  vertical  lines,  and  have 
produced  some  lead,  zinc,  and  copper.  The 
Montgomery  mine,  near  Wurtsboro,  in  Sul- 
livan county,  was  chiefly  productive  in  zinc. 
Near  Ellenville,  Ulster  county,  several  veins 
have  been  followed  into  the  mountain,  and 
one  of  these,  which  was  worked  in  1853, 
afforded  for  a short  time  considerable  quan- 
tities of  rich  lead  and  copper  ores.  From 
the  former  there  were  smelted  about  459,000 
pounds  of  lead,  and  the  sales  of  the  latter 


LEAD. 


83  . 


amounted  to  from  60  to  70  tons,  of  which  50 
tons  yielded  24.3  per  cent,  of  copper.  Where 
the  vein  was  productive  it  contained  the  rich 
ores  unmixed  wdth  stony  gangues,  and  some- 
times presenting  a thickness  of  five  feet  of 
pure  ore ; where  it  became  poor  it  closed  in 
sometimes  to  a mere  crack  in  the  grit  rock, 
and  then  the  expense  of  extending  the  work- 
ings became  very  great  from  the  extreme 
hardness  of  this  rock.  Open  fissures  were 
met  with,  one  of  which  was  more  than  100 
feet  long  and  deep,  and  in  places  12  feet  or 
more  wide.  It  was  partially  filled  with 
tough  yellow  clay,  through  which  were  dis- 
persed fragments  of  sandstone,  magnificent 
bunches  of  quartz  crystals,  and  lumps  of  lead 
and  copper  ores.  The  walls  on  the  sides 
also  presented  a lining  in  places  of  the  same 
ores.  A drift  was  run  into  the  base  of  the 
mountain  about  200  feet,  and  a shaft  was 
sunk  at  the  foot  of  the  slope  about  100  feet. 
The  expense  of  working  in  the  hard  rock 
proved  to  be  too  great  for  the  amount  of  ore 
obtained,  and  the  mine  wras  abandoned  in 
1854,  although  its  production,  for  the  extent 
of  ground  opened,  has  been  exceeded  by  but 
few  other  mines  in  the  eastern  states.  The 
most  promising  veins  in  the  state  are  those 
of  St.  Lawrence  county  in  the  vicinity  of 
Rossie.  They  occur  in  gneiss  rock,  which 
they  cut  in  nearly  vertical  lines.  One  of 
these  was  opened  along  the  summit  of  Coal 
Hill,  and  was  worked  in  1837  and  1838  by 
an  open  cut  of  440  feet  in  length,  to  the 
depth,  in  some  places,  of  180  feet.  In  1839 
the  mine  was  abandoned,  after  the  company 
had  realized  about  $241,000  by  the  sale  of 
some  1,800  tons  of  lead  they  had  extracted. 
The  galena  was  remarkably  free  from  blende, 
and  from  pyritous  iron  and  copper,  which 
(especially  the  first-named)  are  so  often  asso- 
ciated with  the  ore,  rendering  it  difficult  to 
smelt.  Calcareous  spar,  often  finely  crystal- 
lized, formed  the  gangue  of  the  vein.  A 
nearly  transparent  crystal,  weighing  165  lbs., 
is  preserved  in  the  cabinet  of  Yale  College. 
Other  attempts  have  been  made  to  work  the 
mine ; and  the  cause  of  its  being  allowed  to 
lie  idle  appears  to  be  the  difficulty  of  nego- 
tiating a mining  right  with  the  proprietors. 

In  Pennsylvania  the  most  productive  lead 
mines  arc  those  of  Montgomery  and  Chester 
counties,  found  in  a small  district  of  5 or  6 
miles  in  length  by  2 or  3 in  width,  at  the 
line  of  contact  of  the  gneiss,  and  red  shale 
and  sandstone.  About  1 2 parallel  veins 
have  been  discovered,  extending  north  32° 


to  35°  east,  and  dipping  steeply  south-east. 
In  the  gneiss  they  are  productive  in  lead  ores, 
and  in  the  red  shale  in  copper.  The  gneiss 
is  decomposed,  and  the  vein  itself  "is  in 
considerable  part  ochreous  and  earthy,  ow- 
ing to  decomposition  of  pyritous  ores.  In 
this  material,  called  by  the  miners  gossan, 
silver  has  been  discovered  amounting  to  10 
ounces  to  the  ton.  The  two  principal  mines 
of  this  group  are  the  Wheatley  and  the  Ches- 
ter County.  The  former  was  opened  in  1851, 
and  up  to  September,  1854,  had  produced 
1,800  tons  of  ore,  principally  phosphate,  esti- 
mated to  yield  60  per  cent,  of  metal.  In 
this  vein  the  great  number  of  varieties  of 
lead  and  other  ores  enumerated  above  were 
met  with.  The  Chester  County  Mining  Com- 
pany commenced  operations  in  1850,  and 
up  to  November,  1851, had  raised  andsmelted 
190,400  lbs.  of  ore,  almost  exclusively  phos- 
phate, which  produced  about  47  per  cent,  of 
lead.  The  silver  in  this  ore  amounted  to 
about  1.6  ounce  in  2,000  lbs. ; in  the  galena 
associated  with  it  the  silver  was  found  in 
quantities  varying  from  11.9  to  16.2  ounces; 
the  coarser  grained  galena  giving  the  most, 
and  the  fine  grained  the  least.  In  connec- 
tion with  the  furnaces  for  smelting  the  ores, 
was  one  for  separating  the  silver  by  cupella- 
tion,  and  a considerable  amount  of  silver  was 
obtained  before  the  mining  operations  were 
abandoned,  in  1854. 

Lead  ores  arc  found  along  the  Blue  Ridge, 
in  Virginia,  and  at  one  point,  near  the  cen- 
tral portion  of  its  range  across  the  state,  a 
mine  has  been  worked  for  a number  of  years. 
They  are  also  met  with  in  several  of  the  gold 
mines,  but  not  in  workable  quantities.  In 
south-west  Virginia  and  east  Tennessee  the 
ores  are  found  in  the  silurian  limestones,  and 
a considerable  number  of  mines  have  been 
worked  to  moderate  extent  in  both  states. 
The  most  important  one  is  the  Wythe  lead 
mine,  16  miles  from  Wytheville,  which  was 
worked  in  1754.  It  is  in  a steep  hill  on  the 
border  of  New  River,  a fall  upon  which,  near 
the  mine,  affords  power  for  raising  the  water 
required  in  dressing  the  ores,  and  also  for 
producing  the  blast  for  the  furnace.  Several 
shafts  have  been  sunk,  one  of  which  extend- 
ing down  to  the  adit— a depth  of  225  feet — 
is  used  as  a shot  tower.  The  ores  are  ga- 
lena, with  more  or  less  carbonates  intermixed. 
The  product  for  1 855  is  stated  to  have  been 
500  tons  of  lead.  The  transportation  of 
lead,  in  pigs,  bars,  and  shot,  from  the  south- 
west part  of  Virginia  toward  the  east,  by  tho 


84 


MIXING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


Virginia  and  Tennessee  railroad,  for  the  years 
named,  has  been  as  follows : — 


1856.  1S57.  1S58.  1859. 

lbs.  lbs.  lbs.  lbs. 

Pig  Lead 409,649  514,878  168,405  854,695 

Bar  Lead  234.037  52,230  22,580 

Shot 364,660  120,142  104.623  254,970 


Total 774,309  869,057  320,258  1,132,245 


In  the  other  direction  the  transportation 
of  the  same  articles  was  comparatively  unim- 
portant. 

South  of  Virginia  the  only  lead  mine 
of  importance  is  the  Washington  mine,  Da- 
vidson county,  N.  C.  This  was  opened  in 
1836,  in  the  silicious  and  talcose  slates  of 
the  gold  region,  and  was  worked  for  the 
carbonate  of  lead,  which  was  found  in  a dull, 
heavy  ore  of  earthy  appearance,  with  which 
were  intermixed  glassy  crystals  of  the  same 
mineral.  Some  galena  and  phosphate  of 
lead  were  also  met  with.  After  a time  native 
silver  was  detected,  and  the  lead  that  had 
been  obtained  was  found  to  be  rich  in  silver. 
Till  1844  the  mine  continued  to  produce  ores 
containing  much  silver,  and  afforded  the  first 
deposits  of  this  metal  in  the  mint  from  do- 
mestic mines.  The  character  of  the  ores 
changed,  however,  below  the  depth  of  125 
feet,  the  silver  almost  disappearing.  The 
actual  product  of  the  mine  is  not  known. 
That  of  1844  is  said  to  have  been  $24,209 
in  value  of  silver,  and  $7,253  of  gold,  ob- 
tained from  160,000  lbs.  of  lead — an  average 
of  240  oz.  of  auriferous  silver  to  2,000  lbs. 
of  metal.  In  1851  the  production  was  56,896 
lbs.  of  lead  and  7,942.16  oz.  of  auriferous 
silver — equal  to  279  oz.  to  the  ton  of  metal. 
Zinc  blende  and  galena  became  at  last  the 
prevailing  ores,  the  silver  varying  from  2.5 
to  195  oz.  to  the  ton;  and  the  workings  were 
extended  upon  two  parallel  veins  which  lay 
near  each  other  in  the  slates.  Iu  1852  min- 
ing operations  were  abandoned  as  unprofita- 
ble, but  were  soon  after  renewed,  and  are 
still  continued. 

The  great  lead  mines  of  the  United 
States  are  the  upper  mines,  in  a district 
near  the  Mississippi,  in  Iowa,  the  south-west 
part  of  Wisconsin,  and  the  north-west  part 
of  Illinois ; and  the  lower  mines,  in  Missouri. 
The  existence  of  lead  ores  in  the  upper  dis- 
trict was  made  known  by  Le  Sueur,  who  dis- 
covered them  in  his  voyage  up  the  Missis- 
sippi in  1700  and  1701.  They  attracted  no 
further  attention,  however,  till  a French  miner, 
Julien  Dubuque,  commenced  to  work  them  in 
1788  ; and  in  this  employment  he  continued, 


on  the  spot  where  now  stands  the  city  in 
Iowa  bearing  his  name,  until  his  death  in 
1809.  When  the  United  States  acquired 
possession  of  the  country  in  1807,  the  min- 
eral lands  were  reserved  from  the  sales,  and 
leases  of  mining  rights  were  authorized. 
These  were  not,  however,  issued  until  1822, 
and  little  mining  was  done  before  1826. 
From  that  time  the  production  of  lead  rap- 
idly increased ; and  the  government  for  a 
time  received  the  regular  rates  for  the  leases. 
But  after  1834  the  miners  and  smelters  refused 
to  pay  them  any  longer,  on  account  of  so  many 
sales  ha/ing  been  made  and  patents  granted 
of  mineral  lands  in  Wisconsin.  In  1839  the 
United  States  government  authorized  a geo- 
logical survey  of  the  lead  region,  in  order  to 
designate  precisely  the  mineral  tracts,  and 
this  was  accomplished  the  same  year  by  Dr. 
D.  D.  Owen,  with  the  aid  of  139  assistants. 
In  1844  it  was  decided  to  abandon  the  leas- 
ing system,  and  throw  all  the  lands  into  the 
market.  The  lead  region,  according  to  the 
report  of  Dr.  Owen,  extends  over  about  62 
townships  in  Wisconsin,  10  in  the  north-west 
corner  of  Illinois,  and  8 in  Iowa — a territory 
altogether  of  about  2,880  square  miles.  Its 
western  limit  is  about  12  miles  from  the 
Mississippi  river ; to  the  north  it  extends 
nearly  to  Wisconsin  river ; south  to  Apple 
river,  in  Illinois ; and  east  to  the  east  branch 
of  the  Pekatonica.  From  east  to  west  it  is 
87  miles  across,  and  from  north  to  south  54 
miles.  Much  of  the  region  is  a rolling 
prairie,  with  a few  isolated  hills,  called 
mounds,  scattered  upon  its  surface,  the  high- 
est of  them  rising  scarcely  more  than  200 
feet  above  the  general  level.  The  prevailing 
limestone  formations  give  fertility  to  the  soil, 
and  the  country  is  well  watered  by  numer- 
ous small  streams,  which  flow  in  valleys  ex- 
cavated from  100  to  150  feet  below  the 
higher  levels.  The  limestone,  of  gray  and 
yellowish  gray  colors,  lies  in  nearly  horizon- 
tal strata,  and  the  portion  which  contains 
the  lead  veins  hardly  exceeds  50  feet  in 
thickness.  Beneath  it  is  a sandstone  of  the 
age  of  the  Potsdam  sandstone,  and  above  it 
are  strata  of  limestone  recognized  as  belong- 
ing to  the  Trenton  limestone,  so  that  it 
proves  to  be  a formation  interposed  between 
these,  quite  western  in  character,  as  it  is  not 
met  with  east  of  Wisconsin.  The  veins  oc- 
cupy straight  vertical  fissures,  and  several 
near  together  sometimes  extend  nearly  a 
mile  in  an  east  and  west  direction.  They 
never  reach  downward  into  the  sandstone. 


LEAD. 


85 


but  are  lost  in  the  lower  strata  of  the  lime- 
stone, and  where  the  upper  strata  of  the  for- 
mation appear,  these  cover  over  the  veins, 
<md  are  consequently  known  as  the  cap-rock. 
In  the  fissures  or  crevices  the  galena  is  found, 
sometimes  in  loose  sheets  and  lumps  embed- 
ded in  clay  and  earthy  oxide  of  iron,  and 
sometimes  attached  to  one  or  both  walls. 
It  is  rarely  so  much  as  a foot  thick.  No 
other  ores  are  found  with  it,  except  some 
zinc  blende  and  calamine,  and  occasionally 
pyritous  iron  and  copper.  The  lead  con- 
tains but  a trace  of  silver.  The  fissures,  as 
they  are  followed  beneath  the  surface,  some- 
times expand  in  width  till  they  form  what 
is  called  an  “ opening and  the  hollow 
space  may  go  on  enlarging  till  it  becomes  a 
cave  of  several  hundred  feet  in  length  and 
30  or  40  in  width.  Their  dimensions  are, 
however,  usually  within  40  or  50  feet  in 
length,  4 to  8 in  width,  and  as  many  in 
height.  The  walls  of  the  openings  often  afford 
a thick  incrustation  of  galena,  besides  more 
or  less  loose  mineral  in  the  clay,  among  the 
fragments  of  rock,  with  all  of  which  the 
caves  are  partially  filled.  Flat  sheets  of  ore 
often  extend  from  the  vertical  fissures  be- 
tween the  horizontal  limestone  strata;  these 
are  more'apt  to  contain  blende,  and  pyrites, 
and  calcareous  spar  than  the  ore  of  the  verti- 
cal crevices.  Besides  these  modes  of  occur- 
rence, galena  is  found  in  loose  lumps  in  the 
clayey  loam  of  the  prairies.  This  is  called 
float  mineral,  and  is  regarded  as  an  evidence 
of  productive  fissures  in  the  vicinity. 

The  galena  occurs  under  a variety  of  sin- 
gular forms  in  the  crevices.  It  lines  curious 
cavities  which  extend  up  in  the  cap-rock,  ter- 
minating above  in  a point,  and  which  are 
known  as  chimneys.  Upon  the  roofs  of  the 
openings  it  is  found  in  large  bunches  of  cu- 
bical crystals,  and  the  same  are  obtained  lying 
in  the  clays  of  the  same  openings.  A flat 
sheet  of  the  ore  was  worked  in  Iowa  that 
was  more  than  20  feet  across  and  from  2 to 
3 feet  thick,  each  side  of  which  turned  down 
in  a vertical  sheet,  gradually  diminishing  in 
thickness.  It  yielded  1,200,000  lbs.  of  rich 
galena,  and  more  still  remained  behind  in 
sight.  The  crevices  near  Dubuque  are  the 
most  regular  and  productive  of  any  in  the 
district.  One  called  the  Langworthy,  on  a 
length  of  about  three-fourths  of  a mile,  has 
produced  10,000,000  lbs.  of  ore.  On  the 
main  fissure  there  were  usually  three  ranges 
of  crevices  one  above  another,  widening  out 
to  15  or  20  feet. 


The  smelters  of  this  region  form  a distinct 
class  from  the  miners,  of  whom  the  former 
buy  the  ores  as  these  are  raised,  and  convert 
them  into  metal  in  the  little  smelting  estab- 
lishments scattered  through  the  country. 
The  lead  has  been  principally  sent  down  the 
Mississippi  river  to  Saint  Louis  and  New 
Orleans ; but  a portion  has  always  been  con- 
sumed in  the  country,  and  some  has  been 
wagoned  across  to  Milwaukee  before  the  con- 
struction of  railroads,  which  since  1853  have 
afforded  increased  facilities  for  distributing 
in  different  directions  the  product  of  the 
mines.  The  only  records  of  the  amount  of 
lead  obtained  are  those  of  the  shipments 
down  the  river.  The  following  table  presents 
the  number  of  pigs  shipped  from  the  earlier 
workings  to  1857;  the  figures  for  1841  to 
1 850,  inclusive,  being  furnished  to  Dr.  Owen’s 
Report  of  1852  by  Mr.  James  Carter,  of  Ga- 
lena. The  pigs  weigh  about  70  lbs.  each. 


SHIPMENTS  OP 

LEAD  FROM 

THE  UPPER 

MISSISSIPPI. 

Years. 

Piss. 

Years. 

Pics. 

1821  to  1823.  . 

,.  4,790 

1842 

447,859 

1824 

,.  2,503 

1843 

561,321 

1825 

. 9,490 

1844 

624,601 

1826 

. 13,700 

1845 

778,460 

1827 

. 74,130 

1846 

730,714 

1828 

.158,655 

1847 

771,679 

1829 

.190,620 

1848 

680,245 

1830 

.119,060 

1849 

628,934 

1831 

. 91,170 

1850 

569,521 

1832 

. 61,164 

1851 

474,115 

1833 

..113,440 

1852 

408,628 

1834 

..113,648 

1853 

425,814 

1835 

,.158,330 

1854 

. . , .423,617 

1836 

.191,750 

1855 

1837 

.219,360 

1856 

435,654 

1838 

.200,465 

1857 

485,475 

1839 

.357,785 

1858 

1840 

.317,845 

1859 

1841 

452,814 

The  lead  region  of  Missouri  was  first 
brought  into  public  notice  by  the  explora- 
tions of  the  French  adventurer,  Renault, 
who  was  sent  out  from  Paris  in  1720,  with 
a party  of  miners,  to  search  for  precious 
metals  in  the  territory,  of  Louisiana,  under 
a patent  granted  by  the  French  government 
to  the  famous  company  of  John  Law. 
Their  investigations  were  carried  on  in  the 
region  lying  near  the  Mississippi  and  south 
of  the  Missouri  river;  and  here,  though 
they  failed  to  find  the  precious  metals  they 
were  in  search  of,  they  discovered  and 
opened  many  mines  of  lead  ore.  A large 
mining  tract  in  the  northern  part  of  Madi- 
son county  is  still  called  by  the  name  of 
their  mineralogist,  La  Motte.  Their  opera- 


86 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


tions,  however,  were  altogether  superficial, 
and  the  lead  they  obtained  was  wholly  by 
the  rude  and  wasteful  process  of  smelting 
the  ores  upon  open  log-heaps — a practice 
which  even  of  late  years  is  followed  to  some 
extent.  Up  to  Renault’s  return  to  France, 
in  1742,  little  progress  had  been  made  in 
the  development  of  this  mining  district.  The 
next  step  was  made  by  one  Moses  Austin, 
of  Virginia,  who  obtained  from  the  Spanish 
government  a grant  of  land  near  Potosi,  and 
commenced  in  1798  regular  mining  opera- 
tions by  sinking  a shaft.  He  also  started 
a reverberatory  furnace  and  built  a shot 
tower.  Schoolcraft  states  in  his  “View  of 
the  Lead  Mines  of  Missouri,”  that  there 
were  in  1819  forty-five  mines  in  operation, 
giving  employment  to  1,100  persons.  Mine 
a Burton  and  the  Potosi  diggings  had  pro- 
duced from  1798  to  1816  an  annual  average 
amount  exceeding  500,000  pounds  ; and  in 
1811  the  production  of  Mine  Shibboleth 
was  3,125,000  pounds  of  lead  from  5,000,- 
000  pounds  of  ore.  At  a later  period,  from 
1834  to  1837,  the  several  mines  of  the  La 
Motte  tract  produced,  it  is  estimated,  1,035,- 
820  pounds  of  lead  per  annum.  From  1840 
to  1854  the  total  yield  of  all  the  mines  is 
stated  by  Dr.  Litton  in  the  state  geological 
report  to  amount  to  over  3,833,121  pounds 
annually.  At  the  close  df  this  period  it  had, 
however,  greatly  fallen  off,  there  being  at 
that  time  scarcely  200  persons  engaged  in 
mining,  besides  those  employed  at  the  three 
mines  known  as  Perry’s,  Valle’s,  and  Skew- 
ers’. The  principal  mines  have  been  in 
Washington,  St.  Francis,  and  other  neigh- 
boring counties.  The  ores  are  found  in 
strata  of  magnesian  limestone  of  an  older 
date  than  the  galena  limestone  of  Wiscon- 
sin, and  supposed  to  lie,  with  the  sandstones 
with  wdiich  they  alternate,  on  the  same 
geological  horizon  as  the  calciferous  sand 
rock,  which  is  found  in  the  eastern  states 
overlying  the  Potsdam  sandstone.  Some 
of  the  mines  are  at  the  contact  of  the  hori- 
zontal limestone  with  granite  rocks,  but  the 
ores  in  this  position  are  only  in  superficial 
deposits  or  in  layers  included  in  the  lime- 
stone. In  their  general  features  the  veins 
do  not  differ  greatly  from  those  of  the  north- 
ern mines.  Some  of  them,  however,  con- 
tain a larger  proportion  of  other  ores  be- 
sides galena,  as  well  as  a greater  variety  of 
them.  Carbonate  of  lead,  called  by  the 
Miners  dry  bone  and  white  mineral,  is 
more  abundant,  and  also  blende,  called  by 


them  black  jack,  and  the  silicate  of  zinc. 
Iron  and  copper  pyrites  are  often  seen,  and 
at  Mine  la  Motte  are  found  the  black  oxides 
of  cobalt  and  manganese  associated  with 
the  carbonates  of  lead  and  copper.  Nearly 
all  the  mining  operations  have  been  mere 
superficial  excavations  in  the  clay,  which 
were  soon  exhausted  of  the  loose  ore  and 
abandoned.  But  to  this  there  are  some  re- 
markable exceptions  of  deeper  and  more 
permanent  mines  than  are  known  in  the 
northern  lead  regions.  Such  are  Valle’s 
and  Perry’s  mines,  both  situated  on  the 
same  group  of  veins,  which  form  a network 
of  fissures  and  openings  running  in  every 
direction  and  spreading  over  an  area  of 
about  1,500  feet  in  length  by  500  in 
breadth,  the  extension  o-f  which  is  from  north- 
west to  south-east.  These  mines  have  been 
steadily  worked  since  1824,  and  22  shafts 
have  been  sunk  upon  the  fissures,  six  of 
which  are  over  110  feet  deep,  one  is  170 
feet  deep,  and  only  two  are  less  than  50 
feet.  For  the  first  10  to  30  feet  they  pass 
through  gravel  and  clay,  below  this  through  a 
silicious  magnesian  limestone  of  light  color, 
and  then  enter  a very  close-grained  variety 
of  the  same,  called  by  the  miners  the  cast 
steel  rock.  A succession  of  openings  are 
encountered,  which  are  distributed  with 
considerable  regularity  upon  three  different 
levels.  Those  of  the  middle  series  have 
been  the  most  productive.  Sometimes 
chimneys  connect  them  with  the  caves  of 
the  tier  above  or  below.  The  portion  of 
these  mines  on  the  Valle  tract  produced, 
according  to  the  state  report,  from  1824  to 
1834  about  10,000,000  pounds  of  lead,  and 
in  the  succeeding  20  years  about  as  much 
more;  and  Perry’s  mine  from  1839  to  1854 
has  produced  about  18,000,000  pounds. 

No  accurate  estimates  have  been  pre- 
served of  the  total  production  of  the  Mis- 
souri mines.  This  has  always  fallen  far 
short  of  the  yield  of  the  northern  mines. 
From  1832  to  1843  it  is  reported  as  running 
from  2,500  to  3,700  tons  per  annum,  while 
that  of  the  northern  mines  in  the  same  time 
was  from  5,500  to  14,000  tons,  and  in 
1845  it  even  exceeded  24,000  tons.  In  1852 
Mr.  J.  D.  Whitney  estimated  that  the  pro- 
duction in  Missouri  had  fallen  to  1,500  tons, 
or  less ; and  from  that  period  it  has  prob- 
ably not  advanced.  As  this  decrease  in 
the  supply  has  been  going  on  while  the 
price  of  lead  has  risen  to  nearly  three  times 
what  it  was  in  1842,  the  cause  is  probably 


LEAD. 


87 


owing  to  the  mines  themselves  being  in 
great  part  exhausted.  The  only  sufficient 
sources  known  from  which  the  increasing 
supplies  required  from  year  to  year  can  be 
furnished,  are  the  mines  of  Great  Britain 
and  Spain,  though  should  the  argentiferous 
lead  mines  of  Mexico  ever  be  worked  for 
the  lead  as  well  as  the  silver  they  contain, 
they  might  furnish  large  quantities  of  the 


former  metal.  As  the  production  of  the 
United  States  fell  off  that  of  Great  Britain 
increased  from  64,000  tons  in  1850  to  73,129 
tons  in  1856,  and  96,266  tons  in  1857,  thus 
considerably  exceeding  one-half  of  the  whole 
production  of  the  globe  in  this  metal,  which 
in  1854  was  rated  at  about  133,000  tons. 
At  that  time  the  production  of  Spain  was 
rated  at  30,000  tons,  and  of  the  United 


Pig  lead  from 
American  mines 
received  at  St. 

Pig,  bar,  and 

Inv< 

States  at  15,000  tons. 

Average 

oice  value  rate  of  White  and 

Invoice 
value  of 

Years. 

Louis  and  New 

sheet  lead 

of  yearly 

duty  per 

red  lead 

yearly  im- 

Orleans. 

imported. 

importations. 

100  lbs. 

imported 

portations. 

1832. 

lbs. 

8,540,000 

ibs. 

5,333,588 

$124,311 

$3.00 

lbs. 

557,781 

$30,791 

1833. 

12,600,000 

2,282,068 

60,660 

3.00 

625,069 

36,049 

1834. 

14,140,000 

4,997,293 

168,811 

2.77 

1,024,663 

57,572 

1835. 

16,000,000 

1,006,472 

35,663 

2.77 

832,215 

50,225 

1836. 

18,000,000 

919,087 

35,283 

2.55 

908,105 

62,237 

1837. 

20,000,000 

335.772 

13,871 

2.57 

599,980 

47,316 

]838. 

20,860,000 

165.844 

6,573 

2.34 

522,681 

38,683 

1839. 

24.000,000 

528,922 

18,631 

2.31 

720,408 

50,9-05 

1840. 

27,000,000 

519,343 

18,111 

2.08 

643,418 

41,043 

1841. 

30,000,000 

62,246 

2,605 

2.07 

532,122 

31,617 

1842., 

33,110,000 

4,689 

155 

3.00 

479,738 

28,747 

1843. 

39,970,000 

290 

3 

3.00 

93,166 

5,600 

1844. 

44,730,000 

, , 

, , 

3.00 

1845. 

51,240,000 

19,609 

458 

3.00 

231,171 

14,744 

1846. 

54,950,000 

214 

6 

3.00 

215,434 

15,685 

1847. 

46,130,000 

224,905 

6,288 

0.56 

298,387 

15,228 

1848. 

42,420,000 

2,684,700 

85,387 

0.64 

318,781 

19,703 

1849. 

1850. 

40,313,910 

36,997,751 

1,182,597 

0.64 

853,463 

43,756 

1851. 

34,934,480 

43,470,210 

1,517,603 

0.70 

1,105,852 

52,631 

1852. 

28,593,180 

37,544,588 

1,283,331 

0.70 

842,521 

43,365 

1853. 

31,497,950 

43,174,447 

1,618,058 

0.70 

1,224,068 

69,058 

1854. 

21,472,990 

47,714,140 

2,095,039 

0.90 

1,865,893 

102,812 

1855. 

21,441,140 

56,745,247 

2,556,523 

0.90 

2,319,099 

134,855 

1856. 

15,347,880 

55,294,256 

2,528,014 

0.91 

3,548,409 

174,125 

1857. 

14,028,140 

47,947.698 

2,305,768 

0.72 

1,793,377 

113,075 

1858. 

21,210,420 

41,230,019 

1,972,243 

0.72 

1,785,851 

109,426 

1859. 

64,000,000 

2,617,770 

0.72 

61,936 

3,871 

1860. 

45,896,700 

1, 

835,868 

0.72 

177,744 

11,109 

1861 . 

21,554,743 

45,654,100 

1 

826,164 

0.72 

200,848 

12,553 

1862. 

20,370,188 

34,611,575 

1,384,463 

0.78 

307,824 

19,239 

1863. 

39,437,566 

2,816,969 

1.1 1 

1,004,624 

71,766 

1864. 

20,897,109 

2,247,001 

1.32 

1,390,052 

149,468 

1865. 

7,969,080 

1 

,195,362 

1.75 

1,662,516 

249,385 

1866. 

23,393,450 

40,223,888 

2,513,993 

2.25 

2,035,395 

135,693 

1867. 

26,301,357 

41 ,065,1  75 

2 

,737,745 

0.96 

1,464,972 

122,081 

1868. 

30,014,759 

41,437,520 

2,762,520 

1.00 

1,399,512 

116,626 

1869. 

56,062,128 

3,503,883 

0.97 

336,732 

28,061 

1870, 

58,310,464 

3,644,404 

0.96 

367,008 

30,584 

• the 

year  ending  June 

30,  1859, 

the 

pie  methods. 

The  earlier 

operations 

imports  of  lead  are  given  at  64,000,000 
pounds,  worth  nearly  $2,700,000.  Of  this 
about  $57,000  worth  were  re-exported  to 
foreign  countries,  besides  American  lead  to 
the  value  of  $30,000,  and  a small  amount  of 
manufactured  lead. 

Lead  Smelting.  The  lead  mines  of  the 
United  States  being  scattered  over  wide  ter- 
ritories, and  their  products  being  nowhere 
brought  together  in  large  quantities,  the  proc- 
ess of  reducing  the  ores  has  been  conducted 
in  small  establishments  and  by  the  most  sim- 


limited  to  smelting  the  ores  in  log  furnaces. 
Upon  a layer  of  logs  placed  in  an  inclosure 
of  logs  or  stones  piled  up,  split  wood  was 
set  on  end  and  covered  with  the  ore,  and 
over  this  small  wood  again.  The  pile  was 
fired  through  an  opening  in  front.  The 
combustion  of  the  small  wood  removed  from 
the  ore  a portion  of  the  sulphur,  and  the  re- 
duction  was  completed  by  the  greater  heat 
arising  from  the  burning  of  the  logs.  The 
lead  run  down  to  the  bottom  and  out  in 
front  into  a basin,  whence  it  was  ladled 


88 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


the  moulds.  The  loss  of  metal  was  of 
course  very  large  ; but  a portion  was  recov- 
ered by  treating  the  residue  in  what  was 
called  an  ash  furnace.  The  process  is  still 
resorted  to  in  places  where  no  furnaces  are 
within  reach.  But  wherever  mines  £tre  open- 
ed that  promise  sufficient  supplies  of  ore, 
furnaces  are  soon  constructed  in  their  vicini- 
ty. Those  in  use  are  of  two  sorts:  the 
Scotch  hearth  and  the  reverberatory.  Besides 
these,  another  small  furnace  is  often  built 
for  melting  over  the  slags.  This  is  little 
else  than  a crucible  built  in  brick-work,  and 
arranged  for  the  blast  to  enter  by  an  aper- 
ture in  the  back,  and  for  the  metal  to  flow 
out  by  another  opening  in  front. 

The  Scotch  hearth  is  a small  blast  furnace, 
but  resembles  the  open  forge  or  bloomary 
fire  for  iron  ores.  It  has  long  been  in  use  in 
Europe,  and  is  the  most  common  furnace  at 
our  own  mines.  In  this  country  it  has  been 
greatly  improved  by  the  introduction  of  hot 
blast ; and  in  its  most  perfect  form  is  rep- 
resented in  the  accompanying  figures ; figure 
a being  a vertical  section  from  front  to  back, 
and  figure  b a horizontal  section. 


A is  the  reservoir  of  lead  of  the  furnace, 
consisting  of  a box,  open  at  top,  about  two 
feet  square  and  one  foot  deep,  formed  of 
cast  iron  2 inches  thick.  From  its  upper 
front  edge  a sloping  hearth,  II,  is  fixed  so  as 


to  receive  the  melted  lead  that  overflows, 
and  conduct  it  by  the  groove  into  the  basin, 
B.  In  this  it  is  kept  in  a melted  state  by  a 
little  fire  beneath,  and,  as  convenient, the  lead 
is  ladled  out  and  poured  into  moulds.  D is 
a hollow  shell  of  cast  iron  f of  an  inch  thick, 
its  inner  and  outer  sides  inclosing  a space  of 
4 inches  width.  Into  this  space  the  blast  is 
introduced  at  E,  and  becoming  heated, 
passes  out  at  F,  and  thence  through  the 
curved  pipe  into  a tuyere,  T,  cast  in  the  air- 
chest  2 inches  above  the  level  of  the  lead 
reservoir.  Before  commencing  operations 
this  reservoir  is  to  be  filled  with  lead,  and  is 
thus  kept  so  long  as  the  furnace  is  in  use ; 
the  process  being  conducted  upon  the  sur- 
face of  the  melted  metal.  The  furnace  may 
be  kept  in  continual  operation  by  adding 
new  charges  of  galena  every  ten  or  fifteen 
minutes,  and  working  them  down  after  they 
have  become  roasted  at  the  surface.  The 
fuel  employed  is  dry  pine  wood  split  into 
small  pieces,  and  billets  of  these  are  thrown 
in  against  the  tuyere  just  before  each  new 
charge  of  ore,  that  already  in  the  furnace 
being  raked  forward  upon  the  hearth  to 
make  room  for  the  fuel,  and  the  blast  being 
temporarily  turned  off.  The  old  charge  is 
then  thrown,  together  with  fresh  ore,  upon 
the  wood,  and  the  blast  is  let  on,  when  the 
heat  and  flame  immediately  spread  through 
the  materials.  The  sulphur  in  the  ore  serves 
itself  as  fuel,  accelerating  the  process  by  its 
combustion,  and  in  a few  minutes  the 
whole  charge  is  stirred  up,  spread  out  on  the 
hearth,  and  the  hard,  unreduced  fragments 
are  broken  in  pieces  by  blows  of  the  shovel. 
Slaked  lime  is  sometimes  added  in  small 
quantity  when  the  partially  reduced  ore  be- 
comes too  soft  and  pasty  by  excess  of  heat. 
Its  effect  is  to  lessen  this  tendency  rather  by 
mechanical  than  chemical  action.  If  any 
flux  is  used,  it  is  fluor  spar,  blacksmith’s 
cinders,  or  bits  of  iron.  The  latter  hasten 
the  reduction  by  the  affinity  of  the  iron  for 
the  sulphur  of  the  ore.  The  cast  iron  of  the 
air-chest  is  protected  from  the  action  of  the 
sulphur  by  the  cooling  influence  of  the  air 
blown  in ; and  this  is  also  advantageous  by 
its  keeping  the  furnace  from  becoming  so 
hot,  that  the  galena  would  melt  before  losing 
its  sulphur,  and  thus  form  combinations  of 
exceedinoflv  difficult  reduction.  A fan,  run 

O J m 1 

by  steam  or  water  power,  is  commonly  em- 
ployed  for  raising  the  blast ; but  as  this  gives 
little  pressure,  it  is  replaced  to  great  advan- 
tage by  blowing  cylinders,  with  an  air- 


LEAD. 


89 


receiver  for  giving  regularity  to  the  current 
of  air.  With  such  an  apparatus,  the  smelter 
can  apply  the  blast  with  great  advantage  at 
times  to  help  loosen  up  the  charge  and 
throw  the  flame  through  every  part  of  it. 
The  ores  are  prepared  for  smelting  by  sep- 
arating from  them  all  the  stony  and  clayey 
particles,  and  as  much  as  possible  of  the 
blende  and  other  impurities  that  may  ac- 
company them.  This  may  require  a succes- 
sion of  mechanical  processes,  in  which  the 
ores  are  crushed  to  fine  fragments  and  dress- 
ed by  jigging  and  screening  under  water. 
Not  only  is  the  labor  and  cost  of  smelting  re- 
duced by  the  purity  of  the  ore,  and  espe- 
cially its  freedom  from  blende  and  pyrites, 
but  the  quality  also  of  the  metal  is  thereby 
improved.  Lead  that  contains  iron  is  not 
adapted  for  the  manufacture  of  white-lead. 
The  American  metal  being  generally  free 
from  this  brings  a higher  price  than  Spanish 
or  English  lead.  With  pure  ore  a cord  of 
wood  may  be  made  to  produce  four  tons  of 
lead  ; and  each  furnace  7,500  lbs.  every  24 
hours  ; a smelter  and  his  assistant  managing 
the  operation  for  12  hours.  At  Rossie 
large  quantities  of  lead  have  thus  been 
smelted  at  a daily  cost  for  labor  of  $5,  and 
for  fuel  of  $1.50,  making  $1.75  per  ton.  In 
Wisconsin,  before  the  use  of  the  hot  blast, 
each  furnace-shift  was  continued  from  8 to  10 
hours,  until  30  pigs  of  lead  were  produced 
of  2,100  lbs.  weight,  at  an  expense  of  about 
$4  for  labor,  and  $1.50  for  fuel. 

The  other  form  of  furnace — the  rever- 
beratory— resembles  others  of  this  class  em- 
ployed in  smelting  copper  ores.  The  sole, 
or  hearth,  upon  which  the  ores  are  spread,  is 
about  8 feet  in  length  by  6 in  breadth,  and 
is  made  to  incline  rapidly  toward  an  aper- 
ture on  one  side,  or  at  the  end  under  the 
chimney,  and  out  of  which  the  lead  is 
allowed  at  the  end  of  each  smelting  to 
flow  into  a receiver  outside.  The  charge  is 
supplied  either  through  a hopper  in  the 
arched  roof,  or  through  the  holes  in  the 
sides,  which  also  serve  for  admitting  the 
pokers  used  by  the  workmen  to  stir  up  the 
charge.  Unless  the  galena  has  been  pre- 
viously calcined  or  roasted — a process  neces- 
sary for  poor  ores  only — this  is  the  first 
thing  to  be  attended  to  in  all  the  smelting 
operations.  In  the  large  charge  of  30  cwt. 
of  ore  this  usually  takes  the  first  two  hours 
of  the  process,  and  is  effected  in  great  part 
by  the  heat  remaining  in  the  furnace  from 
the  preceding  operation,  the  doors  at  the 


sides  being  kept  open  at  the  same  time  to  al- 
low free  access  of  air.  The  oxidation  of  the 
sulphur  is  expedited  by  almost  constant 
stirring  of  the  charge,  which  brings  fresh 
portions  to  the  surface,  causing  an  evolution 
of  white  fumes.  As  these  begin  to  diminish, 
the  fire  is  started  on  the  grate,  and  the  heat 
is  raised  till  the  charge  softens  and  the  pieces 
of  ore  adhere  to  the  rake.  The  doors  are 
then  closed,  and  the  fire  is  urged  for  a 
quarter  of  an  hour,  when  the  smelter  opens 
the  door  to  see  if  the  metal  separates  and 
flows  down  the  inclined  hearth.  If  the  sep- 
aration does  not  go  on  well,  it  is  hastened 
by  opening  one  of  the  doors,  partially  cool- 
ing the  furnace,  and  stirring  the  charge.  The 
fire  is  then  again  urged.  If  the  slags  which 
form  seem  to  require  it,  he  treats  them  with 
a few  shovelfuls  of  lime  and  fine  coal ; and 
when,  after  having  flowed  down  into  the 
lower  portion  of  the  hearth,  they  are 
brought  into  a doughy  consistency,  the 
smelter  pushes  the  slag  to  the  opposite  upper 
edge  of  the  hearth,  from  which  it  is  taken 
out  through  a door  on  that  side  by  his  as- 
sistant, while  he  lets  oft’  the  lead  into  the 
receiver. 

The  separation  by  this  method  is  not  so 
perfect  as  by  the  Scotch  hearth,  and  the 
expense  of  fuel  is  greater ; but  the  reverbe- 
ratory is  worked  without  the  necessity  of 
steam  or  water  power,  which  is  required  to 
raise  the  blast  for  the  other  process.  The 
slags  of  the  reverberatory  contain  so  much 
lead  that  they  are  always  remelted  in  the 
slag  furnace.  Those  of  the  Scotch  hearth, 
when  pure  ores  are  employed,  are  sufficiently 
clear  of  metal  without  further  reduction.  In 
Europe  other  sorts  of  furnaces  are  in  use, 
which  are  adapted  particularly  for  ores  of 
poorer  quality  than  are  ever  smelted  in  the 
United  States. 

In  the  llartz  mountains,  at  Clausthal, 
argentiferous  silver  ores  containing  much 
silica  are  worked  in  close  cupola  furnaces, 
into  which  only  enough  air  is  admitted  to 
consume  the  fuel.  The  object  is  not  to 
roast  out  the  sulphur,  but  to  cause  this  to 
combine  with  the  granulated  cast  iron  or 
with  the  quick-lime,  either  of  which  is  mixed 
with  the  ores  to  flux  them  and  form  a fusible 
compound  with  the  sulphur,  through  which 
the  metallic  lead  can  easily  find  its  way  to 
the  bottom.  The  production  of  a silicate  of 
lead  is  thus  avoided,  which  is  a difficult 
compound  to  reduce,  and  is  always  formed 
when  much  silica  is  present.  This  process 


90 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


will  probably  be  applied  to  some  of  the  si- 
licious  ores  of  the  United  States,  and  may 
be  particularly  suited  to  the  Washoe  ores  of 
California. 

By  all  the  methods  of  reducing  lead  a 
great  loss  is  incurred  by  the  volatilization  of 
a portion  of  the  lead  in  white  fumes,  called 
lead  ashes.  These  are  carried  up  through 
the  chimney  of  the  furnace  and  fall  upon 
the  ground  in  the  neighborhood,  poisoning 
the  vegetation  and  the  water  by  the  carbon- 
ate of  lead,  which  results  from  the  fumes. 
Trees  even  are  killed,  and  the  dogs  die  off, 
and  also  the  cattle.  In  Scotland  the  lead 
has  been  detected  in  chemical  examinations 
of  the  bodies  of  animals  thus  killed,  and  it 
was  particularly  noticeable  in  the  spleen. 
For  the  injury  thus  occasioned  at  the  fur- 
naces of  the  United  States  no  remedy  has 
been  applied,  but  at  many  of  the  great  es- 
tablishments in  Europe,  where  the  loss  of 
lead  and  the  damage  to  the  neighborhood 
is  much  more  serious,  attempts  have  been 
made  to  arrest  the  fumes,  by  causing  them 
to  pass  through  long  flues  in  the  chimney 
stacks,  in  which  the  particles  on  cooling 
would  settle  down;  aud  their  cooling  has 
been  hastened  by  showers  of  water  falling 
among  the  vapors.  Flues  have  been  extended 
great  distances  beyond  the  works,  and  have 
been  found  much  more  efficient  than  any 
form  of  condensation  by  sudden  cooling. 
Some  of  the  works  constructed  for  this  pur- 
pose are  very  remarkable  for  their  great 
extent  and  the  saving  they  have  effected, 
and  similar  ones  may  perhaps  be  found  well 
worthy  of  construction  at  some  of  the  smelt- 
ing establishments  in  the  United  States.  At 
the  works  of  Mr.  Beaumont,  in  Northum- 
berland, England,  horizontal  or  slightly  in- 
clined galleries  have  been  completed  in  stone- 
work, 8 feet  high  and  6 feet  wide,  for  an 
extent  of  8,789  yards  (nearly  five  miles). 
This  is  from  one  mill  alone.  The  same  pro- 
prietor has  connected  with  other  mills  in 
the  same  district  and  in  Durham  four  miles 
of  galleries  for  the  same  purpose.  The 
writer  who  gives  the  account  of  these  in  the 
recent  edition  of  Ure’s  Dictionary,  by  Rob- 
ert Hunt,  remarks:  “The  value  of  the 

lead  thus  saved  from  being  totally  dissipated 
and  dispersed,  and  obtained  from  what  in 
common  parlance  might  be  called  chimney 
sweepings,  considerably  exceeds  £10,00*0 
sterling  annually,  and  fonns  a striking  illus- 
tration of  the  importance  of  economizing 
our  waste  products.”  Not  only  is  lead  lost 


in  the  fumes,  but  in  the  working  of  argentif- 
erous lead  ores,  a portion  of  the  silver  too 
is  carried  off  and  deposited  with  them.  The 
fumes  collected  at  the  works  of  the  Duke 
of  Buccleuch  yield  one-third  their  weight  of 
lead,  and  five  ounces  of  silver  to  the  ton.  The 
loss  of  silver  is  of  little  importance  in  this 
country,  where  this  metal  is  not  obtained  at 
the  present  time,  unless  it  be  at  the  Wash- 
ington mine,  in  North  Carolina,  and  at  the 
Washoe  mines,  in  California;  and  conse- 
quently methods  of  separating  it  from  the 
lead  possess  little  more  than  scientific  interest. 
In  the  smelting  of  argentiferous  lead  ores, 
the  silver  goes  with  the  lead,  being  com- 
pletely dissolved  and  diffused  throughout  its 
substance.  The  usual  way  of  separating  it  is 
founded  on  the  principle  of  the  lead  being  a 
metal  easily  oxidized  and  converted  into  the 
substance  called  litharge,  in  which  condi- 
tion it  lets  go  the  silver,  which  has  no  affinity 
either  for  the  new  compound  of  oxygen  and 
lead,  or  for  the  oxygen  alone.  The  change 
is  effected  by  melting  the  lead  in  the  shallow 
basins  called  cupels,  formed  of  a porous 
earthy  material,  as  the  pulverized  ashes  of 
burned  bones,  kneaded  with  water,  and 
mixed  in  a framework  of  iron.  When  dried, 
these  are  set  in  a reverberatory  furnace,  and 
the  pigs  of  lead  are  melted  upon  their  sur- 
face. After  being  thoroughly  heated,  a cur- 
rent of  air  is  made  to  draw  through  an  open- 
ing in  the  side  of  the  furnace  directly  upon 
the  face  of  the  melted  metal.  This  oxidizes 
the  lead,  and  the  yellow  litharge  with  more 
or  less  red  oxide,  called  minium,  collects  in 
a thin  film  upon  its  surface,  and  floats  off  to 
the  edge,  sinking  into  and  incrusting  the 
cupel  and  falling  over  its  side  into  a recep- 
tacle placed  to  receive  it.  This  process  goes 
on,  the  lead  gradually  disappearing  as  the 
oxygen  combines  with  it,  till  with  the  re- 
moval of  the  last  films  of  oxide  the  melted 
silver  suddenly  presents  its  brilliant,  perfectly 
unsullied  face.  The  oxide  of  lead  may  be 
collected  and  sold  for  the  purposes  of 
litharge,  as  for  a pigment,  for  use  in  the 
manufacture  of  glass,  etc. ; or  it  may  be 
mixed  with  fine  coal  and  converted  back 
into  lead,  the  carbon  of  the  coal  effecting 
this  change  by  the  greater  affinity  it  has  at 
a high  heat  for  the  oxygen,  than  the  lead  has 
to  retain  it.  By  this  process,  known  as 
cupellation,  lead  is  hardly  worth  treating  for 
silver,  unless  it  contain  about  10  ounces  to 
the  ton  of  the  precious  metal ; and  it  was 
therefore  an  important  object  to  devise  a 


LEAD. 


91 


method  of  saving  with  economy  the  silver 
lost  in  the  large  quantities  of  the  poorer 
argentiferous  leads.  Such  a method  was 
accidentally  discovered  in  1829  by  Mr. 
Pattinson,  of  Newcastle,  and  is  now  exten- 
sively in  use  in  Europe  for  the  poorer  silver- 
leads,  cupellation  being  preferred  for  the 
richer.  He  observed  that  when  the  lead 
containing  silver  forms  crystals,  as  it  is 
stirred  while  in  a melted  state,  the  crystals 
contain  little  or  none  of  the  silver,  and  may 
be  removed,  thus  concentrating  the  silver 
in  the  portions  left  behind.  This  crystal- 
lizing process  is  applied  in  the  large  way  as 
follows:  Cast  iron  pots  are  set  in  brick- 

work side  by  side,  capable  of  holding  each 
one  4 or  5 tons  of  lead.  The  middle  one 
is  first  charged,  and  when  the  lead  is  melted 
and  stirred,  the  fire  is  removed  under  the 
next  pot  to  the  right ; and  into  this  crystals 
of  lead  as  they  form  are  ladled  by  means  of 
a sort  of  cullender,  which  lets  the  fluid  lead 
fall  back.  This  instrument  is  kept  hotter 
than  the  lead  by  frequently  dipping  it  in  a 
pot  of  lead  over  a separate  fire.  When  four- 
fifths  of  the  lead  have  been  transferred  to 
the  pot  to  the  right,  the  remainder,  which 
contains  all  the  silver,  is  removed  to  the  next 
pot  to  the  left,  and  the  middle  pot  is  then 
charged  with  fresh  lead,  which  is  treated  in 
the  same  manner.  The  process  is  repeated 
with  each  pot,  as  it  becomes  full,  four-fifths 
of  its  contents  going  to  the  next  pot  to  the 
right,  and  one-fifth  to  the  next  to  the  left, 
and  thus  the  lead  is  finally  discharged  into 
moulds  at  one  end,  and  the  argentiferous 
alloy,  concentrated  to  the  richness  of  300 
ounces  of  silver  to  the  ton,  is  run  into  bars 
about  2 inches  square.  From  these  the 
silver  is  obtained  by  cupellation.  At  one 
establishment  in  England,  that  of  Messrs. 
Walker,  Parker  A Co.,  the  weekly  product 
of  silver  is  from  8,000  to  10,000  ounces. 
Whenever  the  lead  mines  of  the  eastern 
states  are  made  to  yield  regular  returns  of 
lead,  the  separation  of  its  silver  is  likely  to 
be  carried  on  in  independent  establishments, 
supplied  like  the  copper-smelting  works  with 
material  from  various  sources.  Works  hav- 
ing these  objects  in  view  were  established 
in  the  fall  of  I860,  at  Brooklyn,  New  York, 
by  Messrs.  Bloodgood  & Ambler,  and  will 
commence  operations  with  the  smelting  of 
the  Washoe  silver-lead  ores  from  California, 
of  which  over  sixty  tons  have  been  delivered 
at  the  works  for  reduction.  Their  success- 
ful treatment  will  no  doubt  be  followed  by 
6 * 


the  shipment  of  other  ores  of  the  different 
metals  from  various  sources ; and  it  is  to  be 
hoped  that  it  will  hereafter  be  found  more 
advantageous  to  send  ores  to  New  York  to 
be  reduced,  than  to  the  smelting  establish- 
ments on  the  other  side  of  the  Atlantic. 

Useful  Applications  of  Lead. — A con- 
siderable part  of  the  lead  product  of  the  world 
is  converted  into  the  carbonate,  known 
white  lead,  and  used  as  a paint.  The  prin- 
cipal articles  of  metallic  lead  are  sheet  lead, 
lead  pipe,  and  shot.  Sheet  lead  is  manu- 
factured in  two  ways.  The  melted  lead  is 
upset  from  a trough  suspended  over  a per- 
fectly level  table,  covered  with  fine  sand,  and 
furnished  with  a raised  margin ; and  when 
the  metal  has  spread  over  this,  a cbuple  of 
workmen,  one  on  each  side,  carry  along  a 
bar  supported  upon  the  margin,  pushing 
forward  the  excess  of  lead  above  that  neces- 
sary for  the  required  thickness,  till  it  falls 
over  the  end  of  the  table.  By  the  other 
method,  called  milling,  the  lead  is  cast  in  a 
plate,  6 or  7 feet  square,  and  6 inches  thick, 
and  this  being  taken  up  by  a crane,  is  placed 
upon  a line  of  wooden  rollers,  which  form 
a flooring  for  the  length  it  may  be  of  70  or 
80  feet  and  a width  of  8 feet.  Across  the  mid- 
dle of  this  line  are  set  the  two  heavy  iron 
rolls  by  which  the  lead  plate  is  compressed, 
as  it  is  passed  between  them.  The  top  of 
the  lower  roll  is  on  a level  with  the  top  of 
the  wooden  rollers,  and  the  upper  roll  is  so 
arranged  that  it  can  be  set  nearer  to  or  further 
from  the  lower  one,  as  the  thickness  of  the 
plate  requires. 

Lead  pipe  was  formerly"  made  by  turning 
up  sheet  lead  and  soldering  the  edges ; and 
is  still  prepared  in  this  way  for  the  large 
sizes,  as  those  over  six  inches  diameter.  Af- 
ter this  a method  was  contrived  of  casting 
the  lead  in  a hollow  cylindrical  plug,  its 
inner  diameter  of  the  bore  required,  and  then 
drawing  this  down  through  slightly  conical 
dies  of  decreasing  diameter,  a mandril  or 
steel  rod  being  inserted  to  retain  the  uniform 
diameter  of  the  bore.  Pipes  made  in  this 
way  were  limited  to  15  to  18  feet  in  length, 
and  the  metal  was  full  of  flaws.  Many  at- 
tempts have  been  made  to  cast  long  lengths 
of  lead  pipe,  all  of  which  have  proved  unsuc- 
cessful. In  1820  Thomas  Burr,  of  England, 
first  applied  the  hydraulic  press  to  forcing 
lead,  when  beginning  to  solidify  in  cooling, 
through  an  annular  space  between  a hollow 
ring  and  a solid  core  secured  in  its  centre, 
lie  thus  produced  pipes  of  considerable 


92 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


length.  The  method  of  forcing  the  liquid 
metal  through  dies  to  form  pipes  was,  how- 
ever, first  patented  in  1797  by  Bramah,  who 
used  a pump  for  this  purpose.  The  process 
was  introduced  into  this  country  in  1840—41 
by  Messrs.  Tatham  & Brothers,  now  of  New 
York,  who  invented  and  patented  an  impor- 
tant improvement  in  the  method  of  secur- 
ing the  die  and  core.  In  this  operation  the 
melted  lead  is  made  to  flow  from  the  furnace 
into  a cylindrical  cavity  in  a block  of  cast 
iron,  which  may  be  of  1800  lbs.  weight,  and 
from  this,  when  cooled  to  the  proper  tem- 
perature, it  is  forced  out  through  the  die  by 
a closely-fitting  piston.  By  one  process  the 
piston,  starting  from  the  bottom  of  the  cylin- 
drical cavity,  moves  upward,  carrying  with  it 
the  slender  core  or  rod  which  determines  the 
diameter  of  the  bore  of  the  pipe,  and  pushes 
the  melted  lead  before  it  through  the  die 
fixed  in  the  top  of  the  cast  iron  block.  The 
pipe  as  it  is  formed  passes  out  from  the  top 
of  the  machine,  and  is  coiled  around  a re- 
ceiving drum.  By  the  machine  contrived  by 
Mr.  Cornell  of  New  York,  the  great  iron 
block  containing  the  lead  rises  by  the  press- 
ure of  the  hydraulic  machine,  and  the  piston 
which  is  fixed  above  it  enters  the  cavity. 
The  piston  in  this  case  is  hollow  and  the  die 
is  set  in  its  lower  end.  The  core  is  secured 
in  the  bottom  of  the  block,  and  is  carried 
upward  as  this  rises.  The  pressure  applied 
in  this  operation  amounts  to  200  to  300  tons. 
Dies  are  used  of  a great  variety  of  sizes,  accord- 
ing to  the  kind  of  pipe  required.  Lead  wire 
is  made  in  this  way  with  a die  of  very  small 
size  without  a core.  It  is  used  for  securing 
vines  and  attaching  tags  to  fruit  trees  and 
shrubs.  The  principal  works  in  the  United 
States  engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  sheet 
lead  and  lead  pipe  are  in  New  York,  Boston, 
Philadelphia,  Chicago,  Cincinnati,  and  Saint 
Louis. 

Lead  pipe  is  in  general  use  as  the  most 
convenient  conduit  for  water  for  domestic 
purposes.  It  is  readily  bent  to  any  angle, 
and  is  made  to  adapt  itself  to  any  position. 
When  water  freezes  within  and  bursts  it,  the 
damage  is  easily  repaired;  joints  are  also 
made  with  little  trouble.  The  lead  is  not 
liable  to  become  rusty  like  iron,  and  is 
cheaper  than  tin  or  copper.  These  qualities 
give'  to  it  a preference  over  other  kinds  of 
pipe,  notwithstanding  the  very  serious  objec- 
tion that  the  lead  is  often  acted  upon  by  the 
water,  and  produces  poisonous  salts  of  a very 
dangerous  character.  Some  waters  more  than 


others  have  a tendency  to  promote  the  Oxid- 
ation of  the  lead.  This  is  particularly  likely 
to  occur  with  nearly  all  waters  in  pipes  which 
are  alternately  exposed  to  the  action  of  air 
and  water,  as  when  the  water  being  drawn 
out,  the  air  enters  and  takes  its  place.  The 
oxide  of  lead  is  converted  by  carbonic  acid 
gas,  which  is  present  in  almost  all  water,  into 
a carbonate  of  lead  which  is  soluble  to  some 
extent  in  an  excess  of  the  gas,  and  is  carried 
along,  bearing  no  indication  of  its  presence, 
while  the  lead  pipe  continues  to  be  corroded 
until  it  may  be  in  places  eaten  nearly  through. 
The  water  used  for  drinking  and  for  culinary 
purposes  is  thus  continually  introducing  an 
insidious  poison  into  the  system,  the  effect 
of  which  is  at  last  experienced  in  the  disease 
known  as  the  painters’  colic,  often  followed 
by  paralysis.  As  this  occurs  without  a sus- 
picion being  awakened  of  the  real  source  of 
the  disease,  and  is  produced  by  quantities  so 
small  as  from  Txy  to  yV  of  a grain  in  the  gal- 
lon, the  use  of  lead  pipe  is  properly  regard- 
ed by  scientific  men  as  always  unsafe ; and 
some  substitute  for  this  metal  in  pipes  and 
in  sheets  used  for  lining  water  cisterns,  is 
highly  desirable.  It  has  been  proposed  to 
coat  the  pipe  with  some  insoluble  lining; 
but  .such  an  application  necessarily  increases 
its  cost,  it  may  perhaps  be  removed  by  hot 
water  flowing  through  the  pipe,  and  the  pur- 
chaser may  have  no  confidence  in  the  coating 
being  faithfully  applied,  or  as  certain  to  be 
efficient  during  long-continued  use.  Block 
tin  is  perfectly  safe,  but  it  is  expensive,  and 
is  moreover  likely  to  be  alloyed  with  the 
cheaper  metal  lead,  which  in  this  condition 
is  thought  to  be  equally  dangerous  as  when 
used  alone.  As  no  popular  substitute  for 
lead  is  provided,  it  is  a reasonable  precaution 
for  those  employing  it  to  be  always  watchful 
and  on  their  guard  against  its  evil  effects — 
using  as  little  of  it  as  necessary,  causing  the 
water  to  be  occasionally  tested,  and,  when- 
ever opportunity  offers,  cutting  open  and  ex- 
amining pieces  of  the  pipe  to  see  whether  its 
internal  surface  is  corroded,  and  every  morn- 
ing before  using  the  water  that  has  stood  in 
the  pipes,  to  cause  this  to  flow  away  to- 
gether with  enough  more  to  thoroughly  wash 
out  the  pipes  and  remove  any  salts  of  lead 
that  may  have  formed  in  them  during  the 
night. 

Large  quantities  of  lead  are  consumed  in 
the  United  States  in  the  manufacture  of  shot 
and  bullets ; and  one  ingenious  method  of 
producing  shot  is  an  American  invention. 


LEAD. 


93 


The  quality  of  the  lead  employed  for  this 
purpose  is  of  little  importance.  The  harder 
and  inferior  sorts,  which  would  not  answer 
for  the  white  lead  manufacture,  are  economi- 
cally diverted  to  this  object.  If  too  brittle, 
from  the  iron  and  antimony  combined  with 
the  lead,  the  metal  is  made  to  assume  the  right 
quality  by  mixing  with  it  a small  proportion 
of  arsenic,  which,  for  most  kinds  of  lead, 
may  amount  to  one  per  cent.  To  introduce 
this  into  the  lead  a large  pot  of  the  metal  is 
melted,  and  powdered  charcoal  or  ashes  is 
laid  around  its  edge.  The  arsenical  com- 
pound, either  of  white  arsenic  or  of  orpi- 
ment  (the  sulphuret  of  arsenic),  is  then  stir- 
red into  the  centre  of  the  mass,  and  a cover 
is  tightly  luted  over  the  pot.  In  the  course 
of  a few  hours,  the  mixture  being  kept  hot, 
the  combination  of  the  lead  with  the  arsenic 
is  completed,  and  a portion  of  litharge  floats 
upon  the  surface.  This  is  formed  from  the 
oxygen  of  the  white  arsenic  uniting  with 
some  of  the  lead,  and  it  retains  a portion  of 
the  arsenic.  The  alloy  is  now  tried  by  let- 
ting a small  quantity  of  it  fall  from  a mod- 
erate height  through  a strainer  into  water. 
From  the  appearance  of  the  globules  the 
quality  of  the  mixture  is  judged  of.  If 
they  are  lens-shaped,  too  much  arsenic  has 
been  used ; but  if  they  are  flattened  on  the 
side,  or  hollowed  in  the  middle,  or  drag  with 
a tail  behind  them,  the  proportion  of  arsenic 
is  too  small.  When  a proper  mixture  is  ob- 
tained it  is  run  into  bars,  and  these  are  taken 
to  the  top  of  a tower,  from  100  to  200  feet 
high,  where  the  lead  is  melted  and  poured 
through  cullenders,  which  are  kept  hot  by 
being  placed  in  a sort  of  chafing-dish  con- 
taining burning  charcoal.  The  lead  is  thus 
divided  into  drops  that  fall  to  the  bottom, 
and  are  received  in  a vessel  of  water.  Each 
cullender  has  holes  all  of  the  same  size,  which 
is  considerably  less  than  that  of  the  shot 
produced  by  them.  This  is  owing  to  the 
drop  of  melted  lead  first  assuming  an  elon- 
gated form,  which  is  concentrated  into  the 
globular  by  the  air  impinging  equally  upon 
all  sides  in  the  course  of  its  descent.  When 
it  reaches  the  water,  it  is  important  that  it 
should  have  cooled  throughout,  so  that  no 
solid  crust  be  suddenly  formed  over  a fluid 
interior;  and  hence,  for  large  shot  it  is  evi- 
dent the  height  of  the  fall  must  be  greater 
than  is  required  for  small  shot.  The  tem- 
perature of  the  lead  also,  when  it  is  dropped, 
must  vary  according  to  the  size  of  the  shot; 
for  the  largest  size  being  so  low  that  a straw 


is  hardly  browned  when  thrust  into  it.  A 
portion  of  the  lead  becomes  oxidized  and  is 
caught  in  the  cullender,  the  bottom  of  which 
it  coats,  and  serves  a useful  purpose  by 
checking  the  too  rapid  flow  of  the  melted 
lead  through  the  holes.  The  holes  vary 
in  size,  from  ~ of  an  inch  for  shot  larger 
than  No.  1,  to  of  an  inch  for  No.  9. 
The  shot  being  taken  out  of  the  water  and 
dried  upon  the  surface  of  a long  steam  chest, 
are  transferred  to  an  iron  cask  suspended 
upon  an  axis  passing  through  its  ends,  and 
a little  plumbago  being  introduced  with 
them,  the  cask  is  made  to  revolve  until  the 
shot  are  thoroughly  cleaned  and  polished. 
The  next  operation  is  to  separate  the  imper- 
fect ones  from  the  good.  This  is  done  by 
rolling  them  all  together  down  a succession 
of  inclined  platforms,  separated  by  a narrow 
space  between  each.  The  good  shot  clear 
these  spaces  and  are  caught  below,  while  the 
bad  ones  fall  through  upon  the  floor.  The 
good  are  then  introduced  into  the  sifters  for 
assorting  them  according  to  their  sizes. 
Several  sieves  are  arranged  like  drawers  in  a 
case ; the  coarsest  above,  and  finer  ones  suc- 
ceeding below.  The  upper  tier  of  sieves  be- 
ing charged,  the  case  is  set  rocking,  and  the 
shot  are  soon  assorted,  and  are  then  ready  for 
packing  in  bags.  Bullets  and  buck-shot  are 
moulded  by  hand  from  a large  pot  of  the 
metal  into  moulds  with  many  receptacles. 

The  American  process  of  shot-making  was 
invented  in  1848  by  David  Smith,  of  the 
firm  of  T.  0.  Leroy  & Co.,  of  New  York, 
by  whom  it  is  exclusively  used.  Its  object 
is  to  dispense  with  the  use  of  the  costly  high 
towers,  by  substituting  for  them  a lower  fall 
against  an  ascending  current  of  air.  This 
current  is  produced  by  a fan-blower  operat- 
ing at  the  base  of  an  upright  hollow  shaft 
into  which  the  shot  are  dropped  from  a 
moderate  height.  The  power  required  to 
run  the  fan  is  not  much  more  than  that  or- 
dinarily expended  in  raising  the  lead  to  the 
top  of  the  high  towers ; and  it  is  found  that 
the  lead,  in  consequence  of  its  being  more 
rapidly  and  equally  cooled  in  the  short  de- 
scent against  the  current  of  air,  may  be  used 
at  a higher  temperature  than  is  practicable 
with  that  dropped  from  high  towers;  and 
thus  it  may  not  only  be  poured  more  rapidly, 
but  it  has  not  the  tendency  to  burst  in  falling 
and  form  imperfect  shot,  as  is  the  case  with 
that  dropped  from  high  towers,  to  guard 
against  which  the  lead  is  kept  at  a low  tem- 
perature. 


94 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


There  are  in  New  York  city,  besides  this 
operation,  which  is  carried  on  by  Messrs. 
Leroy,  in  Water  street,  three  shot  towers, 
and  a fourth  is  nearly  completed  on  Staten 
Island.  The  ordinary  capacity  of  these  is 
from  3000  to  4000  tons  of  shot  per  annum. 
The  annual  shot  production  of  St.  Louis  is 
about  the  same  as  that  of  New  York,  though 
there  is  now  only  one  shot  tower  in  use. 
There  were  formerly  seven  more  on  the  river 
bluffs  below  the  city,  but  these  have  hardly 
been  used  since  1847.  In  Baltimore  is  a 
tower  the  height  of  which,  including  ten 
feet  constructed  below  the  surface  of  the 
ground,  is  256  feet,  which  exceeds  by  one 
foot  the  height  of  the  famous  tower  in  Vi- 
enna, described  by  Dr.  Ure  as  the  highest 
structure  of  the  kind  in  the  world,  being 
249  feet  above  the  surface  of  the  ground. 
Its  production  is  stated  to  be  about  400 
tons  per  annum.  In  Philadelphia  there  is 
one  tower  which  makes  about  300  tons  an- 
nually ; in  Wythe  county,  Virginia,  is  one 
formed  in  one  of  the  shafts  of  the  mine, 
making  about  200  tons ; and  on  the  Wis- 
consin river,  at  Helena,  is  a small  tower 
probably  making  about  as  much  more.  The 
actual  production  of  the  country  in  shot  and 
bullets  is  supposed  to  be  about  7000  tons, 
and  to  have  made  but  little  advance  for 
many  years  past. 

White  Lead. — Before  the  introduction 
of  the  oxide  of  zinc  as  a paint,  one  of  the 
most  important  uses  of  lead  was  its  conver- 
sion into  the  carbonate  or  white  lead.  The 
manufacture  was^  originally  carried  on  almost 
exclusively  in  Holland ; and  it  was  not  until 
near  the  close  of  the  last  century  that  it  was 
introduced  into  England.  In  the  United 
States  it  was  unknown  until  after  the  war  of 
1812,  and  being  first  undertaken  in  Philadel- 
phia, it  was  afterward  extended  to  New  York 
and  Brooklyn,  and  in  the  latter  city  has  pros- 
pered more  than  in  any  other  part  of  the 
country.  Various  attempts  have  been  made 
to  introduce  new  methods  of  manufacture,  but 
the  old  Dutch  process  has  continued  in  gen- 
eral use ; the  modifications  of  it  which  have 
raised  the  manufacture  in  this  country  to  a 
higher  state  of  perfection  than  in  any  other 
part  of  the  world  being  merely  improve- 
ments in  the  details,  by  which  ingenious 
machinery  has  been  made  to  diminish  the 
labor  expended  in  the  process. 

White  lead  is  a combination  of  oxide  of 
lead  with  carbonic  acid,  and  is  obtained  in  : 
the  form  of  a soft,  very  white,  and  heavy  | 


powder.  It  mixes  readily  with  oil,  giving 
to  it  a drying  property,  spreads  well  under 
the  brush,  and  perfectly  covers  the  surfaces 
to  which  it  is  applied.  It  is  not  only  em- 
ployed alone  as  the  best  sort  of  white  paint, 
but  is  the  general  material  or  body  of  a great 
number  of  paints,  the  colors  of  which  are 
produced  by  mixing  suitable  coloring  mat- 
ters with  the  white  lead.  Besides  its  use  as 
a paint  it  is  also  in  demand  to  a considerable 
extent  as  an  ingredient  in  the  so-called  vul- 
canized india-rubber.  To  prepare  it,  the 
purest  pig  lead,  such  as  the  refined  foreign 
lead  and  the  metal  from  the  upper  mines  of 
the  Mississippi,  is  almost  exclusively  used. 
This  was  by  the  old  methods  made  in  thin 
sheets,  and  these  into  small  rolls,  to  be  sub- 
jected to  the  chemical  treatment.  But  ac- 
cording to  the  American  method  devised  by 
Mr.  Augustus  Graham  of  Brooklyn,  and  now 
generally  adopted,  the  lead  is  cast  into  cir- 
cular gratings  or  “buckles,”  which  closely 
resemble  in  form  the  large  old-fashioned 
shoe-buckles,  from  which  they  receive  their 
name.  They  are  six  or  eight  'inches  in  di- 
ameter, and  the  lead  hardly  exceeds  one 
sixth  of  an  inch  in  thickness.  Ingenious 
methods  of  casting  them  are  in  use  in  the 
American  factories,  by  which  the  lead  is  run 
upon  moulds  directly  from  the  furnace,  and 
the  buckles  are  separated  from  each  other 
and  delivered  without  handling  into  the 
vessels  for  receiving  them.  They  are  then 
packed  in  earthen  pots  shaped  like  flower- 
pots, each  of  which  is  provided  with  a 
ledge  or  three  projecting  points  in  the  in- 
side, intended  to  keep  the  pieces  above  the 
bottom,  in  which  is  placed  some  strong  vine- 
gar or  acetic  acid.  It  is  recommended  that 
on  one  side  the  pot  should  be  partially  open 
above  the  ledge,  and  if  made  full  all  round, 
it  is  well  to  knock  out  a piece  in  order  to 
admit  a freer  circulation  of  vapors  through 
the  lead.  In  large  establishments  an  im- 
mense supply  of  these  pots  is  kept  on  hand, 
the  number  at  the  single  manufactory  of 
Messrs.  Battelle  & Remvick,  on  the  Hudson, 
being  not  less  than  200,000.  They  con- 
tinue constantly  in  use  till  accidentally 
broken  below  the  ledge.  Being  packed 
close  together  in  rows  upon  a bed  of  spent 
tan,  a foot  to  two  feet  thick,  and  thin  sheets 
of  lead  are  laid  among  and  over  the  pots  in 
several  thicknesses,  but  always  so  as  to  leave 
open  spaces  among  them.  An  area  is  thus 
covered,  it  may  be  twenty  feet  square  or 
of  less  dimensions,  and  is  enclosed  by  board 


LEAD. 


95 


partitions,  which,  upon  suitable  framework, 
can  be  carried  up  twenty-five  feet  high  if 
required.  When  the  pots  and  the  inter- 
stices among  them  are  well  packed  with 
lead,  a flooring  of  boards  is  laid  over  them, 
and  upon  this  is  spread  another  layer  of 
tan ; and  in  the  same  manner  eight  or  ten 
courses  are  built  up,  containing  in  all,  it  may 
be,  12,000  pots  and  50  or  60  tons  of  lead, 
all  of  which  are  buried  beneath  an  upper 
layer  of  tan.  As  the  process  of  conversion 
requires  from  eight  to  twelve  weeks,  the 
large  factories  have  a succession  of  these 
stacks  which  are  charged  one  after  another, 
so  that  when  the  process  is  completed  in 
one,  and  the  pots  and  lead  have  been  re- 
moved and  the  chamber  is  recharged,  anoth- 
er is  ready  for  the  same  operation. 

The  conversion  of  metallic  lead  into  car- 
bonate is  induced  by  the  fermenting  action, 
which  commences  in  the  tan  soon  after  the 
pile  is  completed.  The  heat  thus  generated 
evaporates  the  vinegar,  and  the  vapors  of 
water  and  acetic  acid  rising  among  the  lead 
oxidize  its  surface  and  convert  it  externally 
into  a subacetate  of  lead;  at  the  same  time 
carbonic  acid  evolved  from  the  tan  circulates 
among  the  lead  and  transforms  the  acetate 
into  carbonate  of  the  oxide,  setting  the 
acetic  acid  free  to  renew  its  office  upon 
fresh  surfaces  of  lead.  When  the  tan  ceases 
to  ferment  the  process  is  at  an  end,  and  the 
stack  may  then  be  taken  to  pieces.  The 
lead  is  found  in  its  original  forms,  but  of 
increased  bulk  and  weight,  and  more  or  less 
completely  converted  into  the  white  carbo- 
nate. The  thoroughness  of  the  operation 
depends  upon  a variety  of  circumstances ; 
even  the  weather  and  season  of  the  year 
having  an  influence  upon  it.  The  pieces 
not  entirely  converted  have  a core  of  me- 
tallic or  “ blue”  lead  beneath  the  white  car- 
bonate crust.  The  separation  is  made  by 
beating  off  the  white  portion,  and  this  being 
done  upon  perforated  copper  shelves  set  in 
large  wooden  tanks  and  covered  with  water, 
the  escape  of  the  fine  metallic  dust  is  entire- 
ly prevented  and  its  noxious  effect  upon 
the  health  of  the  workmen  is  avoided.  In 
Europe,  rolling  machines  closely  covered 
arc  applied  to  the  same  purpose,  but  less 
effectually.  The  white  lead  thus  collected 
is  next  ground  with  water  between  mill- 
stones to  a thin  paste,  and  by  repeated 
grindings  and  washings  this  is  reduced  to 
an  impalpable  consistency.  The  water  is 
next  to  be  removed,  and,  according  to  the 


European  plan,  the  creamy  mixture  is  next 
turned  into  earthen  pots,  and  these  are  ex- 
posed upon  shelves  to  a temperature  not  ex- 
ceeding 300°  until  perfectly  dry.  Instead 
of  this  laborious  method,  the  plan  is  adopted 
in  the  American  works  of  employing  shal- 
low pans  of  sheet  copper,  provided  with  a 
false  bottom,  beneath  which  steam  from  the 
exhaust-pipe  of  the  engine  is  admitted  to 
promote  evaporation.  These  pans  or  “ dry- 
ing kilns”  are  sometimes  100  feet  long  and 
6 feet  broad,  and  several  are  set  in  the  build- 
ing one  above  another.  The  liquid  lead 
paste  is  pumped  up  into  large  tanks,  and  thd 
heavier  portion  settling  down,  is  drawn  off 
into  the  pans,  while  the  thinner  liquid  from 
the  surface  is  returned  to  be  mixed  with 
fresh  portions  of  white  lead.  Beside  pans, 
tile  tables  heated  by  flues  in  the  masonry  of 
which  they  are  built,  are  also  employed. 
From  four  to  six  days  are  required  for  thor- 
oughly drying  the  white  lead.  This  is  the 
finishing  process,  after  which  the  lead  is 
ready  for  packing  in  small  casks  for  the 
market. 

The  manufacture  of  white  lead,  which 
was  formerly  an  unhealthy  and  even  dan- 
gerous occupation,  has  been  so  much  im- 
proved by  the  expedients  for  keeping  the 
material  wet  and  thus  preventing  the  rising 
of  the  fine  dust,  that  the  peculiar  lead  dis- 
ease now  rarely  attacks  the  workmen.  The 
business  is  conducted  altogether  upon  a large 
scale,  and  gives  employment  to  numerous 
extensive  factories  in  different  parts  of  the 
country.  Some  of  these  have  arrangements 
for  converting-stacks  that  extend  under  cover 
200  feet  in  length,  and  their  facilities  for 
grinding  and  drying  are  proportionally  ex- 
tensive. These,  and  the  time  required  for 
fully  completing  the  process  and  getting  the 
white  lead  ready  for  market — which  is  from 
three  to  four  months — involve  the  use  of 
large  capital  and  tend  to  keep  the  business 
in  few  hands. 

There  is  a vastly  increasing  demand  for 
pure  white  lead,  and  the  competition  and 
watchfulness  of  the  trade  insure  the  gen- 
uineness of  the  article  thus  warranted  by 
the  manufacturers.  A large  class  of  cus- 
tomers are  the  grinders,  who  form  a distinct 
trade,  and  use  and  mix  the  pure  article  with 
other  substances  and  with  coloring  matters 
to  suit  their  purposes.  The  mineral,  sul- 
phate of  barytes  or  heavy  spar,  is  the  chief 
article  used  to  adulterate  white  lead,  and  for 
this  purpose  it  is  obtained  from  mines  in 


96 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


Connecticut  and  other  places,  and  is  exten- 
sively ground  in  mills  for  this  use  alone. 
When  perfectly  pure,  the  powder  is  abso- 
lutely white  ; it  has  about  the  same  weight 
as  white  lead,  and  is  quite  as  indestructible ; 
it  is,  indeed,  less  acted  upon  or  discolored 
by  noxious  vapors.  It  lacks,  however,  the 
body  of  white  lead,  and  is  not  so  brilliant : 
and  whenever  used  in  any  proportion  ma- 
terially injures  the  paint  in  those  good 
qualities.  Oxide  of  zinc  is  also  largely  mix- 
ed with  white  lead,  as  will  be  noticed  more 
particularly  in  the  succeeding  chapter. 

The  principal  white  lead  works,  together 
with  the  probable  amount  of  their  annual 
production,  in  the  United  States  are  as 
follows : — 

No.  of  Works.  Tons.  „ 


Brooklyn,  N.  Y 4 8000 

Staten  Island,  N.  Y 1 1500 

Hudson  River  (Saugerties),  N.  Y. . 1 1500 

Buffalo,  N.  Y 1 600 

Philadelphia,  Pa 3 3500 

Pittsburg,  Pa 5 4000 

Baltimore,  Md 1 600 

Boston,  Mass 1 1000 

Salem,  Mass 1 1500 

Cincinnati,  0 2 1500 

Louisville,  Ky 1 700 

Chicago,  111 2 1200 

St  Louis,  Mo 3 4u00 


CHAPTER  Y. 

ZINC. 

While  the  production  of  the  lead  mines 
has  been  falling  off  in  the  United  States, 
that  of  the  zinc  mines  has  been  steadily  in- 
creasing since  they  were  first  worked  about 
twenty  years  since  ; and  the  metal  is  applied 
to  some  purposes  for  which  lead  has  heretofore 
been  almost  exclusively  used.  The  growing 
importance  of  this  product  in  the  United 
States  will  justify  a reference  to  the  zinc 
manufacture  of  Europe. 

The  metal,  as  mentioned  in  the  chapter 
on  Copper,  very  curiously  escaped  the  no- 
tice of  the  ancients,  though  they  obtained  it 
from  its  ores  in  preparing  brass,  an  alloy  of 
copper  and  zinc.  In  the  metallurgical  proc- 
esses it  is  readily  sublimed  by  heat,  and 
when  its  fumes  come  in  contact  with  the  air 
they  are  immediately  oxidized,  burning  with 
a greenish  white  flame,  and  are  then  con- 
verted into  the  white  oxide  of  zinc — a com- 
pound of  one  equivalent  of  the  metal  = 34, 
and  one  of  oxygen  = 8 ; which  correspond 


respectively  to  81  and  9 per  cent.  These 
fumes  when  collected  are  found  to  be  a 
white  flocculent  powder,  now  known  as  the 
white  oxide  of  zinc,  or  zinc  paint.  If  the 
vapor  of  zinc  be  protected  from  contact 
of  air  and  passed  through  pipes  into  water, 
it  is  condensed  into  metallic  drops,  and 
these  may  be  melted  in  close  vessels  and 
poured  into  moulds.  Cast  zinc  is  a brittle 
metal  of  bluish  white  color  and  greater  lus- 
tre than  that  of  lead.  By  heating  it  to  the 
temperature  of  212°  to  300°  F.  it  entirely 
loses  its  brittleness,  and  is  made  malleable 
and  ductile,  so  that  it  can  be  rolled  out  into 
sheets.  Its  melting  point  is  680°,  while 
that  of  lead  is  608°. 

A variety  of  ores  are  worked  for  this 
metal ; as  the  sulphuret,  called  blende  ; the 
carbonate,  called  smithsonite ; and  the  sil- 
icate of  zinc,  or  calamine.  The  last  two 
usually  occur  associated  together.  The  red 
oxide  is  an  important  ore,  but  found  only  in 
New  Jersey.  Blende  almost  universally  ac- 
companies galena,  and  in  some  lead  mines 
is  the  prevailing  ore.  The  miners  call  it 
black  jack.  When  pure,  it  consists  of  zinc 
67,  sulphur  33.  Being  more  difficult  to  re- 
duce than  the  other  ores,  it  has  been  com- 
paratively little  used,  though  the  Chinese 
are  known  to  have  been  successful  in  their 
management  of  it.  In  the  United  States  it 
lies  valueless  in  immense  quantities  about 
many  of  the  lead  mines;  but  it  is  not  improb- 
able the  old  refuse  heaps  will  yet  be  turned  to 
profit.  At  the  zinc  w'orks  near  Swansea,  in 
W ales,  it  has  been  worked  for  many  years ; 
and  in  England  it  has  for  a few  years  past 
come  into  use.  In  1855,  it  is  reported  that 
9620  tons  of  this  ore  from  various  mines 
were  sold ; while  of  the  calamine  ores,  the 
produce  of  the  Alston  Moor  mines,  sales  of 
only  182  tons  were  reported.  More  ores 
of  each  sort  were  no  doubt  smelted,  but  the 
proportion  of  each  was  probably  not  very 
different  from  that  stated.  Dr.  Ure,  in  his 
Dictionary,  speaks  of  this  ore  selling  at 
Holywell  for  £3  per  ton.  In  France  there 
are  now  five  establishments  working  blende ; 
while  in  1840  all  the  zinc  consumed  in  the 
country  was  imported.  Smithsonite  resem- 
bles some  yellowish  or  whitish  limestones, 
and  usually  accompanies  these  rocks,  being 
irregularly  bedded  among  their  strata.  In 
its  best  condition  it  is  obtained  in  large 
blocks  of  botryoidal  and  reniform  shapes, 
sometimes  crystallized.  But  usually  it  is  in 
porous  crumbly  masses,  much  mixed  and 


ZINC. 


97 


stained  with  reddish  oxide  of  iron.  The 
pure  ore  contains  65  per  cent,  of  oxide  of 
zinc  (which  is  equivalent  to  52  of  the 
metal)  and  35  of  carbonic  acid.  The  sili- 
cate of  zinc  is  found  intermixed  with  the 
carbonate,  which  it  resembles  in  appearance. 
It  contains,  when  pure,  silica  25.1,  water 
7.5,  and  oxide  of  zinc  67.4,  corresponding 
to  54  per  cent,  of  the  metal.  The  red  ox- 
ide is  found  only  at  Mine  Hill  and  Stirling 
Hill,  near  Franklin,  in  the  extreme  north- 
ern county  of  New  Jersey.  The  pure  oxide, 
of  which  it  is  almost  exclusively  composed, 
contains  80.26  per  cent,  of  zinc  and  19.74 
of  oxygen.  The  bright  red  color  is  probably 
derived  from  the  small  quantity  of  oxide  of 
manganese  present.  The  ore  is  mixed  with 
franklinite  iron  ore,  each  being  in  distinct 
grains,  one  red  and  the  other  black;  and 
with  these  is  associated  a white  crystalline 
limestone,  either  in  disseminated  grains  with 
the  ores,  or  forming  the  ground  through 
which  they  are  dispersed.  Two  beds,  con- 
sisting of  the  zinc  and  iron  ores,  lie  in  con- 
tact with  each  other  along  the  south-eastern 
slope  of  the  Stirling  Hill,  between  the  lime- 
stone of  the  valley  and  the  gneiss  of  the 
ridge,  dipping  with  the  slope  of  these  rocks 
about  40°  toward  the  valley,  and  ranging 
north-east  and  south-west.  The  upper  bed, 
varying  from  3 to  8 feet  in  thickness,  con- 
sists of  more  than  50  per  cent,  red  oxide 
of  zinc;  and  the  lower  bed,  which  is  12  feet 
thick  and  in  some  places  more  than  this,  is 
chiefly  franklinite,  changing  to  limestone  be- 
low, interspersed  with  imperfect  crystals  of 
franklinite.  At  Mine  Hill,  1£  miles  north- 
east from  Stirling  Hill,  two  distinct  beds  are 
again  found  together,  that  containing  the 
most  zinc  in  this  case  being  the  under  one 
of  the  two,  lying  next  the  gneiss.  These 
localities  have  been  well  explored ; the  beds 
have  been  traced  considerable  distances 
along  their  line  of  outcrop  ; and  at  Stirling 
Hill  the  red  oxide  of  zinc  has  been  mined 
for  more  than  ten  years  by  the  New  Jersey 
Zinc  Company.  Their  workings  have  reached 
to  a depth  of  about  250  feet,  and  have  af- 
forded the  finest  specimens  of  zinc  ore  ever 
seen.  A single  mass  of  the  red  oxide  was 
sent  in  1851  to  the  Great  Exhibition  in 
London,  which  weighed  16,400  lbs.,  and  at- 
tracted no  little  attention,  from  the  purity, 
rarity,  and  extraordinary  size  of  the  speci- 
men. The  Passaic  Mining  and  Manufactur- 
ing Company  also  have  opened  two  beds  of 
the  same  ore  on  their  property  at  Stirling 


Hill,  adjoining  that  of  the  New  Jersey  Zinc 
Company,  and  between  1854  and  1860  took 
out  about  30,000  tons  of  rich  and  lean  ores. 
At  the  depth  of  178  feet,  the  principal  bed 
is  21  feet  wide,  of  which  about  2\  feet  is 
rich  ore,  and  the  rest  limestone  sufficiently 
interspersed  writh  oxide  of  zinc  to  render  it 
worth  dressing.  This  company  completed, 
in  the  year  1859,  at  the  mines,  very  extens- 
ive works  for  dressing  the  lean  ores  before 
they  are  shipped  to  their  furnaces  at  Jersey 
City.  The  principal  supplies  of  their  ores 
hitherto  have  been  of  the  smithsonite  and 
calamine  from  the  mines  in  the  Saucon  val- 
ley, Lehigh  county,  Pennsylvania,  of  which 
they  mined  about  5,000  tons  in  the  first 
year.  These  ores  are  extensively  worked 
to  the  north  of  Friedensville,  both  by  this 
company  and  the  Pennsylvania  and  Le- 
high Zinc  Company,  whose  furnaces  are  at 
Bethlehem,  in  Lehigh  county.  The  mines 
of  the  two  companies,  which  are  near  to- 
gether, are  known  as  the  Saucon  mine  and 
the  Lehigh  Zinc  Company’s  mine.  They 
were  first  opened  in  1853.  The  two  kinds 
of  ore  are  found  together,  as  is  common  in 
the  European  mines,  and  more  or  less  blende 
is  interspersed  among  them.  They  form 
very  large  irregular  beds  in  limestone  of  the 
lower  Silurian  period,  and  are  penetrated  by 
veins  of  quartz,  which  traverse  both  the  ore 
and  limestone.  Huge  masses  of  limestone 
lie  interspersed  among  the  ores.  The  deep- 
est workings  at  the  Saucon  mine  are  about 
100  feet  below  the  surface;  and  from  this 
depth  galleries  have  been  run  in  every  direc- 
tion, exposing  to  view  more  than  50,000 
tons  of  ore.  The  ores  of  best  quality  are 
found  in  the  lower  workings. 

About  the  same  time  that  these  mines 
were  opened  in  Lehigh  county,  another,  pro- 
ducing similar  kinds  of  zinc  ore,  was  dis- 
covered near  Lancaster,  in  Pennsylvania; 
but  after  being  explored  it  was  found  to 
contain  so  much  blende  and  galena,  that  it 
was  abandoned  as  worthless.  Large  de- 
posits of  the  same  varieties  of  zinc  ore  are 
known  to  exist  in  Tennessee  ; one  locality 
at  Mossy  Creek,  a few  miles  north-east  of 
Knoxville,  and  another  at  Powell’s  river,  a 
branch  of  the  Clinch  river,  in  Campbell 
county,  about  40  miles  north  of  Knoxville. 
These  beds,  examined  by  the  writer  in  1858, 
unquestionably  contain  very  large  quantities 
of  excellent  ore.  The  former,  being  close  to 
the  East  Tennessee  and  Virginia  railroad, 
is  very  conveniently  situated  ; and  the  other 


98 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


is  within’  half  a mile  of  a river  navigable  at 
certain  seasons  by  flat-boats.  Below  its 
junction  with  the  Clinch  river  are  beds  of 
bituminous  coal,  and  the  river  is  thence  nav- 
igable by  steamboats.  At  Kingston  it  is 
crossed  by  a railroad. 

Very  pure  ores  of  similar  character  have 
been  found  in  Arkansas.  The  localities  are 
in  a lead  mining  region  in  Lawrence,  Marion, 
and  Independence  counties ; but  chiefly  in 
the  first  named.  The  ores  occur  in  a forma- 
tion of  magnesian  limestone,  imbedded  in 
red  ferruginous  clay.  They  are  almost  ex- 
clusively smithsomte,  containing  very  small 
proportions  of  silicate  of  zinc.  Crystals  of 
smithsonite  and  of  blende  are  found  upon 
the  lumps  of  pure,  flesh-colored  ore.  The 
district  promises  to  become  an  important  one 
for  the  supply  of  zinc  to  the  western  states. 

The  following  are  analyses  of  ores  from 
the  Saucon  valley  mines  ; the  first  three  by 
Prof.  John  Torrey,  of  the  New  York  Assay 
Office,  being  of  specimens,  and  the  last  two 
of  samples  of  large  shipments.  No.  4 was 


made  at  the  Assay  Office,  Hatton  Gardens, 
London  ; and  No.  5 in  Paris. 

No.  1. 

Oxide  of  zinc 48.90 

Carbonic  acid 26  40 

Peroxide  of  iron 3.15 

Carbonate  of  magnesia .62 

Silica 18.50 

Water 30 

Loss 2.13 


100  00 

Metallic  zinc 39.30 

No.  2. — Granular  Sulphur et  of  Zinc. 

Sulpliuret  of  zinc 13.27 

Sulphuret  of  iron 1.49 

Silica 25.50 


100.26 

Metallic  zinc 49.09 

No.  3. — Waxy  Sulphuret  of  Zinc. 

Sulphuret  of  zinc 97.63 

Sulphuret  of  iron 1.54 

Silica 1.40 


100.57 

Metallic  zinc 65.41 

No.  4 — Mixture  of  Blende  and  Carbonate  of  Zinc. 

Zinc  61.70 

Sulphur 19.82 

Iron  4.76 

Silica 1.00 

Carbonic  acid 9.90 

Phosphate  oflime 88 

Oxygen,  water,  and  loss 1.94 


100.00 

Contains  of  silver  4.15  ozs.  to  the  ton  of  20  cwt. 


No.  5. 

Zinc ) 

Oxygen  . . . . I Carbonate  of  zinc,  75.1 
Carbonic  acid  ) 

Protoxide  of  iron 
Carbonic  acid  . . . 

Silica 

Moisture 


Carb.  of  iron,  10.2  j 


42.0 

10.5 

22.6 
7.3 
2.9 

11.8 

2.9 


100.0 


METALLURGIC  TREATMENT  AND  USES. 

Zinc  ores  are  applied  to  practical  pur- 
1 poses,  not  only  to  produce  the  metal,  but  also 
the  white  oxide  of  zinc,  which  is  consider- 
ably used  as  a paint.  The  ancients  used  an 
ore  they  called  lapis  calaminaris , to  make 
brass,  by  melting  it  with  copper  in  cruci- 
bles, not  knowing  that  another  metal  was 
thus  formed  which  produced  an  alloy  with 
the  copper.  Although  the  metal  was  dis- 
covered in  the  16th  century,  the  nature  of 
its  ores  was  little  known  before  the  middle 
of  the  last  century.  It  is  now  prepared 
upon  a large  scale  in  Belgium  and  Silesia, 
and  small  quantities  are  produced  in  Eng- 
land, France,  and  different  parts  of  Ger- 
many. The  simple  method  of  obtaining 
zinc  from  its  ores,  called  distillation  per  de- 
scensum,  was  introduced  into  England  about 
the  year  1740,  and  was  derived  from  the 
Chinese,  who  appear  to  have  been  acquainted 
with  the  metal  long  before  it  was  known  to 
the  Europeans.  As  now  practised  in  Great 
Britain,  the  ores  are  first  calcined,  the  effect 
of  which  is  to  expel  a portion  of  the  water, 
carbonic  acid,  and  sulphur  they  contain. 
They  are  then  ground  to  powder,  and  mixed 
with  fine  charcoal,  or  mineral  coal,  and  in- 
troduced into  stationary  earthen  pots,  or 
crucibles.  When  set  in  the  furnace,  an  iron 
pipe,  passing  up  through  the  bottom  of  the 
hearth,  enters  the  crucible,  and  connects 
with  an  open  vessel  directly  beneath.  About 
six  pots  are  set  together  under  a low  dome 
of  brick-work,  through  which  apertures  are 
left  for  filling  them.  Each  one  has  a cover, 
which  is  luted  down  with  fire  clay ; and  the 
iron  tube  in  each  is  stopped  with  a wooden 
plug, which,  as  the  operation  goes  on,  becomes 
charred  and  porous,  so  as  to  admit  through  it 
the  passage  of  the  zinc  vapors.  The  tubes 
are  prevented  from  being  clogged  with  de- 
positions of  the  condensed  zinc,  by  occa- 
sionally running  a rod  through  them  from 
the  lower  end.  The  zinc  collects  in  the 
dishes  under  the  tubes,  in  the  form  of  drops 
and  powder,  a portion  of  which  is  oxidized. 
The  whole  is  transferred  to  melting-pots, 


ZINC. 


99 


and  the  oxide  which  swims  upon  the  sur- 
face of  the  melted  metal  is  skimmed  off  and 
returned  to  the  reducing  crucibles,  while 
the  metal  is  run  into  moulds.  The  ingots 
are  known  in  commerce  as  spelter. 

In  the  United  States  zinc  was  first  made 
by  Mr.  John  Hitz,  under  the  direction  of 
Mr.  Hassler,  who,  by  order  of  Congress, 
was  engaged  about  the  year  1838  to  manu- 
facture standard  weights  and  measures  for 
the  cusfcom-houses.  The  work  was  done  at 
the  U.  S.  arsenal  at  Washington,  the  ores 
used  being  the  red  oxide  of  New  Jersey.  The 
expense  exceeded  the  value  of  the  metal  ob- 
tained, and  it  has  generally  been  supposed 
that  we  could  not  produce  spelter  so  cheaply 
as  it  can  be  imported  from  Europe.  The 
next  experiments  were  made  at  the  works  of 
the  New  Jersey  Zinc  Company,  1850,  on  the 
Belgian  plan.  In  these  great  difficulties  were 
experienced  for  want  of  retorts  of  suffi- 
ciently refractory  character  to  withstand  the 
high  temperature  and  the  chemical  action  of 
the  constituents  of  the  ore.  The  franklin- 
ite,  which  always  accompanies  the  red  ox- 
ide ores,  was  particularly  injurious  by  rea- 
son of  the  oxide  of  iron  forming  a fusible 
silicate  with  the  substance  of  the  retorts 
These  trials  consequently  failed  after  the 
expenditure  of  large  sums  of  money.  The 
next  important  trial  was  made  in  1856,  by  a 
Mr.  Hoofstetter,  who  built  a Silesian  furnace 
of  20  muffles  for  the  Pennsylvania  and  Le- 
high Zinc  Company  at  their  mine  near 
Friedensville.  This  proved  a total  failure, 
and  seemed  almost  to  establish  the  impracti- 
cability of  producing  spelter  with  the  Amer- 
ican ores,  clays,  and  anthracite.  About  this 
time  Mr.  Joseph  Wharton,  the  general  man- 
ager of  the  Pennsylvania  and  Lehigh  Zinc 
Company,  and  Mr.  Samuel  Wetherill,  of 
Bethlehem,  both  hit  upon  the  same  plan  of 
treating  zinc  ores  in  an  open  furnace,  and 
leading  the  volatile  products  through  incan- 
descent coal,  in  order  to  reduce  the  zinc  ox- 
ide so  formed,  and  draw  only  metallic  and 
carbonaceous  vapors  into  the  condensing 
apparatus.  Mr.  Wharton  constructed  his 
furnace  in  Philadelphia,  and  Mr.  Wetherill 
his  in  Bethlehem.  The  former  having  com- 
pleted his  trials,  filed  a caveat  for  the  proc- 
ess, but  soon  after  abandoned  it  as  econom- 
ically impracticable.  The  latter  continued 
his  operations,  patented  the  method,  and 
produced  some  zinc,  eight  or  ten  tons  of 
which  were  sold  to  the  U.  S.  Assay  Office 
in  New  York.  The  manufacture  was  not, 


however,  long  continued.  In  1858,  Mr. 
Wetherill  recommenced  the  production  of 
zinc,  adopting  a plan  of  upright  retorts, 
somewhat  like  that  in  use  in  Carinthia,  in 
Austria,  and  that  of  the  English  patent  of 
James  Graham.  Mr.  Wetherill  had  suc- 
ceeded in  procuring  good  mixtures  of  fire 
clays,  and  his  retorts  made  of  these  and 
holding  each  a charge  of  400  lbs.  of  ore, 
proved  sufficiently  refractory  for  the  opera- 
tion. The  works  now  under  his  charge  at 
Bethlehem,  erected  in  1858—9,  and  belong- 
ing to  the  owners  of  the  Saucon  mine,  have 
a capacity  of  about  two  tons  of  metal  daily. 

Mr.  Wharton,  after  abandoning  the 
method  of  reduction  by  incandescent  coals, 
continued  his  experiments  on  different  plans, 
and  finally  decided  on  the  Belgian  furnace 
as  the  best,  after  having  actually  made  spel- 
ter from  silicate  of  zinc,  with  anthracite,  in 
muffles  of  American  clays,  at  a cost  below 
its  market  value.  These  trials  were  made  in 
the  zinc  oxide  works  of  the  Pennsylvania 
and  Lehigh  Zinc  Company.  Their  success 
encouraged  the  company  to  construct  a fac- 
tory at  Bethlehem  for  reducing  zinc  ores, 
and  this  was  done  under  the  direction  of 
Mr.  Wharton  in  1860.  The  capacity  of 
the  works  is  about  2000  tons  per  annum, 
and  their  actual  daily  product  in  the  winter 
of  1860—1,  is  over  three  tons.  Four  stacks 
or  blocks  are  constructed,  each  containing 
four  furnaces.  To  each  furnace  there  are 
56  retorts,  making  in  all  896,  working  two 
charges  in  twenty-four  hours.  Their  total 
capacity  is  about  five  tons  of  metal.  Be- 
sides the  ordinary  spelter  of  this  manufac- 
ture, which,  as  will  be  seen  by  the  remarks 
that  follow,  is  remarkable  for  its  freedom  from 
injurious  mixtures,  and  is  the  best  commer- 
cial zinc  in  the  world,  Mr.  Wharton  also 
prepares  from  selected  ores  a pure  zinc 
for  the  use  of  chemists,  and  for  purposes  in 
which  a high  degree  of  purity  is  essential. 
This  is  cast  in  ingots  of  about  nine  pounds 
each,  and  is  sold  at  the  price  of  ten  cents 
per  pound.  For  the  supply  of  chemists,  and 
for  the  batteries  employed  by  the  telegraph 
companies,  the  American  zinc  of  this  manu- 
facture is  preferred  to  all  others.  The  total 
annual  consumption  of  crude  spelter  in  the 
United  States  amounts  to  the  value  of  about 
$600,000 ; and  the  value  of  sheet  zinc,  nails, 
etc.,  is  about  as  much  more. 

The  commercial  zincs,  it  has  long  been 
known,  are  contaminated  by  various  foreign 
substances,  the  existence  of  some  of  which 


100 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


is  indicated  in  the  finely  divided  black  sub- 
stance which  remains  floating  or  sinking  in 
the  liquid,  when  the  metal  is  dissolved  in 
dilute  acids.  The  impurities  have  been 
stated  by  different  chemists  to  consist  of  a 
great  variety  of  substances,  such  as  lead, 
cadmium,  arsenic,  tin,  iron,  manganese,  car- 
bon, etc.  They  injuriously  affect  the  quality 
of  the  metal  for  many  of  its  uses  ; and  the 
presence  of  one  of  them,  arsenic,  is  fatal  to 
the  highly  important  use  of  zinc  by  chemists, 
as  a reagent  in  the  detection  of  arsenic  in 
other  substances.  Arsenic  in  the  form  of  a 
sulphuret  often  accompanies  the  native  sul- 
phurets  of  zinc,  and  its  oxide,  being  volatile, 
is  readily  carried  over  with  the  zinc  fumes 
in  the  metallurgic  treatment  of  blende,  and 
may  thus  be  introduced  into  the  spelter.  It  is 
evidently,  therefore,  a matter  of  consequence 
to  know  the  qualities  of  the  different  zincs 
of  commerce,  and  the  exact  nature  of  the 
impurities  they  contain.  Very  thorough  in- 
vestigations having  these  objects  in  view 
have  recently  been  made  in  Cambridge, 
Massachusetts,  by  Messrs.  Charles  W.  Eliot 
and  Frank  H.  Storer  of  Boston,  and  the  re- 
sults of  these,  with  a full  description  of  their 
methods  of  examination,  were  communicated, 
May  29,  1860,  to  the  American  Academy 
of  Arts  and  Sciences,  and  published  in  the 
eighth  volume  of  the  new  series  of  their 
Memoirs.  Eleven  varieties  of  zinc  from  dif- 
ferent parts  of  Europe,  and  made  from  the 
ores  of  New  Jersey,  and  of  the  Saucon  val- 
ley, Pennsylvania,  were  experimented  upon, 
of  all  of  which  large  samples  were  at  hand. 
These  varieties  were  the  following  : 1 , Sile- 
sian zinc ; 2,  Vieille  Montagne  zinc ; 3,  New 
Jersey  zinc ; 4,  Pennsylvanian  zinc,  Beth- 
lehem, Pennsylvania ; 5,  Vieille  Montagne 
zinc,  employed  at  the  United  States  mint, 
Philadelphia;  6,  zinc  of  MM.  Rousseau, 
Freres,  Paris,  labelled  and  sold  as  zinc  pur ; 
7,  sheet  zinc  obtained  in  Berlin,  Prussia;  8, 
zinc  made  near  Wrexham,  North  Wales;  9, 
zinc  from  the  Mines  Royal,  Neath,  South 
Wales  ; 10,  zinc  from  the  works  of  Dillwyn 
& Co.,  Swansea,  South  Wales;  11,  zinc 
from  the  works  of  Messrs.  Vivian,  Swansea. 
All  of  these,  except  the  Pennsylvania  zinc, 
furnished  an  insoluble  residue,  which  was 
found  to  consist  chiefly  of  metallic  lead,  and 
this  proved  to  be  the  principal  impurity  of 
all  the  samples  examined ; “ the  carbon,  tin, 
copper,  iron,  arsenic,  and  other  impurities 
found  in  the  metal  by  previous  observers, 
occur  either  in  very  minute  quantities,  or 


rarely,  and  doubtless  accidentally.”  The 
proportions  of  lead  present  in  100  parts  of 
each  of  the  varieties  examined  were  respect- 
ively as  follows  : in  No.  1,  1.46  ; 2,  0.292  ; 
3,0.079;  4,0.000;  5,0.494;  6,0.106;  7, 
1.297;  8,1.192;  9,0.823;  10,1.661;  11, 
1.516.  The  New  Jersey  zinc  was  found  to 
contain  a sensible  quantity  of  tin,  copper 
amounting  to  0.1298  per  cent.,  iron  0.2088 
per  cent.,  and  an  unusually  large  amount  of 
arsenic.  Traces  of  this  were  also  detected 
in  the  white  oxide  prepared  from  the  ores 
of  the  New  Jersey  mines,  and  in  the  red 
oxide  ore  itself ; but  the  same  ore  afforded 
no  clue  as  to  the  source  whence  the  copper 
was  derived,  a metal  of  which  not  the  slight- 
est traces  were  discoverable  in  the  other 
zincs.  None  of  the  samples  contained  suf- 
ficient arsenic  to  admit  of  its  proportion  be- 
ing determined,  and  some  wrere  entirely  free 
from  it,  as  some  of  the  Belgian  and  Pennsyl- 
vania spelter,  but  traces  of  it  were  met  with 
in  other  samples  from  the  same  regions,  in- 
dicating that  the  occasional  use  of  inferior 
ores,  such  as  blende,  intermixed  with  the 
carbonates  and  silicates,  might  introduce 
this  substance,  or  possibly  it  might  come 
over  only  in  the  first  part  of  the  distillation, 
and  the  zinc  collected  in  the  latter  part 
might  be  quite  free  from  it.  The  Silesian 
zinc  contained  minute  quantities  of  sulphur 
and  arsenic  ; and  the  English  zinc  more  ar- 
senic than  any  other,  except  perhaps  the 
New  Jersey.  The  purest  of  all  the  samples 
was  that  from  Bethlehem,  Pennsylvania, 
some  of  it  yielding  no  impurity,  except  a 
trace  of  cadmium.  The  source  of  a trace 
of  arsenic  in  another  sample  is  supposed  to 
be  in  the  use  of  the  crust  of  oxide  of  zinc 
from  the  operations  connected  with  the 
manufacture  of  white  oxide  of  zinc,  no  par- 
ticular care  being  taken  in  that  process  to 
reject  inferior  ores,  and  this  crust  being 
taken  to  the  other  works  where  the  metal  is 
prepared  and  mixed  with  the  selected  ores 
employed  for  this  use,  it  has  thus  introduced 
the  arsenic.  As  the  authors  of  the  paper 
remark,  there  seems  to  be  no  reason  why 
zinc  of  uniform  purity  should  not  be  ob- 
tained from  the  excellent  ores  of  the  Saucon 
valley  mines. 

EUROPEAN  MANUFACTURE. 

A large  portion  of  the  zinc  of  commerce 
is  furnished  by  the  works  of  the  Vieille 
Montagne  Company,  established  near  the 
frontier  of  Belgium  and  Prussia,  chiefly  in 


ZINC. 


101 


the  province  of  Liege  of  the  former  country. 
A large  number  of  mines  are  worked  in  this 
region,  the  most  important  of  which  is  that 
of  the  Vieille  Montagne  or  Altenberg,  sit- 
uated in  the  village  of  Moresnet,  between 
Aix-la-Chapelle  and  the  town  of  Liege.  It 
is  said  that  the  great  body  of  carbonate  of 
zinc  found  here  was  worked  as  long  ago  as 
the  year  1435,  and  that  for  four  centuries  it 
was  not  known  that  the  ore  was  of  metallic 
character,  but  it  was  used  as  a peculiar  earth 
adapted  for  converting  copper  into  brass. 
The  ore  lies  in  a basin-like  depression  in 
strata  of  magnesian  limestone,  and  is  much 
mixed  with  beds  of  clay  intercalated  among 
its  layers.  The  ore  is  chiefly  carbonate 
mixed  with  the  silicate  and  oxide  of  zinc. 
Some  of  it  is  red,  from  the  oxide  of  iron  in- 
termixed, and  this  produces  only  about  33 
per  cent,  of  metal.  The  purer  white  ore 
yields  about  46  per  cent.,  and  is  moreover 
much  preferred  on  account  of  its  working 
better  in  the  retorts.  The  furnaces  em- 
ployed in  the  distillation  of  these  ores  are 
constructed  upon  a very  large  scale,  and  on 
a different  plan  from  those  in  use  in  Great 
Britain.  The  general  character  of  the  oper- 
ations, however,  is  the  same.  The  ores  are 
first  calcined,  losing  about  one  fifth  of  their 
weight.  They  are  then  ground  in  mills,  and 
charges  are  made  up  of  1100  lbs.  of  the 
powdered  ore  mixed  with  550  lbs.  of  fine 
coal.  The  mixture  being  well  moistened 
with  water,  is  introduced  into  cylindrical  re- 
torts, which  are  three  feet  8 inches  long 
and  6 inches  diameter  inside,  set  inclining 
outward,  to  the  number  of  42  in  a single 
furnace,  and  4 such  furnaces  are  constructed 
in  one  stack.  The  open  end  of  each  retort 
connects,  by  means  of  an  iron  adapter  16 
inches  long,  with  a wrought-iron  cone,  the 
little  end  of  which,  projecting  out  from  the 
furnace,  is  only  an  inch  in  diameter.  After 
the  charges  have  been  sufficiently  heated, 
the  sublimed  zinc  condenses  in  the  neck  of 
the  retort  and  in  the  adapter  and  cone.  The 
last  two  are  then  removed,  and  the  zinc  and 
oxide  are  collected  from  them,  and  the  liq- 
uid metal  in  the  neck  of  the  retorts  is 
drawn  out  and  caught  in  a large  ladle,  from 
which  it  is  poured  into  moulds.  The  zinc 
thus  obtained  is  remclted  before  it  is  rolled. 
Two  charges  are  run  through  in  twenty-four 
hours,  each  furnace  producing  from  2200  lbs. 
of  ore  about  620  lbs.  of  metal,  which  is 
about  30  per  cent.  From  a late  report  of 
these  operations  it  appears  that  there  are 


seven  large  smelting  establishments  belong- 
ing to  the  Vieille  Montagne  Zinc  Mining 
Company,  on  the  borders  of  Belgium  and 
Prussia,  comprising  230  furnaces.  The  an- 
nual product  of  these  is  29,000  tons  of  spel- 
ter, of  which  23,000  tons  are  converted  into 
sheet  zinc,  and  about  7000  tons  are  rolled  at 
mills  not  the  property  of  the  company.  They 
also  manufacture  oxide  of  zinc  in  three  es- 
tablishments devoted  to  this  operation,  to 
the  amount  of  about  6000  tons  annually.  The 
company  also  purchases  spelter  very  largely. 

The  metallurgy  of  zinc  has,  within  a few 
years  past,  become  an  important  branch  of 
industry  in  Upper  Silesia  on  the  borders  of 
Poland,  and  not  far  from  Cracow.  In  1857 
there  were  no  less  than  47  zinc  works  in  this 
part  of  Prussia,  one  of  which,  named  Lydog- 
niahiitte,  at  Konigshutte,  belonged  to  the 
government,  and  the  remainder  were  owned 
by  private  companies  and  individuals.  In 
that  year  their  total  production  was  31,480 
tons  of  spelter,  valued  at  about  17,660,000 
francs.  Many  of  the  establishments  belong 
to  the  Silesian  Company,  which  also  owns 
several  coal  mines  near  their  works,  and  a 
number  of  zinc  mines.  The  government 
works  are  supplied  with  ores  from  their  own 
mines,  and  also  from  all  the  others,  being 
entitled  to  one  twentieth  of  their  product. 
From  a description  of  the  operations  pub- 
lished in  the  sixteenth  volume  of  the  Annales 
dcs  Mines , fifth  series,  1859,  it  appears  that 
the  processes  are  the  same  which  had  been 
employed  for  full  twenty  years  previously, 
and  each  establishment  presents  little  else 
than  a repetition  of  the  works  of  the  others. 
The  furnace  in  use  is  a double  stack,  fur- 
nished along  each  side  with  horizontal  ovens, 
into  each  of  which  three  muffles  or  retorts 
are  introduced.  These  are  constructed  of 
refractory  fire  clays,  and  are  charged,  like 
the  retorts  of  gas  furnaces,  by  conveying  the 
material  upon  a long  charger  or  spoon  into 
the  interior.  Their  dimensions  are  about  4 
feet  long,  22  inches  high,  and  8£  inches  wide, 
and  the  weight  of  the  charge  introduced  is 
only  about  55  pounds.  The  ovens  on  each 
side  of  the  stacks  contain  as  many  as  20  and 
sometimes  30  retorts.  The  same  stack  con- 
tains besides,  1st,  an  oven  in  which  the  ores 
belonging  to  it  arc  roasted  for  expelling  the 
water  and  a portion  of  the  carbonic  acid  they 
contain  (a  process  in  which  they  lose  about 
-J  their  weight) ; 2d,  an  oven  for  baking  the 
retorts,  each  establishment  making  its  own  ; 
and  3d,  a furnace  for  remelting  and  purifying 


102 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


the  zinc  obtained  from  the  retorts.  Several 
stacks  are  arranged  in  a large  building  with 
close  walls  and  open  along  the  top  of  the 
roof  to  allow  the  smoke  to  escape.  On  one 
side,  connected  with  it,  are  the  workshops 
in  which  the  muffles  are  made  and  various 
other  operations  are  carried  on. 

The  principal  zinc  mines  are  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  Beutlien,  and  are  found  in  the  magne- 
sian limestones  of  the  new  red  sandstone 
formation.  They  are  connected  with  the 
zinc  works,  which  are  principally  near  Ko- 
nigshiitte,  by  branch  railroads  connecting 
with  the  principal  line  of  road  between 
Tarnowitz  and  Kattowitz.  The  ores  are 
chiefly  carbonates,  always  mixed  with  much 
oxide  of  iron,  which  is  sometimes  present  to 
the  extent  of  20  per  cent.,  and  with  them  is 
also  associated  more  or  less  silicate  of  zinc, 
blende,  galena,  and  cadmium.  Their  per- 
centage of  zinc  is  very  variable,  rarely  reach- 
ing 35,  and  probably  averaging  21  or  22  per 
cent.  Much  that  is  worked  does  not  exceed 
12  per  cent.  They  lie  in  irregular  deposits, 
and  it  is  found  that  their  yield  of  zinc  has 
been  gradually  falling  off,  so  that  it  is  now 
only  about  two  fifths  of  what  it  was  formerly. 
This  low  yield  involves  a large  consumption 
of  fuel,  which  is  20  tons  for  one  of  zinc  ob- 
tained ; and  if  this  deterioration  continues, 
the  mines  must  some  time  hence  be  aban- 
doned. The  coal  employed  in  working  the 
ores  is  of  poor  quality,  burning  without 
flame ; but  it  leaves  no  cinder,  and  is  pro- 
cured from  mines  very  near  the  works,  and 
at  the  extraordinary  low  price  of  6 to  7 
francs  the  1000  kilogrammes  (about  one  ton). 
The  retorts  are  charged  every  24  hours  with 
roasted  ore  reduced  to  the  size  of  nuts,  and 


mixed  with  oxide  of  zinc  from  previous  op- 
erations, with  the  dross  from  the  crucible 
employed  in  remelting,  with  the  incrustations 
from  the  muffles  and  their  connections  out- 
side the  furnaces,  and  in  fine  with  cinders 
that  have  fallen  through  the  grates,  these  last 
making  about  £ the  bulk  of  the  charge. 
The  workmen  having  discharged  a muffle  of 
the  liquid  zinc  and  oxide  remaining  from  the 
previous  operation  by  drawing  them  forward, 
so  that  they  fall  upon  an  iron  shelf  placed 
below  to  catch  them,  and  having  repaired 
any  cracks  and  holes  in  the  muffle,  they  in- 
troduce the  new  charge  in  small  portions  at  a 
time,  and  immediately  adjust  the  outer  con- 
nection, which  is  also  of  earthenware  bent 
down  at  a right  angle,  and  close  up  the 
openings  in  front.  The  zinc  soon  begins  to 
distil  over,  and  drops  down  upon  the  iron 
shelf,  forming  pieces  of  all  shapes  ; and  it  is 
more  or  less  mixed  with  oxide  colored  yel- 
low by  the  oxide  of  cadmium.  When  re- 
melted and  run  into  moulds,  the  spelter  is 
stated  to  have  about  the  following  composi- 
tion : zinc,  97.50,  cadmium,  1.00,  lead,  0.20, 
arsenic,  0.84,  sulphur,  0.05,  together  'with 
traces  of  tin,  iron,  and  carbon  ; but  the  char- 
acter and  proportion  of  the  impurities  are 
probably  very  variable.  The  expenses  of 
the  manufacture  at  the  royal  works  amount- 
ed for  the  year  1856  to  48.60  francs  the 
metrical  quintal  (220.47  lbs.),  and  in  1858 
to  54.84  francs ; consisting  in  the . latter 
year  of  the  following  items : ore,  26.84  ; 
fuel,  14.30;  labor,  7.00;  materials  employ- 
ed. 3.70  ; general  expenses,  3.00.  The  oper- 
ations of  the  Silesian  Company  at  their 
several  works  for  the  first  half  of  the  year 
1858  are  thus  presented  : — 


COST  OF  THE  SEVERAL  ITEMS  PER  METRICAL  QUINTAL  OF,  PRODUCT. 


Zinc  Cost  of  Sundry 

Name  of  Works.  Ores  treated,  obtained.  labor.  Fuel.  Ores.  expenses.  Total  cost. 

Met.  quint.  Met.  quint.  Francs.  Francs.  Francs.  Francs.  Francs. 

Gabor  Silesia 112,399  19,703  4.98  10.35  11.40  4.27  31.00 

Paulshutte 40,784  4,928  7.10  14.69  14.24  4.77  40.80 

Thurzohutte 37,458  4,495  7.57  12.08  12.92  4.90  37.47 

Friedenshiitte 15,345  2,346  5.96  10.66  13.98  4.62  35.22 

Stanislashiitte 40,534  3,978  8.83  16.18  15.66  6.23  46.90 

Carlshiitte 45,918  5,723  6.06  14.80  13.23  6.91  41.00 


292,438  41,173 


The  general  consumption  of  spelter 
throughout  the  world  is  estimated  in  the 
report  to  which  we  have  already  referred,  re- 
lating to  the  Vieille  Montagne  Company, 
to  be  about  67,000  tons,  of  which  about 
44,000  tons  are  sheet  zinc  applied  as  fol- 
lows : — 


Tons. 

For  roofing  and  architectural  purposes 23,000 

“ sheathing  of  ships 3,500 

“ lining  packing  cases 2,500 

“ domestic  utensils 12,000 

“ stamped  ornaments 1,500 

“ miscellaneous  uses 1,500 


44,000 


ZINC. 


103 


The  estimate  of  67,000  tons  as  the  total 
annual  production  of  zinc  is  probably  too 
small  for  Europe  alone.  Taking  the  product 
above  given  of  the  works  of  the  Vieille  Mon- 
tagne  Company,  viz.,  29,000  tons,  and  that 
of  the  Silesian  furnaces,  31,480  tons,  there 
remain  only  6,520  tons  to  be  divided  among 
the  other  zinc-producing  countries.  These 
are  Poland,  on  the  borders  of  Silesia,  the 
annual  production  of  which  is  usually  given 
as  4000  tons  ; England,  which  has  rapidly 
advanced  from  1000  tons  of  spelter  per  an- 
num to  6900  tons  in  1858;  Austria,  which 
produces  1500  tons;  Sweden,  40 tons;  and  the 
Hartz  10  tons.  Zinc,  it  is  believed,  is  also 
manufactured  to  some  extent  in  Spain.  The 
European  production  would,  therefore,  seem 
to  exceed  73,000  tons,  and  for  the  total 
production  of  the  world,  that  of  the  United 
States  and  of  China  should  be  added.  Of 
the  extent  of  the  manufacture  of  the  latter 
country  we  know  nothing.  The  United 
States  produces  of  oxide  of  zinc  and  spelter 
over  7.000  tons,  and  imports  1 2,000,  annually. 

The  value  of  the  ores  at  different  costs  of 
the  metal  is  given  in  the  following  recently 
prepared  table  from  one  of  the  European 
houses : — 


SCHEDULE  OF  THE  COST  OF  ZINC  ORE  ON 
ANTWERP. 

CARBONATE  OF  ZINC. 

Metal  worth 
55  f.  the  100 
kilogrammes. 
Percentage  Value  of  100  Value  of  100 
of  zinc  by  kilogrammes,  kilogrammes. 


Metal  worth  50  francs  the 
100  kilogrammes. 


SHIPBOARD  AT 


Metal  worth  60 
f.  the  100 
kilogrammes. 
Value  of  100 
kilogrammes. 


Analysis. 

Francs. 

Francs. 

Francs. 

40 

80.00 

94.50 

109.00 

45 

102.50 

119.50 

136.50 

50 

125.00 

144.50 

164.00 

55 

147.50 

169.50 

191.50 

60 

170.00 

194.50 

219.00 

65 

192.50 

219.50 

246.50 

70 

215.00 

244.50 

274.00 

SILICATE 

OK  ZINC. 

40 

45.00 

67.00 

69.00 

45 

67.50 

82.00 

96.50 

50 

90.00 

107.00 

124.00 

55 

112.50 

132.00 

151.50 

60 

135.00 

157.00 

179.00 

65 

167.60 

182.00 

206.50 

70 

180.00 

207.00 

234.00 

A kilogramme  is  equivalent  to  2205  lbs. 
avoirdupois. 

Twenty-five  years  ago  the  quantity  of  zinc 
used  for  roofing  did  not  exceed  5,000  tons 
per  annum,  and  no  zinc  was  employed  for 
sheathing  ships,  or  lining  packing  cases. 
The  stamped  ornaments  in  this  metal  only 
came  into  use  in  1852.  In  Germany  zinc  is 
now  very  generally  used  for  roofing ; and  in 
Paris  it  has  been  employed  for  nearly  every 


roof  constructed  during  the  last  twenty-five 
years.  In  laying  the  sheets  great  care  is 
taken  that  the  metal  has  sufficient  room  to 
expand  and  contract  by  change  of  tempera- 
ture; and  especially  that  it  is  fastened  with 
zinc  nails,  and  is  allowed  to  come  nowhere 
in  contact  with  iron — even  with  nail  heads. 
The  purer  the  metal  the  longer  it  lasts. 

Besides  the  uses  named  for  this  metal,  it 
is  employed  for  coating  sheet  iron,  making 
what  is  called  galvanized  iron ; for  pipes  for 
conveying  liquids ; for  baths,  water-tanks, 
milk-pans  and  pails,  plates  for  engraving ; 
for  galvanic  batteries  ; for  nails,  spikes,  and 
wire;  for  signs;  music  printing ; and  for  the 
cornices  of  bkildings.  It  has  also  been  cast 
into  statues,  in  imitation  of  bronze.  The 
Vieille  Montagne  Company  sent  to  the  Great 
Exhib  tion  in  London  a stat  ue  of  Queen  Vic- 
toria, which  with  its  pedestal  of  zinc  was 
twenty-one  feet  high.  By  a process  some- 
what like  lithography,  called  Zincography, 
drawings,  old  engravings,  and  autograph  let- 
ters are  transferred  to  it,  and  af  er  treatment 
with  acids,  printed  from  a raised  surface..  A 
modification  of  this  process  called  Photozinc- 
ography, accomplishes  the  difficult  task  of 
printing  from  a photograph.  Zinc  is  also  an 
important  reagent  in  chemical  operations, 
and  is  employed  with  sulphuric  acid  to  de- 
compose water  for  obtaining  hydrogen  gas. 

ZINC  PAINT. 

White  oxide  of  zinc  was  first  recom- 
mended as  a substitute  for  white  lead  by 
the  celebrated  Guyton  de  Morveau  about 
the  close  of  the  last  century,  during  his  in- 
vestigations on  the  subject  of  lead  poison- 
ing ; and  to  him  it  was  suggested  by  Cour- 
tois,  a ‘manufacturer  at  Dijon.  The  high 
price  of  zinc  at  that  time,  and  ignorance 
respecting  the  proper  manner  of  using  the 
oxide  of  zinc,  prevented  its  introduction. 
It  was  many  years  after  this  that  methods  of 
producing  it  as  cheaply  as  white  lead  were 
devised  by  M.  Leclaire,  a house-painter  of 
Paris  ; and  lie  also  first  prepared  to  use  with 
it  a scries  of  yellow  and  green  unchangeable 
colors,  to  replace  those  before  in  use  having 
noxious  bases  of  lead,  copper,  or  arsenic  ; 
and  also  a drying  oil,  prepared  by  boiling 
linseed  oil  with  about  live  per  cent,  of  oxide 
of  manganese.  Ilis  process,  which  is  still 
the  one  in  general  use  in  Europe,  is  based 
on  the  treatment  of  the  metal  instead  of  the 
ore,  as  practised  in  this  country,  and  scarcely 
any  white  oxide  of  zinc  is  there  made  by 


104 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


any  other  method.  The  furnaces  employed 
are  similar  to  those  for  producing  the  metal, 
or  like  those  of  the  gas  works.  When  the 
retorts  set  in  these  furnaces  have  become 
very  hot,  they  are  charged  with  the  ingots 
of  zinc.  The  metal  soon  melts,  and  its 
vapor  passes  off  through  the  outlets  of  the 
retorts,  where  it  meets  a current  of  air,  and 
both  together  are  drawn  on  through  the 
condensing  apparatus  either  by  the  draught 
of  a chimney,  or  by  an  exhausting  fan  at  the 
further  extremity  of  the  apparatus.  The 
metallic  vapors  become  oxidized  by  mixing 
with  the  air,  and  are  converted  into  a light, 
flaky,  white  powder,  which  is  the  oxide  of 
zinc.  The  arrangements  for  condensing 
and  collecting  this  are  similar  in  principle 
to  those  employed  for  the  same  purposes  in 
the  American  process.  By  making  use  of 
the  metal  in  retorts,  instead  of  subliming  it 
from  ores  contaminated  with  their  own  im- 
purities, and  mixed  with  the  coal  required 
for  conducting  the  process,  a much  purer 
oxide  of  zinc  is  obtained ; and  by  selecting 
the  purest  sorts  of  spelter,  the  beautiful 
article,  called  by  the  French  blanc  de  neige , 
or  “ snow-white,”  is  produced,  which  is 
employed  by  painters  in  the  place  of  the 
“ silver- white.”  With  the  use  of  other  zinc, 
the  product  is  fit  to  be  substituted  for  the 
best  white  lead.  But  if  the  metal  has  been 
made  from  ores  containing  cadmium  or  iron, 
or  if  old  zinc  has  been  introduced  to  which 
any  solder  adheres,  according  to  the  French 
chemists  oxides  of.  other  metals  are  pro- 
duced, and  are  taken  up  in  small  quantities 
with  the  zinc  vapors,  imparting  to  the  oxide 
a slightly  yellow  or  greenish  tint,  which  if 
not  very  decided  may  however  disappear 
when  the  paint  is  mixed ; but  the  expe- 
rience of  American  manufacturers  does  not 
accord  with  this  explanation. 

The  manufacture  of  white  oxide  of  zinc 
direct  from  the  ore  is  a purely  American 
process,  established  by  the  experiments  of 
Mr.  Richard  Jones  of  Philadelphia  in  the 
year  1850.  The  great  bodies  of  the  rich 
ores  of  northern  New  Jersey  had  at  various 
times,  for  the  past  two  centuries,  attracted 
the  attention  of  many  persons  interested  in 
metallurgical  operations ; and  of  late  years 
numerous  attempts  had  been  made  to  devise 
some  method  of  converting  them  to  useful 
purposes.  Zinc,  however,  was  a metal  not 
much  in  demand,  and  nothing  was  known 
of  the  useful  qualities  of  the  white  oxide. 
When  the  value  of  this  had  been  demon- 


strated in  Europe,  and  the  practicability  of 
producing  it  economically  from  the  red 
oxide  was  shown,  a company  was  organized 
in  New  York  under  the  name  of  the  New 
Jersey  Zinc  Company,  for  the  purpose  of 
carrying  on  this  manufacture  upon  a large 
scale.  This  association  was  incorporated  by 
the  Legislature  of  New  Jersey,  February 
15,  1849,  and  the  report  of  their  operations, 
made  December  31,  1853,  by  their  presi- 
dent, C.  E.  Detmold,  Esq.,  showed  a pro- 
duction, for  1852,  of  2,425,506  lbs.  of  oxide ; 
and  for  1853,  of  4,043,415  lbs.;  and  the 
total  production  for  10  years,  ending  with 
1860,  has  amounted  to  above  19,500  tons. 
Their  works  were  established  at  Newark,  N. 
J.,  to  which  place  the  ores  are  brought  by 
the  Morris  and  Essex  canal ; and  the  an- 
thracite consumed  in  the  manufacture  is 
also  delivered  by  water  transportation.  The 
company  has  forty  furnaces,  that  may  be 
kept  in  constant  operation.  The  character 
of  the  process  is  like  that  which  will  be 
given  below,  as  conducted  by  the  Passaic 
Mining  and  Manufacturing  Company. 

The  success  of  the  enterprise  of  the  New 
Jersey  Zinc  Company,  and  the  discovery  in 
1853  of  the  great  beds  of  silicate  and  car- 
bonate of  zinc  in  the  Saucon  valley,  Penn- 
sylvania, led  to  the  organization  in  that  year 
of  the  Pennsylvania  a?id  Lehigh  Zinc  Com- 
pany, and  the  erection  of  furnaces  for  mak- 
ing the  oxide  at  Bethlehem,  on  the  Lehigh 
river.  The  operations  were  conducted  by 
Samuel  Wetherill,  Esq.,  by  a patented  proc- 
ess of  his  own  invention,  and  at  a contract 
price  of  $50  per  ton  ; the  ore  being  deliv- 
ered by  the  company  at  the  works  for  $1.50 
per  ton.  About  four  tons  were  consumed  to 
the  ton  of  oxide.  The  company  mined  up 
to  January,  1860,  about  60,000  tons  of  ore, 
and  at  that  time  were  manufacturing  about 
320,000  lbs.  of  oxide  of  zinc  per  month. 

A third  company  was  established  in  1855, 
called  the  Passaic  Mining  and  Manufactur- 
ing Company,  and  their  works,  constructed 
at  Communipaw,  on  the  Morris  canal  near 
Jersey  City,  went  into  operation  in  June  of 
that  year.  They  obtained  their  ores  both 
from  the  mines  of  red  oxide  in  Sussex 
county,  and  from  the  Saucon  valley  mines  in 
Pennsylvania.  They  employed  24  furnaces, 
built  in  3 stacks,  of  8 each,  in  which  they 
were  arranged  like  ovens,  half  of  them  open- 
ing on  one  side  and  half  on  the  opposite 
side.  Each  one  was  about  6 feet  in  depth 
(from  front  to  back),  4 feet  in  width,  and 


ZINC. 


105 


about  3 J feet  in  height.  The  roof  was  arch- 
ed, with  an  opening  through  it  for  the  pipe 
which  conveyed  away  the  vapor  and  products 
of  combustion.  The  sole  was  formed  of  cast- 
iron  plates,  which  were  perforated  full  of  small 
holes  for  admitting  the  blast  to  penetrate 
every  portion  of  the  charge,  as  the  wind  was 
driven  by  two  large  fan-blowers  into  the  re- 
ceptacle under  the  furnace  corresponding  to 
the  ash-pit.  The  ores  were  prepared  by  first 
crushing  them  to  powder,  which  was  done  by 
passing  them  through  two  pairs  of  Cornish 
rolls,  and  then  mixing  them  thoroughly  with 
about  half  their  weight  of  the  dust  of  anthra- 
cite. A fire  was  kindled  upon  the  grate-bars 
of  250  lbs.  of  pea  coal,  and  when  ignited  to 
full  whiteness  the  charge  of  600  lbs.  of  ore, 
mixed  with  300  of  coal  dust,  was  added,  and 
when  exhausted  the  charge  was  withdrawn, 
leaving  only  sufficient  coal  to  ignite  the  next 
charge,  thus  working  off  4 charges  in  every 
24  hours.  The  proportion  of  oxide  obtained 
from  the  ore  was  variable,  as  the  charge  was 
not  of  uniform  quality ; but  it  was  usually 
between  30  and  40  per  cent.  As  the  coal 
rapidly  consumed  from  the  effect  of  the  blast, 
the  ores  wrere  decomposed,  and  metallic  zinc 
sublimed.  The  vapor  rose  with  the  gaseous 
products  of  combustion,  and  all  were  carried 
up  the  pipe,  which  just  above  the  roof  of 
the  stack  terminate  under  an  inverted  fun- 
nel, the  base  of  which  covered  the  lower  pipe 
like  a hood,  and  the  upper  portion  was  a 
pipe  like  that  below.  A strong  current  of 
air  was  created  by  two  exhausting  fan- 
blowers,  at  the  other  extremity  of  the  ap- 
paratus, and  the  vapors  were  drawn  up  to- 
gether with  much  air  which  flowed  in  around 
the  open  base  of  the  funnel,  and  caused  at 
this  point  a vivid  combustion  of  the  zinc 
vapors,  which  burned  with  a pale  blue  flame, 
and  were  thus  converted  into  oxide.  The 
appearance  presented  by  this  combustion 
actively  going  on  in  full  view  under  each 
hood  was  very  striking,  and  was  far  from 
suggesting  to  an  observer  unacquainted  with 
the  process,  the  possibility*  that  from  the 
pale  flames  rushing  up  the  pipes  any  valua- 
ble product  could  be  recovered.  The  pipes 
connected  above  with  a cylindrical  sheet-iron 
receiver  that  extended  over  the  three  stacks, 
so  as  to  secure  the  products  of  all  the  fur- 
naces. It  was  a huge  pipe,  G|  feet  in  diam- 
eter, and  130  feet  long,  and  parsed  along 
under  the  roof,  against  a line  of  windows  on 
each  side,  through  which  air  was  admitted 
for  hastening  the  cooling  of  the  products. 


The  pipe  discharged  into  a square  tower  in 
masonry,  and  in  this  the  particles  were 
washed  and  cooled  by  a continual  falling 
sheet  of  water.  The  light  flocculent  oxide 
of  zinc  was  not  carried  down  by  this  to  any 
great  extent,  but  was  drawn  on  by  the  ex- 
haust through  3 large  pipes  to  a second  tower 
with  three  divisions,  in  which  the  fans  wrere 
placed  that  created  the  draught.  From  this 
the  current,  still  propelled  by  the  fans,  moved 
on  through  other  pipes  that  connected  with 
the  system  of  flannel  bags,  which  in  great 
numbers,  and  of  extraordinary  sizes,  were  sus- 
pended throughout  the  portion  of  the  build- 
ing devoted  to  the  final  cooling  of  the  oxide, 
and  filtering  it  from  the  gaseous  matters  inter- 
mixed. Some  of  the  bags  extended  the  whole 
length  of  the  rooms,  which  were  120  feet 
long  by  64  wide,  and  the  diameter  of  the  larg- 
est of  them  was  over  4 feet.  They  were  ar- 
ranged near  together,  and  some  were  carried 
vertically  from  the  horizontal  ones  up  to  the 
roof.  Through  the  pores  of  the  flannel  the 
gases  escaped,  and  the  oxide  of  zinc  remained 
thoroughly  purified.  Nearly  200,000  square 
feet  of  flannel  were  worked  into  these  bags  ; 
and  one  person  was  almost  constantly  em- 
ployed with  a sewing  machine,  and  two  others 
working  by  hand,  in  making  and  repairing 
them.  Along  the  under  side  of  the  horizontal 
bags  pipes  of  cotton  cloth,  ten  or  twelve  inches 
in  diameter,  reached  down  nearly  to  the  floor, 
and  were  kept  tied  around  their  lower  ends. 
These  were  called  the  teats  ; and  the  oxide  of 
zinc  was  collected  by  lifting  up  the  portions 
of  the  bags  where  it  had  settled,  and  shaking 
the-e  so  as  to  make  it  fall  into  the  teats.  The 
ends  of  these  were  then  opened,  and  the 
white  zinc  was  received  in  strong  bags, 
which  being  tied  up  were  laid  upon  a truck, 
and  this  was  run  by  steam  power  back  and 
forth  under  a compressing  roller.  The  air 
dispersed  through  it,  rendering  it  so  light 
and  bulky,  was  thus  expelled,  and  the  oxide 
was  converted  into  a dense,  heavy  powder. 
The  last  process  was  to  grind  this  with 
bleached  linseed  oil,  which  was  done  in  the 
ordinary  paint  mills.  The  paint  was  then 
transferred  into  small  kegs  for  the  market. 

The  residuum  of  the  furnace  charge,  when 
of  red  oxide,  consisted  of  some  unsublimed 
zinc  ore  mixed  with  franklinite  and  more  or 
less  unconsumed  coal.  It  was  raked  out  in 
the  form  of  slags,  and  accumulated  in  immense 
piles  about  the  works.  In  1853,  Mr.  Detmold 
succeeded  in  using  this  as  an  iron  ore,  and  pro- 
duced excellent  iron  which  proved  to  be  also 


106 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


well  adapted  for  the  manufacture  of  steel. 
The  iron  manufacture  has  been  continued,  and 
has  become  a profitable  branch  of  the  opera- 
tions of  the  United  States  Zinc  Company,  pro- 
ducing about  2000  tons  of  zinc  per  annum. 
The  franklinite  itself  had  been  used  a year  ear- 
lier for  the  same  purposes  by  Mr.  Edwin  Post, 
at  Stanhope,  and  from  this  he  obtained  both 
iron  and  steel ; but  when  the  manufacture 
was  undertaken  upon  a large  scale  by  the 
New  Jersey  Franklinite  Company,  at  Frank- 
lin, New  Jersey,  it  proved  unsuccessful  in 
practice. 

The  product  of  the  zinc  works  of  the  Pas- 
saic Company  for  the  year  1856,  was  2,327,- 
920  lbs.  of  oxide  of  zinc ; and  the  monthly 
production  for  the  year  1860  was  about 
400,000  lbs.  from  16  furnaces.  With  the  24 
in  blast  their  monthly  capacity  was  from  280 
to  300  tons  of  2,000  lbs.  to  the  ton.  The 
total  annual  product  of  the  three  establish- 
ments was  from  6000  to  7000  tons  of  oxide. 
For  a few  years  the  zinc  paints  were  popu- 
lar, and  made  considerable  inroads  upon  the 
market  for  white  lead ; but  the  general  ver- 
dict of  intelligent  and  skilful  painters  is  that 
they  are  inferior  to  the  lead  both  in  body 
and  permanency,  and  their  sale  has  fallen  off 
at  least  nine-tenths  since  1865. 

The  rate  of  the  importations  of  zinc,  spelter 
and  manufactures  of  zinc,  with  the  re-exports 
of  the  same  from  1859  to  1870,  both  in- 


clusive, were : 

Imported.  Re-exported. 

1859  $1,333,112  $14,912 

1860  804,358  26,383 

1861  590,280  19,100 

1862  254,033  563 

1863..., 518,149  4,681 

1864  675,931  3,973 

1865  351,876  47,790 

1866  1,149, *95  38,108 

1867  562,902  3,174 

1868  561,638  18,028 

1869  ....  1,197,682  4,022 

1870  1,003,432  833 


The  importance  of  the  application  of  white 
zinc  to  painting  in  the  place  of  white  lead 
appears  to  have  been  much  more  fully  appre- 
ciated in  France  and  the  United  States  than  in 
Great  Britain.  Soon  after  the  discoveries  of 
Leclaire  that  white  oxide  of  zinc  could  be 
thus  used,  and  produce,  with  the  colored 
bases  he  prepared  of  this  and  other  innocu- 
ous oxides,  all  the  tints  required,  the  French 
government,  recognizing  the  importance  of 
his  inventions,  conferred  upon  him  the  cross 
of  the  Legion  of  Honor,  and  adopted  the 
paints  for  the  public  buildings.  By  the  year 


1849,  over  6000  public  and  private  build- 
ings had  been  painted  with  his  prepara- 
tions, and  the  testimony  was  very  strong  in 
their  favor.  Not  one  of  his  workmen  had 
been  attacked  by  the  painter’s  colic,  though 
previously  a dozen  or  more  suffered  every 
year  from  it.  The  colors  were  pronounced 
more  solid  and  durable  than  the  old,  were 
made  brighter  by  washing,  and  were  not  tar- 
nished by  sulphuretted  hydrogen,  as  occurs 
to  white  lead.  The  best  white  paint  was 
moreover  so  pure  and  brilliant  a white,  that 
it  made  the  best  white  lead  paint  by  its  side 
look  disagreeably  yellow  and  gray.  No  dif- 
ficulty was  experienced  in  making  the  new 
colors,  mixed  with  the  prepared  oil,  dry 
rapidly  without  the  use  of  the  ordinary  dryers 
of  lead  compound  ; and  used  in  equal  weight 
with  lead,  the  zinc  was  found  to  cover  bet- 
ter, and  was,  consequently,  more  economical 
at  equal  prices  per  lb.  The  English,  how- 
ever, found  many  objectionable  qualities  in 
the  new  paint.  Its  transparency,  which  is 
the  cause  of  its  brilliancy,.  by  reflecting  in- 
stead of  absorbing  the  light,  was  regarded  as 
a defect,  and  the  painters  complained  that  it 
had  not  the  body  or  covering  properties  of 
the  carbonate  of  lead.  It  would  not  dry 
rapidly  for  the  second  coat  without  the  use 
of  the  patent  dryers,  which  contain  lead,  and 
therefore  it  was  no  better  than  the  lead. 
Messrs.  Coates  & Co.,  who  now  import  into 
Great  Britain  about  1000  tons  of  oxide  of 
zinc  per  annum,  wrote  to  the  editor  of  the 
Lancet  in  March,  1 860,  that  the  consumption 
of  white  lead  is  still  nearly  100  to  1 of  white 
zinc,  and  that  in  1856  the  importation  of  the 
latter  amounted  to  only  235  tons.  They  as- 
cribe the  real  cause  of  the  larger  consumption 
of  white  lead,  to  the  almost  entire  exclusion  of 
zinc,  to  the  fact,  that  white  lead  can  be  adul- 
terated with  barytes  and  other  cheap  ingre- 
dients without  the  adulteration  being  detected 
by  the  eye,  thus  securing  large  profits  to  the 
manufacturer  and  contractor,  which  cannot 
be  realized  in  the  use  of  zinc  paint,  for  the 
reason  that  it  has  little  affinity  for  foreign  sub- 
stances. The  experience  of  the  manufacturers 
of  the  United  States  does  not  substantiate 
this  statement  as  to  the  difficulty  of  using  the 
oxide  of  zinc  in  mixture  with  other  substances. 
It  is  employed  not  only  alone,  but  mixed 
with  either  barytes  or  white  lead,  or  with 
both  of  them ; and  large  quantities  are  thus 
sold  and  give  satisfaction  to  consumers,  who 
would  reject  the  paint,  if  they  supposed  it  to 
be  any  thing  else  than  white  lead.  As  to  its 


PLATINUM. 


107 


covering  quality,  it  is  found  that  the  oxide  of 
zinc  varies  according  to  the  manner  in  which 
it  has  been  prepared.  The  light  flocculent 
oxide  mixes  readily  with  oil  without  grinding; 
but  though  pressed,  it  covers  much  less  sur- 
face than  the  same  oxide  moulded  when  mois- 
tened with  water,  and  dried  by  artificial  heat. 
This  preparation  also  causes  any  yellowish  or 
greenish  tints  to  disappear,  and  the  article 
may  be  supplied  to  the  consumer  in  cakes, 
which  when  ground  with  oil  will  cover  more 
surface  than  the  same  weight  of  white  lead. 
The  body  of  the  white  zinc  may  be  still  fur- 
ther improved  by  calcination  before  grinding. 

The  inferior  colored  sorts  of  oxide  of  zinc, 
such  as  are  collected  in  the  iron  receivers 
near  the  furnaces,  and  that  made  from  the 
pulverized  ores  of  zinc,  have  been  largely 
employed  for  painting  iron  surfaces,  espec- 
ially on  board  of  ships,  the  paint  being  found 
to  possess  a peculiar  quality  of  protecting 
the  iron  it  covers  from  rusting. 

Besides  its  use  as  a paint,  oxide  of  zinc  is 
applied  to  the  preparation  of  the  mastic  for 
rendering  metallic  joints  tight ; and  to  that  of 
glazed  papers  and  cards,  for  which  white  lead 
and  carbonate  of  barytes  have  heretofore 
been  used.  The  French  use  it  in  preparing 
the  paste  for  artificial  crystals  instead  of 
oxide  of  lead  or  other  metallic  oxides ; and 
they  have  also  made  with  it  some  of  the 
finest  sorts  of  cut  glass  and  especially  lenses. 
In  the  Great  Exhibition  of  1851,  an  award 
was  made  to  specimens  of  zinc  glass  which 
presented  a very  pleasing  and  white  appear- 
ance, and  were  regarded  as  especially  suited 
to  achromatic  purposes.  It  was  remarkable 
for  its  being  purer  and  more  pellucid  than 
lead  glass,  and  also  of  greater  specific  gravity. 

A patent  has  been  granted  in  the  United 
States  for  the  manufacture  of  flint  glass  with 
oxide  of  zinc,  and  specimens  of  glass  were 
produced  with  it  in  1860,  which  were  re- 
markable for  their  brilliancy  and  beautiful 
surface,  or  “ skin,”  as  it  is  called.  The  glass 
is  more  infusible  than  that  made  with  oxide 
of  lead,  and  there  seems  to  be  no  good  rea- 
son to  prevent  it  coming  rapidly  into  use. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

PLATINUM. 

Although  this  metal  is  not  obtained  in 
large  quantity  in  the  United  States,  it  is 
found  associated  with  the  gold  in  many  lo- 
7 * 


calities  in  California  and  Oregon,  and  has 
been  detected  in  Rutherford  county,  North 
Carolina,  and  in  traces  in  the  lead  and  cop- 
per ores  of  Lancaster  county,  Pennsylvania. 
From  the  states  on  the  Pacific  it  has  been 
supposed  that  it  would  yet  be  afforded  as  a 
commercial  article.  It  is  a metal  of  consid- 
erable interest  from  the  extent  to  which  it  is 
used  in  the  United  States,  and  the  success 
that  has  attended  the  attempts  to  work  it  in 
Philadelphia  and  New  York.  The  metal  is 
supplied  to  commerce  from  no  certain  source, 
and  finds  its  way  into  the  United  States  in 
a great  variety  of  forms,  as  in  native  grains 
found  in  washing  the  gold  deposits  of  Cauca 
on  the  western  coast  of  South  America,  of 
Brazil,  and  Oregon,  and  in  manufactured  ar- 
ticles imported  from  Europe  and  chiefly 
from  France.  Russia  produced  between  the 
years  1824  and  1845  many  times  as  much 
platinum  as  all  the  rest  of  the  world,  and 
introduced  the  metal  into  her  coinage ; but 
after  1845  it  was  no  longer  coined,  and  the 
yield  of  flhe  deposits  in  the  Ural  has  dwin- 
dled away  to  almost  nothing.  The  supply 
from  Borneo  has  been  very  large  for  some 
years,  the  whole  product  of  the  island  some- 
times amounting  to  600  lbs.  a year.  It  is 
found  in  small  grains  and  lumps  in  the 
sands  that  are  washed  for  gold ; and  pieces 
of  several  pounds  have  been  met  with  in  Si- 
beria, the  largest  weighing  over  22  lbs.  troy. 
The  properties  which  give  to  the  metal  its 
great  value,  as  its  power  of  resisting  the  ef- 
fects of  heat  and  many  of  the  most  powerful 
chemical  agents,  also  render  it  exceedingly 
difficult  to  work  and  to  convert  into  useful 
shapes.  The  crude  grains  are  generally  al- 
loyed to  the  amount  of  about  20  per  cent,  of 
their  weight  with  the  very  refractory  metal 
iridium,  with  osmium,  rhodium,  iron,  and 
sometimes  other  metals  also.  It  is  separated 
from  the  chief  part  of  these  and  purified  by 
dissolving  the  grains  in  aqua  regia , a mixture 
of  nitric  and  hydrochloric  acid,  and  causing 
the  metal  to  be  precipitated  by  sal-ammoniac. 
It  falls  in  a yellowish  powder,  which  is  a 
compound  of  platinum,  ammonia,  and  chlo- 
rine. To  decompose  this  the  compound  is 
separated  from  the  liquid,  and  being  well 
washed  and  dried,  is  heated  red  hot  in  a cast- 
iron  crucible.  This  drives  off  the  ammonia 
and  chlorine,  and  the  platinum  remains  in 
the  crucible  in  a spongy  condition.  This  is 
condensed  into  solid  metal  by  repeated 
heatings  and  hammerings.  It  has  always 
been  a matter  of  great  difficulty  to  raise 


I 


PLATINUM. 


sufficient  heat  to  soften  the  platinum,  even  in 
quantities  less  than  an  ounce,  so  that  it  could 
he  worked  under  the  hammer.  It  used  for- 
merly to  be  brought  into  a metallic  cake  by 
making  a fusible  alloy  of  it  with  arsenic,  and 
then  burning  out  the  latter  as  much  as  pos- 
sible, and  hammering  or  rolling  the  cake  into 
sheets,  but  the  arsenic  remaining  in  the 
platinum  always  injures  its  quality.  Dr. 
Robert  Hare,  of  Philadelphia,  was  the  first 
to  fuse  the  metal  for  any  practical  purpose, 
and  in  May,  1838,  he  exhibited  a cake  of 
about  23  ounces,  which  was  run  together 
from  grains  and  scraps  by  means  of  the  in- 
tense heat  produced  by  his  oxy-hydrogen 
blowpipe.  From  a reservoir  of  oxygen,  and 
from  another  of  hydrogen,  a gas-pipe  con- 
veyed the  gases  into  one  tube,  in  which  they 
were  mixed  just  back  of  the  igniting  jets ; 
and  in  this  the  explosive  mixture  was  kept 
cool  by  ice  around  the  tube.  Explosion  was 
moreover  guarded  against  by  the  extreme 
fineness  of  the  apertures  through  which  the 
gases  were  made  to  pass. 

This  means  of  working  platinum  has  been 
applied  very  successfully  by  Dr.  E.  A.  L. 
Roberts,  of  Bond  street,  New  York,  in  the 
preparation  of  platinum  plate  and  various 
articles  in  this  metal  employed  by  dentists, 
such  as  the  plates  and  fastenings  for  sets  of 
artificial  teeth,  and  the  little  pins  which  se- 
cure each  tooth  in  its  setting.  The  annual 
consumption  of  these  last,  it  is  estimated, 
amounts  throughout  the  United  States  to 
about  860,000  in  value,  which  is  nearly  £ 
of  the  annual  supply  of  the  metal.  The  ap- 
paratus consists  of  two  cylindrical  copper 
gas-holders,  one  for  hydrogen,  holding  220 
gallons,  and  one  for  oxygen,  holding  80  gal- 
lons. The  Croton  water,  with  a pressure  of 
about  60  lbs.  upon  the  square  inch,  is  ad- 
mitted into  the  bottom  of  these  gas-receivers, 
for  propelling  the  gases  as  they  are  required. 
The  discharge  pipes  have  each  at  their  ex- 
tremity a short  brass  tube,  which  is  full  of 
pieces  of  wire  of  nearly  the  same  length  as 
the  tube,  jammed  in  very  tightly.  These 
unite  in  another  brass  tube  which  is  packed 
in  a similar  way,  and  connects  by  a metallic 
pipe  of  only  4 inch  bore,  with  the  burner. 
This  is  a little  platinum  box,  one  end  of 
which  terminates  in  a disk  of  platinum  or 
copper  £ by  i inch  in  size,  perforated  with 
21  very  minute  holes  in  3 rows.  This  box 
is  buried  in  plaster  of  Paris  mixed  up  with 
fibres  of  asbestus,  forming  a lump  sufficiently 
large  to  contain  around  the  box  a receptacle 


i09 


into  which,  by  means  of  flexible  pipes,  a cur- 
rent of  water  is  admitted  and  discharged  on 
the  same  principle  that  the  water-tuyeres 
of  iron  forges  and  furnaces  are  constructed 
and  kept  cool  while  in  use.  The  burner 
points  downward,  so  that  the  jet  is  directed 
immediately  upon  the  face  of  the  metal  held 
up  beneath  it.  The  method  of  using  the 
apparatus  is  as  follows  : the  platinum  scraps 
being  first  consolidated  by  pressure  in 
moulds  into  compact  cakes  of  10  to  20 
ounces  each,  these  are  placed  upon  a plate 
of  fire-brick,  and  brought  to  a full  white 
heat  in  a powerful  wind  furnace.  The  plate 
with  the  platinum  is  then  removed  from  the 
furnace  and  set  in  a large  tin  pan  thickly 
lined  with  asbestus  and  plaster  of  Paris,  and 
is  brought  directly  under  the  jet,  which  at 
the  same  time  is  ignited.  The  platinum  im- 
mediately begins  to  melt  upon  the  surface, 
and  the  pieces  gradually  run  together  into 
one  mass  as  the  different  parts  of  the  cakes 
are  brought  successively  under  the  jet. 
Though  the  metal  melts  and  flows  upon 
itself,  it  cools  too  rapidly  to  be  cast  in  a 
mould ; nor  is  this  necessary  or  desirable 
for  the  uses  to  which  it  is  applied.  These 
require  a soft  and  tough  material,  while  the 
fused  metal  is  hard  and  sonorous,  and  of 
crystalline  texture,  breaking  like  spelter. 
It  is  made  malleable  and  tough  by  repeated 
heatings  and  hammerings.  It  is  introduced 
into  the  muffle  of  the  assay  furnace  con- 
structed by  Dr.  Roberts  especially  for  pro- 
ducing the  high  heat  required  in  these  and 
similar  operations,  and  is  heated  so  intensely 
that  when  the  door  of  the  furnace  is  opened 
the  cake  of  metal  is  too  dazzlingly  hot  to  be 
visible.  It  is  then  taken  out  with  tongs 
plated  with  platinum,  and  hammered  with  a 
perfectly  clean  hammer  upon  a clean  anvil, 
both  of  which  should  be  as  hot  as  possible 
without  drawing  the  temper  of  the  steel.  If 
the  process  is  one  of  welding,  when  the  pla- 
tinum has  cooled  so  as  to  be  distinctly  visi- 
ble, it  should  be  heated  again,  for  in  this 
condition  every  blow  tends  to  shatter  and 
shake  it  to  pieces.  The  lump  is  forged  by 
hammering  it  to  a thickness  of  about  i of  an 
inch,  and  then  being  again  heated  very  hot, 
is  passed  instantly  through  the  rolls.  It  is 
thus  obtained  in  sheets,  which  arc  easily  con- 
verted into  the  various  uses  to  which  the 
metal  is  applied. 

Upon  the  opposite  page,  the  apparatus 
employed  and  manner  of  conducting  the 
operations  arc  exhibited  in  the  wood-cut; 


110 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


and  the  articles  designated  by  the  figures 
are  thus  explained : — 

1 . Reservoir  for  oxygen. 

2.  “ “ hydrogen. 

3.  Hydrogen  generator. 

4.  Oxygen  “ 

5.  Blowpipe. 

6.  Tuyere. 

7.  Rolls  for  converting  the  metal  into  sheets. 

8.  Gasometer. 

9.  Water  pipes. 

10.  Pan. 

11.  Moulds  in  which  the  loose  pieces  of  metal  are 

compressed. 

Crucibles  for  chemical  use  are  prepared  by 
the  ingenious  method  called  spinning.  A 
disk  of  the  metal  is  securely  fixed  against  the 
end  of  the  mandrel  of  a lathe,  and,  as  it  re- 
volves rapidly,  a blunt  point  is  pressed  upon 
its  surface,  causing  the  plate  to  gradually 
bend  over  and  assume  the  desired  form. 
The  large  platinum  retorts  used  in  the  man- 
ufacture of  sulphuric  acid  are  imported  from 
Paris.  The  whole  amount  of  platinum 
brought  to  the  ^United  States  for  the  year 
1850  was  34,000  oz.  troy,  which,  at  the 
custom-house  valuation  of  $6.10  per  oz., 
amounts  to  $200,000.  The  importation 
since  that  time  has  been  very  irregular,  but 
never  equal  to  this.  The  amount  of  scraps 
remelted  by  Dr.  Roberts  is  about  1000  oz.  a 
year. 

IRIDIUM  AND  OSMIUM. 

An  alloy  of  these  metals  in  fine  grains  of 
excessive  hardness  is  found  very  frequently 
with  platinum  and  with  the  gold  which  is 
refined  at  the  mints.  It  is  of  interest  from 
the  use  to  which  it  is  applied  in  forming  the 
nibs  of  gold  pens ; and  for  this  purpose  the 
small  grains  are  purchased  by  the  pen-makers 
sometimes  at  the  rate  of  $250  an  ounce. 
From  this  quantity  they  may  select  from 
8000  to  12,000  points  of  suitable  size  and 
shape  for  use.  The  alloy  is  known  as  iridos- 
mium,  and  is  also  very  generally  called  irid- 
ium. At  some  seasons  it  has  been  quite 
abundant  in  the  gold  presented  at  the  N ew 
York  assay  office ; but  recently  it  is  more 
rare.  As  it  does  not  fuse  and  alloy  with  the 
gold,  it  appears  in  specks  upon  the  bars  of 
this  metal.  The  method  of  separating  it  is 
to  melt  the  gold  with  a certain  portion  of 
silver,  as  in  the  usual  refining  process.  The 
alloy  thus  obtained  being  less  dense  than  the 
melted  gold,  the  particles  of  iridium  settle  in 
the  lower  portions ; the  upper  is  then  ladled 
off,  and  the  metals  are  parted.  More  of  the 


impure  gold  is  added,  and  the  process  thus 
goes  on  till  a considerable  amount  of  iridium 
is  concentrated  into  the  alloy  of  gold  and 
silver,  from  which  it  is  at  last  obtained  by 
dissolving  these  metals.  According  to  the 
statement  of  Dr.  Thevenet  published  in  the 
Annales  des  Mines  (vol.  xvi.,  1859),  irid- 
ium is  'collected  at  the  gold-washings  along 
the  sea-coast  of  Oregon,  and  is  sometimes 
quite  equal  in  quantity  to  the  gold.  He 
describes  it  as  white,  glistening,  very  heavy, 
its  specific  gravity  being  20  to  21,  very  hard, 
and  resembling  sand,  its  angles  slightly  flat- 
tened and  rounded  by  friction.  It  is  accom- 
panied by  platinum  and  rhodium.  After 
one  of  the  storms  that  prevail  along  this 
coast,  the  miners  at  low  tide  collect  the 
black  sand  and  carry  it  to  the  washing  and 
amalgamating  apparatus,  in  which  it  is  stirred 
with  mercury  and  then  treated  upon  the 
shaking  tables.  Though  by  their  rude  proc- 
esses they  probably  lose  £ of  the  precious 
metals,  they  sometimes  collect  several  ounces 
a day  of  gold  to  the  man.  Near  Fort  Or- 
ford,  to  the  north  of  Rogue  River,  about 
15  per  cent,  of  iridium  is  found  with  the 
gold.  Still  further  north,  between  Cape 
Blanco  and  Coquille,  the  metals  collected 
consist  of  about  45  per  cent,  iridium  and  5 
per  cent,  platinum.  Between  Randolph  and 
Cape  Arago  the  metallic  grains  are  very 
light  and  in  extremely  thin  scales  ; they  con- 
sist of  V0  per  cent,  iridium  and  6 per  cent, 
platinum.  Further  north,  the  iridium  con- 
tinues almost  as  abundantly,  but  mostly  in 
very  fine  particles.  One  piece  was  shown  to 
Dr.  Thevenet  as  a great  curiosity  which  was 
as  large  as  a grain  of  rice.  In  sifting  more 
than  50  lbs.  of  iridium,  he  states  that  he  had 
not  seen  a single  specimen  of  one  quarter 
this  size. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

MERCURY. 

This  metal,  which  is  extensively  employed 
in  the  arts,  especially  in  the  treatment  of  gold 
and  silver  ores  by  amalgamation,  in  the  com- 
bination of  amalgams  for  coating  mirrors,  etc., 
in  the  construction  of  barometers  and  ther- 
mometers, and  other  philosophical  instru- 
ments, in  the  manufacture  of  the  paint  called 
vermilion,  for  several  medicinal  preparations, 
and  for  a variety  of  other  purposes,  was  not 
classed  among  the  productions  of  the  United 
States  until  after  the  acquisition  of  Califor- 


MERCURY. 


Ill 


nia,  when  mines  of  its  principal  ore  were 
opened,  which  have  been  extensively  worked, 
as  will  be  described  below.  Mercury,  which 
is  the  only  fluid  metal,  is  found  both  in  a 
native  state,  dispersed  in  drops  among  the 
slates  that  contain  the  veins  of  its  ores,  and 
also  occurs  in  combination  with  sulphur  in  the 
ore  called  cinnabar,  a compound  of  one  atom 
of  mercury  and  one  of  sulphur,  or  of  86.2 
per  cent,  of  the  former,  and  13.8  per  cent, 
of  the  latter.  Some  other  natural  compounds 
are  known,  which  are  not,  however,  of  much 
importance.  Cinnabar  is  almost  the  exclu- 
sive source  of  the  metal.  This  is  a very 
heavy,  brilliant  ore  of  different  shades  of  red ; 
is  readily  volatilized  at  a red  heat,  giving  off* 
fumes,  wrhen  exposed  to  the  air,  both  mer- 
curial and  sulphurous  ; but  in  tight  vessels  it 
sublimes  without  decomposition,  and  if  lime 
or  iron  be  introduced  with  the  ore  into  re- 
torts, the  sulphur  is  retained  in  combination 
with  the  new  element,  and  the  mercury  es- 
capes in  vapor,  which  may  be  condensed 
and  recovered  in  the  metallic  state.  On 
this  principle  the  process  for  collecting  mer- 
cury is  based.  The  ores  of  mercury  are 
found  in  almost  all  the  geological  formations, 
but  the  productive  mines  are  only  in  the 
metamorphic  or  lowest  stratified  rocks,  and  in 
the  bituminous  slates  of  the  coal  measures. 

In  order  to  appreciate  the  importance  of 
the  mines  of  California,  it  is  necessary  to  un- 
derstand the  extent  of  the  demand  for  this 
metal,  and  the  sources  which  have  supplied  it. 
From  the  time  of  the  ancient  Greeks  and  Ro- 
mans, mercury  has  been  held  in  high  estima- 
tion, and  has  been  furnished  from  the  same 
mines,  which  have  ever  since  produced  the 
chief  part  of  the  product  of  the  world.  Pliny 
states  that  the  Greeks  imported  red  cinnabar 
from  Almaden  in  Spain,  700  years  before 
the  Christian  era,  and  in  his  own  time  it  was 
brought  to  Rome  from  the  same  mines  to 
the  amount  of  700,000  lbs.  annually.  In 
modern  times  the  production  amounts  to 
2,700,000  to  3,456,000  lbs.  per  annum,  and 
is  chiefly  obtained  from  two  veins,  one 
about  2 feet,  and  the  other  14  feet  thick, 
which,  meeting  in  a hill  about  125  feet  high, 
spread  out  to  a thickness  of  nearly  100  feet. 
The  ores  are  of  small  percentage,  yielding 
about  only  of  mercury.  The  greatest 
depth  of  the  workings  was  only  about  330 
yards  several  years  ago.  After  the  metal  has 
been  extracted  from  the  ores,  it  is  packed  in 
iron  bottles  or  flasks  holding  76i  lbs.  each, 
and  is  taken  to  Cadiz  for  shipment.  For 


many  years  past,  the  lessees  from  the  Span- 
ish government,  in  whom  the  title  is  vested, 
have  been  the  Rothschilds  and  other  bank- 
ers of  Europe  ; but  their  contracts  with  the 
government  have  varied  from  time  to  time, 
thus  affecting  the  price  at  which  the  product 
was  held.* 

The  mines  next  in  importance  have  been 
those  of  Idria  in  Carniola,  belonging  to  the 
Austrian  government.  These,  for  some 
years  previous  to  1847,  had  produced  an 
annual  average  of  358,281  lbs.  of  mercury, 
and  since  that  time,  the  production  has  va- 
ried, sometimes  reaching  600,000,  and  even 
over  1,000,000  lbs.  per  annum.  The  other 
mines  of  Europe  do  not  probably  produce 
200,000  lbs.  On  the  American  continent 
many  localities  of  the  ores  have  been  worked 
to  some  extent ; but  although  the  consump- 
tion is  very  great  at  the  silver  mines  of 
Mexico,  amounting,  as  estimated  by  Hum- 
boldt, to  16,000  quintals  of  200  lbs.  each, 
three  fourths  of  the  supply  was  then  derived 
from  the  European  mines.  In  1782,  mer- 
cury was  even  brought  to  South  America 
from  China,  where  it  was  formerly  largely 
extracted  in  the  province  of  Yunnan.  Yet 
in  the  early  years  of  the  Spanish  conquest 
Peru  was  a large  producer  of  the  metal,  its 
most  important  mines  being  in  the  province 
of  Huancavelica,  where  no  less  than  41  dif- 
ferent localities  of  the  ore  have  been  known  ; 
but  at  present  the  whole  product  of  the 
country  is  supposed  not  to  exceed  200,000 
lbs.  A large  portion  of  this  product  is  from 
the  Santa  Barbara,  or  the  “ Great  Mine,” 
which  has  been  worked  since  1566.  The 
mines  of  Chili  and  the  numerous  localities  at 
which  the  ores  have  been  found  in  Mexico 
supply  no  metal  of  consequence.  Dumas 
estimated,  not  long  since,  the  total  annual 
production  as  follows  : — 

lbs.  avoirdupois. 

Almaden,  Spain 2,100,000  to  3,456,000 

Idria 648,000  “ 1,080,000 

Hungary  and  Transylvania. . 15,600  “ 97,200 

Deux  Fonts 42,200  “ 54,000 

Palatinate 19,400  “ 21,600 

Huancavelica . . 324,000 

California ..  2,000,000 

Total 1,032,800 


* In  1839  the  royalty  demanded  by  the  govern- 
ment was  $59  per  quintal  of  106  lbs.,  to  which  it 
had  reached  by  successive  advances  from  $51.25; 
and  in  1843  it  had  advanced  to  $82.50  per  quintal. 
The  opening  of  the  California  mines  soon  causod  this 
to  bo  considerably  reduced. 


112 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


In  California  the  existence  of  large  quan- 
tities of  cinnabar  was  known  long  before  the 
real  character  of  the  ore  was  understood.  It 
was  found  along  a range  of  bills  on  the 
southern  side  of  the  valley  of  San  Jose, 
about  60  miles  south-east  from  San  Fran- 
cisco. For  an  unknown  period  the  Indians 
bad  frequented  the  locality,  coming  to  it 
from  distant  places,  even  from  the  Columbia 
river,  to  obtain  the  bright  vermilion  paint 
with  which  to  ornament  their  persons.  With 
rude  implements,  such  as  the  stones  they 
picked  from  the  streams,  they  extracted 
the  ore  from  the  flinty  slates  and  shales  in 
which  it  was  found,  and  in  their  search  for 
it  they  excavated  a passage  into  the  moun- 
tain of  about  sixty  feet  in  length.  In 
1824  the  attention  of  the  whites  began  to 
he  directed  to  this  curious  ore,  and  some  of 
the  Mexicans  sought  to  extract  from  it  gold 
or  silver.  Other  trials  made  of  it  in  1845 
resulted  in  the  discovery  of  its  true  charac- 
ter, and  operations  were  thereupon  com- 
menced to  work  it  by  one  Andres  Castil- 
lero.  Owing,  however,  to  the  disturbed 
state  of  the  country,  little  was  done  until 
1850,  when  a company  of  Mexicans  and 
English  engaged  vigorously  in  the  extraction 
and  metallurgical  treatment  of  the  ore,  and 
established  the  mine  which  they  called  the 
New  Almaden.  In  1858  a stop  was  put 
upon  their  further  proceedings  by  an  injunc- 
tion issued  by  the  United  States  court  on 
the  question  of  defective  title.  From  the 
testimony  presented  in  the  trial,  it  appeared 
that  the  company  in  the  course  of  eight 
years  had  produced  full  20,000,000  lhs.  of 
metal,  and  realized  a profit  of  more  than 
$l,0f)0,000  annually.  The  Americans  who 
claimed  the  mine  directed  their  attention  to 
the  discovery  of  new  localities  of  the  ore, 
and  succeeded  in  finding  it  upon  the  same 
range  of  hills  within  less  than  a mile  of  the 
old  workings.  Here  they  opened  a new 
mine  in  December,  1858,  which  they  named 
the  Enrequita,  and  in  June,  1860,  a com- 
pany was  formed  in  New  York  for  working 
it  under  the  name  of  the  “ California  Quick- 
silver Mining  Association.”  The  following 
are  the  returns  of  their  operations  to  the 
latest  dates:  in  September,  1859,  the  prod- 
uct of  mercury  was  14,400  lbs. ; October, 
28,650 ; November,  27,525  ; December, 
28,425;  January,  1860,  27,000;  February, 
16,950;  March,  25,500;  April,  33,700; 
May,  46,275  ; June,  48,750  ; July,  50,000  ; 
August,  79,866  ; September,  66,096.  The 


increase  of  production,  hereafter,  will  he 
limited  rather  by  the  capacity  of  the  re- 
ducing apparatus  than  by  that  of  the  mine. 
Twenty-four  retorts  for  distilling  the  mer- 
cury are  now  in  operation,  6 of  which  have 
been  started  since  August,  1860,  From  the 
report  of  October  11,  1860,  it  appears  that 
a new  vein  has  also  been  opened,  in  which 
j 20  men  are  employed,  working  in  solid  cin- 
nabar without  having  encountered  the 
j boundary  walls  of  the  lode.  The  total  ex- 
i penditure  for  mining,  for  machinery,  etc., 
up  to  October  15,  1860,  had  amounted  to 
i 8275,000,  all  of  which  has  been  paid  out  of 
i the  proceeds  of  the  mine,  leaving  a consid- 
erable balance  on  hand.  The  company 
owns  another  mine  also,  called  the  Provi- 
dencia,  which  has  produced  some  cinna- 
| bar. 

The  operations  at  the  Enrequita  mine  are 
carried  on  from  the  face  of  the  hill,  some  5 
( or  6 levels  one  above  another  being  carried 
into  the  mountain  up  and  down  its  slope. 
The  most  extensive  of  these  is  the  adit  level 
at  the  base,  which  is  about  600  feet  long, 
j Shafts  are  sunk  from  this  to  the  depth  of 
1 about  50  feet ; but  the  principal  workings 
I are  in  the  upper  levels  for  300  feet  over  the 
adit.  These  are  exceedingly  irregular,  ow- 
' ing  to  the  unequal  distribution  of  the  ore 
j through  the  argillaceous  slates.  It  lies  in 
; beds  included  between  the  strata  of  these 
lower  silurian  rocks,  dipping  with  them  at 
a very  steep  angle,  and  winding  with  the 
; contortions  of  the  strata.  The  workings 
! follow  the  bunches  of  ore  as  they  lead  up  or 
j down,  and  to  the  right  or  left.  Shafts  occa- 
sionally penetrate  from  one  level  to  another, 

: but  no  regular  system  of  working  appears  to 
have  been  adopted.  With  the  cinnabar  is 
intermixed  some  arsenical  iron  and  copper 
pyrites,  and  the  ore  and  slates  are  both  trav- 
ersed by  veins  of  carbonate  of  lime,  some 
j of  which  are  retained  in  hand  specimens  of 
the  cinnabar. 

On  the  same  range  of  hills,  at  its  western 
extremity,  the  Santa  Clara  Mining  Company, 
of  Baltimore,  has  opened  a mine  called  the 
Guadalupe,  the  product  of  which  for  the 
year  1860  was  about  200,000  lbs. 

The  total  production  of  the  quicksilver 
mines,  from  the  beginning  of  1853  to  the 
close  of  1858,  was  about  177,578  flasks,  or 
13,318,350  lbs.  In  1866,  the  California 
mines  produced  3,505,878  lbs*,  and  in  1867, 
3,840,957  lbs.  Litigation  has  prevented 
most  of  them  from  being  fully  worked. 


NEW  ALMADEN  QUICKSILVER  MIN 


114 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


METALLURGIC  TREATMENT. 

From  cinnabar  not  contaminated  with 
strange  metals,  the  method  of  obtaining  the 
fluid  mercury  is  very  simple.  In  the  early 
workings  of  the  New  Almaden  mine,  the 
clean  ores  were  placed  in  the  common  “ try 
pots,”  such  aspare  used  by  the  whalers,  and 
a cover  being  tightly  luted  on,  a fire  was 
started  under  them,  and  the  mercurial  vapors 
escaped  through  a tube  inserted  in  the  lid 
and  were  condensed  in  cold  vessels.  After- 
ward furnaces  were  constructed  in  brick-work 
upon  a large  scale,  each  one  provided  with  a 
chamber  or  oven  7 feet  long,  4 feet  wide,  and 
5 feet  high,  corresponding  to  the  chamber 
of  the  reverberatory  furnaces  ; and  into  this 
was  introduced  a charge  of  10,000  lbs.  of 
clean  ore  separated  from  the  poorer  portions 
after  the  whole  had  been  broken  up.  With 
the  ore  was  mixed  a portion  of  lime  to  com- 
bine with  and  retain  the  sulphur.  A parti- 
tion of  brick-work  separated  the  oven  from 
the  fire-room,  and  the  bricks  in  this  partition 
were  so  laid  as  to  leave  open  spaces  for  the 
flame  from  the  burning  wood  to  pass 
through.  On  the  opposite  side  of  the  oven 
another  partition  separated  this  from  a 
chamber  of  its  own  size,  the  only  communi- 
cation between  them  being  by  a square  hole 
in  one  of  the  corners  close  to  the  roof. 
This  chamber  connected  with  another  by  an 
opening  in  the  opposite  corner  near  the 
floor,  and  this  arrangement  was  extended 
through  eight  chambers.  Between  the  last 
one  and  the  tall  wooden  flues  through  which 
the  smoke  and  vapors  finally  passed  out  into 
the  open  air  was  placed  a long  wooden  box 
provided  with  a showering  apparatus.  As 
the  cinnabar  was  volatilized  by  the  flame 
playing  over  the  charge,  the  vapors  were 
carried  through  the  condensing  chambers, 
depositing  in  each  a portion  of  mercury,  and 
in  the  showering  box  they  underwent  their 
final  condensation.  From  the  bottom  of 
each  chamber  the  metal  flowed  in  gutters  to 
the  main  conduit  which  led  to  the  great  iron 
reservoir  sunk  in  the  ground.  From  this  it 
was  poured  into  flasks  through  brushes 
which  intercepted  the  scum  of  oxide  of  mer- 
cury. The  method  proved  very  wasteful, 
from  the  leakage  of  the  vapors  through  the 
brick-work  ; and  it  has  been  abandoned  for 
an  improved  process,  in  which  the  pulverized 
ores  mixed  with  quicklime  are  charged  into 
large  cast-iron  retorts  very  similar  in  their 
form  and  setting  to  those  employed  at  the 


gas-works.  Three  are  set  together  in  a 
bench  of  brick-work,  and  each  one  is  fur- 
nished with  an  eduction  pipe  inserted  in 
the  end  and  leading  down  into  water  con- 
tained in  a large  cylindrical  condenser  of 
iron.  This  is  placed  along  the  front  line  of 
the  furnace,  so  as  to  receive  the  vapors  from 
all  the  retorts.  The  mercury,  as  it  is  con- 
densed, falls  down  to  the  bottom,  and  is  let 
out  through  a pipe  by  a contrivance  that  pre- 
vents the  water  flowing  with  it  from  the  con- 
denser. At  the  Enrequita  mine  each  bench 
of  three  retorts  requires  a little  over  a cord 
of  oak  wood  a day  for  heating.  Four  bench- 
es, in  operation  from  September,  1859,  em- 
ployed 6 men  in  charging  and  discharging, 
working  in  2 shifts  of  3 men,  besides  3 fire- 
men, each  working  8 hours.  Two  men  be- 
sides these  were  employed  in  mixing  the  ore? 
for  the  retorts.  In  June,  1860,  the  produc 
tion  of  these  furnaces,  from  1000  cargas  of 
ore  of  300  lbs.  each,  was  about  50,000  lbs., 
or  about  1 7 per  cent. 

In  conducting  the  furnaces,  the  .workmen 
are  seriously  affected  by  inhaling  the  mercu- 
rial vapors.  They  are  sometimes  even  sali- 
vated, and  are  often  obliged  to  abandon  the 
business  for  a time.  The  horses  and  mules 
also  suffer  from  the  noxious  fumes,  and  many 
are  lost  in  consequence.  But  no  injurious 
effects  are  experienced  among  those  em- 
ployed in  the  mines,  the  cinnabar  being  al- 
ways handled  with  impunity. 

The  view  of  the  works  presents  their  ap- 
pearance in  1852,  as  sketched  by  J.  R.  Bart- 
lett, Esq.  It  was  first  published  in  his  “ Per- 
sonal Narrative”  (New  York,  1854). 

USEFUL  APPLICATIONS  OF  MERCURY. 

The  principal  uses  to  which  mercury  is 
applied  have  already  been  named.  The 
largest  quantities  are  consumed  in  working 
gold  and  silver  ores.  The  principle  of  the 
amalgamating  process  is  explained  in  the 
account  of  the  treatment  of  gold  ores.  In 
the  arts  amalgams  are  applied  to  many  use- 
ful purposes,  of  which  the  most  important  is 
coating  the  backs  of  looking-glass  plates  with 
tin  amalgam.  Silver  was  originally  em- 
ployed instead  of  tin,  and  the  process  is  still 
called  “ silvering.”  It  is  conducted  at  sev- 
eral establishments  in  the  United  States  on 
the  old  Venetian  plan,  which  has  been  in 
use  for  300  years.  The  largest  mirrors  are 
prepared  by  Messrs.  Roosevelt  <fc  Sons,  in 
New  York,  from  the  French  plates  which 
they  import.  The  process  is  a simple  one, 


SILVER — COBALT NICKEL CHROME MANGANESE TIN. 


115 


but  is  attended  with  some  difficulties  arising 
from  the  imperfections  which  will  sometimes 
appear  upon  the  coating,  notwithstanding 
the  particular  care  taken  to  avoid  them. 
The  health  of  the  workmen  also  suffers,  so 
that  they  cannot  pursue  the  business  more 
than  a few  years.  The  only  precaution 
taken  to  protect  them  from  the  effects  of 
the  mercury  is  thorough  ventilation.  Fre- 
quent use  of  sulphur  baths  also  is  very  ben- 
eficial. The  method  of  silvering  is  as  fol- 
lows : tables  are  prepared  of  stone  made 
perfectly  smooth,  with  grooves  sunk  around 
the  edges.  These  are  set  horizontally,  but 
can  be  raised  a little  at  one  end  by  a screw. 
Each  table  is  covered  with  tinfoil  carefully 
spread  out  over  a larger  surface  than  the 
plate  will  cover,  and  slips  of  glass  being  laid 
around  three  of  the  sides,  the  mercury  is 
poured  on  till  it  covers  the  foil  to  the  depth 
of  about  { of  an  inch.  Its  affinity  for  the 
tin,  and  the  slips  of  glass,  prevent  its  flowing 
off.  The  glass  plate  rendered  perfectly 
clean  is  then  slidden  along  the  open  side, 
the  advancing  edge  being  kept  in  the  mer- 
cury, so  that  no  air  nor  oxide  of  the  metal 
can  get  between  the  plate  and  the  amalgam. 
The  plate,  when  in  place,  is  secured  and 
pressed  down  by  weights  la  d upon  it,  and 
the  table  is  raised  a little  to  allow  the  excess 
of  mercury  to  trickle  off  by  the  grooves  and 
collect  in  a vessel  placed  on  the  floor  to  re- 
ceive it.  After  remaining  thus  for  several 
hours,  the  plate  is  taken  off  and  turned  over 
upon  a frame.  After  several  weeks  the 
amalgam  becomes  hard,  and  the  glass  may 
then  be  set  on  edge. 

Amalgams  of  the  precious  metals  are  used 
for  what  are  called  the  water-gilding  and 
water-silvering  methods  of  gilding  and  silver- 
ing applied  to  buttons  and  various  other  metal- 
lic articles.  These,  being  made  chemically 
clean,  are  washed  over  with  the  amalgam 
contained  in  a large  excess  of  mercury,  and 
are  then  placed  in  a furnace  and  heated  till 
the  mercury  is  driven  off  by  the  heat,  leaving 
a thin  film  of  the  precious  metal,  which  may 
then  be  burnished. 

Mercurial  medicines,  as  calomel,  (the  chlo- 
ride,) and  blue  mass,  which  is  the  metal  re- 
duced to  fine  particles  by  long-continued 
trituration,  and  incorporated  with  twice  its 
weight  of  confection  of  roses  and  liquorice 
root,  arc  very  largely  prepared,  especially 
for  the  southern  and  western  states  and  the 
West  India  islands.  The  labor  of  triturating 
the  mercury  for  blue  mass  has  led  to  the  in- 


troduction of  ingenious  machinery  for  the 
purpose,  invented  by  Mr.  J.  W.  W.  Gordon 
of  Baltimore,  and  by  Dr.  E.  R.  Squibb  of 
Brooklyn,  and  worked  by  the  latter  at  his 
pharmaceutical  laboratory  by  steam  powder. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

SILVER  — COBALT  — NICKEL  — CHROME  — 
MANGANESE— TIN. 

But  few  other  ores  of  much  importance 
are  found  in  the  United  States,  besides  those 
of  which  accounts  have  been  given  ; and  it 
remains  to  describe  the  occurrence  and  ap- 
plications of  the  ores  of  those  metals  only 
which  are  comprised  in  the  heading  of  this 
chapter. 

SILVER. 

The  occurrence  of  this  metal  in  the  United 
States  is  chiefly  limited  to  some  of  the  lead 
ores ; and  in  very  few  of  these,  as  noted  in 
the  chapter  upon  lead,  has  it  been  found 
in  sufficient  quantity  to  justify  the  working 
of  the  mines  and  separation  of  the  silver. 
The  Washington  mine  in  Davidson  co.,  N. 
C.,  is  still  worked  with  moderate  success 
for  both  metals;  but  the  only  promising 
silver  mines  are  those  of  Arizona,  near 
the  Gila  river  in  New  Mexico,  and  the 
Washoe  mines  on  the  extreme  western 
verge  of  the  Utah  territory. 

In  the  territory  of  Arizona,  especially  in 
that  portion  of  it  ceded  to  the  United 
States  under  the  Gadsden  treaty,  are  numer- 
ous mines  productive  in  silver,  some  of 
which  were  worked  when  the  territory  be- 
longed to  old  Spain.  These  are  now  at- 
tracting the  attention  of  Americans,  and  in 
1859  and  I860,  companies  were  organized 
in  Cincinnati,  New  York,  and  St.  Louis,  for 
exploring  and  working  them.  The  princi- 
pal mine  is  that  of  the  Sonora  Company, 
of  Cincinnati.  The  locality  is  about  75 
miles  south  of  Tucson,  and  about  27 0 
miles  north  of  Guaymas,  which  is  the  chief 
port  of  the  Gulf  of  California.  Several 
mines  in  the  vicinity  were  formerly  worked 
by  the  Mexicans  for  silver,  and  abandoned 
in  consequence  of  Indian  depredations  and 
political  troubles.  The  Sonora  Company 
commenced  operations  in  1858  upon  a new 
discovery,  and  have  produced  a considerable 
amount  of  silver,  reduced  from  the  ores  at 
their  works,  at  Arivaca,  7 miles  from  the 


116 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


mines.  Seventy  miles  north  of  Tucson, 
operations  were  commenced  in  1860,  in 
another  locality,  on  the  same  mining  range, 
by  a company  organized  in  New  York,  called 
the  Maricopa  Mining  Company.  Their  mine 
affords  rich  argentiferous  copper  ores,  sam- 
ples of  which  have  been  brought  to  New 
York,  and  assayed  by  Prof.  John  Torrey, 
and  other  chemists.  They  proved  to  be 
vitreous  copper,  associated  with  carbonates, 
and  yielded  an  average  of  over  50  per  cent, 
of  copper.  The  metal  contained  variable 
amounts  of  silver,  worth  from  $40  to  $80 
per  ton.  Gold  was  also  detected  in  it.  The 
outlet  for  this  is  also  by  Guayinas,  420  miles 
distant,  through  a region  easily  traversed  by 
wagons, . and  upon  long-established  routes. 
The  cost  of  transportation,  by  contracts  of 
Mexicans,  is  at  the  rate  of  54  cents  per  lb., 
for  the  whole  distance.  In  the  vicinity  of 
the  mines,  on  the  Gila  river,  it  is  proposed 
to  reduce  the  ores.  The  region  is  on  the 
Pacific  slope  of  the  range  of  the  silver  min- 
ing districts  of  Sonora  and  Durango,  and  its 
rock  formations  are  granitic  and  metamor- 
phic,  traversed  by  dikes  of  trap,  and  con- 
taining beds  of  quartz. 

On  the  Rio  Mimbres,  240  miles  east  of 
Tucson,  are  the  Santa  Rita  del  Cobre  and 
Mimbres  mines,  from  which  333,000  lbs. 
of  copper  are  reported  as  having  been  de- 
livered in  New  York  in  1860.  The  metal 
was  smelted  at  the.  mines,  transported  through 
Texas  to  Port  Lavacca,  and  thence  to  New 
York.  Whether  the  ores  contain  silver  or 
not,  is  not  known.  Besides  the  operations 
above  named,  others  are  in  progress  in  Ari- 
zona, of  which  we  have  no  details.  The 
region  is  described  in  the  “ Personal  Narra- 
tive” of  J.  R.  Bartlett,  Esq.,  and  in  the  Con- 
gressional Pacific  Railroad  reports. 

The  Washoe  ores  are  argentiferous  gale- 
nas of  richness  varying  between  great  ex- 
tremes, some  of  the  best  sorts  which  have 
been  shipped  to  New  York,  and  thence  to 
England,  containing  enough  silver  to  give 
them  a value  of  $2000  per  ton.  The  mines 
are  in  the  inferior  range  of  hills  along  the 
eastern  base  of  the  Sierra  Nevada,  and  are 
met  with  over  an  extensive  territory  in  the 
valley  of  the  upper  portion  of  Carson’s 
River  and  many  miles  beyond  this  to  the  ' 
north.  Those  of  most  importance  are  in  , 
the  vicinity  of  several  new  towns,  called 
Virginia  City,  Silver  City,  Carson  City,  etc., 
about  160  miles  north-east  from  Sacramento. 
From  that  point  the  crest  of  the  Sierra  Ne- 


vada is  reached  in  100  miles,  nearly  due 
east,  and  the  remaining  60  miles  is  down 
the  valley  of  Carson’s  River.  The  discov- 
eries of  the  silver  ores  were  made  the  latter 
part  of  the  year  1859,  but  it  was  known  be- 
fore this  that  gold  existed  in  the  valley, 
and  that  the  value  of  this  metal  was  deteri- 
orated by  the  silver  with  which  it  was  usu- 
ally alloyed.  The  opening  of  permanent  veins 
of  silver  ores  produced  a great  excitement 
throughout  California,  and  led  to  an  ex- 
traordinary emigration  to  the  new  mining 
district,  and  rapid  development  during  the 
year  1860  of  its  resources.  The  consid- 
erable number  of  mines  already  in  opera- 
tion, upon  veins  of  unquestionable  perma- 
nency, and  the  great  richness  of  some  of 
the  ores,  together  with  the  variety  of  those 
already  found,  leave  no  room  for  doubting 
that  this  is  a mining  region  of  great  impor- 
tance, and  must  largely  add  to  the  metallic 
productions  of  the  extreme  western  states. 

The  ores,  on  account  of  their  complex 
character,  are  difficult  to  reduce  with  econ- 
omy, and  the  ordinary  methods  of  obtain- 
ing the  lead  fail,  when  applied  to  compounds 
like  these,  which  contain  a large  proportion 
of  silica,  from  which  the  galena  cannot  be 
mechanically  separated.  The  German  method 
of  treating  such  ores,  employed  at  Clausthal, 
is  to  reduce  them  in  small  blast  furnaces, 
with  a flux  of  granulated  cast  iron,  or  of  iron 
turnings,  admitting  only  air  enough  to  keep 
up  the  combustion  of  the  fuel.  The  lead 
and  silver  are  set  free  by  the  sulphur  of  the 
ore  combining  with  the  iron,  and  the  forma- 
tion of  infusible  silicates  of  oxide  of  lead  is 
prevented  by  guarding  against  the  oxidation 
of  lead,  through  too  great  access  of  air.  The 
separation  is,  however,  very  imperfect  in  a 
single  operation,  and  the  rich  slags  obtained 
are  roasted  in  order  to  convert  the  sulphuret 
of  iron  into  oxide  of  iron,  which,  combining 
with  the  silicates  of  the  scoriae,  forms  very 
fusible  compounds,  which  are  then  returned 
to  the  furnace  mixed  with  fresh  charges  of 
ore.  The  silver  goes  with  the  lead,  and  is 
separated  by  cupellation. 

COBALT. 

The  ores  of  this  metal  are  of  rather  rare 
occurrence,  and  are  applied  to  practical  pur- 
poses not  to  furnish  the  metal  but  its  ox- 
ide, which  is  of  value  for  its  property  of 
giving  a beautiful  blue  color  to  glass  with 
which  it  is  melted,  and  of  producing  other 
fine  colors  when  mixed  with  some  other  sub- 


SILVER COBALT NICKEL CHROME — MANGANESE TIN. 


117 


stances.  The  ores  are  sought  for  all  over 
the  world  for  the  supply  of  the  British  man- 
ufactories of  porcelain,  stained  glass,  etc. 
They  are  chiefly  combinations  of  cohalt 
with  arsenic,  sulphur,  and  sometimes  with 
nickel  and  iron.  The  compound  known  as 
smaltine,  or  arsenical  cobalt,  was  obtained 
at  Chatham,  Conn.,  as  far  back  as  1787,  and 
the  mine  has  been  worked  for  cobalt  at  dif- 
ferent times  in  the  present  century.  The  co- 
balt in  the  ore  is  associated  with  about  an 
equal  amount  of  nickel,  and  its  proportion 
is  said  to  have  been  less  than  two  per  cent. 
Cobaltine,  which  is  a compound  of  sulphur 
19.3  per  cent.,  arsenic  45.2,  and  cobalt 
35.5,  is  the  most  productive  ore  of  this 
metal,  but  is  not  met  with  in  this  country. 
Varieties  of  pyritous  cobalt  have  been  found 
in  Maryland  in  quantities  too  small  for 
working ; and  also  at  Mine  la  Motte  in  Mis- 
souri, associated  with  a black  earthy  oxide 
of  cobalt  and  black  oxide  of  manganese. 
In  other  places,  also,  oxide  of  cobalt,  in 
small  quantity,  is  a frequent  accompaniment 
of  manganese  ores.  Mine  la  Motte  has  fur- 
nished a considerable  amount  of  the  cobalt 
oxide,  but  the  beds  in  which  it  is  found  are 
not  of  permanent  character,  and  are  so  far 
exhausted  as  to  be  no  longer  worked  with 
profit.  A similar  ore,  accompanied  with 
nickel,  appears  to  be  very  abundantly  dis- 
tributed among  the  talcose  and  quartzose 
slates  in  Gaston  and  Lincoln  counties,  North 
Carolina.  It  is  thrown  out  with  a variety 
of  other  ores,  as  galena,  blende,  titaniferous 
iron,  etc.,  in  working  the  gold  mines  of  this 
region ; and  it  is  mixed  among  the  great 
beds  of  hematite,  found  in  the  same  district, 
which  are  the  product  of  the  decomposition 
of  beds  of  pyritous  iron.  In  some  places  it 
is  so  abundant  that  the  strata  containing  it 
are  conspicuous  where  the  roads  pass  over 
them,  by  the  blackness  of  the  gossan  (de- 
composed ore)  or  wad.  Prof.  II.  Wurtz, 
who  describes  these  localities  (see  “American 
Journal  of  Science,”  2d  series,  vol.  xxvii.,  p. 
24),  is  of  opinion  that  the  earthy  oxide  of 
cobalt  is  the  gossan  of  the  sulphuret  of  this 
metal,  existing  unaltered  in  the  rocks  below. 

Oxide  of  cobalt,  obtained  in  a crude 
state  from  the  washed  arsenical  ores,  is 
known  as  zaffrc  or  saflor,  and  in  this  condi- 
tion it  is  a commercial  article.  It  is  refined 
by  separating  the  arsenic,  iron,  and  other  for- 
eign substances,  by  precipitating  them  from 
the  solution  in  hydrochloric  acid  ; and  the  ox- 
ide is  finally  obtained  by  precipitating  with 


chloride  of  lime,  and  heating  the  product  to 
redness.  Smalt  is  a preparation  of  cobalt 
largely  used  in  the  arts  as  a coloring  material, 
and  consists  of  silicate  of  potash  and  cobalt. 
It  is  in  fact  a potash  glass  colored  by  silicate 
of  cobalt,  and  is  prepared  as  follows : Zaf- 
fre  is  melted  in  pots,  with  suitable  propor- 
tions of  pure  sand  and  potash  and  a little 
saltpetre.  The  other  metals  combine  to- 
gether and  sink  in  a metallic  mass,  which 
is  called  speiss.  The  glass  containing  the 
oxide  of  cobalt  is  ladled  out  and  pour- 
ed into  water  to  granulate  it,  and  is  then 
ground  to  powder.  This  being  introduced 
into  vats  of  water,  the  colored  glass  sub- 
sides in  deposits,  which  gradually  diminish 
in  their  proportions  of  oxide  of  cobalt. 
The  first  are  of  the  deepest  blue,  and  are 
called  azure ; but  of  this,  and  of  the  succeed- 
ing fainter  shades,  there  are  many  varieties, 
distinguished  by  peculiar  names.  When 
finely  powdered,  smalt  is  applied  to  col- 
oring wall  papers,  and  blueing  linen,  be- 
sides being  incorporated  with  porcelain  to 
impart  to  it  permanent  blue  shades.  The 
great  value  of  oxide  of  cobalt,  amounting  to 
several  dollars  per  lb.,  renders  it  an  impor- 
tant object  to  fully  develop  the  resources  of 
the  country  in  its  ores,  as  well  for  export  as 
for  domestic  use.  In  1856  there  were  im- 
ported into  Great  Britain  428  tons  of  co- 
balt ore,  and  34  tons  of  oxide  of  cobalt. 

NICKEL. 

Nickel  is  a metal  of  some  commercial  im- 
portance* and  is  employed  chiefly  for  pro- 
ducing, with  copper  and  zinc,  the  alloy 
known  as  German  silver.  The  proportions 
of  these  metals  are  not  constant,  but  the 
most  common  in  use  are  eight  parts  of  copper 
to  three  each  of  nickel  and  zinc.  The  larger 
the  proportion  of  copper,  the  more  easily  the 
plates  are  rolled ; but  if  more  is  used  than 
the  relative  amounts  named,  the  copper  soon 
becomes  apparent  in  use.  The  new  cent 
contains  12  parts  of  nickel  to  88  of  copper, 
and  the  manufacture  of  this  adds  somewhat 
to  the  demand.  The  metal  has  been  mined 
at  Chatham,  Conn.,  and  is  met  with  at  Mine 
la  Motte  and  other  localities  where  cobalt 
is  found.  It  occurs  in  greatest  abundance  at 
an  old  mine  in  Lancaster  county,  Penn., 
where  it  is  associated  with  copper  ores.  The 
mine  was  originally  worked  for  copper,  it  is 
said,  more  than  one  hundred  and  thirty  years 
ago,  and  was  reopened  for  supplying  nickel 
for  the  U.  S.  Mint,  on  the  introduction  of 


118 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


the  new  cent  in  1857.  The  sulphuret  of 
nickel,  containing,  when  pure,  64.9  per  cent, 
of  nickel,  and  35.1  per  cent,  of  sulphur,  is  in 
very  large  quantity,  in  two  veins  of  great  size, 
one  of  which  has  been  traced  over  600  feet, 
and  the  other  over  900  feet  in  length.  In 
1859  it  was  producing  at  the  rate  of  200  tons 
of  nickel  ore  and  ten  tons  of  copper  ore  per 
month.  A pyritous  variety  of  nickel  ore, 
called  siegenite,  is  found  at  Mine  la  Motte, 
Missouri,  and  in  Carroll  county,  Maryland. 
In  Gaston  and  Lincoln  counties,  North  Car- 
olina, similar  ore  was  found  by  Prof.  Wurtz, 
as  noticed  in  the  remarks  on  cobalt,  above. 

CHROME  OR  CHROMIUM. 

The  ore  of  this  metal,  known  as  chromic 
iron  or  chromate  of  iron,  has  been  mined 
for  many  years  in  the  United  States,  both 
for  exportation  and  domestic  use.  It  is  the 
source  whence  the  chrome  colors  are  ob- 
tained that  are  largely  used  in  the  arts,  es- 
pecially in  dyeing  and  calico  printing.  The 
name  of  the  metal,  from  a Greek  word 
meaning  color,  was  given  in  consequence  of 
the  fine  colors  of  its  compounds.  It  usually 
consists  of  the  sesquioxide  of  chromium  in 
proportion  varying  from  36  to  60  per  cent., 
protoxide  of  iron  from  20  to  37  per  cent., 
alumina  sometimes  exceeding  20  per  cent., 
and  more  or  less  silica,  and  sometimes  mag- 
nesia. Its  value  consists  only  in  the  first- 
named  ingredient.  The  localities  of  the  ore 
are  in  the  serpentine  rocks  of  different  parts 
of  the  United  States,  as  in  the  Bare  Hills, 
near  Baltimore,  and  near  the  Maryland  state 
line  on  the  southern  edge  of  Chester  and 
Lancaster  counties,  Pennsylvania.  In  small 
quantities  the  ore  is  met  with  at  Hobo- 
ken, Staten  Island,  and  other  places  near 
New  York  city.  It  is  found  in  several 
towns  in  Vermont,  but  the  largest  veins  of 
it  are  in  Jay,  in  the  northern  part  of  the 
state.  The  composition  of  this  ore  was 
found  by  Mr.  T.  S.  Hunt  to  be  49.9  of 
green  oxide  or  sesquioxide  of  chromium, 
48.96  of  protoxide  of  iron,  and  4.14  per 
cent,  of  alumina,  silica,  and  magnesia. 
Though  the  quantity  of  the  ore  in  this  re- 
gion is  reported  to  be  large,  the  principal 
supplies  of  the  country  have  been  obtained 
in  Maryland,  and  from  the  mines  just  over 
the  state  line  in  Pennsylvania.  The  ore, 
as  recently  as  1854,  was  found  in  loose  frag- 
ments among  the  disintegrated  materials  of 
the  serpentine  upon  the  tracts  called  the 
barrens,  and  was  gathered  up  from  the  val- 


leys and  ravines,  and  dug  out  in  sinking 
shallow  pits  and  trenches  over  the  surface. 
The  ore  thus  obtained  was  called  “ sand 
chrome,”  and  for  a time  it  had  been  worth 
$45  per  ton,  and  thousands  of  tons  had 
been  collected  and  shipped,  principally  to 
Baltimore.  At  the  period  named  these  su- 
perficial deposits  were  mostly  exhausted, 
and  the  value  of  the  ore  was  only  about 
$25  per  ton.  This,  however,  was  sufficient 
to  sustain  regular  mining  operations,  which 
were  then  carried  on  upon  the  veins  found 
in  the  serpentine,  a little  west  of  the  east 
branch  of  the  Octorara  Creek.  Wood’s 
chrome  mine,  near  the  Horse-shoe  Ford, 
was  at  that  time  about  150  feet  deep,  and 
the  workings  had  been  extended  north-east 
and  south-west  about  300  feet,  upon  an 
irregular  vein  of  chrome  ore,  which  lay  at 
an  inclination  of  about  45°  with  the  hor- 
izon toward  the  north-west.  The  ore,  in 
places,  formed  bunches,  which  attained  a 
width  of  20  feet,  and  then  thinned  away 
to  nothing.  Four  men  obtained  from  the 
mine  7 or  8 tons  of  excellent  ore  a day, 
the  best  of  which  was  directly  placed  in 
barrels  for  the  foreign  market,  and  the 
poorer  was  dressed  and  washed  for  the  Bal- 
timore, and  other  home  markets.  The  state 
line  mine,  in  the  same  vicinity,  worked  to 
about  the  same  depth,  had  produced  several 
thousand  tons.  The  supplies  of  this  ore  are 
always  of  uncertain  continuance. 

Useful  Applications.  — Chromate  of 
iron  is  used  chiefly  in  the  production  of 
chromate  of  potash,  and  from  this  the 
other  useful  chromatic  salts  are  obtained. 
The  object  in  view  in  the  chemical  treat- 
ment of  the  ore  is  to  convert  the  sesqui- 
oxide of  chromium  into  the  peroxide  or 
chromic  acid,  and  cause  this  to  combine 
with  potash.  This  may  be  effected  by  vari- 
ous methods,  as  by  exposing  a mixture  of 
the  pulverized  ore  and  of  saltpetre  (nitrate 
of  potash)  to  a strong  heat  for  some  hours. 
The  chrome  is  peroxidized  at  the  expense  of 
the  oxygen  of  the  nitric  acid  of  the  salt- 
petre, and  the  chromic  acid  combines  with 
the  potash  ; or  if  the  ore  is  mixed  with  car- 
bonate of  potash  and  calcined,  the  peroxida- 
tion of  the  chrome  is  effected  by  admission 
of  air  into  the  furnace,  and  the  same  prod- 
uct is  obtained  as  in  the  employment  of 
saltpetre.  The  introduction  of  lime  hastens 
the  operation.  Other  mixtures  also  are 
used  for  the  same  purpose.  When  the  cal- 
cined matter,  having  been  drawn  out  from 


SILVER COBALT NICKEL CHROME  — MANGANESE TIN. 


119 


the  furnace,  is  lixiviated  with  water,  the 
chromate  of  potash  is  dissolved  and  washed 
out,  and  is  afterward  recovered  in  the  form 
of  yellow  crystals  on  evaporating  the  water. 
From  chromate  of  potash  the  other  salts  are 
readily  produced.  Chrome  yellow,  used  as 
a paint,  is  prepared  by  mixing  chromate  of 
potash  with  a soluble  salt  of  lead,  and  col- 
lecting the  yellow  precipitate  of  chromate  of 
lead  which  falls.  A bright  red  precipitate 
is  obtained  by  thus  employing  a salt  of  mer- 
cury, and  a deep  red  with  salts  of  silver. 
Chrome  green  is  produced  by  mixing  Prus- 
sian blue  with  chrome  yellow.  Some  new 
and  very  interesting  compounds  of  the  ses- 
quioxide  of  chromium  with  different  bases 
have  been  recently  obtained  by  Prof.  A.  K. 
Eaton  of  New  York,  and  in  consequence 
of  their  decided  colors  and  the  extraordi- 
nary permanency  of  these  against  powerful 
reagents  applied  to  remove  them,  the  salts 
were  employed  for  printing  bank-notes. 
Though  they  proved  to  be  all  that  was  re- 
quired as  to  the  colors  themselves,  the  steel 
plates  were  so  rapidly  cut  by  the  excessively 
sharp  and  hard  powders,  however  finely  they 
were  ground,  that  it  was  found  necessary  to 
abandon  their  use.  The  new  salts  were  chro- 
mites— that  of  iron  having  a dark  purple  col- 
or ; of  manganese,  a lighter  shade  of  the 
same ; of  copper,  a rich  blueish  black ; of 
zinc,  a golden  brown  ; of  alumina,  a green, 
somewhat  paler  than  that  of  the  sesquiox- 
ide. 

MANGANESE. 

Though  this  is  a metal  of  no  value  of  it- 
self, one  of  its  ores,  called  pyrolusite,  is  a 
mineral  of  some  commercial  importance, 
chiefly  on  account  of  the  large  proportion 
of  oxygen  it  contains,  part  of  which  it 
can  be  easily  made  to  give  up  when  simply 
heated  in  an  iron  retort.  The  composition 
of  pyrolusite,  or  black  oxide  of  manganese, 
is  63.4  per  cent,  of  manganese,  and  36.6 
per  cent,  of  oxygen.  It  is  a hard,  steel- 
gray  ore,  resembling  some  of  the  magnetic 
iron  ores,  and  is  often  found  accompanying 
iron  ores,  especially  the  hematites.  In  the 
.United  States  it  is  met  with  in  various  lo- 
calities along  the  range  of  the  hematites, 
from  Canada  to  Alabama,  and  has  been 
mined  to  considerable  extent  at  Chittenden 
and  Bennington, Vermont;  WestStockbridge 
and  Sheffield,  Mass. ; on  the  Delaware  river, 
and  near  Kutztown,  Berks  co.,  Penn. ; and 
abounds  in  different  parts  of  the  gold  region, 


as  on  Hard-labor  Creek,  Edgefield  District, 
S.  C.  Usually  the  ore  is  found  in  loose 
pieces  among  the  clays  which  fill  the  irregu- 
lar cavities  between  the  limestone  strata; 
its  quantity  is  of  course  very  uncertain, 
and  its  mines  are  far  from  being  of  a perma- 
nent character.  Oxide  of  iron  is  commonly 
mixed  with  the  manganese  ore,  reducing  its 
richness,  and  at  the  same  time  seriously  in- 
juring it  for  some  of  the  purposes  to  which 
it  is  applied.  As  obtained  from  the  mines, 
the  assorted  ore  is  packed  in  barrels  and 
sent  to  the  chemical  establishments,  where 
it  is  employed  principally  in  the  manufac- 
ture of  chloride  of  lime  or  bleaching  pow- 
der. For  this  purpose  the  pulverized  black 
oxide  of  manganese  is  introduced  into  hydro- 
chloric acid,  and  this  being  heated  a double 
decomposition  takes  place,  a portion  of  its 
chlorine  is  expelled,  and  the  hydrogen  that 
was  combined  with  it  unites  with  a part  of 
the  oxygen  of  the  pyrolusite.  The  chlo- 
rine, which  it  was  the  object  of  the  process 
to  obtain,  is  then  brought  in  contact  with 
hydrate  of  lime,  and  uniting  with  the  cal- 
cium base,  forms  the  bleaching  powder.  A 
similar  result  is  obtained  by  mixing  the  ox- 
ide of  manganese  with  chloride  of  sodium 
(common  salt),  and  adding  sulphuric  acid. 
By  these  operations  a weight  of  oxygen 
equal  to  about  one  third  that  of  the  pure 
ore  may  be  obtained,  and  this  may  be  ap- 
plied to  any  of  the  purposes  for  which  oxy- 
gen not  absolutely  pure  is  required.  Black 
oxide  of  manganese  is  also  used  to  decolor- 
ize glass  stained  green  by  the  presence  of 
the  protoxide  of  iron.  Its  own  amethystine 
tint  is  supposed  to  neutralize  the  optical  ef- 
fect of  the  greenish  hue  of  the  iron.  Pure 
pyrolusite,  free  from  iron,  might  be  shipped 
to  profit  to  Liverpool,  where  it  is  worth 
to  S>40  per  ton,  but  inferior  ore  would  in- 
volve bills  of  cost.  The  chemically  prepared 
permanganate  of  potassa  has  come  into  ex- 
tensive use  as  an  anti-septic,  of  late  years. 

TIN. 

The  very  useful  metal,  tin,  is  not  one  of 
the  products  of  this  country,  and  there  is 
no  encouragement  for  hoping  that  its  ores 
will  ever  be  found  in  workable  quantity.  Its 
presence  has  been  recognized  in  a few  small 
crystals  of  oxide  of  tin,  found  in  Chester- 
field and  Goshen,  Mass.,  and  it  has  been  de- 
tected as  a mere  trace  in  the  iron  ores  of 
the  Hudson,  and  iron  and  zinc  ores  of  New 
Jersey ; it  is  also  associated  with  some  of 


120 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


the  gold  ores  of  Virginia.  In  the  town  of 
Jackson,  N.  H.,  is  a vein  of  arsenical  iron, 
containing  thin  streaks  of  oxide  of  tin.  There 
have  been  discovered,  also,  some  of  the  tin 
ores  though  not  as  yet  in  large  quantity  in 
Maine,  in  Missouri,  in  Texas,  and  in  Califor- 
nia. The  last  named,  it  is  thought,  may  yet 
furnish  considerable  supplies.  Tin  is  impor- 
ted chiefly  from  the  mines  of  Cornwall,  Eng- 
land, and  from  Banca,  and  other  islands  of 
the  Malay  archipelago.  The  United  States 
is  one  of  the  largest  consumers  of  tin,  sheet 
tin  having  been  appliod,  through  the  inge- 
nuity of  the  workers  of  this  article  in  Con- 
necticut, to  the  manufacture  of  a variety  of 
useful  utensils.  What  is  called  sheet  tin  is 
really  sheet  iron  coated  with  a very  thin 
layer  of  tin.  The  sheets  are  prepared  in 
England  by  dipping  the  brightened  iron 
sheets  into  a bath  of  melted  tin.  The  pro- 
cess has  been  applied  to  coating  articles 
made  of  iron,  which  are  thus  protected 
from  rusting ; and  zinc  is  also  used  for  sim- 
ilar purposes.  Such  are  stirrups,  bridle-bits, 
etc.  Cast-iron  pots  and  saucepans  are  tin- 
ned on  the  inside  by  melted  tin  being  poured 
in  and  made  to  flow  over  the  surface,  which 
has  been  made  chemically  clean  to  receive 
the  metal.  The  surface  is  then  rubbed  with 
cloth  or  tow.  Tin  is  imported  in  blocks  or 
ingots,  and  the  metal  is  applied  to  the  prep- 
aration of  various  alloys,  as  bronze  or  bell- 
metal,  composed  of  copper  and  tin  in  vari- 
able proportions,  commonly  of  78  parts  of 
copper,  and  22  of  tin ; gun-metal,  copper  90, 
and  tin  10;  pewter,  of  various  proportions 
of  tin  and  lead,  or  when  designed  for  pewter 
plates,  of  tin  100,  antimony  8,  bismuth  2, 
and  copper  2 ; and  soft  solder,  consisting  of 
tin  and  lead,  usually  of  two  parts  of  the  j 
former  to  one  of  the  latter.  Bismuth  is 
sometimes  added  to  increase  the  fusibility 
of  the  alloy. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

COAL. 

To  the  early  settlers  of  the  American  colo- 
nies the  beds  of  mineral  coal  they  met  with 
were  of  no  interest.  In  the  abundance  of  the  ! 
forests  around  them,  and  with  no  manufac- 
turing operations  that  involved  large  con- 1 
sumption  of  fuel,  they  attached  no  value  to 
the  black  stony  coal,  the  real  importance  of  i 
which  was  not  in  fact  appreciated  even  in  j 


Europe  until  after  the  invention  of  the  steam 
engine.  The  earliest  use  of  mineral  coal  was 
probably  of  the  anthracite  of  the  Lehigh  re- 
gion, though  it  may  be  that  the  James  River 
bituminous  coal  mines,  12  miles  above  Rich- 
mond, were  worked  at  an  earlier  period  than 
the  Pennsylvania  anthracites.  The  region 
containing  the  latter  belonged  to  the  tribes 

O o 

of  the  Six  Nations,  until  their  title  was  ex- 
tinguished and  the  proprietary  government 
obtained  possession,  in  1749,  of  a territory 
of  3750  square  miles,  including  the  southern 
and  middle  of  the  three  anthracite  coal-fields. 
In  1768  possession  was  acquired  of  the  north-, 
ern  coal-field,  and  at  the  same  time  of  the 
great  bituminous  region  west  of  the  Alle- 
ghany mountains.  The  existence  of  coal  in 
the  anthracite  region  could  not  have  escaped 
the  notice  of  the  whites  who  had  explored 
the  country,  for  its  great  beds  were  exposed 
in  many  of  the  natural  sections  of  the  river 
banks  and  precipitous  hills,  and  down  the 
mountain  streams  pieces  of  coal,  washed  out 
from  the  beds,  were  abundantly  scattered. 
The  oldest  maps  now  known,  dating  as  far 
back  as  1770,  and  compiled  from  still  older 
ones,  designate  in  this  region  localities  of 
“coal;”  but  these  were  probably  not  re- 
garded as  giving  any  additional  value  to  the 
territory.  The  first  recorded  notice  of  its 
use  was  in  the  northern  basin  by  some  black- 
smiths in  1770,  only  two  years  after  the 
whites  came  in  possession;  and  in  1775  a 
boat  load  of  it  was  sent  down  from  Wilkes- 
barre  to  the  Continental  armory  at  Car- 
lisle. This  was  two  years  after  the  laying 
out  of  the  borough  of  Wilkesbarre  by  the 
Susquehanna  Land  Company  of  Connecti- 
cut. From  this  time  the  coal  continued  to 
be  used  for  mechanical  operations  by  smiths, 
distillers,  etc.;  and  according  to  numerous 
certificates  from  these,  published  in  1815, 
in  a pamphlet  by  Mr.  Zachariah  Cist  of 
Wilkesbarre,  they  had  found  it  very  much 
better  for  their  purposes,  and  more  econom- 
ical to  use  than  Virginia  bituminous  coal, 
though  at  the  enormous  price  of  90  cents 
a bushel.  Gunsmiths  found  it  very  conven- 
ient for  their  small  fires,  and  one  .of  them, 
dating  his  certificate  December  9,  1814, 
stated  that  he  had  used  it  for  20  years,  con- 
suming about  a pcc’k  a day  to  a fire,  which 
was  sufficient  for  manufacturing  8 musket- 
barrels,  each  barrel  thus  requiring  a quart 
of  coal.  Oliver  Evans,  the  inventor  of  the 
steam  engine,  certifies  in  the  same  pamphlet 
to  his  having  used  it  for  raising  steam,  for 


COAL. 


121 


which  it  possessed  properties  superior  to  those 
of  any  other  fuel.  Judge  Fell  of  Wilkes- 
barre  applied  it  to  warming  houses  in  1808, 
and  contrived  suitable  grates  for  this  use  of 
it ; but  the  cheapness  of  wood  and  the 
greater  convenience  of  a fuel  which  every 
one  understood  how  to  use,  long  prevented 
its  general  adoption.  In  the  first  volume 
of  the  “ Memoirs  of  the  Historical  Society 
of  Pennsylvania,”  T.  C.  James,  M.D.,  gives 
“a  brief  account  of  the  discovery  of  anthra- 
cite coat  on  the  Lehigh,”  in  which  he  de- 
scribes a visit  he  made  to  the  Mauch  Chunk 
mountain  in  1 804,  where  he  saw  the  immense 
body  of  anthracite,  into  which  several  small 
pits  had  then  been  sunk,  and  which  was 
afterward  worked,  as  it  is  still,  as  an  open 
quarry.  He  states  that  he  commenced  to 
burn  the  coal  that  year,  and  had  continued 
to  use  it  to  the  time  of  making  this  commu- 
nication in  1826.  The  discovery  of  this  fa- 
mous mass  of  coal  was  made  in  1791,  and 
in  1793  the  “Lehigh  Coal  Mine  Company” 
was  formed  to  work  it.  But  as  there  were 
no  facilities  for  transporting  the  coal  down 
the  valley  of  the  Lehigh,  nothing  was  done 
until  1814,  when,  at  great  labor  and  expense, 
20  tons  were  got  down  the  river  and  were 
delivered  in  Philadelphia.  Two  years  be- 
fore this  a few  wagon  loads  had  been  re- 
ceived there  from  the  Schuylkill  mines ; but 
the  regular  trade  can  hardly  be  said  to  have 
commenced  until  1820,  when  the  receipts  in 
Philadelphia  amounted  to  365  tons.  Such 
was  the  commencement  of  the  great  anthra- 
cite trade  of  Pennsylvania,  which  in  the 
course  of  45  years  has  been  steadily  in- 
creasing, till  it  now  reaches  the  enormoffs 
amount  of  15,368,437  fonsfor  the  year  1867, 
and  sustains  numerous  branches  of  metallur- 
gical and  mechanical  industry,  the  possible 
dependence  of  which  upon  this  fuel  and 
source  of  power  was  hardly  dreamed  of 
when  its  mines  were  first  opened. 

The  existence  of  bituminous  coal  west  of 
the  Alleghanies  was  probably  known  as  early 
as  was  that  of  anthracite  in  the  eastern  part 
of  Pennsylvania;  and  on  the  western  rivers 
it  could  not  fail  to  have  been  noticed  by  the 
early  missionaries,  voyageurs,  and  hunters. 
In  the  old  maps  of  1770  and  1777  the  oc- 
currence of  coal  is  noted  at  several  points 
on  the  Ohio.  A tract  of  coal  land  was  taken 
up  in  1785  near  the  present  town  of  Clear- 
field, on  the  head-waters  of  the  west  branch 
of  the  Susquehanna,  by  Mr.  S.  Boyd,  and  in 
1804  he  sent  an  ark  load  of  the  coal  down 


f 


! 


the  Susquehanna  to  Columbia,  Lancaster 
county,  which,  he  states,  caused  much  sur- 
prise to  the  inhabitants,  that  “an  article  with 
which  they  were  wholly  unacquainted  should 
be  thus  brought  to  their  own  doors.”  This 
was  the  commencement  of  a trade  which  has 
since  been  prosecuted  to  some  extent  by 
running  rafts  of  timber  loaded  with  coal,  and 
sometimes  with  pig  iron  also,  from  the  head- 
waters to  the  lower  portion  of  the  Susque- 
hanna. The  bituminous  coal  mines  on  the 
James  River,  12  miles  above  Richmond,  in 
Virginia,  were  also  worked  during  the  last 
century,  but  at  how  early  a period  we  are 
ignorant.  In  an  account  of  them  in  the  first 
volume  of  the  “ American  Journal  of  Sci- 
ence,” published  in  1818,  they  are  spoken 
of  as  already  having  been  worked  30  years. 


VARIETIES  OF  COAL. 

The  mineral  coals  are  found  of  various 
sorts,  which  are  distinguished  by  peculiari- 
ties of  appearance,  composition,  and  proper- 
ties. Derived  from  vegetable  matters,  they 
exhibit  in  their  varieties  the  successive  chang- 
es which  these  have  undergone  from  the 
condition  of  peaty  beds  or  deposits  of  lig- 
neous materials — first  into  the  variety  known 
as  brown  coal  or  lignite,  in  which  the  bitu- 
minous property^  appears,  while  the  fibre 
and  structure  of  the  original  woody  masses 
is  fully  retained  ; next  in  beds  of  bituminous 
coal  comprised  between  strata  of  shales,  fire- 
clay, and  sandstones  ; and  thence  through 
several  gradations  of  diminishing  proportions 
of  bitumen  to  the  hard  stony  anthracite,  the 
composition  of  which  is  nearly  pure  carbon; 
and  last  of  all  in  this  series  of  steps  attend- 
ing the  conversion  of  wood  into  rock,  the 
vegetable  carbon  is  locked  up  in  the  miner- 
al graphite  or  plumbago.  These  steps  are 
clearly  traceable  in  nature,  and  in  all  of  them 
the  strata  which  include  the  carbonaceous 
beds  have  undergone  corresponding  changes. 
The  clayey  substratum  that  supports  the 
peat  appears  under  the  beds  of  mineral  coal 
j in  the  stony  material  called  fire-clay  (used 
when  ground  to  make  fire-brick)  ; the 
muddy  sediments  such  as  arc  found  over 
some  of  the  great  modern  peat  deposits,  ap- 
| pear  in  the  form  of  black  shales  or  slates, 
which  when  pulverized  return  to  their  muddy 
consistency  ; the  beds  of.  sand,  such  as  arc 
' met  with  in  some  of  the  peat  districts  of 
| Europe  interstrati  lied  with  different  peat 
j beds,  are  seen  in  the  coal-measures  in  beds 
| of  sandstones  ; and  the  limestones  which  also 


122 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


occur  in  the  same  group  of  strata,  represent 
ancient  beds  of  calcareous  marls.  The  slow 
progression  of  these  changes  is  indicated  by 
the  different  ages  of  the  geological  formations 
in  which  the  several  varieties  occur.  Beds 
of  peat  are  of  recent  formation,  though 
some  of  them  are  still  so  old,  that  they  are 
found  at  different  depths,  one  below  another, 
separated  by  intervening  layers  of  sand, 
clay,  and  earth.  Brown  coal,  or  lignite,  is 
commonly  included  among  the  strata  of 
the  tertiary  period ; the  bituminous  coals 
are  in  the  secondary  formations;  and  the  an- 
thracites, though  contained  in  the  same  ge- 
ological group  with  the  great  bituminous 
coal  formation,  are  in  localities  where  the 
strata  have  all  been  subjected  to  the  action 
of  powerful  agents  which  have  more  or  less 
metamorphosed  them  and  expelled  the  vola- 
tile bitumen  from  the  coal.  The  graphite  or 
plumbago  is  in  still  older  groups,  or  in  those 
which  have  been  still  more  metamorphosed 
by  heat. 

All  these  varieties  of  fossil  fuel  are  found 
in  the  United  States.  Peat  beds  of  small 
extent  are  common  in  the  northern  portion 
of  the  country,  and  in  some  parts  of  New 
England  are  much  used  for  fuel,  and  the 
muck,  or  decomposed  peat,  as  a fertilizer  to 
the  soil.  In  the -great  swamps  of  southern 
Virginia,  the  Carolinas,  and  Georgia,  vegeta- 
ble deposits  of  similar  nature  are  found  upon 
a scale  more  commensurate  with  the  extent 
of  the  ancient  coal-beds.  Lignite  is  not 
found  in  workable  beds,  as  in  some  parts  of 
Germany  and  England,  but  in  scattered  de- 
posits of  small  extent  among  the  tertiary 
clays,  chiefly  near  the  coast  of  New  Jersey, 
Delaware,  and  Maryland,  and  in  the  west- 
ern territories.  The  distribution  of  the  true 
coal  formations  will  be  pointed  out  after  des- 
ignating more  particularly  the  characters  of 
the  different  coals  All  of  these  consist  of 
the  elements  carbon,  hydrogen,  oxygen,  and 
nitrogen;  the  carbon  being  in  part  free, 
and  in  part  combined  with  the  other  ele- 
ments to  form  the  volatile  compounds  that 
exist  to  some  extent  in  all  coals.  Earthy 
matters  which  form  the  ash  of  coals  are  al- 
ways intermixed  in  some  proportion  with 
the  combustible  ingredients,  and  water,  also, 
is  present.  When  coals  are  analyzed  for 
the  purpose  of  indicating  their  heating  qual- 
ity by  their  composition,  it  is  enough  to  de- 
termine the  proportions  of  fixed  carbon,  of 
volatile  matter,  and  of  ash  which  they  con- 
tain. How  the  combined  carbon,  hydrogen, 


oxygen,  and  the  little  nitrogen  in  their  com- 
position, may  be  distributed  in  the  forms  of 
carburetted  hydrogen,  ammonia,  the  bitu- 
minous oils,  etc.,  cannot  be  ascertained  by 
analysis,  as  the  means  employed  to  separate 
most  of  these  compounds  cause  their  ele- 
ments to  form  other  combinations  among 
themselves:  the  determination  of  the  ulti- 
mate proportions  of  all  the  elements  would 
serve  no  practical  purpose.  So,  if  it  be  re- 
quired to  prove  the  fitness  of  any  coal  for 
affording  illuminating  gas,  or  the  coal  oils,  it 
must  be  submitted  to  experiments  having 
such  objects  only  in  view ; and  even  their 
capacity  for  generating  heat  is  better  deter- 
mined by  comparative  experiments  in  evapo- 
rating water,  than  by  any  other  mode.  The 
bituminous  coals  are  characterized  by  their 
large  proportion  of  volatile  matter,  which, 
when  they  are  heated,  is  expelled  in  various 
inflammable  compounds,  that  take  fire  and 
burn,  accompanied  by  a dense,  black  smoke 
and  a peculiar  odor  known  as  bituminous. 
If  the  operation  is  conducted  without  access 
of  air,  as  in  a closed  platinum  crucible,  the 
fixed  carbon  remains  behind  in  the  form  of 
coke ; and  by  removing  the  cover  to  admit 
air,  this  may  next  be  consumed,  and  the  re- 
siduum of  ash  be  obtained.  By  several 
weighings  the  proportions  are  indicated. 
Coals  containing  IS  per  cent,  or  more  of 
volatile  matter  are  classed  among  the  bi- 
tuminous varieties ; but  as  the  proportion  of 
this  may  amount  to  70  per  cent,  or  more, 
there  is  necessarily  a considerable  difference 
in  the  characters  of  these  coals,  though  their 
most  marked  peculiarities  are  not  always 
owing  to  the  different  amounts  of  volatile 
matter  they  contain.  Thus,  some  sorts,  called 
the  “ fat  bituminous,”  and  “ caking  coals,” 
that  melt  and  run  together  in  burning,  and 
are  especially  suitable  for  making  coke,  con- 
tain about  the  same  proportion  of  volatile 
matter  with  the  “ dry  coals,”  as  some  of  the 
cannel  and  other  varieties,  which  burn  with- 
out melting,  and  do  not  make  good  coke. 
Other  varieties  are  especially  distinguished 
for  their  large  proportion  of  volatile  ingre- 
dients ; such  are  the  best  cannels,  and  those 
light  coals  which  have  sometimes  been  mis- 
taken for  asphalt um,  as  the  Albert  coal  of 
the  province  of  New  Brunswick.  These  va- 
rieties are  eminently  qualified  for  producing 
gas  or  the  coal  oils;  but  have  little  fixed  car- 
bon, and  consequently  can  produce  little 
coke.  Coals  that  contain  from  11  to  18  per 
cent,  volatile  matter,  are  known  as  semi-bi- 


COAL. 


123 


tuminous,  and  partake  both  of  the  qualities 
of  the  true  bituminous  coals,  in  igniting  and 
burning  freely,  and  of  the  anthracite  in  the 
condensed  and  long-continued  heat  they 
produce.  The  Maryland  coals,  and  the  Ly- 
kens  valley  coal  of  Pennsylvania,  are  of 
this  character.  The  true  anthracites  con- 
tain from  2 to  6 per  cent,  of  gaseous  mat- 
ters, which  by  heat  are  evolved  in  carbu- 
retted  hydrogen  and  water,  even  when  the 
coal  has  been  first  freed  from  the  water  me- 
chanically held.  Their  greatest  proportion 
of  solid  carbon  is  about  95  per  cent.  There 
remains  a class  which  has  been  designated 
as  semi-anthracite,  containing  from  6 to  11 
per  cent,  of  combustible  volatile  matter. 
These  coals  burn  with  a yellowish  flame,  un- 
til the  gas  derived  from  the  combination  of 
its  elements  is  consumed. 

The  earthy  ingredients  in  coals,  forming 
their  ash,  are  derived  from  the  original  wood 
and  from  foreign  substances  introduced 
among  the  collections  of  ligneous  matters 
that  make  up  the  coal-beds.  The  ash 
is  unimportant,  excepting  as  the  material 
which  produces  it  takes  the  place  of  so  much 
combustible  matter.  In  some  coals,  espec- 
ially those  of  the  Schuylkill  region,  it  is  red, 
from  the  presence  of  oxide  of  iron,  and  in 


others  it  is  gray,  as  in  the  Lehigh  coals. 
This  distinction  is  used  to  designate  some 
of  the  varieties  of  anthracite ; but  the  qual- 
ity of  these  coals  is  more  dependent  on  the 
quantity  of  the  ash,  than  on  its  color.  From 
numerous  analyses  of  the  Schuylkill  red  ash 
coals  an  average  of  7.29  per  cent,  of  ash 
was  obtained,  and  of  the  white  ash  anthracite, 
4.62  per  cent.  Coals  producing  red  ash  are 
more  likely  to  clinker  in  burning  than  those 
containing  an  equal  amount  of  white  ash. 
In  some  varieties  of  coal  the  proportion  of 
earthy  matter  is  so  great  that  the  substance 
approaches  the  character  of  the  bituminous 
shales,  and  may  be  called  indifferently  ei- 
ther shale  or  coal.  Though  such  materials 
make  but  poor  fuel,  some  of  them  have 
proved  very  valuable  from  the  large  amount 
of  gas  and  of  oily  matters  they  afford.  The 
most  remarkable  of  this  class  is  that  known 
as  the  Boghead  cannel.  This  is  largely 
mined  near  Glasgow,  in  Scotland,  and  is  im- 
ported into  New  York  to  be  used  in  the 
manufacture  of  coal  oil.  It  is  a dull  black, 
stony-looking  substance,  having  little  resem- 
blance to  the  ordinary  kinds  of  coal.  Its 
composition  is  given  for  comparison  with 
that  of  other  coals,  in  the  following  ta- 
ble : — 


. I* 

W - V. 

"a3 


Localities. 


Shenowith  Vein,  Penn 


Beaver  Meadow 


Mansfield,  Mass. 


Atkinson's  and  Templeman's,  Maryland;  aver- 
age of 2 specimens 

George's  Creek,  Maryland 


Black  Heath,  James  River,  Virginia. 

Monroe  Co.,  8.  Illinois 

LaSalle  Co.,  N Illinois  


Grayson  (Ky.)  cannel 
Breckenndgo  (Ky.)  cannel. 


Boghead,  brown. 


Authority. 

Specific 

Gravity. 

Carbon. 

Water  and 
other 
Yol.  Mat. 

Ashes. 

.H.  D.  Rogers 

..  1.50 

94.10 

1.40 

4.50 

. W.  R.  Johnson 

...  1.46 

86.09 

6.96 

6.95 

. W.  R.  Johnson . . . 

...  1.42 

88.98 

6.36 

4.66 

it 

. ..  1.56 

91.64 

6.89 

1.47 

.A.  II.  Everett 

...  1.37 

89.25 

2.44 

8.80 

• Dr.  C.  T.  Jackson 

...  1.85 

85.84 

10.50 

8.66 

. . . 

...  1.69 

87.40 

6.20 

6.40 

■ W.  R.  Johnson 

76.69 

15.53 

7.83 

“ 

70.75 

16.03 

18.22 

. B.  Silliman,  jr 

64.72 

82  95 

2.31 

. W.  R.  Johnson  . . . 

. . 1.272 

59.47 

86.59 

8.94 

• 44 

58.79 

82.57 

8.64 

. ..  1.246 

58.70 

86.20 

4.50 

it 

...  1.287 

55.10 

89.90 

3.00 

. B.  Silliman,  jr 

86.04 

61.74 

2.22 

W 

...  1.871 

14.86 

62.08 

28.62 

44  .... 

...  1.150 

27.16 

64.30 

8.48 

.Dr.  Penny 

9.25 

62  70 

26.50 

• 44  

7.10 

71.06 

26.20 

A complete  description  of  the  coals,  such 
as  may  be  found  in  the  Report  of  Prof. 
Walter  R.  Johnson  ^Senate  Document,  28th 
Congress,  No.  386),  and  presented,  in  a 
condensed  form,  in  Johnson’s  Edition  of 
“ Knapp’s  Chemical  Technology,”  presents 
many  other  features  affecting  the  qualities 
of  the  coals,  and  their  adaptation  to  special 
uses.  Such  are — 1,  their  capacity  for  raising 


steam  quickly  ; 2,  for  raising  it  abundantly 
for  the  quantity  used;  3,  freedoih  from 
dense  smoke  in  their  combustion ; 4,  freedom 
from  tendency  to  crumble  in  handling ; 5, 
capacity,  by  reason  of  their  density,  and  the 
shapes  assumed  by  their  fragments,  of  close 
stowage  ; and  6,  freedom  from  sulphur.  The 
last  is  an  important  consideration,  affecting 
i the  value  of  coals  proposed  for  use  in  tin* 


124 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


iron  manufacture,  sulphur,  which  is  often 
present  in  coal  in  the  form  of  sulphuret  of 
iron,  having  a very  injurious  effect  upon  the 
iron  with  which  it  is  brought  in  contact 
when  heated.  It  is  again  to  be  cautiously 
guarded  against  in  selecting  bituminous 
coals  to  be  employed  in  steam  navigation  ; 
for  by  the  heat  generated  by  spontaneous 
decomposition  of  the  iron  pyrites,  the  eas- 
ily ignited  bituminous  coals  may  be  readily 
set  on  fire.  This  phenomenon  is  of  frequent 
occurrence  in  the  waste  heaps  about  coal 
mines,  and  large  bodies  of  coal  stored  in 

GENERAL  SCALE  OF  RELATIVE  VALUES  FORMED 

SUBJECTED 

Maryland  free-burning  coals 1< 

Pennsylvania  anthracite J 

Pennsylvania  bituminous 1 

Virginia  (James  River)  bituminous i 

Foreign  bituminous t 


yards  and  on  board  ships  have  been  thus 
inflamed,  involving  the  most  disastrous  con- 
sequences. In  stowage  capacity  coals  dif- 
fer greatly,  and  this  should  be  attended  to 
in  selecting  them  for  use  in  long  voyages. 
Tendency  to  crumble  involves  waste.  Dense 
smoke  in  consuming  is  objectionable  in  coals 
required  for  vessels-of-war  in  actual  service, 
as  it  must  expose  their  position  when  it  may 
be  important  to  conceal  it.  The  following 
table  was  prepared  by  Prof.  Johnson  to  pre- 
sent some  of  the  general  results  in  these 
particulars  of  his  experiments  : — 

PROM  THE  AVERAGES  OF  EACH  CLASS  OF  COAL 
TO  TRIAL. 


2. 

8. 

4. 

5. 

1000 

395 

880 

682 

986 

1000 

893 

319 

938 

390 

1000 

914 

757 

242 

948 

730 

741 

331 

948 

1000 

Column  1 gives  the  relative  evaporative 
powers  of  equal  weights  of  the  coals;  2, 
the  same  of  equal  bulks ; 3,  their  relative 
freedom  from  tendency  to  clinker ; 4,  rapid- 
ity of  action  in  evaporating  water ; 5,  facil- 
ity of  ignition,  or  readiness  with  which 
steam  is  gotten  up.  The  general  results  of 
experience  in  use,  as  well  as  of  special  trials 
systematically  conducted  upon  a large  scale, 
agree  in  these  particulars — that  while  the 
bituminous  coals  are  valuable  for  the  greater 
variety  of  uses  to  which  they  are  applica- 
ble, and  especially  for  all  purposes  requiring 
flame  and  a diffusive  heat,  as  under  large 
boilers ; and  while  they  are  quickly  brought 
into  a state  of  combustion,  rendering  the 
heat  they  produce  more  readily  available ; 
the  anthracites  afford  a more  condensed  and 
lasting  heat,  and  are  to  be  preferred  in  many 
metallurgical  operations,  especially  where 
great  intensity  of  temperature  is  required. 
And  for  many  purposes,  the  free-burning, 
semi-bituminous  coals,  which  combine  the 
useful  properties  of  both  varieties,  are  found 
most  economical  in  use. 

GEOLOGICAL  AND  GEOGRAPHICAL  DISTRIBU- 
TION. 

The  United  States  is  supplied  with  coal 
from  a number  of  coal-fields  belonging  to 
what  are  called  the  true  coal-measures,  or 
the  carboniferous  group,  a series  of  strata 
sometimes  amounting,  in  aggregate  thick- 
ness, to  2000  and  even  3000  feet,  and 
whether  found  in  this  country  or  in  Europe, 
readily  recognized  by  the  resemblance  in 


the  various  members  of  its  formation,  its 
fossil  organic  remains,  its  mineral  accompa- 
niments, and  by  its  position  relative  to  the 
other  groups  of  rock  which  overlie  and  un- 
derlie it.  The  principal  one  of  these  fields 
or  basins  is  that  known  as  the  Appalachian, 
which,  commencing  in  the  north-eastern 
part  of  Pennsylvania,  stretches  over  nearly 
all  the  state  west  of  the  main  Alleghany 
ridge,  and  takes  in  the  eastern  portion  of 
Ohio,  parts  of  Maryland,  Virginia,  Ken- 
tucky, Tennessee,  the  north-west  corner  of 
Georgia,  and  extends  into  Alabama  as  far  as 
Tuscaloosa.  Its  total  area,  including  a num- 
ber of  neighboring  basins,  as  those  of  the 
anthracite  region  to  the  east  of  the  Alle- 
ghany ridge,  which  were  originally  a part  of 
the  same  great  field,  is  estimated  at  about 
70,000  square  miles.  A second  great  basin 
is  that  which  includes  the  larger  part  of  Il- 
linois, and  the  western  portion  of  Indiana 
and  of  Kentucky.  Its  area  is  estimated  at 
about  50,000  square  miles  ; the  coal  is  bitu- 
minous, and  largely  charged  with  oil. 

The  third  coal  field,  now  known  as  the 
Ro  -ky  M untain  Coal  Field,  is  the  largest 
in  the  world,  embracing  an  area  in  North 
America  of  1,250,000  square  miles  of  w’hich 
513,(,0O  square  miles  is  within  the  United 
States.  It  covers  large  areas  in  Texas,  the 
Indian  Territory,  New  Mexico,  Kansas,  Ne- 
braska, Iowa.  Dakota,  Montana,  Wyoming, 
and  Colorado.  The  coal  is  semi-bituminous 
and  of  good  quality.  The  coal  of  the  Pa- 
cific Sta:es  is  mainly  lignite,  containing  about 
50  per  cent,  of  carbon,  but  on  Vancouver's 


ML  Lilia 


shigksh/m 


•T  R / o GE  UPPER 


S/L  UR/a 


Iv/z  ur/aR 


'Catena*-** 


-MTN. 


"broad 


MAP  OF  THE  ANTHRACITE  REGION  0 


Ifarrisbu 


Copied  by  permission  from  Appl 


i zr  s c o jl  z 


THE  GREAT  OPEN  QUARRY  OF  THE  LEHIGH. 


In  working  this  great  quarry  of  anthracite  at  the  Summit  mine,  above  Mauch  Chunk,  blocks  of  coal 
were  occasionally  left  standing  for  a time,  one  of  which,  surmounted  by  the  soil  of  the  original  surface  and 
the  relics  of  the  vegetation,  is  represented  in  the  above  cut.  In  this  btock  are  discerned  the  lines  of  strati- 
fication of  the  coal;  and  an  idea  of  its  extraordinary  thickness  and  extent  is  conveyed  by  the  appearance  of 
the  cliffs  upon  the  further  side  of  the  excavated  area.  Upon  the  floor  of  the  quarry  are  seen  the  mining 
wagons  used  for  conveying  away  upon  temporary  tracks  the  coal  and  rubbish  of  the  excavations. 


COAL. 


129 


whole  area  of  this  field  has  been  computed 
at  57,000  square  miles;  but  its  limits  have 
never  been  accurately  defined  A fourth 
coal-field  occupies  the  central  portion  ot 
the  southern  peninsula  of  Michigan,  its  area 
being  about  13,350  square  miles.  Several 
small  beds  of  bituminous  coal  are  worked  in 
this  district,  but  they  have  only  local  impor- 
tance. A fifth  coal-field  is  that  of  Rhode  Isl- 
and and  south-eastern  Massachusetts,  ihe 
strata  of  this  district  are  considered  as  be 
longino-  to  the  true  coal-measures,  although, 
from  the  metamorphic  action  to  which  they 
have  been  subjected,  their  true  character  is 
very  obscure.  They  contain  a few  beds  ot 
anthracite,  very  irregular  in  their  dimen- 
sions, and  much  crushed.  A number  of 
mines  have  been  opened,  but  the  only  one 
now  worked  is  at  Portsmouth,  8 miles 
north  of  Newport.  In  south-eastern  Vir- 
ginia is  a bituminous  coal-field,  lying  on 
both  sides  of  the  James  River,  a few  miles 
above  Richmond.  The  strata  which  contain 
the  coal-beds  of  this  district  are  recognized 
as  members  of  later  formation  than  those  ot 
the  true  coal-measures,  being  classed  with 
the  geological  group  known  as  the  oolite, 
or  lias  ; and  the  coal-beds  of  central  N orth 
Carolina,  on  Deep  River,  probably  belong  to 
the  same  position  in  the  geological  column. 
Notwithstanding  the  limited  area  of  this 
coal-field  in  Virginia,  which  is  only  about  25 
miles  long  and  8 to  10  miles  wide,  it  has  pro- 
duced for  more  than  sixty  years  past  large 
quantities  of  coal  chiefly  for  the  supply  of  iron 
manufacturing  establishments,  and  the  gas 
works  along  the  seaboard  to  the  north,  ihe 
strata  of  these  coal-measures  occupy  a deep 
depression  in  the  granitic  rocks  ot  this  re- 
gion, attaining  in  the  centre  of  the  basin  a 
thickness  of  nearly  2000  feet.  They  con- 
sist in  great  part  of  a micaceous  sand- 
stone, and  the  two  or  three  coal-beds  are 
contained  in  the  lower  150  feet.  A great 
bed  at  the  bottom,  which  in  some  places 
exceeds  40  feet  in  thickness,  and  in  others 
dwindles  away  to  4 or  5 feet  only,  appears 
to  have  been  deposited  -upon  the  uneven 
granitic  floor,  from  which  it  is  separated  by 
only  a few  inches  of  slate.  Shafts  have  been 
sunk  near  the  east  border  of  the  coal-field  to 
the  depth  of  nearly  900  feet.  The  amount 
of  coal  obtained  of  late  years  does  not  prob- 
ably exceed  130,000  tons  per  annum.  A 
‘singular  phenomenon  is  observed  at  one 
point  in  this  district,  where  a coal-bed  is 
penetrated  and  overlaid  by  a body  of  trap- 


rock.  The  coal  near  this  rock  is  converted 
into  a mass  of  coke,  resembling  that  artifi- 
cially produced,  except  that  it  is  more  com- 
pact and  of  a duller  lustre. 

A large  amount  of  bituminous  coal  has 
been  brought  to  Boston  and  blew  Aork,  for 
many  years  past,  from  a coal  field  belonging 
to  the  true  coal-measures,  in  Nova  Scotia 
and  Cape  Breton.  The  same  formation  ex- 
tends into  New  Brunswick,  and  ranges  along 
the  western  part  of  Newfoundland,  and  has 
been  estimated  as  comprising  in  all  an  area  , 
of  9000  square  miles.  The  productive  por- 
tions, however,  are  limited  to  a few  locali- 
ties upon  the  coast  of  Nova  Scotia  and 
Cape  Breton,  and  at  these,  beds  of  great 
thickness  have  been  opened,  and  worked  to 
the  depth  of  from  200  to  450  feet.  At  the 
Pictou  mines,  opposite  the  southern  point 
of  Prince  Edward’s  Island,  one  bed  is  29 
feet  thick.  Another  bed,  at  the  Albion 
mines,  84  miles  from  Pictou,  affords  24*  feet 
of  good  coal,  and  12  more  of  inferior  quali- 
ty ; and  in  Sydney,  Cape  Breton,  are  beds  of 
11  feet,  9 feet,  and  6 feet,  besides  at  least 
1 1 others  of  less  thickness.  At  the  South 
Joggins  cliffs,  in  Nova  Scotia,  the  total 
thickness  of  all  the  strata  of  the  coal-meas- 
ures was  found  by  Mr.  Logan  to  amount  to 
14,571  feet,  very  much  exceeding  the  thick- 
ness of  the  formation  as  observed  in  other 
places  on  the  American  continent. 

The  strata  which  make  up  the  coal  forma- 
tion, the  principal  varieties  of  which  have 
already  been  named,  are  regularly  laid  one 
upon  another  in  no  particular  order,  and 
amount  in  aggregate  thickness  to  several 
thousand  feet,  rarely  exceeding  in  the 
United  States  3000  feet.  Their  thickness 
is  ascertained  by  sections  measured  at  dif- 
ferent localities,  some  giving  one  part  of  the 
column,  and  others  other  portions.  In  west- 
ern Pennsylvania  the  nearly  horizontal  beds 
of  rock  are  often  exposed  in  the  sides  of  the 
precipitous  hills,  so  that  sections  of  several 
hundred  feet  may  be  fully  made  up.  Any 
peculiar  member  of  the  pile,  as  a bed  of 
limestone,  occurring  near  the  top-  of  the 
section,  may  be  recognized  in  other  locali- 
ties, where  by  the  dip  of  the  strata  it.  is 
brought  to  the  lower  levels,  and  the  hills 
above  it  then  present  the  succession  of  the 
higher  members  of  the  column ; or  if  the 
layer  taken  as  the  starting  point  be  in  the 
one  case  at  the  base,  it  will  be  found  in  the 
direction  of  the  rising  of  the  strata,  at  higher 
and  higher  elevations,  and  the  lower  mem- 


110  Gray  and  bu  ff 
micaceous  slaty 
sandstone. 


5 Dark  calcareous  slate. 
5 Limestone. 


Blue,  buff,  and 
olive  shales. 


??rr-r 


Dark  gray  massive 
sandstone. 


■ 44  Sandstones  and 
shales. 


Limestone,  thin. 


Variegated  shale* 
and  sandstone. 


Coal  O.  10  M 


0.4  Limestone. 

3 Limestone. 

15  Shale  & sandstone. 

2 Limestone. 

18  Dark  gray  shale. 

1 Coal. 

12  Shale  & limestone. 
15  to  25  Thin  bedded 

3 Limestone,  [sandstn. 


42  Blue  shale  and 
sandstone. 


6.10  Coal. 

Blue  and  buff  shale. 

13  Flaggy  sandstones. 


15  Yellow  shale. 

14  Slaty  sandstone. 

IT  to  20  Buff  shale#. 

11  to  14  Gray  mica- 
ceous sandstone. 


50  Buff  shales. 


3.6  Limestone, 
i 20  Buff  shales, 
i 0.9  Coal. 

V 20  Sandstone. 


56  Shales,  s a n d - 
stones  & lime- 
stones. 

2 Coal. 

4 Blue  friable  shale. 


35  Gray  or  brow  a 
sandstone. 


6 Waynesburg  coaL 
! 5 Soft  shale. 


~-2'  /.  . ' 35  Gray  sandstone. 


20  Flaggy  sandstone. 


10  Shale. 

18  Limestone. 

5 Black  slate. 

18  Slaty  sandstone. 

8 Black  calcareous 
slate. 

16  Limestone. 

20  Shale. 


Gray  slaty  sand- 
stone. 


85  Brown  shale. 
14  Pittsburg  coal. 


-rrl-  60  Shales,  calcareous 
and  arenaceous. 


50  to  70  Calcareous  and 
shalv  beds,  slaty 

lOSti 


sandstone,  die. 


Green  and  olive  shale. 


150  to  200  Greenish 
slate  & sandstone. 


COAL. 


131 


bers  of  the  column  will  then  be  brought 
into  view  at  the  base  of  the  hills.  Thus,  at 
Pittsburg,  the  hills  opposite  the  city  afford 
a section  of  300  or  400  feet,  and  the  marked 
stratum  is  here  the  great  coal-bed,  which  up 
the  Alleghany  river  toward  the  north  rises 
to  higher  and  higher  levels  in  the  hills,  and 
toward  the  south,  up  the  Monongahela,  sinks 
to  lower  levels,  till  it  passes  beneath  the  bed 
of  the  stream.  By  extending  these  obser- 
vations over  the  coal-field,  it  is  found  that 
the  whole  series  of  strata  maintain  their 
general  arrangement,  and  the  principal  mem- 
bers of  the  group,  such  as  an  important  coal- 
bed, a peculiar  bed  of  limestone,  etc.,  may  be 
identified  over  areas  of  thousands  of  square 
miles.  It  is  thus  the  sections  have  been  pre- 
pared at  many  localities  to  complete  the 
series,  as  presented  on  the  opposite  page, 
of  the  bituminous  coal-measures  of  the  ex- 
treme western  part  of  Pennsylvania.  The 
coal-beds  introduced  are  those  which  are 
persistent  over  the  greatest  areas.  Others 
occasionally  appear  in  different  parts  of  the 
column,  and  various  other  local  differences 
may  be  detected,  owing  to  the  irregularities 
in  the  stratification;  thus  sandstones  and 
slates  often  thin  out,  and  even  gradually 
pass  from  one  into  the  other.  By  their 
thinning  out  beds  of  coal  separated  by  them 
in  one  locality  may  come  together  in  another, 
and  form  one  large  bed ; and  again,  large  coal- 
beds may  be  split  by  hardly  perceptible  di- 
visional seams  of  slate  or  shale,  which  may 
gradually  increase,  till  they  become  thick 
strata,  separating  what  was  one  coal-bed 
into  two  or  more.  The  limestones,  though 
generally  thin,  maintain  their  peculiar  char- 
acters much  better  than  the  great  beds  of 
sandstone  or  shale,  and  are  consequently 
the  best  guides  for  designating  in  the  col- 
umns the  position  of  the  strata  which  ac- 
company them,  above  and  below.  The  fire 
clay  is  almost  universally  the  underlying 
stratum  of  the  coal-beds.  In  the  sections 
it  is  not  distinguished  from  the  shale-beds. 
The  total  thickness  of  all  the  measures,  is 
from  2000  to  2500  feet. 

Such  is  the  general  system  of  the  coal- 
bearing formation  west  of  the  Alleghan- 
ies.  Every  farm  and  every  hill  in  the  coal- 
field is  likely  to  contain  one  or  more  beds 
of  coal,  of  limestone,  of  good  sandstone  for 
building  purposes,  of  fire  clay,  and  some 
iron  ore  ; and  below  the  surface,  the  series  is 
continued  down  to  the  group  of  conglom- 
erates and  sandstones,  which  come  up 


around  the  margins  of  the  coal-fields  and 
define  their  limits.  At  Pittsburg  this 
group,  it  is  found  by  boring,  as  well  as  by 
the  measurements  of  the  strata  in  the  hills 
toward  the  north,  is  about  600  feet  below 
the  level  of  the  river.  The  coal-measures 
in  this  portion  of  the  country  are  the  high- 
est rock  formation;  but  in  the  western  terri- 
tories beyond  the  Mississippi  they  pass 
under  later  geological  groups,  as  the  creta- 
ceous and  the  tertiary.  All  the  coals  are 
bituminous,  and  the  strata  in  which  they  are 
found  are  little  moved  from  the  horizontal 
position  in  which  they  were  originally  de- 
posited. They  have  been  uplifted  with  the 
continent  itself,  and  have  not  been  subjected 
to  any  local  disturbences,  such  as  in  other 
regions  have  disarranged  and  metamorphosed 
the  strata. 

East  of  the  Alleghanies,  in  the  narrow, 
elongated  coal-fields  of  the  anthracite  re- 
gion, a marked  difference  is  perceived  in  the 
position  assumed  by  the  strata,  and  also  in 
the  character  of  the  individual  beds.  They 
evidently  belong  to  the  same  geological  se- 
ries as  the  bituminous  coal-measures,  and 
the  same  succession  of  conglomerates,  sand- 
stones, and  red  shales,  is  recognized  below 
them ; but  the  strata  have  been  tilted  at  va- 
rious angles  from  their  original  horizontal 
position,  and  the  formation  is  broken  up  and 
distributed  in  a number  of  basins,  or  canal- 
shaped troughs,  separated  from  each  other 
by  the  lower  rocks,  which,  rising  to  the 
surface,  form  long  narrow  ridges  outside  of 
and  around  each  coal-field.  Those  on  each 
side  being  composed  of  the  same  rocks,  sim- 
ilarly arranged,  and  all  having  been  sub- 
jected to  similar  denuding  action,  a striking 
resemblance  is  observed,  even  on  the  map, 
in  their  outlines ; and  in  the  ridges  them- 
selves this  is  so  remarkable  that  their  shapes 
alone  correctly  suggest  at  once  to  those  fa 
miliar  with  the  geology  of  the  country,  the 
rocks  of  which  they  are  composed.  Upon 
the  accompanying  map,  from  the  first  vol.  of 
the  “New  American  Cyclopaedia,”  these  ba- 
sins are  represented  by  the  shaded  portions, 
and  the  long,  narrow  ridges  which  surround 
the  basins,  and  meet  in  a sharp  curve  at  their 
ends,  are  indicated  by  the  groups  of  four 
parallel  lines.  Within  the  marginal  hills 
the  strata  of  the  coal-measures,  and  of  the 
underlying  formations,  while  retaining  their 
arrangement  in  parallel  sheets,  are  raised 
upon  their  edges  and  thrown  into  undulat- 
ing lines  and  sharp  flexures ; and  the  cxtrac- 


132 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


Sharp  Mi. 


F.ig.  l 


Locust  Mb 


tion  of  the  coal,  instead  of  being  con- 
ducted by  levels  driven  into  the  side 
of  the  hills,  is  effected  by  means  of 
inclined  shafts  following  down  the 
course  of  the  beds  from  the  surface, 
or  by  vertical  slopes  sunk  so  as  to 
cut  them  at  considerable  depths.  The 
arrangement  of  the  strata  in  its  gen- 
eral features  is  represented  in  the  ac- 
companying wood  cuts.  Fig.  1 is  a 
section  from  Sharp  Mountain,  on  the 
south  side  of  the  Mauch  Chunk  sum- 
mit mine,  across  this  great  body  of 
coal,  and  the  higher  coal-beds  of  the 
formation  repeatedly  brought  to  the 
surface  by  their  changes  of  dip,  to 
Locust  Mountain,  which  bounds  the 
basin  on  the  north.  Fig.  2 is  a sec- 
tion across  the  same  basin  at  Ta- 
maqua,  six  miles  west  from  Mauch 
Chunk  mine.  In  this  section  it  is 
seen  how  the  coal-measures  are  sepa- 
rated into  basins  by  the  lower  rocks 
coming  up  to  the  surface  and  forming 
anticlinal  axes.  Fig.  3 represents  the 
position  of  single  beds,  as  they  occur 
among  the  slates  and  sandstones,  and 
the  manner  in  which  they  are  some- 
times reached  by  means  of  a tunnel 
driven  in  from  the  base  of  the  hill. 

The  curved  portion  of  the  coal  at 
the  top  is  formed  by  the  coal-beds 
at  their  outcrop  becoming  disinte- 
grated, and  their  fragments  and  de- 
composed smut  being  spread  down 
the  slope  of  the  hill.  The  Roman 
numerals,  “IX,”  “X,”  “XI,”  “XII,” 
in  fig.  2,  designate  the  lower  forma- 
tions of  rock,  known  respectively  as 
the  red  sandstones  (corresponding  to 
the  “Old  Red  Sandstone”);  a series  of 
gray  sandstones ; one  of  red  shales ; and 
lastly,  the  conglomerate.  The  dotted  lines 
above  and  below  the  section  mark  the  con- 
tinuity of  the  conglomerate  beneath  the  base 
of  the  section  and  its  original  course  above 
the  present  surface  before  this  portion  had 
been  removed  by  diluvial  action.  The  other 


formations  obviously  accompany  the  con- 
glomerate with  similar  flexures. 

The  same  cause,  that  threw  the  strata  into 
their  inclined  and  contorted  positions,  no 
doubt  changed  the  character  of  the  coal  by 
dispelling  its  volatile  portions,  converting 
it  in  fact  into  coke,  while  the  pressure 
of  the  superincumbent  beds  of  rock  pre- 


COAL. 


133 


vented  the  swelling  up  of  the  material,  as 
occurs  in  the  ordinary  process  of  producing 
coke  from  bituminous  coal,  and  caused  it  to 
assume  the  dense  and  compact  structure  of 
anthracite.  As  the  anthracite  basins  are 
traced  westward,  it  is  observed  that  the 
coals  in  those  districts  which  have  been  less 
disturbed,  retain  somewhat  of  the  bitumin- 
ous character;  and  if  the  continuity  were 
uninterrupted  between  the  anthracite  and 
the  bituminous  coal-fields,  there  is  no  doubt 
that  a gradual  passage  would  be  observed 
from  the  one  kind  of  coal  to  the  other,  and 
that  this  would  be  accompanied  by  an  amount 
of  disturbance  in  the  strata  corresponding 
to  the  degree  in  which  the  coal  is  deficient 
in  bitumen. 

AMOUNT  OF  AVAILABLE  COAL. 

In  estimating  the  quantities  of  workable 
coal  in  any  district,  several  points  are  to  be 
taken  into  consideration  besides  the  amount 
of  surface  covered  by  the  coal-measures  and 
the  aggregate  thickness  of  all  the  beds  they 
contain.  Out  of  the  total  number  of  coal- 
beds, there  are  more  or  less  of  them  that 
must  be  excluded  from  the  estimate,  on  ac- 
count of  their  being  too  thin  to  work.  The 
great  depth  at  which  the  lower  beds  in  the 
central  parts  of  the  Appalachian  coal-field 
lie  must  probably  prevent  their  ever  being 
worked ; but  for  this  no  allowance  is  ever 
made  in  the  estimates  of  quantities  of  coal. 

The  most  careful  and  complete  computa- 
tions of  this  nature  which  have  been  made 
are  those  of  Professor  H.  D.  Rogers,  and  of 
Mr.  Bannan  in  the  Coal  Statistical  Register 
for  1871.  From  these  sources  we  obtain 
the  following  estimates : 

EXTENT  OF  COAL-FIELD  IN  THE  SEVERAL  STATES 
POSSESSING  THE  COAL  FORMATION. 

Sq.  miles. 


Massachusetts  and  Rhode  Island 100 

Pennsylvania 12,656 

Ohio 7,100 

Maryland 550 


RELATIVE  AMOUNT  OF  COAL  IN  THE  SEVERAL 


Virginia 15,900 

Kentucky 13,700 

Tennessee 3,700 

Alabama 6,130 

Georgia 170 

Indiana 6,700 

Illinois 40,000 

Michigan 13,350 

Iowa 24,000 

Missouri 21,329 

Nebraska 84,000 

Kansas 80,000 

Arkansas 12,597 

Indian  Territory 40,000 

Texas 30,000 

New  Mexico 20,000 

Wyoming 20,000 

Colorado 20,000 

Montana 74,000 

Dakota 100,000 


Total 650,862 


In  the  anthracite  basins  of  Pennsylvania 
the  number  of  workable  beds  varies  from  2 
or  3 to  25,  according  to  the  depth  of  the 
basin ; the  average  number  is  supposed  to  be 
10  or  12.  The  maximum  thickness  of  coal 
is  in  the  Pottsville  basin,  and  amounts  to 
207  feet.  Rejecting  the  thin  seams,  the 
average  thickness  in  the  south  anthracite 
field  is  reckoned  at  100  feet;  in  the  middle 
or  north  field  at  about  60  feet ; and  the  gen- 
eral average  of  the  whole,  70  feet. 

The  maximum  thickness  of  the  15  or  16 
coal-beds  of  the  central  part  of  the  Appala- 
chian coal-field  is  about  40  feet,  but  the 
average  of  the  whole  basin  is  considered  4 
be  25  feet. 

The  basin  extending  over  Illinois  an^ 
into  Indiana  and  Kentucky,  contains  in  the 
last-named  state  16  or  17  workable  beds, 
with  a maximum  thickness  of  about  50  feet. 
The  average  over  the  whole  area  is  supposed 
to  be  20  or  25  feet. 

The  following  estimates  of  the  British 
coal-fields  are  introduced  for  comparison. 
Extending  these  computations  to  Belgium 
and  France  also,  the  result  of  calculations  of 
available  coal  supply,  in  1870,  are  as  follows : 

GREAT  COAL-FIELDS  OF  EUROPE  AND  AMERICA. 

Tons.  llatio. 

60  feet  of  coal)  contains 


Belgium  (assuming  an  average  thickness  of  about 

about 36,000,000,000 

France  (with  same  thickness)  contains  about 59,000,000,000 

The  British  Islands  (averaging  35  feet  thickness)  contain  nearly 190,000,000,000 

Pennsylvania  (averaging  25  feet  thickness)  contains 316,400,000,000 

The  great  Appalachian  coal-field  (including  Pennsylvania, averaging  25  feet).  1,387, 500 ,000^000 
Coal-field  of  Indiana,  Illinois,  and  western  Kentucky  (average  thickness  25  ft).  1,277, 500, 000, 000 

The  Rocky  Mountain  basin  (averaging  30  feet) 3,739,000,000,000 

All  the  productive  coal-fields  of  North  America  (with  an  assumed  thickness 

of  20  feet  of  coal,  and  a productive  area  of  200,000  sq.  miles) 6,720,400,000,000 

All  the  coal-fields  of  Europe 

The  following  table  contains  the  yearly  I States,  from  the  commencement  of  the 
returns  of  the  coal  product  of  the  United  I in  1820 ; 


l 

1.64 

5.28 

8.8 

38.5 

35.5 
1029 

186 

8.75 

trade 


Total 

Consump- 

tion. 

Total  consumption  of  Anthracite  and  Bituminous  Coal  in  the 

United  States.  saSa' 

1 ! 

Bituminous 
in  other 
portions  of 
United 
States. 

Aggregate  of  Bituminous  mined  in  other  portions  of  the  United  |||| 
States,  not  included  in  this  table. 

000*000*01 

OOO‘OO'J'6 

Ixportatlon 

Domestic 

Coul. 

SJ.  IHSIIIIISSI  PSS.IISP.8S  | 
“*  SSKSS82SS2S  JE3SPSSIE1  § 

XI  n ID  1ST  T XI XI  _A_  CITES. 


| hihhsss  SH13SSSS8  musing  immm  snsssiiii  s 


136 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


TRANSPORTATION  OF  COAL  TO  MARKET. 

The  first  anthracite  from  the  Schuylkill 
mines  was  brought  to  Philadelphia  in  wag- 
ons. The  navigation  of  the  river  and  canal 
was  hardly  practicable  for  boats  previous  to 
the  year  1822;  and  though  from  that  year 
anthracite  was  conveyed  to  Philadelphia  and 
the  trade  continued  to  increase,  it  was  not 
until  1825  that  a large  amount  of  coal  could 
be  transported  by  this  route.  The  effect  of 
these  improvements  was  experienced  in  the 
transportation  of  6,500  tons  in  1825;  in  1826 
it  increased  to  16,763.  As  for  successive 
years  the  trade  steadily  and  rapidly  increased 
in  importance,  the  capacity  of  the  canal 
proved  at  last  insufficient  for  it,  and  the 
Reading  railroad  was  laid  out  for  its  accom- 
modation, and  constructed  with  a uniform 
descending  grade  from  the  mining  region  at 
Pottsville  to  the  Delaware  river.  It  was 
opened  in  1841,  and  proved  a formidable 
competitor  to  the  Schuylkill  canal,  but  the 
increasing  trade  has  surpassed  the  capacity 
of  both  these  routes.  Other  lines  have  been 
constructed,  till  now  there  are  six  or  seven 
railroads  engaged  almost  exclusively  in  the 
transportation  of  the  anthracite  and  semi- 
anthracite coals  from  the  mines. 

As  seen  by  the  table,  the  first  shipments 
of  anthracite  were  from  the  Lehigh  region, 
two  years  before  any  were  sent  from  the 
Schuylkill.  The  transportation  was  effected 
by  arks  or  large  boxes  built  of  plank,  and 
run  down  the  rapid  and  shoal  river  with  no 
little  risk.  To  return  with  them  was  im- 
practicable, nor  was  this  desired,  for  the 
arks  themselves  were  constructed  of  the 
product  of  the  forests,  which  in  this  form 
was  most  conveniently  got  to  market.  As 
the  coal  trade  increased  in  importance,  the 
Lehigh  Coal  and  Navigation  Company,  to 
insure  greater  facility  in  running  the  arks, 
constructed  dams  across  the  shoaler  places 
in  the  river,  by  which  the  water  was  held 
back,  thus  increasing  the  depth  above.  As 
the  arks  coming  down  the  river  reached  one 
of  these  dams,  the  sluice  gates  were  opened 
and  the  boats  descended  to  the  next  dam  be- 
low. At  first  two  arks  were  connected  to- 
gether by  hinges  at  the  ends ; subsequently 
more  were  thus  joined  together,  till  they 
reached  nearly  200  feet  in  length.  In  1831 
the  slack-water  navigation  of  the  Lehigh 
was  so  far  perfected,  that  it  was  used  by 
canal  boats  ascending  and  descending  through 
regular  locks. 

Up  to  the  year  1827  the  transportation 


of  anthracite  to  Mauch  Chunk,  nine  miles 
from  the  mines,  was  by  wagons.  The  Mauch 
Chunk  road,  completed  in  May,  1827,  was 
made  with  a descending  grade,  averaging 
about  100  feet  to  the  mile,  so  that  the  loaded 
cars  ran  down  by  gravity.  Each  train  car- 
ried down  with  it  in  cars  appropriated  to 
this  use  the  mules  for  drawing  the  empty 
cars  back;  and  it  is  stated  that  after  the 
animals  once  became  accustomed  to  the  rou- 
tine of  their  duties  they  could  never  be  made 
to  travel  down  the  road  if  accidentally  left 
behind.  The  trade  before  many  years  out- 
grew these  increased  facilities  of  transport- 
ing the  coal,  and  it  was  found  essential  to 
return  the  empty  cars  by  some  more  econom- 
ical method.  On  account  of  the  heavy  up- 
grade, locomotives,  it  was  concluded,  could 
not  be  advantageously  employed,  and  hence 
a system  of  inclined  planes  and  gravity 
roads  was  devised,  by  which  the  cars  hoisted 
by  stationary  power  to  the  summit  of  the 
planes  and  thence  descending  the  gravity 
roads  might  be  returned  to  the  mines.  In 
the  accompanying  sketches  a part  of  this  ar- 
rangement of  roads  is  exhibited. 

The  high  hill  called  Mount  Pisgah,  above 
the  village  of  Mauch  Chunk,  is  the  terminat- 
ing point  at  the  Lehigh  river  of  the  long 
ridge  called  Sharp  Mountain.  The  lower 
road  seen  in  the  sketch  is  called  the  loaded 
track.  The  cars  come  by  this  from  the 
mines, and  being  letdown  the  inclined  plane 
at  its  terminus,  their  loads  are  discharged  in- 
to the  great  bins  over  the  edge  of  the  river. 
They  are  then  hauled  a short  distance  to  the 
foot  of  the  long  plane  that  reaches  to  the 
summit  of  Mount  Pisgah,  and  by  the  sta- 
tionary steam  engine  are  drawn  up  in  about 
six  minutes  to  an  elevation  850  feet  above 
that  at  the  foot.  The  length  of  this  plane 
is  2250  feet.  From  its  summit  the  empty 
cars  run  down  the  inclined  road  constructed 
along  the  south  side  of  the  ridge,  and  at  the 
distance  of  six  miles,  having  descended  about 
300  feet,  they  reach  the  foot  of  another  in- 
clined plane  at  Mount  Jefferson.  This  plane 
is  2070  feet  long,  rising  462  feet.  The  as- 
cent is  accomplished  in  three  minutes,  and 
from  the  top  another  gravity  road  extends 
about  a mile,  descending  44  feet  to  the  Sum- 
mit Hill  village.  From  this  point  branch 
roads  lead  to  the  different  mines  in  Panther 
Creek  valley,  and  all  meet  again  in  the 
loaded  track  road  by  which  the  cars  return 
to  Mauch  Chunk. 

The  transportation  of  coal  from  Mauch 
Chunk  was  conduct-  jd  by  the  river  and  canal 


MOUNT  PISGAII  PLANE,  MAUCH  CHUNK,  PA. 


COLLIERY  SLOPE  AND  BE  AKER  AT  TUSCARORA,  PA. 


COAL, 


139 


MOUNT  PISGAH  PLANES  AND  THE  GRAVITY  RAILROAD,  MAUCH  CHUNK. 


exclusively  until  the  partial  construction  of 
the  Lehigh  railroad  in  1846.  But  it  was 
not  until  its  completion  in  1855,  that  this 
began  to  be  an  important  outlet  of  the  coal 
region  and  a powerful  competitor  for  the 
trade  with  the  canal. 

A considerable  amount  of  anthracite  finds 
a market  on  the  borders  of  Chesapeake  Bay, 
being  transported  from  the  mines  near  the 
Susquehanna  river  by  the  Susquehanna  tide- 
water canal,  and  by  the  Northern  Central 
railroad.  Its  consumption  is  extending  in 
this  region  by  its  use  in  the  blast  furnaces 
in  the  place  of  charcoal,  for  smelting  iron 
ores,  and  the  receipts  of  this  fuel  in  the  city 
of  Baltimore  are  about  one-sixth  of  those  of 
the  semi-bituminous  coals  of  the  Cumber- 
land region,  which  are  brought  to  the  city 
by  the  Baltimore  and  Ohio  railroad  and  the 
canal.  The  receipts  during  the  years  named 
below  were  as  follows  : 


1867. 

Tons. 

Bitumlnoufl 443,782 

Anthracite 267’,  £34 


1860.  1869.  1870. 

Tons.  Tons  Tons. 

897,084  1,882,019  1,717,076 
326,129  270,240  .‘106,494 


701,116  722,813  2,162,909  2,022,671 


The  principal  outlet  of  the  Northern  coal- 
field had  been  from  1829  to  1850  by  the 
Delaware  and  Hudson  canal.  Since  1847 
there  have  been  taken  every  year  to  the 
Hudson  river  by  this  route  from  about 
440,000  to  499,650  tons,  except  in  1855, 
when  the  quantity  was  565,460  tons.  A 
number  of  railroads  now  connect  this  basin 
with  the  central  railroad  across  northern 
New  Jersey,  and  in  other  directions  it  is 
connected  both  by  railroad  and  canals  with 
the  Erie  railroad  to  the  North  and  the  Sus- 
quehanna river  to  the  South-west.  As  large 
an  amount  of  coal  is  now  transported  over 
each  one  of  three  of  these  lines  as  by  the 
Delaware  and  Hudson  canal. 

The  various  railroads  and  canals  which 
have  been  constructed  with  especial  refer- 
ence to  the  transportation  of  anthracite,  are 
more  than  48  in  number,  and  have  cost 
over  $260,000,000.  Most  of  them  arc  pre- 
sented in  the  following  table;  of  some  of 
them  only  those  portions  which  may  fairly 
be  counted  as  constructed  for  coal  pur- 
poses : — 


140 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


Names  of  railroads  and  canals. 

Lehigh  Navigation , 

Lehigh  and  Susquehanna  railroad  and  branches 

Mauch  Chunk  and  Summit  railroads 

Delaware  division  of  the  Pennsylvania  canal 

Beaver  Meadow  railroad  and  branch 

Ha/deton  railroad 

Philadelphia  and  Erie  railroad 

Summit  railroad 

Lehigh  Valley  railroad  and  branches 

Delaware  and  Hudson  canal 

Morris  canal  

The  Schuylkill  Navigation 

Reading  railroad  and  branches 

Shamokin  and  Pottsville  Valley  railroad  and  branch.., 

Little  Schuylkill  railroad 

Danville  and  Pottsville  railroad  (44|-  miles  unfinished)., 
Mine  Hill  and  Schuylkill  Haven  railroad  and  branches 

Mount  Carbon  railroad  and  branches 

Port  Carbon  railroad  and  branches 

Schuylkill  Valley  railroad  and  branches 

Mill  Creek  railroad  and  branches 

Lykens  Valley  railroad 

Wiconisco  canal  

Swatara  railroad 

North  Branch  canal . . 

Union  canal  and  Pine  Grove  branch 

Schuylkill  and  Susquehanna  railroad 

Northern  Central  railroad 

Pennsylvania  railroad  and  branches.. 

Susquehanna  tidewater  canal 

York  and  Cumberland  railroad 

Cumberland  Valley  railroad 

Franklin  railroad 

Nesquehoning  railroad 

Room  Run  railway 

Delaware,  Lackawanna,  and  Western  railroad 

Lackawanna  and  Bloomsburg  railroad 

North  Pennsylvania  

Catawissa,  Williamsport,  and  Erie  railroad 

Elmira  and  Williamsport 

Pennsylvania  Coal  Company’s  railroad 

New  Jersey  Central  railroad 

Railroads  by  individuals 

Other  coal  railroads 

Total 


Canals.  Railroads. 
No.  miles.  No.  miles. 


Total  cost. 


193 

13j570,595 

36 

831,684 

43 

. . 

1,734,958 

38 

360,000 

20 

253,000 

288 

20,000,000 

2 

60,000 

238 

20,000,000 

.108 

. . 

3,250,000 

.102 

, . 

4,000,000 

.108 

. . 

5,785.000 

153 

29,822,729 

34 

1,569,450 

32 

1,466,187 

34 

1,895,000 

143 

3,775,000 

13 

203,260 

14 

282,350 

30 

576,050 

32 

323,375 

215 

975,868 

# , 

370,000 

6 

41,780 

. . 

3,790,310 

. 90 

1 ,000,000 

55 

1,300,000 

142 

12,400,000 

. . 

29,761,533 

1,000,000 

44 

3,300,000 

81 

1,692,111 

45 

1,643,128 

28 

500,000 

6 

40,000 

116 

13,988,876 

82 

3,753,130 

66 

6,669,991 

68 

3,745,096 

78 

2,692,000 

63 

2,745,500 

134 

18,034,675 

120 

1,180,000 

1117 

37,500,000 

3,746 

$261,435,646 

COAL  MINING. 

Coal-beds  are  discovered  and  worked  by 
different  methods,  varying  according  to  the 
circumstances  under  which  they  occur.  In 
regions  where  they  lie  among  the  piles  of 
strata  horizontally  arranged,  and  passing 
with  the  other  members  of  the  group  upon 
a level  or  nearly  so  through  the  hills,  their 
exact  position  is  often  detected  by  their  ex- 
posure in  the  precipitous  walls  of  rock  along 
the  rivers ; or  it  is  indicated  by  peculiar  in- 
dentations, known  as  “benches,”  around  their 
line  of  outcrop,  caused  by  their  crumbling 
and  wearing  away  more  rapidly  than  the 
harder  strata  above  and  below  them ; and 
again  by  the  recurrence  of  springs  of  water 


and  wet  places  at  the  foot  of  the  benches, 
which  point  to  an  impervious  stratum  with- 
in the  hill  that  prevents  the  water  percolat- 
ing any  further  down;  and  lastly,  in  the 
little  gorges  worn  by  the  “ runs,”  the  beds 
are  often  uncovered,  and  loose  pieces  of  coal 
washed  down  lead  to  their  original  source 
above.  However  discovered,  the  method  of 
working  them  is  simple.  A convenient  place 
is  selected  upon  the  side  of  a hill,  and  an  ex- 
cavation called  a drift,  usually  about  four 
feet  wide,  is  made  into  the  coal-bed.  The 
height  of  the  drift  is  governed  by  the  thick- 
ness of  the  coal-bed  and  the  nature  of  the 
overlying  slate.  Miners  sometimes  work  in 
drifts  only  feet  high.  Coal-beds  three  or 
four  feet  thick  are  very  common,  and  are 


FIRE-DAMP  EXPLOSIONS,  RARE  IN  ANTHRACITE,  RUT  FREQUENT  IN  BITUMINOUS  MINES. 


INUNDATION  TROUBLESOME,  ESPECIALLY  IN  ENGLISH  MINES. 


BRHAKING  OP  PROPS  AND  CAVING  IN- 


COAL. 


141 


worked  without  the  necessity  of  removing  the 
overhanging  slate,  unless  it  is  too  unsound 
to  serve  as  a roof.  Beds  of  ten  feet  thick- 
ness or  more  require  much  additional  care 
over  those  of  smaller  size,  both  in  removing 
the  coal  and  supporting  the  roof ; and  in 
many  cases  it  is  found  expedient  to  leave  a 
portion  of  the  bed,  either  at  the  top  or  bot- 
tom, untouched,  especially  if  the  upper  lay- 
ers contain,  as  they  often  do,  sound  sheets  of 
slate.  At  the  entrance  of  the  mines,  and  in 
general  in  all  places  where  the  cover  is  not 
sound,  the  materials  overhead  are  prevented 
from  falling  by  timbers  across  the  top  of  the 
drifts,  rudely  framed  into  posts  set  up  against 
the  walls  on  each  side  ; and  where  the  strata 
are  very  loose,  slabs  are  driven  in  over  the 
cross  timbers  and  behind  the  posts.  In  such 
ground  the  coal  cannot  be  excavated  over 
large  areas  without  leaving  frequent  pillars 
of  coal  and  introducing  great  numbers  of 
posts  or  props.  But  previous  to  abandon- 
ing the  mine  the  pillars  may  be  removed, 
commencing  with  those  furthest  in,  and  all 
the  strata  above  are  thus  allowed  to  settle 
gradually  down.  When  drifts  or  gangways 
have  been  extended  into  the  coal-beds  far 
enough  to  be  under  good  cover,  branches 
are  commenced  at  right  angles,  and  a system 
of  chambers  is  laid  out  for  excavation,  leav- 
ing sufficient  blocks  or  pillars  of  coal  to  pro- 
vide for  the  support  of  the  overlying  strata. 
Thus  the  work  is  carried  on,  ventilation  be- 
ing secured  by  connections  made  within  the 
hill  with  gangways  passing  out  in  different 
directions,  and  sometimes  also  by  shafts 
sunk  from  the  surface  above,  or,  when  these 
means  are  not  practicable,  by  ventilating 
fans  worked  by  hand,  and  thus  forcing  air 
through  long  wooden  boxes  which  lead  into 
the  interior  of  the  mine.  Drainage  is  often 
a serious  trouble,  and  unless  the  strata  slope 
toward  the  outlet  of  the  mine,  it  can  be  ef- 
fected only  by  a channel  cut  to  the  required 
depth  for  the  water  to  flow  out,  or  else  by 
the  use  of  pumping  machinery.  When  the 
strata  lie  nearly  upon  a horizontal  plane,  it 
is  very  common  for  a slight  descent  to  be 
found  from  the  exterior  of  a hill  toward  its 
centre,  as  if  the  beds  of  rock  had  been  com- 
pressed and  settled  by  their  greater  weight 
in  the  middle  of  the  hill.  In  such  positions 
the  coal  is  extracted  with  much  expense  for 
drainage,  and  it  is  therefore  an  important 
consideration  in  judging  of  the  value  of  coal- 
beds to  ascertain  whether  or  no  the  water 
will  flow  freely  out  from  the  excavations.  In 


the  bituminous  coal-fields  west  of  the  Alle- 
ghanies,  owing  to  the  general  distribution  of 
the  coal-beds  above  the  level  of  the  water- 
courses, it  has  not  yet  been  found  worth 
while  to  work  any  of  ^he  beds  that  are 
known  to  lie  below  this  level.  Coal  must 
reach  a much  higher  value  before  beds  of 
the  moderate  size  of  those  in  that  region  can 
be  profitably  explored  below  water  level. 

It  is  rare  that  bituminous  coal  is  obtained 
by  open  quarrying.  Where  the  beds  lie 
near  the  surface,  so  that  they  might  be  un- 
covered, the  coal  is  almost  invariably  in  a 
rotten  condition  and  worthless.  Conse- 
quently one  of  the  first  points  to  be  assured 
of  in  judging  of  the  value  of  a coal-bed  is 
that  it  has  sufficient  rock  cover.  After  this 
may  be  considered  the  quality  of  the  coal, 
its  freedom  from  sulphur,  etc.,  the  sound- 
ness of  its  roof,  and  the  facilities  offered  for 
drainage  and  ventilation.  The  quality  of  a 
coal-bed  undergoes  little  or  no  change  after 
it  is  once  reached  under  good  cover  beyond 
atmospheric  influences ; and  hence  no  en- 
couragement can  be  given  to  continue  to 
work  a poor  bed  in  hopes  of  its  improving. 

Coal  is  excavated  chiefly  by  light,  slender 
picks.  With  one  of  these  a miner  makes  a 
shallow,  horizontal  cut  as  far  as  he  can  reach 
under  the  wall  of  coal  before  him,  stretching 
himself  out  upon  the  floor  to  do  this  work, 
and  then  he  proceeds  to  make  a vertical  cut 
extending  from  each  end  of  that  along  the 
floor  up  to  the  roof.  By  another  horizontal 
cut  along  the  roof,  a cubical  block  of  coal  is 
thus  entirely  separated  from  the  bed,  except 
on  the  back  side  which  cannot  be  reached. 
The  separation  is  completed  by  wedges 
driven  into  the  upper  crevice,  or  sometimes 
by  small  charges  of  powder.  By  this  means 
blocks  of  coal  are  thrown  down  amounting 
to  70  or  80  tons  in  weight,  and  with  the 
least  possible  loss  by  the  reduction  of  por- 
tions of  it  to  dust  and  fine  coal. 

The  cost  of  mining  and  delivering  coal  at 
the  mouth  of  the  mines,  varies  with  the  size 
and  character  of  the  beds.  Under  the  most 
favorable  conditions  the  horizontal  beds  of 
bituminous  coal,  as  those  in  the  hills  oppo- 
site Pittsburg,  have  been  worked  and  the 
coai  delivered  outside  for  1£  cents  a bushel, 
or  45  cents  a ton  ; but  in  general  the  total 
expenses  are  nearly  double  this  rate.  In  es- 
timating the  capacity  of  production  of  coal- 
beds it  is  usual  to  allow  a ton  of  coal  to 
every  cubic  yard,  and  a bed  of  coal  a yard 
thick  should  consequently  contain  a ton  to 


142 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


every  square  yard,  or  4840  tons  to  the  acre : 
but  the  actual  product  that  can  be  depended 
on,  after  the  loss  by  fine  coal,  by  pillars  left 
standing,  etc.,  may  not  safely  be  reckoned  at 
more  than  3000  tons,  or  for  every  foot  thick- 
ness of  the  bed  1000  tons. 

In  the  anthracite  region,  and  in  other  coal 
districts 'where  the  beds  are  of  large  size  and 
lie  at  various  degrees  of  inclination  with  the 
horizon,  the  methods  of  mining  differ  more 
or  less  from  those  described.  The  anthra- 
cite beds  frequently  extend  in  parallel  lay- 
ers longitudinally  through  the  long  ridges, 
dipping,  it  may  be,  nearly  with  the  out- 
er slope,  and  descending  to  great  depths 
below  the  surface.  In  such  positions  they 
are  conveniently  reached  at  the  ends  of  the 
ridges  and  in  the  gaps  across  these,  by  a 
level  driven  on  the  course  of  the  bed,  and 
rising  just  enough  for  the  water  to  drain 
freely.  A level  or  gangway  of  this  sort  is 
the  great  road  of  the  mine,  by  which  all  the 
coal  is  to  be  brought  out  in  case  other  sim- 
ilar gangways  are  not  driven  into  the  same 
bed  at  points  further  up  or  down  its  slope. 
Unless  the  dip  is  very  gentle,  one  at  the 
lowest  point  should  be  sufficient.  At  dif- 
ferent points  along  its  extension  passage- 
ways are  cut  in  the  coal,  directed  at  right 
angles  up  the  slope  of  the  bed,  and  as  soon 
as  one  of  them  can  be  brought  through  to 
the  surface,  a ventilating  current  of  air  is 
established,  which  may  afterward  be  divert- 
ed through  all  the  workings.  The  passage- 
ways together  with  other  levels  above  divide 
the  coal-bed  into  great  blocks,  and  also  serve 
as  shutes  by  which  the  coal  excavated  above 
is  sent  down  to  the  main  gangway.  At  the 
bottom  of  each  shute  a bin  is  constructed 
for  arresting  the  coal  and  discharging  it,  as 
required,  into  the  wagons  which  are  run  in 
beneath  on  the  tracks  laid  for  this  purpose. 
Coal-beds  in  this  position  are  also  worked 
from  the  gangway  by  broad  excavations  car- 
ried up  the  “ breast”  or  face  of  the  bed,  suf- 
ficient pillars  of  coal  from  12  to  25  feet  long 
being  left  in  either  case  to  support  the  roof. 
These  pillars  usually  occupy  the  most  room 
just  above  the  gangways,  and  on  passing  up 
between  them,  the  chambers  are  made  to 
widen  out  till  they  attain  a breadth  of  about 
40  feet,  and  thus  the  breast  is  extended  up 
to  the  next  level.  Props  are  introduced 
wherever  required  to  support  the  roof,  and 
the  rubbish,  slates,  etc.,  are  stacked  up  for 
the  same  purpose,  as  well  as  to  get  them  out 
of  the  way. 


It  often  occurs  that  coal  beds  within  the 
ridges  can  be  reached  only  by  a tunnel 
driven  in  from  the  side  of  the  mountain 
across  their  line  of  bearing.  Tunnels  of  this 
kind  are  sometimes  extended  till  they  cut 
two  or  more  parallel  coal-beds.  Each  one 
may  then  be  worked  by  gangways  leaving 
the  tunnel  at  right  angles  and  following  the 
coal  beds,  and  the  tunnel  continues  to  be 
the  main  outlet  of  them  all. 

When  it  is  desirable  to  obtain  the  coal 
from  the  portion  of  the  bed  below  the  level 
of  the  gangway,  preparations  must  first  be 
made  for  raising  the  water,  which  may  be 
done  for  a time  by  bucket  and  windlass,  and 
as  the  slope  is  carried  down  and  the  flow  of 
water  increases,  then  by  mining  pumps 
worked  by  horse  or  steam  power.  The 
slope  may  commence  from  the  exterior  sur- 
face or  from  the  lower  gangway  of  a mine 
already  in  operation,  and  is  made  large 
enough  to  admit  wagons,  which  ascend  and 
descend  upon  two  tracks  extending  down  its 
floor.  At  the  depth  of  200  or  300  feet 
a gangway  is  driven  at  right  angles  with 
the  slope  in  each  direction  on  the  course  of 
the  bed,  and  from  this  the  workings  are  car- 
ried up  the  breast  as  already  described. 
Other  gangways  are  started  at  lower  levels 
of  100  feet  or  more  each,  dividing  the 
mine  into  so  many  stories  or  floors.  The 
coal  above  each  gangway  is  sent  down  to 
its  level  and  is  received  into  wragons.  By 
these  it  is  conveyed  to  the  slope,  and  here 
running  upon  a turn-table,  each  wagon  is 
set  upon  the  track  in  the  slope  and  is  imme- 
diately taken  by  the  steam  engine  to  the  sur- 
face, another  car  at  the  same  time  coming 
down  on  the  other  track.  Reservoirs  are 
constructed  upon  the  different  levels  to  ar- 
rest the  wTater,  that  it  may  not  all  have  to 
be  raised  up  from  the  bottom,  and  the 
pumps  are  constructed  so  as  to  lift  the  wa- 
ter from  the  lowrer  into  the  higher  reservoirs 
and  thence  to  the  surface.  Many  mines  of 
this  character  are  opened  from  the  surface, 
one  of  which  is  represented  in  the  cut  of  the 
“ Colliery  Slope  and  Breaker,  at  Tuscarora, 
Pennsylvania.”  An  empty  wagon  is  seen  in 
this  cut  descending  the  track  from  the  en- 
gine house  down  into  the  mouth  of  the  pit, 
and  through  the  end  of  the  building  pass- 
es the  pump  rod  which  by  means  of  a vi- 
brating “ bob”  is  turned  down  the  pit  and 
works  by  the  side  of  the  track.  The  men 
pass  down  into  the  mines  of  this  character, 
sometimes  by  the  wagons,  and  sometimes  by 


underlining  coal. — Seepage  141. 


BREAKING  OFF  AND  LOADING  COAL. 


DEPTH  OF  VEIN  TO  ADMIT 


COAL. 


143 


ladders  or  steps  arranged  for  the  purpose 
between  the  two  tracks.  Though  the  open- 
ing, as  represented,  appears  insignificant  for 
an  important  mine,  such  a slope  may  extend 
several  hundred  feet  in  depth,  and  many 
gangways  may  branch  off  from  it  to  the 
right  and  left,  extending  several  miles  un- 
der ground  in  nearly  straight  lines  along  the 
course  of  the  bed.  These,  however,  to  se- 
cure ventilation,  must  have  other  slopes  com- 
ing out  to  the  surface,  and  at  these  may  be 
other  arrangements  for  discharging  the  coal 
and  water.  In  extensive  mines  the  gang- 
ways are  made  wide  and  capacious  for  the 
continual  passing  back  and  forth  of  the  wag- 
ons drawn  by  mules.  These  animals  once 
lowered  into  the  mine  are  kept  constantly 
under  ground,  where  they  are  provided  with 
convenient  stables  excavated  from  the  coal 
and  rock.  The  men  continue  at  work  from 
eight  to  ten  hours,  and  in  well-ventilated 
mines  the  employment  is  neither  very  labo- 
rious, hazardous,  nor  disagreeable.  The  pur- 
suit has,  however,  little  attraction  for  Ameri- 
cans, and  is  mostly  monopolized  by  Welsh, 
English,  Irish,  and  German  miners. 

In  the  anthracite  region  there  have  been 
some  remarkable  instances  of  open  quarries 
of  coal.  That  of  the  Summit  mine  of  the 
Lehigh  is  unsurpassed  in  the  history  of  coal 
mining,  for  the  enormous  body  of  coal  ex- 
posed to  view.  The  great  coal-bed,  which 
appears  to  have  been  formed  by  a num- 
ber of  beds  coming  together  through  the 
thinning  out  of  the  slates  that  separated 
them,  arches  over  the  ridge,  forming  the  up- 
permost layers  of  rock,  and  dipping  down 
the  sides  at  a steeper  angle  than  their  in- 
clination. It  thus  passes  beneath  the  higher 
strata.  On  the  summit  a thin  soil,  formed 
chiefly  of  the  decomposed  coal  itself,  covered 
the  beds  and  supported  a growth  of  forest 
trees.  For  several  feet  down  the  coal  was 
loose  and  broken  before  the  solid  anthracite 
was  reached.  As  the  excavations  were  com- 
menced and  carried  on  from  this  point,  it 
appeared  as  if  the  whole  mountain  was  coal. 
Shafts  were  sunk  into  it  and  penetrated  re- 
peated layers  of  anthracite,  separated  by  thin 
scams  of  slate,  to  the  depth,  in  some  places, 
of  more  than  55  feet.  The  work  of  strip- 
ping off  and  removing  the  covering  of  yellow 
and  greenish  sandstones  and  refuse  coal  was 
carried  on,  till  the  quarry  had  extended  over 
about  50  acres,  and  on  the  north  side  the 
overlying  sandstone,  which  had  been  steadily 
increasing  in  thickness,  presented  a wall  of 


30  to  40  feet  in  height.  Over  this  area  rail 
tracks  were  laid  for  removing  the  waste 
northward  to  the  slope  of  the  hill  toward 
the  Panther  Creek  valley ; and  when  the 
piles  thus  formed  had  grown  into  large  hills, 
the  rubbish  was  deposited  in  the  spaces  left 
after  the  coal  had  been  removed.  During  the 
progress  of  this  work  the  scenes  presented 
were  of  the  most  picturesque  and  novel  char- 
acter. The  area  laid  bare  was  irregularly 
excavated  into  steps,  upon  which  temporary 
rail  tracks  were  laid  in  every  direction.  Up- 
on these  the  wagons  were  kept  busily  run- 
ning, some  carrying  off  the  coal,  some  load- 
ed with  slates  and  waste,  and  others  return- 
ing empty  for  their  loads.  Here  and  there 
stood  huge  isolated  masses  of  anthracite, 
with  their  covering  of  sandstone,  soil,  and 
the  relics  of  the  original  forest  growth,  reach- 
ing to  the  height  of  50  or  60  feet,  monu- 
ments of  the  vast  amount  of  excavation  that 
had  been  carried  on,  and  presenting  in  their 
naked,  vertical  walls,  fine  representations  of 
the  extraordinary  thickness  of  the  bed  and 
of  the  alternating  layers  of  slate  and  coal  of 
which  it  was  composed.  In  the  accompa- 
nying cut  of  the  great  open  quarry  of  the 
Lehigh  is  represented  one  of  these  blocks. 
Gradually  these  masses  disappeared  as  the 
miners  continued  their  operations ; but  in 
the  boundary  walls  of  the  quarry  there  are 
still  to  be  seen  black  cliffs  of  solid  coal  more 
than  50  feet  high,  and  overtopped  by  a wall 
of  yellow  sandstone  of  nearly  equal  addi- 
tional height.  Under  these  walls  opera- 
tions have  been  carried  on  by  the  regular 
system  of  underground  mining.  From  ten 
acres  of  the  quarry  it  has  been  estimated 
that  850,000  tons  of  coal  have  been  sent 
away,  the  value  of  which  in  the  ground  at 
the  usual  rate  of  30  cents  per  ton,  would  be 
$255,000,  or  $25,500  per  acre.  Estimating 
the  average  working  thickness  of  the  coal 
in  this  part  of  the  coal-field,  from  the  Lit- 
tle Schuylkill  to  Nesquehoning,  at  40  feet, 
which  according  to  the  report  of  the  state 
geologist  is  not  exaggerated,  every  availa- 
ble acre  contains  not  less  than  G5,000  tons. 
The  expense  of  extracting  and  preparing 
the  coal  from  the  great  bed  for  market,  is 
stated  by  the  same  authority  to  be  37£ 
cents  per  ton  for  mining  and  delivering 
ready  for  breaking  and  cleaning.  For  this 
operation  12£  cents;  and  for  raising  it  to 
the  summit  and  running  it  to  Maueh  Chunk 
25  cents. 

Another  locality  where  coal  has  been 


144 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


worked  by  open  quarrying  is  at  the  mines 
of  the  Baltimore  Companj',  near  Wilkes- 
barre.  Here,  too,  an  immense  bed  of  coal 
was  found  so  close  to  the  surface  that  it  was 
easily  uncovered  over  a considerable  area. 
As  the  overlying  slates  and  sandstone  in- 
creased in  thickness,  it  was  found  at  last 
more  economical  to  follow  the  coal  under 
cover ; and  it  was  then  worked  after  the 
manner  of  mining  the  bituminous  coal-beds 
west  of  the  Alleghany  Mountains.  Horizon- 
tal drifts  25  feet  high,  which  was  the  thick- 
ness of  the  bed,  were  carried  in  from  the 
abrupt  wall,  several  of  them  near  together 
and  separated  by  great  pillars  of  coal  left  to 
support  the  roof.  The  gangways  were  so 
broad  and  spacious  that  a locomotive  and 
train  of  cars  might  have  been  run  into  the 
mine.  Within  they  were  crossed  by  a suc- 
cession of  other  levels,  and  through  the  wide 
spaces  thus  left  open,  the  light  of  day  pene- 
trated far  into  the  interior  of  the  hill,  grad- 
ually disappearing  among  the  forest  of  black 
pillars  by  which  it  was  obstructed  and  ab- 
sorbed. 

In  the  anthracite  region,  several  coal-beds 
of  workable  dimensions  are  often  found  in 
close  proximity,  so  that  when  dipping  at  a 
high  angle  they  are  penetrated  in  succession 
by  a tunnel  driven  across  their  line  of  bear- 
ing. Larger  quantities  of  coal  are  thus  con- 
centrated in  the  same  area  than  are  ever  met 
with  in  the  bituminous  coal-field.  In  the 
northern  coal-fields,  between  Scranton  and 
Carbondale,  tracts  have  brought  $800  or 
more  per  acre,  and  single  tracts  of  650  to 
700  acres  are  reported  upon  by  competent 
mining  engineers  as  containing  five  workable 
beds,  estimated  to  yield  as  follows — each 
one  over  nearly  the  whole  area:  one  bed 
working  7 feet,  11,200  tons  per  acre;  a sec- 
ond, working  8 feet,  12,800  tons  per  acre ; 
a third,  6 feet,  9600  tons  per  acre  ; a fourth, 
the  same ; and  a fifth,  3 feet,  4800  tons — 
altogether  equalling  a production  of  48,000 
tons  per  acre,  from  which  20  per  cent,  should 
be  deducted  for  mine  waste,  pillars,  etc. 

The  anthracite  as  usually  brought  out  from 
the  mines  is  mostly  in  large  lumps  of  incon- 
venient size  to  handle.  In  this  shape  it  was 
originally  sent  to  market,  and  when  sold  to 
consumers  a man  was  sent  with  the  coal  to 
break  it  up  in  small  pieces  with  a hammer. 
At  present  every  mine  is  supplied  with  an 
apparatus  called  a coal-breaker,  which  is  run 
by  steam  power,  and  which  crushes  the  large 
pieces  of  coal  in  fragments.  It  consists  of  | 


two  rollers  of  cast  iron,  one  solid,  with  its 
surface  armed  with  powerful  teeth,  and  the 
other  of  open  basket-work  structure.  These 
revolve  near  together,  and  the  coal,  fed  from 
a hopper  above,  is  broken  between  them,  and 
the  pieces  discharged  below  into  another  hop- 
per are  delivered  into  the  upper  end  of  a re- 
volving cylindrical  screen,  made  of  stout  iron 
wire,  and  set  on  a gentle  incline.  The  meshes 
of  this  screen  are  of  four  or  more  degrees  of 
coarseness.  At  the  upper  end  the  finer  par- 
ticles only  drop  through ; passing  this  por- 
tion of  the  screen,  the  coarser  meshes  which 
succeed  let  through  the  stove  coal  sizes,  next 
the  “ egg  coal,”  and  next  the  “broken  coal,” 
while  the  coarsest  pieces  of  all,  called  “ lump 
coal,”  are  discharged  through  the  lower  end 
of  the  screen.  Under  the  screen  are  bins  or 
shutes,  separated  by  partitions,  so  as  to  keep 
each  size  by  itself.  Their  floor  slopes  down 
to  the  railway  track,  and  each  bin  at  its  lower 
end  is  provided  with  a trap-door,  through 
which  the  coal  is  delivered  as  required  into 
the  wagons.  The  general  plan  of  this  ar- 
rangement is  seen  in  the  preceding  wood-cut 
of  the  Colliery  Slope  and  Breaker  at  Tusca- 
rora.  The  coal  wagons  are  here  run  from 
the  mine  up  into  the  top  of  the  engine  house, 
and  thence  through  the  building  to  the 
breaker  at  the  upper  end  of  the  slope  over 
the  shutes.  As  the  coal  falls  from  the  screen 
into  these,  boys  are  employed,  one  in  each 
bin,  to  pick  out  and  throw  away  the  pieces 
of  slate  and  stone  that  may  be  mixed  with 
the  coal.  This  they  soon  learn  to  do  very 
thoroughly  and  with  great  activity ; and  up- 
on the  faithfulness  with  which  their  work  is 
done  depends  in  no  small  measure  the  repu- 
tation of  the  coal. 

USEFUL  APPLICATIONS. 

While  anthracite,  by  reason  of  its  simple 
composition,  is  fitted  only  for  those  uses  in 
which  the  combustion  or  oxidation  of  its 
carbon  is  required  to  generate  heat,  or  else 
to  extract  oxygen  from  other  substances, 
the  bituminous  coals,  containing  a greater 
variety  of  ingredients,  serve  to  produce  from 
their  volatile  ingredients  illuminating  gas 
and  coal  oils.  These  two  subjects  will  be 
treated  in  distinct  chapters,  an  . that  upon 
the  oils  may  properly  include  an  account 
of  the  petroleum  wells  w hich  have  come 
within  the  past  ten  years  to  furnish  so  large 
and  important  an  item  of  our  exports  and 
! home  consumption. 


ILLUMINATING  GAS. 


145 


CHAPTER  X. 

ILLUMINATING  GAS. 

The  supply  of  artificial  light  in  abun- 
dance and  at  little  cost  is  one  of  the  most 
important  benefits  which  science  and  me- 
chanics can  confer.  It  contributes  not 
merely  to  physical  comfort  and  luxurious 
living,  but  supplies  the  means  to  multitudes 
of  obtaining  instruction  during  those  hours 
after  the  cessation  of  their  daily  labors, 
which  are  not  required  for  sleep,  and 
which  among  the  poor  have  in  great 
measure  been  spent  in  darkness,  on  ac- 
count of  the  expense  of  artificial  light.  At 
the  present  day  it  is  not  unusual,  in  the  less 
cultivated  portions  of  the  country,  to  see  a 
farmer’s  family  at  night  gathered  around  a 
blazing  fire,  and  some  among  them  seeking 
by  its  fitful  light  to  extract  the  news  from 
a public  journal,  or  perhaps  conning  their 
school  tasks,  and  making  some  attempts  at 
writing  or  ciphering ; and  when  the  hour  to 
retire  has  come,  the  younger  members  dis- 
appear in  the  dark,  and  the  more  honored 
are  favored  with  a home-made  tallow  can- 
dle, just  sufficient  for  this  use,  and  endura- 
ble only  to  those  who  are  unaccustomed  to 
a more  cleanly  and  efficient  method  of  il- 
lumination. With  the  advance  of  cultivation 
and  learning,  the  demand  for  better  light 
has  increased  the  more  rapidly  it  has  been 
met.  The  sea  has  been  almost  exhaust- 
ed of  whales  for  furnishing  supplies  of  oil. 
The  pork  of  the  West  has  been  largely  con- 
verted by  new  chemical  processes  into  lard 
oil  and  the  hard  stearine  for  candles ; and 
numerous  preparations  of  spirits  of  turpen- 
tine, under  the  name  of  cainphene  and  burn- 
ing fluid,  have  been  devised  and  largely  in- 
troduced with  ingenious  lamps  contrived  to 
secure  the  excellent  light  they  furnish,  with 
the  least  possible  risk  of  the  awful  explo- 
sions to  which  these  fluids  arc  liable  when 
their  vapor  comes  in  contact  with  fire.  The 
bituminous  coals  have  been  made  to  give  up 
their  volatile  portions — by  one  process  to 
afford  an  illuminating  gas,  and  by  another 
to  produce  burning  oils ; and  the  earth  it- 
self is  bored  by  deep  wells  to  exhaust  the 
newly-found  supplies  of  oil  gathered  be- 
neath the  surface  at  unknown  periods  by 
natural  processes  of  distillation.  The  res- 
inous products  of  the  pine  tree  are  applied 
to  the  production  of  oil  and  gas  for  the 
same  purposes ; and  peat,  wood,  and  other ! 

9 * 


combustible  bodies — even  water  itself — are 
all  resorted  to  as  sources  from  which  the  cry 
for  “more  light”  shall  be  satisfied. 

The  distillation  of  carbonaceous  and  bi- 
tuminous substances  to  obtain  an  illuminat- 
ing gas  is  a process,  the  practical  applica- 
tion of  which  hardly  dates  back  of  the  pres- 
ent century.  The  escape  of  inflammable 
gases  from  the  earth,  in  different  parts  of 
the  world,  had  been  observed,  and  the 
phenomenon  had  been  applied  to  supersti- 
tious ceremonials,  especially  at  Bakoo  on 
the  shores  of  the  Caspian.  The  Chinese 
are  said  to  have  applied  such  natural  jets 
of  gas  to  purposes  of  both  illumination  and 
heating;  but  the  first  attempts  to  light  build- 
ings by  gas  distilled  from  bituminous  coal 
were  made  about  the  year  1798  by  Mr. 
Murdock  in  the  manufactory  of  Messrs. 
Boulton  and  Watt,  at  Soho,  England,  and 
about  the  same  time  in  France  by  a French- 
man named  Le  Bow.  The  London  and 
Westminster  Chartered  Gas  Light  and  Coke 
Company  was  incorporated  in  1810,  and 
Westminster  bridge  was  lighted  with  gas, 
Dec.  31,  1813.  The  process  was  introduced 
into  this  country  about  the  year  1821.  Some 
attempts  had  been  made  at  an  earlier  date, 
as  in  Baltimore  according  to  some  state- 
ments in  1816,  and  in  New  York  four  years 
before  this.  In  the  New  York  News  of 
August  15,  1859,  is  an  account  of  the  ef- 
forts made  by  Mr.  David  Melville  of  that 
city  to  establish  the  use  of  coal  gas  in  1812. 
He  lighted  his  own  house  with  it,  and  then 
a factory  at  Pawtucket.  He  also  succeeded 
in  having  it  applied  to  one  of  the  light- 
houses on  the  coast  of  Rhode  Island,  and 
for  one  year  its  use  was  continued  with  suc- 
cess. But  on  account  of  the  disturbed  state 
of  the  times  and  the  prejudices  against  the 
use  of  a new  material,  the  enterprise  fell 
through.  In  1822  the  manufacture  of  gas 
was  undertaken  in  Boston ; and  the  next 
year  the  New  York  Gas  Light  Company 
was  incorporated  with  a capital  of  $1,000,- 
000.  The  works,  however,  were  not  com- 
pleted and  in  operation  until  1827.  An- 
other company,  called  the  Manhattan  Gas 
Light  Company,  was  incorporated  in  1830 
with  a capital  of  $500,000,  which  has  since 
been  increased  to  $4,000,000.  Such  were 
the  beginnings  of  this  branch  of  manufac- 
ture, which  has  of  late  rapidly  extended 
itself  throughout  all  the  cities  and  many  of 
the  towns  of  the  United  States,  having 
works  in  operation  representing  a capital  of 


146 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  TIIE  UNITED  STATES. 


Within  the  last  twenty  years  the  use  of  gas 
has  increased  with  great  rapidity  throughout 
the  cities  and  towns  of  the  United  States. 
In  1860,  the  number  of  companies  manufac- 
turing g »s  was,  according  to  the  statements 
of  the  American  Gas  Light  Journal 433, 
representing  a capital  of  about  $59,000,000. 
In  1870,  the  number  of  companies  had  in- 
creased to  somewhat  more  than  800,  and  the 
capital  represented  to  over  112,000,000,  thus 
ranking  with  the  most  important  branches 
of  industry  in  the  country.  The  capital 
of  the  gas  companies  of  the  State  of  New 
York,  is  stated  by  Mr.  Wells  in  his  Report 
on  Local  Taxation,  to  have  been  $20,000,000 
in  1870,  and  in  this  estimate  many  of  the 
smaller  companies  are  overlooked.  The 
capital  of  the  gas  companies  of  New  York 
and  Brooklyn  in  1871  was  over  $14,000,000. 
There  are  certainly  five  and  probably  six 
companies  whose  annual  production  exceeds 
1,000,005,000  cubic  feet,  and  several  others 
are  approximating  to  that  amount.  The 
price  per  thousand  feet  has  varied  greatly 
in  different  sections,  and  has  fluctuated  in 
all  cases  with  the  price  of  the  coal  and  in  its 


production.  In  New  York  city  and  Brook- 
lyn, it  has  ranged  from  $2.00  to  $4.50, 
standing  at  present  at  $3.25,  but  with  a 
promise  of  reduction  soon  to  $2.75.  In 
Philadelphia,  where  the  city  manufactures 
for  its  citizens,  it  is  now,  we  believe,  $2.25, 
and  in  Pittsburg  has  been  as  low  as  $1.50. 
In  the  smaller  cities  it  ranges  from  $4.L0  to 
$8.00  per  thousand  feet.  On  the  Pacific 
coast,  owing  to  the  high  price  of  gas-pro- 
ducing coals,  it  has  been  as  high  as  1‘rom 
$8.00  to  $14.00  pei’  thousand  feet.  If  the 
Rocky  Mountain  coals  prove  to  be  of  good 
quality  for  the  production  of  gas,  the  cost 
will  be  materially  lessened.  Notwithstand- 
ing the  consumption  of  petroleum  oils,  there 
has  been  an  increase  in  the  demand  for  illu- 
minating gas,  and  the  plans  proposed  for  its 
production  from  other  hydrocarbons,  or  by 
new  processes,  have  generally  failed,  so  that 
there  seems  to  be  a probability  of  the  contin- 
ued production  of  gas  from  coals  What  new 
methods  of  illumination  the  next  twenty 
years  may  develop  we  cannot  say  ; but  it  is 
certain  that  a cheap,  safe,  and  brilliant  illu- 
minator is  still  a thing  to  be  desired. 


SOME  OF  THE  PRINCIPAL  GAS  LIGHT  COMPANIES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


Char- 

Locali ties. 

Chartered 

Approximate 

annual 

Prices  to  private 
consumers 

Average  cost  of 

tered. 

capital. 

production. 

per  1000  cubic 

coal  used  per  ton. 

1830, 

Manhattan,  N.  Y 

. . .$4,000,000 

Cubic  feet. 
725,321,000 

feet. 
$2  50 

$6  50  to  $11  00 

1823, 

New  York,  N.  Y 

...  1,000,000 

430,000,000 

2 50 

1825, 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y 

Citizens’  Co.,  Brooklyn.  .. . 

...  2,000,000 

163,000,000 

2 00 

7 28  to 

815 

1859, 

...  1,000,000 

2 00 

1841, 

Philadelphia 

...  3,000,000 

432,000.000 

2 25 

6 50 

, # 

Northern  Liberties 

. . . 400,000 

70,000,000 

2 50 

6 29 

1822, 

Boston,  Mass 

...  1,000,000 

200,000.000 

2 50 

5 00  to 

12*00 

1851, 

Cincinnati,  Ohio 

...  1,600,000 

96,708,900 

2 50 

3 40 

1849, 

Chicago,  111 

...  1,300,000 

86,250,810 

3 50 

6 78 

1846, 

Charleston,  S.  C 

...  723,800 

4 00 

1839, 

St.  Louis,  Mo 

....  600,000 

74,500,000 

3 50 

7 50 

1835, 

Pittsburg,  Penn 

...  300,000 

54,720,000 

1 50 

1 25 

1848, 

Providence,  R.  I 

...  1,000,000 

41,437,883 

3 00 

7 20 

1845, 

Albanv,  N.  Y 

...  250,000 

40,250,000 

3 00 

6 75  to 

8 00 

1838, 

Louisville,  Ky 

....  600,000 

33,750.000 

2 70 

1850, 

Williamsburg,  N.  Y 

...  500,000 

33,493,082 

3 50 

6 25  to 

9 50 

1848, 

Troy,  N.  Y 

. . . 200,000 

28,000,000 

3 60 

7 20 

1851, 

Richmond,  Ya 

...  341,975 

27,000,000 

3 00 

4 15 

1852, 

Rochester,  N.  Y 

Lowell,  Mass 

. . . 200,000 

25,000,000 

2 50 

5 38 

1849, 

21,000,000 

3 25 

6 50 

# , 

1848, 

Cleveland,  Ohio 

...  200,000 

20,000,000 

3 00 

4 25 

1849, 

Detroit,  Mich 

. . . 500,000 

20,000,000 

3 50 

5 00 

1853, 

Jersey  City,  N.  J 

. . . 300,000 

19,234,000 

3 00 

7 89 

Milwaukee,  Wis 

. . . 400,009 

19,049,560 

3 50 

6 00 

1849, 

Hartford,  Conn 

. ...  200,000 

15,000,000 

3 00 

8 68 

1849, 

Portland,  Maine 

3 60 

1857, 

Columbia,  California 

50,000 

10  00 

1852, 

San  Francisco,  “ 

...  1.000,000 

8 00 

1858, 

Marysville,  “ 

12  50 

Stockton,  “ 

10  00 

1857, 

Sacramento,  “ 

. . . 500,000 

10  00 

ILLUMINATING  GAS. 


147 


TOTAL  OF  GAS  COMPANIES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  FROM  RETURNS  OF  JULY,  1860. 
State*  Companies.  Capita!.  ££ 


Alabama • 3 

Arkansas None. 

California 9 

Connecticut 14 

Delaware 3 

District  of  Columbia 1 

Florida 1 

Georgia * 6 

Illinois 13 

Indiana 7 

Iowa 5 

Kansas 1 

Kentucky 5 

Louisiana 2 

Maine 10 

Maryland 6 

Massachusetts 49 

Michigan 8 

Minnesota 1 

Mississippi 4 

Missouri 4 

New  Hampshire 9 

New  Jersey  19 

New  York 71 

North  Carolina 8 

Ohio  30 

Oregon 1 

Pennsylvania 48 

Rhode  Island 7 

South  Carolina 2 

Tennessee 4 

Texas 3 

Vermont 8 

Virginia 11 

Wisconsin 8 

Not  enumerated  above 50 

Grand  total 431 


The  preparation  of  illuminating  gas  from 
bituminous  coal,  wood,  rosin,  and  other 
bodies  of  organic  nature,  is  a chemical  proc- 
ess, too  complicated  to  be  very  fully  treated 
in  this  place.  When  such  bodies  are  intro- 
duced into  a retort  and  subjected  to  strong 
heat,  the  elements  of  which  they  consist,  as 
carbon,  hydrogen,  oxygen,  and  nitrogen,  re- 
solve themselves  into  a great  variety  of  com- 
pounds, and  escape  (with  the  exception  of 
a fixed  carbonaceous  residue  of  charcoal  or 
of  coke)  through  the  neck  of  the  retort  in 
the  form  of  gas  or  vapors,  some  of  the 
latter  of  which  condense  on  cooling  into 
liquids  and  solids.  These  compounds  are 
rendered  more  complicated  by  appropriating 
the  elements  of  air  and  moisture  that  may 
be  present  in  the  retort  or  in  the  crude  ma- 
terial, and  also  of  the  foreign  substances  or 
impurities  contained  in  the  latter.  In  proc- 
esses of  this  kind,  the  products  vary  great- 
ly in  their  character  and  relative  proportions 
according  to  the  degree  of  heat  employed, 


$320,000 

3 

$5  16 

1,790,000 

9 

10  05 

953,000 

14 

3 83 

244.300 

3 

3 50 

500.000 

1 

3 25 

30,000 

1 

7 00 

559,160 

4 

4 68 

2 

$6  50 

2,595,000 

13 

3 91 

605,000 

7 

3 97 

355,000 

5 

4 40 

200,000 

1 

5 00 

905,000 

5 

4 04 

1,540.000 

2 

4 50 

905,300 

9 

3 90 

1 

7 00 

780,000 

3 

3 49 

3 

6 60 

4,759,000 

45 

3 43 

4 

6 37 

745,000 

8 

3 78 

200,000 

1 

6 00 

212,000 

4 

4 75 

775,000 

4 

4 50 

425,000 

9 

3 98 

1,849,610 

17 

3 72 

2 

6 50 

12,780,250 

61 

3 70 

10 

6 70 

187,000 

8 

5 93 

3,338,600 

29 

3 85 

1 

7 00 

50,000 

1 

8 00 

. . 

. # 

5,657,700 

48 

3 55 

. . 

\ 

1,344,000 

6 

3 58 

1 

7 00 

767,800 

2 

5 00 

663,000 

4 

4 00 

225,000 

3 

6 33 

216,000 

6 

4 25 

2 

6*50 

1,030,000 

10 

3 68 

1 

7 00 

778,500 

8 

4 44 

6,200,000 

50 

. .. 

• • 

.. 

$59,1 1 1,215 

396 

35 

# m 

and  the  rapidity  with  which  the  operation  is 
conducted.  The  object  in  this  special  dis- 
tillation is  to  obtain  the  largest  proportion 
of  the  gases  richest  in  carbon,  particularly 
that  known  as  olefiant  gas,  which  consists 
of  86  parts  by  weight  of  carbon  and  14  of 
hydrogen,  represented  by  the  formula  C4 
II4.  This  and  some  other  gaseous  hydro- 
carbons of  similar  composition,  or  even  con- 
taining a much  larger  amount  of  carbon  in 
the  same  volume,  and  hence  having  a cor- 
respondingly greater  illuminating  capacity, 
it  is  found,  are  produced  most  freely  from 
carbonaceous  substances  which  contain  a 
large  proportion  of  hydrogen  compared  with 
that  of  oxygen.  Many  of  the  common  bi- 
tuminous coals  contain  about  5*5  per  cent, 
each  of  hydrogen  and  Oxygen,  the  rest  be- 
ing carbon.  Boghead  cannel  of  Scotland 
contains  11  per  cent,  of  hydrogen  and  6*7 
of  oxygen;  rosin  10  per  cent,  hydrogen  and 
10*6  oxygen;  wood  5‘5  hydrogen  and  44*5 
oxygen.  Of  such  compounds  the  cannel 


148 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


yields  the  richest  gas  and  in  largest  quan- 
tity. Still,  as  will  be  more  fully  explained 
hereafter,  the  process  may  be  so  conducted 
as  to  obtain  chiefly  liquid  instead  of  gaseous 
products.  With  the  olefiant  gas  and  the 
others  of  similar  composition,  a number  of 
other  gases  also  appear,  some  of  which  seem 
to  be  essential  for  producing  the  effect  re- 
quired in  illuminating  gas,  though  they  do 
not  themselves  afford  light  by  their  combus- 
tion. Their  part  is  rather  like  that  of  nitro- 
gen in  the  atmosphere,  to  moderate  the  in- 
tensity of  the  more  active  agent  of  the  mix- 
ture. Such  are  the  light  carburetted  hydro- 
gen, carbonic  oxide,  and  hydrogen,  all  of 
which  are  inflammable,  but  possess  little  or 
no  illuminating  power.  The  first  named 
contains  in  an  equal  volume  only  half  as 
much  carbon  as  olefiant  gas,  its  composition 
being  represented  by  the  formula  C2  H4,  ‘ 
and  if  its  proportion  is  too  great  for  the 
purpose  it  serves  as  a diluent,  the  quality  of 
the  gas  is  impaired,  and  must  be  corrected 
by  the  use  of  richer  material  or  increased 
care  in  the  process. 

The  light  produced  by  the  combustion 
of  gas  is  variable,  not  only  according  to  the 
quality  of  the  gas,  but  also  according  to  the 
manner  in  which  it  is  burned.  If  its  ele- 
ments undergo  the  chemical  changes  which 
constitute  combustion  simultaneously,  the 
hydrogen  combining  with  the  oxygen  of  the 
air  to  form  aqueous  vapor,  and  the  carbon 
with  oxygen  to  produce  carbonic  acid,  no 
yellow  flame  appears,  but  instead  of  this,  a 
pale  blue  flame  like  that  of  hydrogen  alone. 
Such  an  effect  is  produced  when  air  is 
thoroughly  intermixed  with  the  gas  as  it 
parses  through  a tube  to  the  jet  where  it  is 
ignited.  But  if  the  conditions  of  the  com- 
bustion are  such  that  the  hydrogen  burns 
first  and  appropriates  the  oxygen  in  contact 
with  the  gas,  the  particles  of  carbon  are 
brought  to  an  incandescent  state  and  pro- 
duce the  yellow  light  before  they  reach  the 
oxygen  with  which  they  combine.  The 
particles  may  even  be  arrested  while  in  trans- 
itu and  be  deposited  upon  a cold  surface  in 
the  form  of  soot.  The  greatest  heat  is  pro- 
duced with  the  most  thorough  mode  of 
combustion  and  the  appearance  of  the  pale 
blue  flame ; and  lamps  designed  to  give 
great  heat  are  now  in  general  use  among 
chemists,  in  which  gas  is  burned  in  this 
manner.  When  the  air  is  impelled  by  a 
bellows  they  even  produce  an  intensity  of 
heat  sufficient  for  many  crucible  operations. 


If  too  much  carbon  be  present  a part  of 
it  escapes  unconsumed  and  produces  a 
smoky  flame,  hence  the  necessity  of  the  di- 
luents or  gases  deficient  in  carbon  for  neu- 
tralizing the  too  large  proportion  of  those 
gases  richest  in  carbon.  The  noxious  com- 
pounds in  illuminating  gas,  and  which 
should  be  as  far  as  possible  extracted  from 
it  before  it  is  delivered  for  consumption,  are 
the  sulphurous  ingredients  formed  by  the 
combination  of  the  sulphur  of  the  iron 
pyrites  commonly  present  in  bituminous 
coals  with  the  carbon,  and  with  the  hydro- 
gen and  the  ammoniacal  products.  They 
are  the  highly  offensive  sulphurets  of  carbon, 
the  sulphuretted  hydrogen,  etc.  Carbonic 
acid,  nitrogen,  oxygen,  carbonate  of  ammo- 
nia and  aqueous  vapors  are  to  be  regarded 
as  foreign  substances,  though  always  present 
to  some  extent  in  the  gas. 

The  liquids  generated  by  the  distillation 
mostly  condense  in  two  layers  on  cooling, 
the  upper  an  aqueous  fluid,  rendered  strong- 
ly alkaline  by  the  ammoniacal  compounds  in 
solution;  and  the  lower  a black  tarry  mix- 
ture commonly  known  as  coal  tar,  which  is 
composed  of  more  than  a dozen  different 
oily  hydrocarbons,  as  benzole,  tuluole,  etc., 
and  contain  in  solution  the  solid  oily  com- 
pounds of  carbon  and  hydrogen,  as  naph- 
thaline, para-naphthaline,  and  several  others. 
Many  of  these  are  likely  to  prove  of  con- 
siderable practical  importance.  Benzole  is 
a highly  volatile  fluid,  a powerful  solvent  of 
the  resins,  india-rubber,  gutta  percha,  greasy 
matters,  etc.  A most  beautiful  light  is  pro- 
duced by  the  flame  of  benzole  mixed  with 
due  proportions  of  common  air,  and  the 
mixture  is  effected  by  passing  a current  of 
air  through  the  fluid,  the  vapor  of  which  it 
takes  up  and  carries  along  with  it.  The 
difficulty  attending  this  application  is  the 
condensation  of  the  benzole  and  its  separa- 
tion from  the  air  at  temperatures  below  50°. 
Above  70°  too  much  vapor  is  taken  up, 
and  the  effect  is  a smoky  flame.  In  Europe 
much  attention  has  been  directed  to  the 
separation  of  the  more  hidden  products  of 
coal  tar ; and  among  these  the  following  are 
enumerated  in  a statement  exemplifying  the 
rapid  increase  in  the  value  of  these  prod- 
ucts as  they  are  obtained  by  more  extend- 
ed researches.  Benzole  worth  about  25 
cents  a pound ; nitro-benzole,  a substance 
having  the  odor  and  taste  of  bitter  almonds 
and  used  as  a flavoring,  worth,  crude,  70 
cents,  or  refined,  81.50  per  pound.  The  or- 


ILLUMINATING  GAS. 


149 


dinary  aniline  dye  for  producing  the  mauve 
color,  $4.50  to  $8  per  pound,  and  the  pure 
aniline  violet  in  powder  $240  to  $325  per 
pound,  or  about  its  weight  in  gold. 

Gas  works  established  in  cities  and  towns 
are  commonly  built  in  places  where  the 
property  and  buildings  around  are  least  like- 
ly to  be  injured  by  the  escape  of  the  prod- 
ucts, and  rather  upon  a low  than  a high 
level,  for  the  reason  that  the  gas  on  account 
of  its  lightness  compared  with  the  atmos- 
pheric air  ascends  more  freely  than  it  de- 
scends to  its  points  of  communication  with 
the  external  air.  The  works  consist  of  the 
apparatus  for  distilling  the  coal  and  receiv- 
ing the  products  of  the  distillation,  that  for 
purifying  the  gas,  and  that  for  conveying  it 
to  the  places  where  it  is  consumed,  and 
there  measuring  the  quantities  supplied  to 
each  customer.  The  retorts  in  general  use 
are  either  of  cast  iron  or  of  fire  clay.  The 
latter  are  a late  improvement  highly  recom- 
mended, and  introduced  at  the  present  time 
into  a few  of  the  gas  works.  Various  forms 
have  been  tried ; the  most  approved  are  of 
O shape,  7 to  9 feet  long,  1 or  2 feet  wide, 
and  12  or  15  inches  high.  They  are  set  in 
the  furnace  stacks,  commonly  two  on  the 
same  horizontal  plane,  two  more  over  these, 
and  a fifth  at  the  top.  A single  furnace  fire 
below  is  sufficient  for  heating  them,  and  the 
capacity  of  the  works  is  increased  by  multi- 
plying these  fires  along  the  length  of  the 
stacks.  Sometimes  the  stacks  are  made 
double,  so  as  to  take  two  retorts  set  end  to 
end,  each  opening  on  opposite  sides  of  the 
stack.  In  place  of  two  retorts  a single  long 
one  has  been  substituted,  passing  entirely 
through  and  having  at  each  end  an  opening 
for  charging  and  discharging.  In  large  es- 
tablishments as  many  as  600  or  more  retorts 
may  be  set,  all  of  which  may  he  kept  em- 
ployed in  the  winter  season,  when  the  con- 
sumption of  gas  is  largest.  The  outer  end 
of  each  retort  projects  a little  way  in  front 
of  the  wall  of  the  furnace,  and  is  provided 
with  a movable  mouth-piece  covering  the 
entire  end,  which  may  be  readily  removed 
for  admitting  the  charge  of  coal.  Upon  the 
top  of  this  projecting  end  or  neck  stands 
the  cast-iron  pipe  of  about  4 inches  in  di- 
ameter, called  the  stand  pipe,  through  which 
the  volatile  products  pass  from  the  retort. 
It  rises  a few  feet,  then  curves  over  back,  and 
passes  down  into  a long  horizontal  pipe  of 
large  diameter,  which  is  laid  upon  the  out- 
er edge  of  the  brick-work,  and  extends  the  I 


whole  length  of  the  furnace  stacks.  This 
is  called  the  hydraulic  main,  and  into  it  all 
the  volatile  products  from  the  retorts  be- 
neath are  discharged.  It  is  kept  about  half 
filled  with  water  or  the  liquid  tarry  matters, 
and  the  dip  pipes  terminate  about  three 
inches  below  this  fluid  surface.  By  this  ar- 
rangement the  retorts  are  kept  entirely  inde- 
pendent of  each  other,  while  their  products 
all  meet  in  one  receptacle. 

In  manufacturing  gas  it  is  found  neces- 
sary to  introduce  the  charge  into  the  retorts 
already  at  a full  red  heat,  and  bring  it  as 
rapidly  as  possible  to  the  high  temperature 
required  for  producing  the  richest  gaseous 
hydrocarbons.  A low  and  slowly  increas- 
ing heat  causes  the  ingredients  of  the  charge 
to  form  a large  proportion  of  liquid  and  oily 
substances,  and  little  gas.  It  is  only  while 
the  coal  is  approaching  a vivid  red  heat 
that  the  best  gaseous  mixtures  are  obtained ; 
and  even  these  are  deteriorated  by  change 
in  the  composition  of  the  olefiant  and  other 
rich  gases  of  which  they  are  in  part  com- 
posed, if  the  mixture  is  exposed  to  too  high 
temperature,  or  remains  in  contact  with  red 
hot  surfaces  of  iron.  The  duration  of  the 
charge  used  formerly  to  be  from  8 to  10 
hours ; but  from  the  observations  of  the 
qualities  of  the  gases  evolved  at  different 
stages  of  the  process,  it  has  gradually  been 
reduced  to  4 to  6 hours,  varying  according 
to  the  character  of  the  coal  employed.  The 
richest  gases  are  obtained  in  the  first  hour, 
and  after  this  the  proportional  quantity  per 
hour  steadily  diminishes  at  the  same  time 
that  the  quality  gradually  deteriorates.  The 
temptation,  however,  to  obtain  the  largest 
amount  of  a commodity  which  is  sold  only 
by  measure,  and  to  consumers  who  have  no 
means  of  assuring  themselves  of  its  real 
quality,  no  doubt  often  leads  to  extending 
the  operation  to  the  separation  of  gaseous 
mixtures  having  very  little  illuminating  pow- 
er. The  manufacturers  knowing  their  ma- 
terials, and  checking  their  operations  by 
regular  photometrical  tests,  can  control  the 
quality  of  the  product  as  they  see  fit. 

In  order  that  the  least  loss  may  be  incur- 
red in  bringing  the  charge  up  to  the  proper 
temperature,  the  retorts  are  kept  at  a full  red 
heat ; and  when  ready  for  a new  charge  the 
mouth-piece  is  partially  removed,  and  the 
gas  that  escapes  is  ignited.  When  the  danger 
of  explosion  by  sudden  admission  of  air  has 
passed  the  lid  is  removed,  and  the  red  hot 
coke  is  raked  out  and  quenched  with  water. 


150 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


The  new  charge  is  then  introduced  by  means 
of  a long  iron  scoop  bent  up  at  the  sides, 
which  is  pushed  into  the  retort,  and  being 
turned  over,  discharges  its  contents.  The 
mouth-piece  is  then  replaced,  and  tightly 
secured  with  a luting  of  clay  or  lime.  It  is 
obvious  that  the  more  perfectly  the  coal  is 
freed  from  moisture,  the  better  must  be  the 
gas ; and  if  it  were  also  first  somewhat 
heated,  the  result  would  be  still  more  satis- 
factory. The  coals  employed  at  the  differ- 
ent gas  works  of  the  United  States  are  gen- 
erally mixtures  of  the  caking  coals  of  the 
interior,  or  of  those  of  Richmond,  Virginia, 
and  of  Nova  Scotia,  with  cannel  coal,  which 
for  the  cities  near  the  coast  is  imported 
from  Great  Britain,  and  for  those  in  the  in- 
terior is  obtained  from  the  mines  of  this  coal 
in  western  Virginia  and  in  Kentucky.  The 
larger  the  proportion  of  cannel,  the  better 
should  be  the  gas,  under  the  same  method 
of  manufacture.  In  the  works  in  New 
York  city,  the  proportion  of  cannel  is  gen- 
erally from  one  third  to  one  fourth  of  the 
whole.  Other  establishments  generally  use 
a less  proportion  of  it.  The  amount  of  gas 
it  may  produce  varies  with  the  kind  of  can- 
nel from  9500  cubic  feet  to  the  ton  to 
15,000  cubic  feet.  The  last  is  the  yield  of 
the  Boghead  cannel.  In  general,  the  greater 
the  yield  the  better  also  is  the  quality  of  the 
gas,  as  is  indicated  by  its  increased  specific 
gravity,  that  of  the  cannel  last  named  being 
.752,  while  the  gas  from  other  cannels  yield- 
ing about  10,000  cubic  feet  may  not  exceed 
.500.  The  best  Newcastle  coals  are  not  infe- 
rior, either  in  the  amount  or  quality  of  the  gas 
they  afford,  to  most  of  the  cannels.  They 
produce  about  12,000  cubic  feet  of  gas  to 
the  ton,  and  of  specific  gravity  sometimes 
exceeding  .550  or  even  .600.  The  specific 
gravity  is  not  depended  upon  as  a certain 
test  of  the  quality  of  the  gas,  the  density 
of  which  may  be  increased  by  presence  of 
impure  heavy  gases,  or  even  of  atmospheric 
air ; but  it  is  resorted  to  only  as  an  indica- 
tion in  the  absence  of  more  exact  tests. 

The  coke  obtained  from  the  retorts, 
amounting  to  about  40  bushels  to  the  ton 
of  coals,  furnishes  all  the  fuel  required  for 
the  fires  beneath,  and  three  times  as  much 
more,  which  is  sold  for  fuel.  As  the  vola- 
tile products  pass  through  the  hydraulic 
main,  the  principal  portions  of  the  oily  and 
ammoniacal  compounds  are  deposited  in  it ; 
but  some  of  these  pass  on  in  vapors,  and 
would,  if  not  separated,  cause  obstructions 


in  the  pipes  in  which  they  might  condense 
in  liquids  and  solids.  They  are  consequent- 
ly passed  through  a succession  of  tall  iron 
pipes  standing  in  the  open  air,  and  some- 
times kept  cool  by  water  trickling  down 
their  outside.  A pipe  from  the  bottom  of 
each  pair  conveys  the  condensed  tar  and 
ammonia  into  a cistern  in  the  ground.  To 
still  further  separate  the  condensable  por- 
tions, the  gas  at  some  works  is  next  passed 
into  the  bottom  of  a tower  filled  with  bricks, 
stones,  etc.,  among  the  interstices  of  which 
it  finds  its  way  up,  at  the  same  time  that 
water  constantly  sprinkled  on  the  top  is 
'working  down  and  keeping  the  whole  cool. 
The  water  washes  away  the  remaining  am- 
monia; but  it  is  to  be  feared  that  it  also  re- 
moves some  of  the  richest  hydrocarbons, 
and  the  use  of  the  wet  scrubber,  as  it  is 
called,  is  already  abandoned  at  some  of  the 
gas  works  for  similar  methods  of  condens- 
ing, except  that  the  water  is  dispensed 
with.  The  gas  makes  its  exit  from  the  top 
of  the  scrubber ; and  its  passage  being  al- 
ready somewhat  impeded  so  as  to  throw 
considerable  pressure  back  into  the  retorts, 
thus  effecting  chemical  changes  in  the  gas, 
which  impair  its  quality,  it  is  found  neces- 
sary to  introduce  a revolving  exhauster, 
which  takes  off  this  pressure,  and  at  the 
same  time  propels  the  gas  forward  into  the 
succeeding  apparatus.  This  is  first  a puri- 
fier, the  object  of  which  is  to  arrest  the  car- 
bonic acid  and  sulphurous  gases.  Dry 
quicklime,  and  also  the  solution  of  this  in 
water,  known  as  milk  of  lime,  have  the  prop- 
erty of  absorbing  these  gases  as  they  are 
made  to  pass  among  the  particles  of  the  one 
spread  upon  shelves,  or  interspersed  among 
a porous  substance  such  as  dry  moss ; or  to 
bubble  up  through  the  aqueous  solution. 
The  lime  as  it  becomes  saturated  with  the 
impure  gases  is  replaced  with  fresh  portions. 

The  cleansing  process  is  now  complete, 
and  the  gas  is  in  proper  condition  to  be  de- 
livered to  the  consumer.  It  must  first,  how- 
ever, be  measured,  that  a record  may  be  kept 
of  the  quantity  produced,  and  it  is  next  con- 
ducted into  the  great  gas-holders  in  which 
it  is  stored.  The  measurement  is  effected 
by  means  of  a large  station  meter,  construct- 
ed on  the  principle  of  the  small  service- 
meters,  with  one  of  which  each  consumer  is 
supplied.  A revolving  drum  with  four  com- 
partments of  equal  capacity  is  made  to  rotate 
in  a tight  box  by  the  gas  entering  and  fill- 
ing one  of  these  compartments  after  another. 


ILLUMINATING  GAS. 


151 


Their  capacity  being  known,  and  the  number 
of  revolutions  being  recorded  by  a train  of 
wheel-work  outside  the  box,  the  quantity  of 
gas  which  passes  through  is  exactly  indica- 
ted. The  largest  meters  pass  about  650 
cubic  feet  by  one  revolution  of  the  drum,  or 
about  70,000  cubic  feet  in  an  hour. 

The  gas-holders  are  the  large  cylindrical 
vessels  of  plate  iron,  the  most  conspicuous 
objects  at  the  gas  works.  Each  one  is  set 
with  its  open  end  down,  and  immersed  in  a 
cistern  of  water  of  diameter  a little  exceed- 
ing its  own.  It  is  buoyed  up  by  the  water, 
and  also  counterbalanced  by  weights  passing 
over  pulleys.  The  gas  admitted  under  the 
inverted  cylinder  lifts  this  up,  and  fills  all 
the  portion  above  the  water.  The  weight 
of  the  cylinder  when  the  influx  is  shut  off, 
and  the  discharge  pipes  are  opened  presses 
the  gas  out  and  through  the  mains  to  the 
points  where  it  is  consumed.  The  gas-hold- 
ers of  the  largest  works  are  of  immense 
size.  In  Philadelphia,  there  is  one  160  feet 
in  diameter  and  95  feet  high,  holding  1,800,- 
000  cubic  feet  of  gas.  Even  this  is  exceeded 
by  one  at  the  Imperial  Gas  Company’s  works, 
London,  which  is  201  feet  in  diameter,  80 
feet  high,  and  of  the  capacity  of  2,500,000 
cubic  feet.  This  cost  upward  of  $200,000  ; 
and  contains  1500  tons  of  iron,  5000  cubic 
feet  of  stone  work,  and  2,000,000  bricks. 
No  advantage  is  gained  in  a single  structure 
of  this  immense  size  over  several  smaller 
ones.  On  the  contrary,  this  involves  heavy 
expenditures  to  protect  them  against  the 
force  of  the  wind,  and  render  them  manage- 
able. Those  of  great  height  are  made  in 
sections,  which  shut  one  within  another  in 
descending,  like  the  parts  of  a telescope. 
As  each  section  is  lifted  in  turn  out  of  the 
water,  its  lower  edge,  which  is  turned  up  in 
an  outward  direction,  forming  an  annular 
cup,  includes  a portion  of  water,  into  which 
the  upper  edge  of  the  next  lower  section 
catches,  being  turned  over  inward  for  this 
purpose.  A gas-tight  joint  between  the  two 
sections  is  thus  formed. 

To  insure  uniformity  of  pressure,  as  the 
gas  enters  the  mains  it  is  first  made  to  pass 
through  the  apparatus  called  a governor,  in 
which,  according  to  the  force  or  slowness 
with  which  it  moves,  it  causes  a valve  to  rise 
and  partially  close  an  aperture  within  the 
machine  through  which  the  gas  flows,  or  to 
descend  and  open  this  aperture.  The  in- 
crease of  pressure  as  the  gas  is  carried  to 
higher  levels,  amounting  to  one  fifth  of  an 


inch  of  water  in  every  30  feet,  renders  it 
important  in  hilly  towns  to  have  governors 
upon  different  levels.  In  high  buildings  a 
very  sensible  difference  is  perceived  in  the 
force  with  which  the  gas  issues  from  the 
burners  on  the  different  stories.  This  in- 
volves a waste  of  gas  where  the  pressure  is 
great,  for  under  such  conditions  a consider- 
able portion  of  that  consumed  adds  little 
to  the  illuminating  effect.  Various  govern- 
ors or  regulators  have  been  devised  for  the 
use  of  consumers  with  a view  of  producing 
an  increase  of  light  with  reduced  consump- 
tion of  gas ; and  when  judiciously  applied, 
some  of  them,  as  Kidder’s  and  Stirling’s,  have 
proved  very  successful.  The  latter  has  been 
introduced  into  some  of  the  public  buildings 
of  New  York  city,  controlled  by  the  Street 
Department,  and  according  to  the  report  of 
the  Street  Commissioner,  the  saving  has 
been  in  many  instances  very  remarkable. 

Each  consumer  of  gas  is  supplied  with  a 
meter,  which  is  under  the  control  of  the 
gas  company ; and  from  its  indications  the 
amount  furnished  is  determined  by  inspec- 
tion every  month. 

Though  in  the  use  of  gas  the  consumer  is 
in  a great  measure  dependent  on  the  manu- 
facturer as  regards  the  economy  of  the  light, 
there  are  several  points,  by  giving  personal 
attention  to  which,  he  may  more  fully  real- 
ize the  saving  it  affords.  In  the  first  place, 
he  must  be  aware  that  every  one  employing 
this  source  of  light  uses  it  more  freely  than 
that  derived  from  lamps  and  candles.  It  is 
enjoyed  with  so  little  trouble  and  apparent 
cost,  that  much  more  light  is  soon  regarded 
essential,  than  was  perfectly  satisfactory  un- 
der the  old  methods  of  producing  it.  He 
should  next  see  that  the  area  of  the  delivery 
pipe  bears  such  proportion  to  the  quantity 
usually  required,  that  there  is  no  undue  pres- 
sure upon  the  burners,  as  is  evident  when 
the  gas  “blows”  through  them  as  it  burns. 
This  should  be  checked  by  shutting  oft'  a 
part  of  the  supply  by  means  of  the  stop-cock 
at  the  meter ; and  this  should  be  looked  to 
after  every  visit  of  the  gas  man  to  the  meter. 
The  regulator  also  is  intended  to  remedy 
this  over  supply,  but  it  may  still  be  neces- 
sary to  keep  part  of  the  gas  turned  off,  and 
by  so  doing  the  regulator  may  be  dispensed 
with.  Attention  should  next  be  directed  to 
the  burners,  that  those  of  largest  size,  such  ;is 
consume  with  the  ordinary  pressure  six  feet 
or  more  of  gas  an  hour,  should  be  placed 
only  where  the  greatest  quantity  of  light  is 


152 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


required,  and  that  burners  of  four  feet,  three 
feet,  two  feet,  or  even  one  foot  an  hour,  be 
placed  where  the  light  they  give  will  be  suf- 
ficient. The  burners  called  Scotch  tips,  giv- 
ing what  is  called  the  fish-tail  flame,  are  in 
common  use,  but  a great  variety  of  others 
have  been  contrived,  and  some  of  them  are 
highly  recommended  for  affording  more  light 
with  the  same  amount  of  gas.  All,  however, 
are  liable  to  become  foul  after  a time,  and 
should  be  occasionally  cleaned  or  replaced. 
The  iron  of  which  they  are  made  is  corrod- 
ed by  the  ingredients  of  the  gas,  especiall}7- 
when  not  in  use,  and  air  entering  its  ele- 
ments form  acid  compounds  with  those  of 
the  gas  which  remain  in  the  open  portion 
of  the  pipe.  The  argand  burner  is  recom- 
mended for  the  powerful  and  steady  light  it 
gives,  but  it  is  far  from  being  economical,  and 
moreover  produces  great  heat.  For  a steady 
light  Gleason’s  “ American  gas-burner”  com- 
bines the  advantages  of  brilliant  light,  steadi- 
ness of  flame,  and  moderate  consumption. 

The  quality  of  gas  is  determined  either  by 
analysis,  or  more  conveniently  by  testing 
with  the  photometer  its  comparative  capac- 
ity of  producing  light.  The  standard  adopt- 
ed for  comparison  is  spermaceti  candles,  each 
one  burning  120  grains  in  an  hour.  An  ar- 
gand burner  consuming  five  feet  of  gas  an 
hour  (the  quantity  carefully  proved  by  the 
meter)  is  used  in  making  the  trial ; and  the 
number  of  candles  required  to  produce  an 
equal  amount  of  light  indicates  the  quality 
of  the  gas.  At  the  points  of  consumption 
this  is  sometimes  inferior  to  that  of  the  gas 
at  the  works  before  it  enters  the  gas-holders 
and  passes  through  the  mains ; but  in  very 
cold  weather,  by  the  condensation  of  the 
richest  hydrocarbon  vapor  in  the  pipes,  the 
gas  that  reaches  the  burners  is  poorer  than 
that  which  left  the  works.  Consequently 
these  facts  should  be  taken  into  consider- 
ation in  estimating  the  quality  of  gas  fur- 
nished by  any  establishment.  Again,  after 
a period  of  excessive  cold  weather,  when  the 
gas  has  burned  dimly  by  the  condensation 
of  its  best  portions  in  the  pipes — it  may  be 
to  the  extent  at  times  of  obstructing  the  flow 
through  them — and  with  the  return  of  milder 
weather  the  vapors  are  released  and  mix  with 
the  new  gas,  they  sometimes  so  overburden 
this  with  an  undue  proportion  of  the  richest 
compounds,  that  with  the  ordinary  burners 
the  gas  cannot  be  consumed,  and  the  result ! 
is  a smoky  flame,  of  which  the  consumers  : 
make  great  complaint,  believing  it  to  be  I 


caused  by  inferior  gas.  Such  are  some  of 
the  causes,  over  which  the  manufacturers 
have  no  control,  that  involve  more  or  less  ir- 
regularity in  the  quality  of  the  gas  supplied. 

The  gas  produced  at  different  works  is  of 
various  qualities.  That  of  the  Manhattan 
Gas  Light  Company  is  rated  at  sixteen  can- 
dles, and  is  probably  as  good  as  any  furnish- 
ed in  our  cities.  It  is  tested  daily  with  the 
photometer  at  their  office,  at  the  corner  of 
Irving  Place  and  Fifteenth  street,  New  York. 
In  England,  the  gas  of  the  London  works  va- 
ries from  eleven  to  eighteen  candles.  That 
of  Liverpool  is  much  better,  sometimes  being 
equal  to  twenty -two  candles. 

Other  materials  than  coal  have  been  ap- 
plied to  some  extent  in  the  United  States 
for  producing  gas,  chiefly  for  small  supplies 
for  single  buildings.  The  most  successful  of 
these  processes  is  that  with  rosin  oil.  The 
apparatus  is  exceedingly  simple,  and  is  placed 
in  an  apartment  in  an  out-building.  It  con- 
sists of  a stove  containing  a chamber  in  the 
top,  into  which  the  rosin  oil  is  allowed  to 
drop  slowly.  It  is  decomposed  by  the  heat 
of  the  surface  upon  which  it  falls,  and  the 
gaseous  products  pass  immediately  through 
the  pipes  into  the  gas-holder,  whence  they  are 
distributed  as  at  the  large  gas  works.  The 
supply  for  a week  may  be  made  in  less  than 
an  hour  with  very  little  attention  from  the 
person  in  charge.  The  gas  is  superior  to 
that  from  coal,  and  the  expense,  not  reckon- 
ing the  cost  of  the  gas-holder  and  the  appa- 
ratus, is  less  than  the  price  ordinarily  paid 
for  gas. 

In  Philadelphia  wood  has  been  success- 
fully used  at  the  Market  street  bridge  works. 
Six  retorts  have  been  kept  in  operation  with 
it  for  some  time,  and  the  yield  and  quality 
of  the  gas  have  proved  A ery  satisfactory.  As 
in  the  use  of  coal,  it  is  found  necessary  to 
charge  the  material  into  retorts  already  at  a 
high  heat,  otherwise  the  gaseous  products 
have  little  illuminating  power.  Gas  thus 
made  from  pine  wood  has  been  found  to 
contain  10.57  per  cent,  of  olefiant  gas,  and 
that  from  oak  0.4G  per  cent. 

Hydrocarbon  Gas. — What  is  known  as 
the  hydrocarbon  or  water  gas  manufacture 
was  introduced  into  Philadelphia  in  1858, 
and  according  to  the  published  reports,  its 
application  to  lighting  a portion  of  the  Girard 
i House  in  that  city,  proved  for  several  months 
perfectly  satisfactory.  It  was  introduced 
: into  the  town  of  Aurora,  Indiana,  in  January, 

I 1861,  and  according  to  the  statements  put>- 


ILLUMINATING  GAS. 


153 


lished  in  the  Cincinnati  Daily  Commercial , 
the  operation  had  been  very  successful. 
The  light  is  described  as  very  brilliant,  and 
the  gas  almost  free  from  odor.  The  process 
appears  to  be  similar  to  that  of  Mr.  White, 
of  Manchester,  England,  which  consists  in 
the  generation  of  the  non-illuminating  gases 
by  the  action  of  steam  upon  charcoal  highly 
heated  in  a retort,  the  aqueous  vapor  being 
thereby  decomposed,  and  various  gaseous 
compounds  produced  by  its  hydrogen  and 
oxygen  combining  with  the  carbon  of  the 
charcoal.  If  the  operation  is  properly  con- 
ducted these  compounds  should  be  almost 
entirely  carbonic  oxide  and  free  hydrogen; 
if  carbonic  acid  is  produced,  as  it  may  well 
be,  even  to  the  extent  of  one  per  cent.,  it 
may  involve  the  expense  of  purification  by 
means  of  a lime  purifier.  These  gases  are 
immediately  passed  through  another  retort, 
in  which  the  illuminating  gases  are  genera- 
ted, and  mixing  with  them  the  whole  is  im- 
mediately swept  forward  out  of  the  reach  of 
the  high  decomposing  temperature.  The 
material  employed  for  furnishing  the  illumi- 
nating gas  is  either  rosin  or  rosin  oil  gadual- 
ly  dropped  into  the  heated  retort ; and  it  is 
stated  that  various  other  carbonaceous  sub- 
stances, as  the  tar  from  the  gas  works  and 
cheap  greasy  compounds,  may  be  economi- 
cally applied. 

Although  this  method  of  producing  gas 
has  been  highly  recommended  by  eminent 
English  authorities,  especially  by  Dr.  Frank- 
land,  an  account  of  whose  experiments  and 
conclusions  is  given  in  the  recent  edition  of 
Ure’s  Dictionary  (London,  186  J),  vol.  i.,  p. 
778,  it  has  not  been  adopted  by  gas  compa- 
nies, whose  first  interest  it  would  be  to  avail 
themselves  of  such  improvements,  and  it  is 
reasonable  to  suppose  there  arc  some  insu- 
perable objections  to  it.  Indeed,  in  the  last 
edition  of  Clegg’s  “ Treatise  upon  the  Man- 
ufacture and  Lise  of  Gas,”  the  subject  is 
passed  by  with  scarcely  any  notice,  although 
it  had  been  in  the  previous  edition  treated 
in  detail  and  with  commendation.  In  the 
English  Gan  Journal , it  is  decidedly  con- 
demned. No  analyses  of  the  gas  thus  pro- 
duced in  this  country  have  ever  been  pub- 
lished, nor  any  reports  of  photometrical  ex- 
periments that  might  establish  its  light-giv- 
ing capacity.  As  the  subject  for  some  time 
attracted  much  attention,  and  has  given  rise 
to  extravagant  expectations  of  cheap  pro- 
duction of  gas,  it  is  very  desirable  that  such 
trials  and  reports  should  be  made  by  some 


competent  chemist.  In  Philadelphia,  the 
subject  has  given  rise  to  a newspaper  con- 
troversy, and  the  publications  were  embod- 
ied, in  1860,  in  a pamphlet  entitled  “The 
Water  Gas  Correspondence.”  They  contain- 
ed nothing,  however,  to  determine  the  real 
merits  of  the  gas. 

Gas  for  Steamboats  and  Railroad 
Cars. — Several  methods  have  recently  been 
put  in  practice  of  furnishing  gas  for  the  con- 
venience of  passengers  in  steam  vessels,  or 
upon  railroads.  One  plan  is  to  place  in  the 
boats  or  under  the  cars  large  cases  of  sheet 
iron,  each  one  provided  with  a diaphragm 
or  partition  of  india-rubber  across  its  upper 
portion.  A connection  being  made  between 
the  receptacle  under  the  diaphragm  and  the 
street  main,  the  gas  fills  this  portion  of  the 
case  and  the  connection  is  then  shut  off. 
When  required  for  use,  the  gas  is  forced  out 
by  the  pressure  of  air  uniformly  applied  upon 
the  upper  surface  of  the  india-rubber  sheet 
by  means  of  a meter  running  by  clock  work. 
This  method  has  so  far  been  successful ; but 
danger  is  apprehended  by  some  that  atmos- 
pheric air  may  find  its  way  through  the 
flexible  sheets,  all  of  which  are  more  or  less 
permeable  when  used  to  separate  different 
gaseous  compounds,  and  that  an  explosive 
mixture  may  thus  be  introduced.  By  an- 
other plan  of  a New  York  company,  the  gas 
by  means  of  force  pumps  is  compressed  into 
strong  cylindrical  gas-holders  made  like  the 
boilers  of  steam  engines.  The  gas  is  thus 
made  to  occupy  a diminished  space  in  pro- 
portion to  the  pressure  used,  that  of  20  at- 
mospheres placing  1000  cubic  feet  of  gas  in 
50  feet  space.  In  Jersey  City,  where  this 
method  has  been  applied  to  furnishing  gas 
for  railroad  cars,  the  pressure  employed  is 
about  450  lbs.  upon  the  square  inch.  Un- 
der this  pressure  the  gas  is  conveyed  through 
pipes  to  the  points  where  the  cars  receive 
from  them  their  supplies.  The  gas  by  its 
elasticity  presses  through  the  burners,  and 
uniformity  of  discharge  while  this  force  is 
constantly  diminishing  is  secured  by  a gov^ 
crnor  or  regulator  constructed  on  the  princi- 
ple already  described. 

Gas  for  Fuel. — Besides  its  use  for  pro- 
ducing light,  gas  has  lately  been  applied  to 
other  domestic  purposes  for  the  sake  of  the 
heat  it  can  be  made  to  afford  in  burning.  It 
was  thus  first  used  by  chemists,  and  mechan- 
ics, as  bookbinders,  then  applied  it  in  suit- 
able stoves  to  the  heating  of  such  tools  as 
they  required  of  a high  temperature.  After 


154 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


this  stoves  were  contrived  on  different  plans 
in  which  various  culinary  operations  might 
he  conducted,  and  some  also  for  warming 
rooms.  Though  it  would  appear  to  he  an 
expensive  fuel,  it  has  been  found  for  many 
purposes,  in  which  only  a certain  amount  of 
heat  is  required,  and  this  for  a short  time, 
not  merely  exceedingly  convenient,  hut  even 
economical.  No  more  need  be  consumed 
than  is  required  to  effect  the  desired  pur- 
pose, and  it  is  moreover  applied  directly  to 
the  object  to  be  heated  with  little  dispersion 
or  waste  of  heat.  But  for  warming  rooms,  it 
is  objectionable,  not  only  on  account  of  its 
cost,  but  also  from  its  vitiating  the  atmos- 
phere by  the  large  amount  of  the  noxious 
gases  produced  by  its  combustion.  If  these 
are  conveyed  away  by  ventilating  flues,  they 
carry  with  them  a considerable  portion  of 
the  caloric  set  free.  No  doubt  when  gas  is 
afforded  at  lower  rates,  means  will  be  devised 
of  applying  it  more  advantageously  to  this 
purpose. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

HYDROCARBON  OR  COAL  OILS. 

Notwithstanding  the  substitution  in  the 
cities  and  most  of  the  towns  of  considerable 
size  throughout  the  country  of  gas  for  oils, 
the  demand  for  the  latter  has  increased  much 
faster  than  the  supply,  as  is  shown  by  the 
price  for  sperm  oil  being  now  more  than 
three  times  what  it  was  in  1843,  when  it 
brought  about  fifty-five  cents  per  gallon. 
Besides  its  use  for  illuminating  purposes, 
the  consumption  of  oil  is  enormous  for 
lubricating  machinery.  The  railroads  and 
steamboats,  and  the  increasing  numbers  of 
large  factories,  demand  such  quantities  of  it 
that  all  the  ordinary  sources  of  supply  were 
overtasked,  and  the  whaling  business  former- 
ly so  prosperous  in  New  England,  has  fallen 
off  in  the  face  of  advancing  prices,  or  been 
forced  to  gather  itself  in  fewer  centres,  where 
by  concentration  of  its  operations  the  busi- 
ness could  be  conducted  with  the  greatest 
economy.  From  many  seaports  of  New  Eng- 
land this  business  has  quite  disappeared,  and 
the  following  changes  in  others  are  reported 
to  have  taken  place  between  the  years  1843 
and  1859.  In  the  former  period  New  Bed- 
ford had  214  whale  ships,  and  in  1859  the 
number  had  increased  to  316.  In  New  Lon- 
don, Conn.,  the  number  had  increased  from 
45  to  56,  and  in  Mattapoiset  from  11  to  19. 


In  other  towns  the  number  of  ships  had  fallen 
off  as  follows:  Nantucket,  to  33  from  85;  Sag 
Harbor,  to  20  from  43  ; Warren,  R.  I.,  to  15 
from  21,  etc.  At  Fairhaven,  46  ships  were 
owned  at  both  periods.  The  manufacture  of 
lard  oil,  which  of  late  years  has  been  exten- 
sively carried  on  in  the  Western  states,  failed 
to  meet  the  increasing  demands,  when  at  last 
attention  began  to  be  directed  to  the  extrac- 
tion of  oils  from  the  bituminous  coals  and 
shales,  by  processes  of  recent  introduction  in 
France  and  England.  The  success  attained 
by  Mr.  James  Young,  of  Glasgow,  in  his  treat- 
ment of  the  “ Torbane  Hill  mineral,”  or  Bog- 
head cannel  of  Scotland,  served  more  than 
any  thing  else  to  give  encouragement  to  this 
enterprise.  In  1854,  according  to  the  testi- 
mony of  this  practical  chemist,  in  a lawsuit 
in  London,  he  was  producing  about  8000 
gallons  a week  of  an  oil  he  called  paraffine 
oil,  which  sold  for  5s.  a gallon,  the  sales 
amounting  in  all  to  about  $500,000  per  an- 
num, of  which  the  greater  portion  was  profit. 
Operations  of  a similar  character  had  for 
some  time  previously  been  conducted  upon 
a large  scale  at  Autun,  Department  of  the 
Saone  and  Loire,  in  France;  the  materials 
employed  being  highly  bituminous  shales, 
probably  not  essentially  different  from  the 
Torbane  Hill  mineral,  except  in  producing 
much  less  oil  to  the  ton. 

The  first  factory  for  making  coal  oil  in  the 
United  States  was  established  on  Newtown 
Creek,  Long  Island,  opposite  New  York  city, 
and  commenced  operations  in  June,  1854. 
This  was  known  as  the  Kerosene  Oil  Works, 
and  was  designed  to  work  the  Boghead  can- 
nel, or  coal  of  similar  character  from  the 
province  of  New  Brunswick,  or  from  the 
West,  by  the  patented  process  of  Mr.  Young. 
In  Kentucky,  Ohio,  Virginia,  and  Pennsyl- 
vania cannel  coals  were  found  of  suitable 
qualities  for  this  manufacture;  and  in  1856 
the  Breckenridge  Coal  Oil  Works  were  in  suc- 
cessful operation  at  Cloverport,  on  the  Ohio 
river,  in  Breckenridge  county,  Ky.  The  same 
y6ar  a factory  was  built  in  Perry  county, 
Ohio,  by  Messrs.  Dillie  and  Robinson,  and 
others  rapidly  sprung  up  in  the  vicinity  of 
Newark,  which  soon  became  an  important 
centre  of  this  new  business.  In  1858,  sev- 
eral large  factories  were  built  in  New  Eng- 
land, one  in  Boston,  and  one  in  Portland, 
Maine.  It  is  doubtful  whether  Young  was 
the  first  inventor  or  discoverer  of  this,  for 
as  we  shall  see,  the  late  Baron  von  Reechen* 
bach  had  many  years  before  distilled  some 


HYDROCARBON  OR  COAL  OILS. 


155 


TABLE  OF  THE  COAL  OIL  WORKS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

State.  Town  or  county.  Name  of  works.  No.  of  factories. 

Maine,  Portland . . .Portland  Company 1 

Massachusetts,  Boston Downer  Kerosene  Co 1 

“ “ Page  & Co 1 

“ “ Suffolk  Company 1 

“ “ Pinkham 1 

“ “ Peasley 1 

“ East  Cambridge E.  Cambridge  Company 1 

“ New  Bedford New  Bedford  Company 1 

Connecticut,  Hartford Hartford  Company 1 

“ Stamford Stamford  Company 1 

New  York,  Newtown  Creek,  L.  I Kerosene  Oil  Company 1 

“ Hunter’s  Point,  L.  I Luther  Atwood  1 

“ “ Carbon  Company 1 

South  Brooklyn Empire  State  Company 1 

“ “ Franklin  Company. 1 

“ Williamsburgh Long  Island  Company 1 


.Knickerbocker  Company. 

“ “ Fountain  Oil  Co 

“ Harlem Beloni  & Co 

“ “ Excelsior  Company 

Pennsylvania,  Darlington,  Beaver  Co Anderson  & Co 


Ohio, 


Kiskiminitas Aladdin  Company 

“ Lucesco  Company 

Freeport,  Armstrong  Co North  American  Company 

New  Galilee New  Galilee 1 

Etion  Yalley.  Enon  Valley  Company 1 

E.  Palestine,  Columbiana  Co. . . .Palestine  Company 1 

Canfield,  Mahoning  Co Cornell  & Company I 

“ “ Sherwood 1 

“ “ Phoenix 1 

“ “ Mystic „ 1 

“ “ Canfield 1 

Cleveland Dean 1 

Zanesville Brooks 1 

“ Cox 1 

Newark,  Licking  Co Great  Western 1 

“ “ Three  others 3 

Steubenville,  Jefferson  Co 2 


Virginia, 


Coshocton  Co 

Columbus,  Franklin  Co 

Cincinnati Grasseli 

“ W estern  Company . 

Phoenix  Company. 

Perry  Co Robinson  & Co. . . 

Kanawha  region 


1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

“ Forest  Hill  Company 1 

1 

1 


.Falling  Rock  Company. 


Kentucky, 

Kentucky, 

Missouri, 


“ Greers. 

“ Great  Kanawha  Company. 

“ Staunton  Company 1 

“ Atlantic  Company 1 

“ Union  Company 1 

“ K.  C.  C.  M.  and  0.  M.  Company 1 

Preston  Co Preston  Company 1 

Monongalia  Co White  Bay  Company I 

Ritchie  Co Ritchie  Company 1 

Wheeling New  York  and  Wheeling  Company 1 

Taylor  Co Marion  Company 1 

Maysville,  Mason  Co Union  Company 1 

“ “ Ashland 1 

Cloverport,  Breckenridgc  Co* 1 

Covington  and  Newport,  opposite  Cincinnati 2 

Owsley  Co 1 

St.  Louis 1 


Daily 
eapacity 
in  1860. 
Gallons. 
4000 
4000 
600 
300 


800 

300 

200 

4000 

2000 

300 

300 

500 


400 

50 


2000 


00 


156 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


ounces  of  a naphtha  from  pit  coal,  which  was 
substantially  identical  with  Young’s ; and 
several  other  chemists  claim  to  have  arrived 
at  similar  results  ; but  Young  was  certainly 
the  first  to  produce  the  oil  on  a commercial 
scale. 

So  rapid  was  the  increase  in  the  demand 
for  this  oil,  that  in  1860  there  were  nearly 
80  manufactories  in  the  United  States,  em- 
ploying over  $3,000,000  capital,  and  produc 
ing  oil  naphthalin  and  paraffin  to  the  amount 
of  five  millions  of  dollars  annually.  The 
coal  oil  manufacture  had  assumed  at  a bound, 
an  importance,  which  gave  it  the  leading 
place  among  the  new  manufactures  of  the 
previous  decade.  The  production  of  illu- 
minating oils  exceeded  in  that  year  ten  mil- 
lion gallons,  and  about  five  millions  of  gallons 
of  the  heavy  lubricating  oils  and  paraffine. 
The  man  who  had  predicted  that  within  the 
next  three  years  all  this  activity  of  produc- 
tion would  cease,  and  another  article  then 
just  coming  into  notice  would  supersede  it, 
and  attain  to  ten  times  its  extent,  would  have 
been  deemed  little  less  than  a mad-man.  Yet 
this  was  precisely  what  happened. 

HISTORY  AND  METHOD  OF  THE  MANUFACTURE. 

The  possibility  of  extracting  oil  from  bitu- 
minous minerals  appears  to  have  been  known 
since  the  year  1694,  a patent  having  been 
granted  in  January  of  that  year  to  Martin 
Eele,  Thomas  Hancock,  and  William  Port- 
lock,  for  “ a way  to  extract  and  make  great 
quantities  of  pitch,  tarr,  and  oyle  out  of  a 
sort  of  stone,  of  which  there  is  a sufficient 
found  within  our  dominions  of  England  and 
Wales.”  This  stone  proved  to  be  a bitumi- 
nous shale ; and  in  1716  it  was  again  applied 
to  similar  use  under  another  patent,  granted 
to  M.  <fc  T.  Belton,  of  Shrewsbury.  In  the 
course  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  oily 
product  obtained  was  employed  to  some  ex- 
tent as  a medicine,  under  the  name  of  Brit- 
ish or  petroleum  oil.  Though  from  time  to 
time  other  patents  were  granted  in  England 
for  the  same  process,  the  business  never  be- 
came of  importance  there  until  the  success- 
ful trials  were  made  by  Mr.  James  Young, 
of  Glasgow,  upon  the  Boghead  cannel  al- 
ready referred  to.  On  the  continent  the 
subject  was  brought  before  the  public  by  the 
researches  of  Baron  Von  Reichenbach  in 


1829,  ’30,  and  ’31,  when  he  discovered  and 
separated  numerous  new  compounds  from 
the  products  of  the  slow  distillation  ot  bitu- 
minous substances.  The  compound  he  named 
eupion  is  the  same  thing  as  the  rectified  oil 
now  known  as  coal  oil,  paraffine  oil,  kerosene, 
photogenic,  pyrogenic  oil,  and  by  other  local 
or  commercial  names.  He  appreciated  its 
useful  properties,  and  recommended  the  pros- 
ecution of  further  trials  with  the  object  of 
establishing  the  best  mode  of  separating  it. 
In  France  its  character  was  understood  in 
1824,  when  a patent  was  granted  for  its  man- 
ufacture; and  in  1833  factories  were  in  op- 
eration for  producing  it.  In  1834  the  meth- 
od adopted  by  Selligue  was  first  published, 
and  in  the  specification  of  the  patent  granted 
to  him,  March  19,  1845,  is  a full  account  of 
the  process  as  conducted  in  the  works  at 
Autun.  This  is  still  the  best  treatise  pub- 
lished upon  the  manufacture,  and  notwith* 
standing  the  numerous  patents  which  have 
since  been  issued,  the  improvements  are  lim- 
ited to  comparatively  unimportant  modifica- 
tions of  the  apparatus.  In  the  United  States 
the  first  patent  granted  in  this  manufacture 
was  in  March,  1852,  to  James  Young  for  his 
process,  which  in  this  country  was  first  intro- 
duced at  the  kerosene  oil  works  on  Newtown 
Creek.  The  next  year  two  patents  were  grant- 
ed, in  1854  and  1855  one  each,  in  1856  six, 
in  1858  seven,  and  in  1859  twenty-two. 

As  mentioned  in  the  preceding  chapter, 
the  products  obtained  by  the  distillation  of 
bituminous  substances  vary  according  to  the 
amount  of  heat  employed  and  the  manner 
o\  its  application,  whether  sudden  or  grad- 
ual. Coals  thrown  into  red  hot  retorts  are 
resolved  into  large  quantities  of  gas,  with 
the  production  of  inconsiderable  quantities 
of  oily  compounds  heavier  in  the  aggregate 
than  water,  and  called  coal  tar.  They  con- 
sist of  a variety  of  hydrocarbons,  as  the 
fluids  designated  by  the  name  of  naphtha, 
the  white  crystalline  substance  called  naph- 
thaline, the  very  volatile  fluid  benzole,  be- 
sides carbolic  acid  and  a great  number  of 
other  curious  and  interesting  compounds  of 
hydrogen  and  carbon.  In  general  they  con- 
tain a less  proportional  amount  of  hydrogen 
than  the  products  obtained  by  slow  distilla 
tion,  the  fluids  are  denser,  and  their  boiling 
points  higher. 


HYDROCARBON  OR  COAL  OILS. 


167 


When  the  bituminous  substances  are  grad- 
ually and  moderately  heated  in  retorts,  the 
production  of  gas  is  small,  the  carbon  and 
hydrogen  separating  chiefly  in  the  form  of 
oily  compounds  of  a greenish  color,  the  spe- 
cific gravity  of  which  is  less  than  water. 
These  compounds  form  what  is  called  crude 
coal  oil,  and  are  similar  in  appearance  and 
composition  to  the  natural  petroleum,  or  rock 
oil,  obtained  in  some  places  from  the  earth, 
as  will  be  described  in  the  next  chapter. 
Benzole  and  naphthaline,  products  of  the 
other  method  of  distillation,  are  found,  if  at 
all,  as  a result  of  the  employment  of  too 
high  heat,  and  instead  of  the  latter  the  waxy 
or  spermaceti-like  substance  called  paraffine 
is  generated  and  is  held  in  solution  in  the 
oils,  from  which  it  may  be  separated  by  re- 
peated distillations,  and  draining  off  through 
filters  and  pressing  out  the  fluid  portions  of 
the  concentrated  residues,  at  the  lowest  avail- 
able temperatures.  The  oily  products  are 
divisible  into  a great  number  of  distinct 
compounds  by  means  of  repeated  distilla- 
tions, each  one  being  carefully  conducted  at 
a certain  degree  of  temperature,  and  the 
product  which  comes  over  at  this  degree  be- 
ing kept  by  itself.  But  in  the  large  way 
they  are  separated  into  only  three  classes, 
which  are  distinguished  as  the  light  oils  for 
lamps,  the  heavy  oils  which  are  suitable  for 
lubricating  purposes,  and  paraffine.  Some- 
times a mixture  of  the  heaviest  oils  and  par- 
affine is  made  use  of  and  sold  for  wagon 
grease  and  such  purposes;  and  the  first  prod- 
ucts which  come  over  in  the  distillation  are 
kept  by  themselves,  and  sold  under  the  name 
of  naphtha  (or  incorrectly  as  benzole)  to  be 
used  as  a solvent  for  the  resins,  caoutchouc, 
etc.,  and  for  removing  grease  spots  from  fab- 
rics. 

The  proportions  obtained  from  a ton  of 
coal  or  shale  are  very  variable.  The  Bog- 
head cannel  yields,  in  well-conducted  opera- 
tions, about  117  gallons  of  crude  oil,  from 
which  the  product  of  refined  oil  is  about  60 
gallons.  It  can  be  made  to  produce  even 
130  gallons  of  crude  oil,  containing  a larger 
proportion  of  refined  oil  than  the  117  gal- 
lons ordinarily  obtained.  The  Breckenridge 
coal  yields  from  90  to  100  gallons  of  crude 
oil,  and  this  50  to  60  of  refined  oil.  The 
Cannelton  coal  of  Virginia  is  of  similar 
quality  to  the  Breckenridge  cannel.  The 
coals  of  Ohio  run  from  55  to  87  gallons  of 
crude  oils  to  the  ton,  and  those  of  Darling- 
ton, Penn.,  from  45  to  55  gallons.  Besides  I 


the  oils  there  also  come  over  from  the  re- 
torts, as  in  the  gas  manufacture,  a quantity 
of  water  rendered  alkaline  by  the  ammonia 
it  holds.  This  collects  at  the  bottom  of  the 
reservoirs  into  which  the  products  are  re- 
ceived, and  the  oil  that  floats  upon  the  sur- 
face being  removed  the  ammoniacal  liquors 
are  allowed  to  escape. 

While  the  general  plan  of  the  operations 
is  the  same  in  all  the  factories,  the  apparatus 
is  variously  modified.  By  Mr.  Young’s  proc- 
ess the  coal  is  distilled  in  cast-iron  Q -shaped 
retorts,  like  those  employed  in  making  gas, 
and  the  volatile  products  are  passed  by  a 
worm  through  a refrigerator  kept  at  a tem- 
perature of  about  55°  F.  The  oils  as  they 
condense  drop  from  the  end  of  the  worm 
into  a receiver.  Many  patents  have  been 
granted  in  Europe  and  in  this  country  for 
different  kinds  of  retorts.  Some  are  made 
of  cylindrical  form  and  set  upright  in  the 
furnace ; the  charge  is  introduced  at  the  top 
and  drawn  out,  when  exhausted,  at  the  bot- 
tom; the  volatile  products  making  their  exit 
either  through  pipes  at  the  top  or  at  differ- 
ent heights.  Some  have  been  constructed 
of  fire  clay  instead  of  cast  iron.  In  order 
that  the  charge  may  be  uniformly  heated, 
revolving  cylindrical  retorts  have  been  con- 
trived and  patented,  first  in  France  many 
years  ago,  and  recently  in  the  United  States. 
They  are  sometimes  eight  feet  long  and  six 
feet  diameter,  suspended  upon  an  axle  at  each 
end.  They  are  charged  through  a manhole 
in  the  front  end  like  the  common  horizontal 
retorts,  and  the  vapors  pass  out  through  the 
axle  at  the  opposite  end,  which  is  made  hol- 
low for  this  purpose.  Retorts  of  the  size 
named  are  charged  with  about  a ton  of  can- 
nel coal,  and  four  such  charges  may  be 
worked  off  in  twenty-four  hours.  They  re- 
volve slowly,  about  twice  in  a minute,  thus 
turning  the  charge  over  and  causing  it  to  be 
uniformly  exposed  to  the  fire  beneath.  At 
the  Lucesco  works,  thirty  miles  above  Pitts- 
burg, on  the  Alleghany,  ten  large  revolving 
retorts  are  stated  to  be  in  operation,  each 
one  of  the  capacity  of  two  and  a half  tons. 
They  are  recommended  for  the  rapidity  with 
which  the  process  is  conducted,  and  the  large 
amount  of  oil  obtained  to  the  ton  of  coal 
while  they  continue  in  good  order;  and  on 
the  other  hand  it  is  objected  to  them  that 
the  coal  is  apt  to  be  ground  to  powder,  and 
the  dust  is  carried  along  with  the  vapors,  ob- 
structing the  condensing  worm  and  adding 
to  the  cost  of  purification.  They  are,  more- 


158 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


over,  expensive  to  construct  and  liable  to  get 
out  of  order. 

By  all  these  arrangements  the  fire  which 
causes  the  expulsion  of  the  volatile  matters 
is  outside  of  the  retorts.  But  the  same  ob- 
ject is  also  attained  by  the  use  of  ovens  and 
pits  similar  to  those  used  for  producing 
charcoal  and  coke,  in  which  the  material 
operated  upon  is  itself  partially  consumed, 
to  generate  the  heat  required  to  drive  off  so 
much  of  its  volatile  constituents  as  may  es- 
cape combustion.  Kilns  thus  designed  for 
extracting  coal  oils  have  been  in  use  in  this 
country  and  in  Europe ; and  in  Virginia, 
near  Wheeling,  the  plan  has  been  adopted 
of  distilling  the  coal  or  shale  in  large  pits 
dug  in  the  ground  of  capacity  sufficient  to 
contain  100  tons  of  the  raw  material.  These 
are  covered  with  earth,  and  the  fire  being 
started  at  one  end,  the  heat  spreads  the  vol- 
atile products  forward,  and  they  are  drawn 
out  at  the  opposite  end  by  the  exhausting 
action  caused  by  a jet  of  steam,  and  received 
into  suitable  condensing  apparatus.  Some 
of  the  kilns  are  constructed  to  be  fired  at 
the  bottom,  and  the  vapors  then  pass  up- 
ward through  the  charge,  and  are  conveyed 
in  pipes  from  the  top  to  the  condensers. 
The  kilns  of  the  Kerosene  Oil  Company, 
patented  by  Mr.  Luther  Atwood,  are  made 
open  at  the  top,  and  a downward  draught 
through  the  charge,  which  is  fired  on  the 
upper  surface,  is  produced  by  a steam  jet 
thrown  into  the  eduction  pipe  that  passes 
out  from  the  bottom  of  the  kiln.  A partial 
vacuum  is  thus  produced,  causing  a current 
of  air  to  flow  in  from  the  kiln.  At  the 
works  of  this  company  there  are  1 8 of  these 
kilns  in  shape  like  a circular  lime  kiln,  built 
of  ordinary  brick  and  lined  with  fire  brick. 
They  are  20  feet  high  and  12  feet  diameter 
inside,  each  one  having  a capacity  of  over 
25  tons  of  coal.  AVhen  this  amount  of 
Boghead  cannel  is  introduced  it  is  covered 
with  about  four  tons  of  Cumberland  coal  and 
a quantity  of  pine  wrood.  This  is  set  on 
fire,  and  at  the  same  time  the  steam  jet  is 
let  on.  The  heated  gases  from  the  com- 
bustibles above  pass  through  the  bituminous 
materials  below  ; but  little  air  reaches  these 
that  is  not  already  deprived  of  its  power  of 
sustaining  further  combustion.  The  volatile 
products  are  gradually  expelled  before  the 
slowly  increasing  heat,  and  the  operation  is 
not  completed  till  the  expiration  of  four 
days.  It  is  hastened  or  checked,  as  may  be 
necessary,  by  means  of  the  steam  jet  by 


which  the  draught  is  controlled.  What  is 
left  in  the  kiln  is  unconsumed  coal  and  ashes 
— no  good  coke  is  produced.  The  condens- 
ers at  these  works  are  tall  cylinders  of  boil- 
er-plate iron.  Passing  through  a succession 
of  these  the  vapors  collect  and  trickle  down 
their  sides,  and  the  mixed  oily  and  aqueous 
products  are  received  into  iron  vats  placed 
in  the  ground.  The  uncondensable  gases 
escape  into  the  open  air  from  the  top  of  the 
last  of  the  cylinders.  From  the  vats  the  oil 
rising  to  the  surface  flows  over  into  a con- 
duit that  leads  to  a large  cistern  in  the 
ground  of  the  capacity  of  40,000  gallons. 
The  water  at  the  same  time  is  discharged  by 
a pipe,  one  end  of  which  is  at  the  bottom 
of  the  vat,  and  the  other  is  bent  over  its  up- 
per edge,  the  flow  being  caused  by  the  dif- 
ference of  an  inch  in  the  elevation  of  the 
surface  of  the  two  vats.  Some  oil  is  car- 
ried over  into  the  second  vat,  and  this  is 
separated  by  a repetition  of  the  same  ar- 
rangement, and  so  on  through  several  vats, 
till  the  ammoniacal  waters  are  finally  allowed 
to  escape  after  being  first  received  into  a 
large  cistern,  where  some  oil  still  collects 
upon  the  surface,  and  is  removed  by  occa- 
sional skimming. 

Still  another  method  of  conducting  the  dry 
distillation  is  by  the  introduction  of  highly 
heated  steam  into  the  retorts,  as  patented 
by  Mr.  William  Brown,  in  1853,  in  England 
and  in  this  country,  though  this  seems  also 
to  have  been  used  in  the  original  operations 
of  Selligue  in  France.  The  effect  of  the 
steam  is  to  aid  in  heating  the  charge,  while 
at  the  same  time  the  vapors  are  taken  up 
and  carried  along  by  it,  and  protected  from 
being  burned  or  decomposed  by  remaining 
in  contact  with  the  hot  surfaces  of  the  re- 
tort. In  the  subsequent  distillation  of  the 
crude  oil,  high  steam  is  similarly  applied  in 
the  stills. 

Nearly  the  same  process  of  refining  is 
practised  at  all  the  factories.  The  crude  oil 
is  pumped  up  into  large  stills  of  cast  or 
boiler-plate  iron,  with  cast-iron  bottoms  two 
inches  thick.  The  capacity  of  these  at  the 
works  above  referred  to  is  1500  gallons 
each,  and  the  time  required  for  distilling  off 
this  amount  of  oil  is  24  hours.  They  are 
heated  by  fires  of  anthracite  and  coke,  the 
latter  being  itself  a product  of  the  distilla- 
tion and  obtained  from  the  inside  of  the  stills 
after  each  heat.  It  is  deposited  from  the  crude 
oil  and  forms  a solid  and  extremely  hard  in- 
crustation which  is  sometimes  nearly  a foot 


HYDROCARBON  OR  COAL  OILS. 


159 


thick  upon  the  bottom  of  the  stills.  It 
is  a much  superior  coke  to  that  obtained 
from  the  gas  retorts,  and  in  its  structure  is 
coarsely  honey-combed  in  the  upper  or  last 
formed  portions,  gradually  growing  closer 
and  more  compact  toward  the  bottom 
upon  which  it  adheres.  The  distillation 
should  be  conducted  at  a temperature  not 
exceeding  800°  F.,  and  the  process  may  be 
rendered  continuous  by  admitting  a small 
stream  of  oil  into  the  stills.  The  vapors 
passing  through  the  goose-neck  are  con- 
densed in  a long  worm  kept  in  the  water  con- 
denser, which  should  be,  in  the  latter  part  of 
the  distillation,  at  a temperature  of  80°  or 
more.  It  is  necessary  to  guard  against  so  low 
temperature  as  might  cause  the  paraffine  to 
solidify  in  the  worm,  w hich  by  stopping  the 
flow  of  the  products  might  result  in  blowing 
up  the  still.  The  heat  is  carefully  regulated 
so  that  the  oil  comes  over  uniformly,  flowing 
from  the  end  of  the  worm  in  a steady  stream. 
It  is  still  of  a greenish  color,  with  more  or  less 
of  its  peculiar,  disagreeable  odor.  Yet  it  is 
evidently  purified  to  a considerable  extent 
by  its  separation  from  the  free  carbon  and 
other  impurities,  usually  amounting  to  10 
or  12  per  cent.,  which  are  left  behind  in 
the  stills.  The  oils  are  next  pumped  into 
large  cylindrical  cisterns  called  agitators,  to 
undergo  the  chemical  treatment,  which  is 
in  general  the  same  as  that  practised  by 
Selligue.  An  addition  is  made  to  them  of  a 
quantity  of  sulphuric  acid,  it  may  be  to  the 
amount  of  5 per  cent.  The  mixture  is 
then  violently  agitated  or  made  to  sweep 
rapidly  round  by  stirrers  in  the  cisterns, 
moved  by  machinery.  The  pure  oil  and 
paraffine  are  unaffected  by  the  chemical 
agents,  but  the  carbonaceous  particles  and 
coloring  matters  are  more  or  less  charred  and 
oxidized,  and  their  condition  is  so  changed 
that  when  the  mixture  is  left  for  some  hours 
to  repose,  they  subside  in  great  part  togeth- 
er with  the  acid,  and  these  can  then  be 
drawn  off  leaving  the  partially  purified  oil  in 
the  upper  portion  of  the  cisterns.  This  is 
next  washed  with  about  one  fifth  its  quantity 
of  water,  which  removes  the  soluble  impu- 
rities and  a portion  of  the  remaining  acid. 
These,  after  subsiding,  being  drawn  off,  a 
strong  lye  of  potash  or  soda  is  introduced 
into  the  oil,  which  neutralizes  and  fixes  what 
acid  remains,  and  causes  the  precipitation  of 
further  portions  of  the  coloring  and  tarry 
matters.  The  mixture  is  again  agitated  and 
is  then  left  six  hours  to  repose,  after  which 


the  sediment  being  drawn  off,  it  is  again 
washed  with  water,  and  this  too,  with  the 
matters  it  has  taken  up,  are  drawn  off.  In 
some  places  chalk  or  lime  has  been  employ- 
ed instead  of  the  alkaline  lye  to  neutralize 
and  fix  the  acid,  and  the  chemical  treatment, 
as  it  is  called,  is  in  other  respects  variously 
modified.  Though  this  has  been  designated 
the  “cold”  treatment,  the  temperature  should 
not  be  allowed  to  fall  below  90°  during  these 
processes. 

At  last  the  oils  freed  from  most  of  their 
impurities  are  introduced  into  stills  like 
those  of  the  first  set.  The  product  which 
first  comes  over  is  a very  light  oil  somewhat 
discolored,  which  is  soon  followed  by  a clear 
oil  having  little  odor.  This  gradually  in- 
creases in  density  from  0.733  to  0.820,  up 
to  which  point  the  mixture  of  oils  is  class- 
ed as  illuminating,  and  is  without  further 
preparation  sufficiently  pure  to  be  at  once 
barrelled  for  the  market.  After  this  the  in- 
creasing depth  of  the  color  and  the  greater 
density  of  the  product  indicate  that  the 
light  oils  have  been  nearly  exhausted,  and 
the  remaining  portions  are  hence  kept  by 
themselves  to  afford  the  heavy  lubricating 
oils,  and  also  it  may  be,  by  means  of  frac- 
tional distillation,  the  additional  quantities 
of  light  oils  they  still  contain,  and  finally 
the  paraffine  which  is  chiefly  concentrated 
with  the  last  portions.  This  substance  when 
separated  from  the  oils  by  filtration  and 
pressure  at  low  temperatures,  is  of  a dark 
color  and  somewhat  offensive  odor ; and  to 
bleach  and  deodorize  it  have  proved  to  be 
somewhat  troublesome  and  expensive  opera- 
tions. Exposure  to  the  sunlight  has  a bleach- 
ing effect;  but  the  processes  for  this  purpose 
have  not  yet  been  made  public.  When  ob- 
tained perfectly  pure  and  white,  difficulties 
have  been  encountered  in  running  it  into 
candles,  which  are  not  common  to  other  ma- 
terials used  for  this  purpose.  When  cooled 
in  ordinary  moulds  the  paraffine  would  crack 
in  lines  radiating  from  the  wick,  and  the  ex- 
terior would  present  a clouded,  mottled  sur- 
face. The  method  of  obviating  this  difficul- 
ty, as  described  in  the  French  work,  “ Le 
Teclinologiste,”  of  1 859,  is  to  use  a mould 
in  two  parts,  that  part  for  the  point  of  the 
candle  working  in  the  other  like  a piston. 
These  moulds  being  brought  to  the  temper- 
ature of  melted  paraffine  are  filled  and  then 
immediately  plunged  into  water  at  nearly  the 
freezing  point.  Having  remained  3 or  4 
minutes,  they  are  taken  out  and  exposed  to 


160 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


a current  of  cool  air  for  15  or  20  minutes. 
The  candles  then  come  out,  as  the  movable 
part  of  the  mould  is  pushed  in,  free  from 
defects.  This  method  is  successfully  intro- 
duced into  the  United  States.  Paraffine 
candles  have  been  made  at  some  of  the  coal 
oil  works,  as  at  those  of  New  York,  New 
Bedford,,  and  Portland.  They  are  of  beauti- 
ful appearance,  resembling  the  best  sperm 
candles,  and  at  the  same  time  are  more  eco- 
nomical for  the  amount  of  light  they  afford. 
The  oil  that  is  pressed  out  from  the  paraffine 
is  useful  chiefly  as  a lubricator,  and  from  the 
low  temperature  at  which  it  is  obtained,  it 
for  no  other  reason,  it  is  insured  against 
chilling  in  cold  weather.  The  residue  in 
the  stills,  is  a mixture  of  the  tarry  matters 
with  the  portion  of  the  chemical  ingredients 
that  was  introduced  with  the  oils.  For  this 
no  use  is  found.  The  heavy  oils  find  their 
principal  application  in  lubricating  machin- 
ery, and  large  quantities  are  consumed  for 
this  purpose  upon  the  Western  railroads. 
The  heavier  natural  oils  of  Ohio,  when  wash- 
ed clean  from  the  sand  that  comes  up  with 
them,  are  also  very  well  adapted  for  this 
use;  but  it  is  found  advantageous  to  mix 
either  the  crude  or  manufactured  article 
with  an  equal  quantity  of  lard  oil.  The 
petroleum  corrects  the  tendency  of  this  to 
gum  and  chill,  while  it  receives  additional 
body  from  the  lard  oil.  Another  use  for 
the  heavy  oils  is  for  cleansing  wool  in  the 
w-oollen  factories,  and  where  they  have  been 
tried  for  this  purpose,  they  have  been  pre- 
ferred to  other  oils.  In  currying  leather, 
also,  they  are  said  to  have  proved  a good 
substitute  for  fish  oil.  Experiments  have 
been  made  with  them  in  Ohio,  for  mixing 
paints,  and  the  crude  heavier  kinds,  as  those 
of  Mecca,  treated  in  the  same  manner  as 
linseed  oil,  boiling  them  with  dryers,  etc., 
formed  a good  body,  covered  the  wood  well, 
dried  rapidly  and  perfectly,  and  formed  a 
smooth,  hard  surface,  retaining  no  odor. 
The  great  abundance  of  the  supply  of  petro- 
leum at  the  West  induced  some  speculation 
as  to  the  probability  of  the  hydrocarbon 
oils  being  used  for  fuel  for  steamboats,  loco- 
motives, and  wherever  a highly  concentrated, 
portable,  and  manageable  fuel  is  required. 
For  domestic  uses,  also,  such  as  require  a 
fire  only  a little  while  at  a time,  the  coal 
oils  were  conveniently  used  in  suitable  stoves 
in  the  same  manner  that  gas  is  applied  to 
the  same  purpose.  But  experiments  are 
wanting  to  establish  the  rate  per  gallon  at 


which  it  might  enter  into  competition  with 
other  fuels  upon  a larger  scale.  Besides  the 
heavy  and  light  oils,  no  other  valuable  pro- 
ducts result  from  the  distillation  of  the  coal 
oils.  Benzole  is  said  not  to  be  a product  of 
this  process.  It  belongs,  together  with  a 
special  class  of  hydrocarbons  designated  as 
the  benzole  series,  to  the  tar  of  the  gas 
works ; and  if  ever  obtained  in  the  coal  oil 
distillation,  it  was  declared  that  it  must  be 
by  bad  management  and  the  use  of  excess 
of  heat.  It  was  found,  after  the  discovery 
and  practical  adoption  of  the  petroleum  as 
an  illuminating  fluid,  that  from  this,  by  the 
refining  and  distilling  processes,  not  only 
benzine  but  naptha  and  other  still  more  vol- 
atile hydrocarbons  were  produced,  and  the 
principal  difficulty  in  reducing  the  petroleum 
to  a safe  and  non-explosive  illuminator  was 
to  rid  it  of  these  very  volatile  oils.  It  is 
probable  that  they  did  exist  in  nearly  the 
same  form  in  the  coal  oils  but  had  not  been 
skilfully  eliminated  at  first. 

The  lighter  coal  oils  were  superior  in 
many  respects  to  most  of  the  articles  pre- 
viously used  for  purposes  of  illumination. 
Their  o lor,  though  not  very  agreeable,  was 
better  than  that  of  most  of  the  sperm  or  lard 
oils,  and  the  spots  made  by  spilling  them  on 
articles  of  dress  or  furniture  were  removed 
with  less  difficulty  than  those  of  the  fatty 
oils.  They  were  also  far  less  liable  to  ex- 
plosion than  the  so-called  “ burning  fluids,” 
which  were  previously  in  very  general  use, 
but  were  constantly  producing  terrible  acci- 
dents and  loss  of  life.  They  were,  if  burned 
in  properly-constructed  lamps,  much  less  dis- 
agreeable and  liable  to  smoke  than  camphene. 

But  the  reign  of  the  coal  oils  for  purposes 
of  illumination  was  destined  to  be  of  short 
duration ; for  petroleum,  or  as  it  came  to  be 
called  when  refined  for  illuminating  purposes, 
“ kerosene  oil,”  became  so  abundant  in  1861 
and  1862,  and  received  such  an  extensive 
development,  that  the  distillation  of  oil  from 
coals,  both  for  illuminating  and  lubricating 
purposes  almost  ceased  after  I860.  An  effort 
was,  indeed,  made  in  1863  and  1864  to  dis- 
til these  oils  on  a large  scale  from  the  bitu- 
minous shales  of  Kentucky  ; but  though  the 
material  could  be  had  at  the  cost  of  breaking 
it  up,  and  the  process  of  distillation  was  very 
simple,  the  flowing  wells  of  Western  Penn- 
sylvania, and  West  Virginia,  furnished  crude 
petroleum  so  cheaply  that  this  undertaking 
proved  unprofitable. 


PETROLEUM,  OR  ROCK  OIL. 


161 


CHAPTER  XII. 

PETROLEUM,  OR  ROCK  OIL. 

The  occurrence  of  an  oily  fluid  oozing  in 
some  regions  from  the  surface  of  the  earth, 
coming  out  with  the  springs  of  water,  and 
forming  a layer  upon  its  surface,  has  been 
noticed  from  ancient  times,  and  the  oil  has 
been  collected  by  excavating  pits  and  canals, 
and  also  by  sinking  deep  wells.  Bakoo,  a 
town  on  the  west  side  of  the  Caspian  Sea  in 
Georgia,  has  long  been  celebrated  for  its 
springs  of  a very  pure  variety  of  petroleum 
or  naphtha,  and  the  annual  value  of  this 
product,  according  to  M.  Abich,  is  about 
3,000,000  francs,  and  might  easily  be  made 
as  large  again.  Over  a tract  about  25  miles 
long  and  half  a mile  wide,  the  strata,  which 
are  chiefly  argillaceous  sandstones  of  loose 
texture,  belonging  to  the  medial  tertiary 
formation,  are  saturated  with  the  oil,  and 
hold  it  like  a sponge.  To  collect  it  large 
open  wells  are  sunk  to  the  depth  of  16  to 
20  feet,  and  in  these  the  oil  gathers  and  is 
occasionally  taken  out.  That  obtained  near 
the  centre  of  the  tract  is  clear,  slightly  yel- 
low, like  Sauterne  wine,  and  as  pure  as  dis- 
tilled oil.  Toward  the  margins  of  the  tract 
the  oil  is  more  colored,  first  a yellowish 
green,  then  reddish  brown.  In  the  environs 
of  Bakoo  are  hills  of  volcanic  rocks  through 
which  bituminous  springs  flow  out.  Jets 
of  carburetted  hydrogen  are  common  in  the 
district,  and  salt,  which  is  almost  always 
found  with  petroleum  springs,  abounds  in 
the  neighborhood. 

Another  famous  locality  of  natural  oils  is 


near  Prome.  Fifty  years  ago  it  was  reported 
there  were  about  520  wells  in  this  region, 
and  the  oil  from  them  was  used  for  the  sup- 
ply of  the  whole  empire  and  many  parts  of 
India.  The  town  of  Rainanghong  is  the 
centre  of  the  oil  district,  and  its  inhabitants 
are  chiefly  employed  in  manufacturing  earth- 
en jars  for  the  oil,  immense  numbers  of 
which  are  stacked  in  pyramids  outside  the! 
town,  like  shot  in  an  arsenal.  The  forma- 
tion containing  the  oil  consists  of  sandy 
clays  resting  on  sandstones  and  slates.  The 
lowest  bed  reached  by  the  open  wells,  which 
are  sometimes  60  feet  deep,  is  a pale  blue 
argillaceous  slate.  Under  this  is  said  to  be 
coal  (tertiary  ?)  The  oil  drips  from  the 
slates  into  the  wells,  and  is  collected  as  at 
Bakoo.  The  annual  product  is  variously 
stated  at  412,000  hogsheads,  and  at  8,000,- 
000  pounds. 

The  Burmese  petroleum  has  recently  been 
imported  into  Great  Britain,  and  is  employ- 
ed at  the  great  candle  manufactory  of 
Messrs.  Price  & Co.,  at  Belmont  and  Sher- 
wood. It  is  described  as  a semi-fluid  naph- 
tha, about  the  consistence  of  goose  grease, 
of  a greenish  brown  color,  and  a peculiar, 
but  not  disagreeable  odor.  It  is  used  by  the 
natives,  in  the  condition  in  which  they  ob- 
tain it,  as  a lamp-fuel,  as  a preservative  of 
timber  against  insects,  and  as  a medicine. 
It  is  imported  in  hermetically  closed  metal- 
lic tanks,  to  prevent  the  loss  of  any  of  its 
constituents  by  evaporation.  At  the  works 
it  is  distilled  first  with  steam  under  ordinary 
pressure,  and  then  by  steam  at  successively 
increasing  temperatures,  with  the  following 
results : — 


Temperature. 

Proportional 

Fahr. 

product. 

Below  212° 

11 

230°  to  293° 

10 

293°  to  320° 

320°  to  612° 

20 

About  612° 

31 

(21 

Above  612° 

1 3 

( 4 

Character  of  product. 

Mixture  of  fluid  hydrocarbons  free  from  paraffine. 

“ containing  a little  paraffine. 

Distillate  very  small  in  quantity. 

Containing  paraffine,  but  still  fluid  at  32°. 

Product  which  solidifies  on  cooling,  and  maybe  submitted  to  pressure. 
Fluids  with  much  paraffine. 

Pitchy  matters. 

Residue  of  coke,  and  a little  earthy  matter  in  the  still. 


Nearly  all  the  paraffine  may  be  separated 
from  the  distillates  by  exposing  these  to 
freezing  mixtures;  and  the  total  product  of 
this  solid  hydrocarbon  is  estimated  at  10  or 

1 1 per  cent. 

Many  other  localities  might  be  named 
which  furnish  the  natural  oils  upon  a less 
extensive  scale,  as  in  Italy,  France,  and  Switz- 
erland. In  Cuba  impure  varieties  of  bitu- 
10  * 


men  arc  met  with  flowing  up  through  fissures 
in  the  rocks  and  spreading  over  the  surface 
in  a tarry  incrustation,  which  sometimes  so- 
lidifies on  cooling.  In  the  island  of  Trin- 
idad, three  fourths  of  a mile  back  from  the 
coast,  is  a lake  called  the  Tar  Lake,  a mile 
and  a half  in  circumference,  apparently  filled 
with  impure  petroleum  and  asphaltum.  The 
latter,  more  or  less  charged  in  its  numerous 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


cavities  with  liquid  bitumen,  forms  a solid 
crust  around  the  margin  of  the  lake,  and  in 
the  centre  the  materials  appear  to  be  in  a 
liquid  boiling  condition.  The  varieties 
contain  more  or  less  oil,  and  methods  have 
been  devised  of  extracting  this;  but  the 
chief  useful  application  of  the  material  seems 
to  be  for  coating  the  timbers  of  ships  to 
protect  them  from  decay.  By  the  patent- 
ed process  of  Messrs.  Atwood  of  New  York, 
the  crude  tar  of  this  locality  having  been 
twice  subjected  to  distillation,  and  treated 
with  sulphuric  acid  and  afterward  with  an 
alkali,  as  in  the  method  of  purifying  the 
coal  oils,  is  then  further  purified  by  the  use 
of  permanganite  of  soda  or  of  potash.  Be- 
ing again  distilled  it  yields  an  oil  of  specific 
gravity  0.900,  which  is  fluid  at  32°  F.,  and 
boils  at  600°  F. 

In  the  United  States  the  existence  of  pe- 
troleum has  long  been  known,  and  the  arti- 
cle has  been  collected  and  sold  for  medicinal 
purposes  ; chiefly  for  an  external  application, 
though  sometimes  administered  internally. 
It  was  formerly  procured  by  the  Seneca  In- 
dians in  western  New  York  and  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  was  hence  known  as  Seneca  or 
Genesee  oil.  At  various  places  it  was  rec- 
ognized along  a belt  of  country  passing 
from  this  portion  of  New  York  across  the 
north-west  part  of  Pennsylvania  into  Ohio. 
In  the  last-named  state  it  was  obtained  in 
such  quantity  in  the  year  1819,  by  means 
of  wells  sunk  for  salt  water,  that  it  is  a little 
remarkable  the  value  of  the  material  was  not 
then  appreciated,  and  the  means  perceived 
of  obtaining  it  to  any  amount.  The  follow- 
ing description  of  the  operations  connected 
with  the  salt  borings  then  in  progress  on 
the  Little  Muskingum,  in  the  south-western 
part  of  the  state,  written  in  1819,  was  first 
published  in  the  American  Journal  of  Sci- 
ence in  1826:  “They  have  sunk  two  wells 
which  are  now  more  than  400  feet  in  depth; 
one  of  them  affords  a very  strong  and  pure 
water,  but  not  in  great  quantity.  The  other 
discharges  such  vast  quantities  of  petroleum, 
or  as  it  is  vulgarly  called,  ‘ Seneka  oil,’  and 
besides  is  subject  to  such  tremendous  explo- 
sions of  gas,  as  to  force  out  all  the  water 
and  afford  nothing  but  gas  for  several  days, 
that  they  make  but  little  or  no  salt.  Never- 
theless, the  petroleum  affords  considerable 
profit,  and  is  beginning  to  be  in  demand  for 
lamps  in  workshops  and  manufactories.  It 
affords  a clear  bright  light,  when  burnt  in 
this  way,  and  will  be  a valuable  article  for 


lighting  the  street  lamps  in  the  future  cities 
of  Ohio.”  Several  coal-beds  were  penetrated 
in  sinking  these  wells. 

In  north-western  Pennsylvania  the  exist- 
ence of  oil  in  the  soil  along  the  valleys  of 
some  of  the  streams  was  known  to  the  early 
settlers.  One  stream,  in  consequence  of  its 
appearance  in  the  banks,  was  called  Oil 
Creek.  In  other  localities  also  it  was  no- 
ticed, and  similar  occurrences  of  oil  were 
observed  at  some  places  in  western  Virginia 
and  eastern  Kentucky.  At  Tarentum  above 
Pittsburg,  oil  was  obtained  by  boring  about 
the  year  1845.  Two  springs  were  opened 
in  boring  for  salt,  and  they  have  continued 
to  yield  small  quantities  of  oil,  sometimes  a 
barrel  a day.  This  has  been  used  only  for 
medicinal  purposes.  On  Oil  Creek  two  lo- 
calities were  especially  noted,  one  close  to 
the  northern  line  of  Venango  county,  half  a 
mile  below  the  village  of  Titusville,  and  one 
14  miles  further  down  the  stream,  a mile 
above  its  entrance  into  the  Alleghany  river. 
All  the  way  below  the  upper  locality  through 
the  narrow  valley  of  the  creek  are  ancient 
pits  covering  acres  of  ground,  once  dug  and 
used  for  collecting  oil  after  the  method  now 
practised  in  Asia.  Cleared  from  the  mud 
and  rubbish  with  which  they  are  mostly  fill- 
ed, some  of  them  are  found  to  be  supported 
at  the  sides  with  logs  notched  at  the  ends  as 
if  done  by  whites,  and  it  has  been  supposed 
by  some  that  this  is  the  work  of  the  French 
who  occupied  that  region  the  first  half  of  the 
last  century.  Others  think  the  Indians  dug 
the  pits,  and  in  proof  of  this  they  cite  the 
account  given  by  Day,  in  his  “ History  of 
Pennsylvania,”  of  the  use  of  the  oil  by  the 
Seneca  Indians  as  an  unguent  and  in  their 
religious  worship.  They  mixed  with  it  their 
paint  with  which  they  anointed  themselves 
for  war ; and  on  occasions  of  their  most  im- 
portant assemblages,  as  was  graphically  de- 
scribed by  the  commandant  of  Fort  Du- 
quesne  in  a letter  to  General  Montcalm,  they 
set  fire  to  the  scum  of  oil  which  had  collect' 
ed  on  the  surface  of  the  water,  and  at  sight 
of  the  flames  gave  forth  triumphant  shouts 
which  made  the  hills  re-echo  again.  In  this 
ceremony  the  commandant  thought  he  saw 
revived  the  ancient  fire  worship,  such  as  was 
once  practised  in  Bakoo,  the  sacred  city  of 
the  Guebres  or  Fire  Worshippers. 

The  old  maps  of  this  portion  of  Pennsyl- 
vania indicate  several  places  in  Venango  and 
Crawford  counties  where  oil  springs  had  been 
noted  by  the  early  settlers.  They  made  some 


PETROLEUM,  OR  ROCK  OIL. 


163 


use  of  the  oil,  collecting  it  by  spreading  a 
woollen  cloth  upon  the  pools  of  water  below 
the  springs,  and  when  the  cloth  was  satu- 
rated with  the  oil  wringing  it  out  into  vessels. 
The  two  springs  referred  to  on  Oil  Creek 
furnished  small  quantities  of  oil  as  it  was  re- 
quired, and  from  a third,  twelve  miles  below 
Titusville  in  the  middle  of  the  creek,  the  own- 
er has  procured  20  barrels  or  more  of  oil  In 
a year.*  In  1854  Messrs  Eveleth  and  Bissell 
of  New  York  purchased  the  upper  spring, 
and  leased  mineral  rights  over  a portion  of 
the  valley.  They  then  obtained  from  Prof. 
B.  Silliman,  jr.,  of  New  Haven  a report  upon 
the  qualities  of  the  oil,  and  in  1855  organ- 
ized a company  in  New  York  called  the 
“ Pennsylvania  Rock  Oil  Company,”  to  en- 
gage in  its  exploration.  The  same  year  a 
new  company  under  the  same  name,  formed 
in  New  Haven  and  organized  under  the  laws 
of  Connecticut,  succeeded  to  the  rights  of 
the  old  company ; but  for  two  years  they 
made  no  progress  in  developing  the  re- 
sources of  the  property  they  had  acquired. 
In  December,  185V,  they  concluded  an  agree- 
ment with  Messrs.  Bowditch  and  Drake  of 
New  Haven  to  undertake  the  search  for  oil. 
To  the  enterprise  of  Col.  E.  L.  Drake,  who 
removed  to  Titusville  and  prosecuted  the 
business  in  the  face  of  serious  obstacles,  the 
region  is  indebted  for  the  important  results 
which  followed.  After  a well  had  been 
sunk  and  curbed  near  the  spring,  ten  feet 
square  and  sixteen  feet  deep,  boring  was 
commenced  in  the  spring  of  1859,  and  on 
the  26th  of  August,  at  the  depth  of  seventy- 
one  feet,  the  diill  suddenly  sank  four  inches, 
and  when  taken  out  the  oil  rose  within  five 
inches  of  the  surface.  At  first  a small  pump 
threw  up  about  400  gallons  daily.  By  in- 
troducing a larger  one  the  flow  wras  increased 
to  1000  gallons  in  the  same  time.  Though 
the  pumping  wras  continued  by  steam  power 
for  months  no  diminution  wras  experienced 


leghany  river,  and  up  the  French  Creek 
above  Franklin.  The  summer  of  1860  wit- 
nessed unwonted  activity  and  enterprise  in 
this  hitherto  quiet  portion  of  the  state,  where 
the  population  had  before  known  no  other 
pursuits  than  farming  and  lumbering.  Every 
farm  along  the  deep,  narrow  valleys,  sudden- 
ly acquired  an  extraordinary  value,  and  in 
the  vicinity  of  the  most  successful  wells  vil- 
lages sprung  up  as  in  California  during  the 
gold  excitement,  and  new  branches  of  manu- 
facture were  all  at  once  introduced  for  sup- 
plying to  the  oil  men  the  barrels  required 
for  the  oil  and  the  tools  employed  in  boring 
the  wells.  From  Titusville  to  the  mouth  of 
Oil  Creek,  about  15  miles,  the  derricks  of  the 
well  borers  were  everywhere  seen.  On  the 
Alleghany  river  the  number  below  Tidioute 
in  Warren  county,  south  into  Venango  coun- 
ty, showed  that  this  portion  of  the  district 
was  especially  productive,  and  the  same 
might  be  said  of  the  vicinity  of  the  town 
of  Franklin,  both  up  the  Alleghany  river  and 
French  Creek.  The  wells  had  amounted  to 
several  hundred,  or  according  to  one  pub- 
lished statement,  to  full  2000  in  number  be- 
fore the  close  of  the  year,  and  from  an  esti- 
mate published  in  the  Venango  Spectator , 
(Franklin)  74  of  these  on  the  21st  of  No- 
vember were  producing  the  following  daily 
yield  : — 


Oil  Creek, 

No.  of  wells. 
33 

Prod.  bbls. 
485 

Upper  Alleghany  river,  20 

442 

Franklin, 

15 

139 

Two  Mile  Run,. 

3 

64 

French  Creek, . . 

3 

35 

Total, .... 

74 

1165 

The  capacity  of  the  barrel  is  40  gallons,  and 
at  the  low  estimate  of  only  20  cents  the  gal- 
lon the  total  value  of  the  daily  product  is 
not  far  from  $10,000.  The  depth  of  the 
wells  is  in  a few  instances  less  than  100  feet. 
The  shallowest  one  reported,  belonging  to 
the  Tidioute  Island  Oil  Company,  was  67 


in  the  flow.  The  success  of  this  enterprise 
produced  great  excitement,  and  the  lands  up- 
on the  creek  were  soon  leased  to  parties,  who 
undertook  to  bore  for  oil  for  a certain  share 
of  the  product,  sometimes  advancing  besides 
a moderate  sum  to  the  owner. 

The  country  was  overrun  by  explorers  for 
favorable  sites  for  new  wells,  and  borings 
were  undertaken  along  the  valley  of  the  Al- 


*  See  a pamphlet  by  Thomas  A.  Gale,  published 
In  Erie,  Penn,  1860,  entitled  “Itoek  Oil  in  Pennsyl- 
vania and  elsewhere.” 


day.  In  general  the  depth  is  from  180  to 
280  feet;  one  well  in  Franklin  is  502  feet  in 
depth,  and  one  on  Oil  Creek  425  feet.  Die 
deepest  wells  arc  not  the  most  productive, 
and  the  fact  of  their  being  extended  beyond 
the  ordinary  depths  may  generally  be  con- 
sidered an  evidence  of  their  failure  to  pro- 
duce much  oil.  There  are  exceptions,  how- 
ever, to  this,  one  of  the  deepest  wells,  that 
of  Hoover  and  Stcw'art,  three  miles  below' 
Franklin,  producing  largely  of  excellent  oil. 


164 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


The  selection  of  localities  for  boring  is 
very  much  a matter  of  chance.  Proximity 
to  productive  wells  is  the  first  desideratum ; 
but  this,  when  attainable,  is  not  always  at- 
tended with  success.  The  oil  does  not  ap- 
pear to  be  spread  out,  as  the  rocks  lie  in 
horizontal  sheets,  or  if  so  there  are  many 
places  where  it  does  not  find  its  way  between 
the  strata,  and  wells  near  together  from 
which  oil  is  pumped  do  not  always  draw 
upon  each  other.  No  doubt  the  system  of 
crevices  and  pervious  strata  through  which 
the  oil  flows  in  its  subterranean  currents,  is 
very  irregular  and  interrupted.  The  valleys 
to  which  the  operations  are  limited  are  nar- 
row, and  are  bounded  on  each  side  by  hills, 
the  summits  of  which,  from  250  to  400  feet 
above  the  bottoms,  are  on  the  general  level 
of  the  country.  The  increased  expense  that 
would  be  incurred  in  sinking  from  the  upper 
surface  and  in  afterward  raising  the  oil  to 
this  height,  as  also  the  uncertainty  of  find- 
ing oil  elsewhere  than  in  the  valleys,  have  so 
far  prevented  the  explorations  being  extend- 
ed beyond  the  creek  and  river  bottoms ; but 
it  cannot  be  long  before  the  capacity  of  the 
broad  districts  between  the  streams  to  pro- 
duce oil  is  thoroughly  tested.  At  present 
the  most  favorable  sites  are  supposed  to  be 
near  a break  in  the  hills  that  form  the  mar- 
gin of  the  valley,  as  where  a branch  comes 
into  the  main  stream.  An  experiment  is  al- 
ready undertaken  to  test  the  high  grounds 
west  of  Tidioute  branch. 

As  the  bituminous  coals  are  known  as  a 
source  of  hydrocarbon  oils,  it  is  natural  to 
suppose  that  the  springs  of  oil  found  near 
the  coal  region  are  fed  from  the  coal  beds  or 
bituminous  shales  of  the  coal  formation. 
But  it  happens  that  only  a few  oil  springs 
of  western  Pennsylvania  have  been  struck 
in  the  coal-measures  themselves,  and  that 
some  of  these  are  sunk  into  the  underlying 
groups  of  rock  to  reach  the  supplies  of  oil. 
The  oil  districts  are  in  general  outside  of  the 
coal-field  and  upon  the  outcrop  of  lower 
formations  which  pass  beneath  the  coal-meas- 
ures, the  whole  having  a general  conformity 
of  dip.  Hence  the  slope  of  the  strata  is 
toward  the  coal,  and  an  obstacle  is  thus  pre- 
sented to  the  flow  of  the  oil  from  the  coal- 
field toward  its  margin ; and  though  under 
some  circumstances  the  elastic  pressure  of 
the  carburetted  hydrogen  gas  might  force 
the  oil  considerable  distances  from  its  source, 
it  is  hardly  to  be  supposed  that  this  should 
first  find  its  way  down  into  lower  formations 


and  then  be  carried  many  miles  (30  to  50) 
and  find  its  outlet  in  another  district,  rather 
than  to  the  surface  at  some  nearer  point. 
The  strata  of  north-western  Pennsylvania 
lie  nearly  horizontally,  their  general  inclina- 
tion being  toward  the  south.  The  highest 
rock  upon  the  summits  of  the  hills  of  the 
oil  region  is  the  conglomerate  or  pebbly 
rock  (the  floor  of  the  coal-measures).  Be- 
neath this  are  series  of  thin  bedded  sand- 
stones, slates,  and  shales,  alternating  with 
each  other  with  frequent  repetitions.  The 
shales,  often  of  an  olive  green  color,  are  read- 
ily recognized  as  belonging  to  the  Chemung 
and  Portage  groups  of  the  New  York  geol- 
ogists— a formation  which  overspreads  this 
portion  of  the  country,  extending  in  New 
York  two  thirds  of  the  way  toward  Lake 
Ontario  and  as  far  east  as  Binghamton.  It 
is  also  continued  through  Ohio,  crossing  the 
Ohio  river  at  Portsmouth,  and  in  this  state 
is  known  as  the  Waverley  series.  Under  this 
is  a heavy  bed  of  bituminous  shale,  200  or 
300  feet  thick,  called  in  Ohio  the  black  slate 
and  in  New  York  the  Hamilton  shales.  This 
group  contains  an  immense  amount  of  car- 
bonaceous matter,  and  oil  is  often  dissem- 
inated through  it.  Sometimes  it  runs  out 
in  springs  and  finds  an  outlet  by  the  occa- 
sional fissures  in  the  beds.  Dr.  J.  S.  New- 
berry, who  has  given  much  attention  to  this 
subject,  is  of  opinion  that  this  formation 
contains  sufficient  carbonaceous  material  to 
be  the  source  of  the  oil,  and  that  the  more 
porous  and  open  shales  and  sandstones  of 
higher  formations  are  its  reservoirs.  Such 
is  the  geological  formation  of  the  Seneca  oil 
region  and  of  the  oil  springs  of  Canada 
West,  which  are  the  districts  affording  this 
product  most  remote  from  the  coal-field. 
But  from  whatever  source  the  oil  may  be 
derived,  its  origin  is  at  the  best  very  ob- 
scure, and  little  light  can  be  thrown  upon 
the  probability  of  the  supply  long  enduring 
the  heavy  drain  made  upon  it  by  hundreds 
of  wells  worked  by  powerful  steam  pumps. 
But  though  actual  experience  alone  must 
determine  the  extent  of  the  quantities  of  oil 
stored  up  and  the  period  they  will  last,  there 
is  certainly  encouragement  to  be  drawn  from 
the  never-failing  yield  of  the  oil  districts  of 
Asia,  which  for  centuries  have  poured  forth 
without  stint  their  rivers  of  oil. 

The  sinking  of  wells  is  conducted  after 
the  usual  method  of  boring  artesian  wells. 
After  much  uncertain  consideration  of  the 
I chances,  a particular  spot  is  selected,  more, 


PETROLEUM,  OR  ROCK  OIL. 


165 


perhaps,  from  the  hope  of  its  being  the  right 
one  than  from  any  very  practical  grounds 
for  the  choice ; but  as  the  oil  flows  only  in 
crevices  among  the  strata,  the  location  is 
frequently  determined — other  things  being 
equal — by  the  prospect  of  reaching  the  rock 
at  a few  feet  from  the  surface,  and  thereby 
avoiding  the  necessity  of  sinking  an  open  well 
or  driving  pipes  through  unknown  obstacles 
down  to  the  rock.  If  the  bed  rock  is  found 
within  ten  or  fifteen  feet,  the  boring  is  be- 
gun at  once.  The  derrick  being  raised,  an 
elm,  hickory,  hemlock,  or  other  elastic  tim- 
ber is  cut  down,  some  25  or  30  feet  in  length. 
The  larger  end  is  fixed  in  a notch  of  a tree,  or 
heavy  post  planted  in  the  ground,  and  another 
post  is  set  under  it  at  a distance  from  the 
but  determined  by  the  elasticity  of  the  tim- 
ber. The  spring  of  the  pole  should  be  suf- 
ficient to  raise  the  drill  quickly,  with  its 
iron  connecting  rods,  weighing  often  300 
pounds.  The  rods  are  suspended  from  the 
free  end  of  the  pole  by  a swivel  or  simple 
bolt-head,  turning  freely  around.  At  the 
commencement  of  the  boring,  the  rods  being 
very  short  do  not  weigh  more,  including  the 
drill,  than  70  or  80  pounds.  Two  men, 
therefore,  jerk  them  forcibly  down,  to  in- 
crease the  momentum  of  the  drill ; the  spring 
of  the  pole  immediately  raises  the  drill  for 
the  next  stroke,  while  at  each  blow  a man 
gives  it  a slight  turn  so  that  it  may  cut  a 
round  hole.  Several  other  methods  are  em- 
ployed for  making  the  pole  spring ; by  one, 
which  is  conveniently  worked  without  em- 
ploying steam  or  horse  power,  a sort  of 
double  stirrup  is  suspended  from  the  pole 
into  which  two  men  place  each  a foot,  and 
pressing  the  stirrup  suddenly  down  it  imme- 
diately springs  up  again  with  the  drill.  This 
is  much  used,  though  some  wells  are  sunk  by 
horse-power  machinery,  and  some  by  steam 
engines  of  four  or  five  horse  power. 

As  the  well  is  constantly  deepening,  while 
the  stroke  of  the  spring-pole  (about  30  inch- 
es) remains  constant,  a vertical  adjusting 
screw  about  18  inches  in  length  is  attached 
to  the  end  of  the  spring-pole ; the  rope  is 
clamped  to  the  lower  end  or  nut  of  this 
screw,  and  then  extended  to  the  pulley  above. 
As  the  well  deepens,  a slight  turn  of  the 
screw  lowers  the  rope  with  the  rods  attached 
to  it,  and  thus  keeps  the  drill  always  free  to 
fall  to  the  bottom  with  an  equal  stroke.  The 
work  is  continued,  by  a constant  succession 
of  strokes,  to  a depth  of  about  fifty  feet, 
successive  lengths  of  iron  rods  being  screw- 


ed on  as  the  hole  deepens — increasing  the 
weight  of  the  tools  to  about  300  pounds. 
The  use  of  any  additional  rods  is  then  dis- 
pensed with,  and  the  upper  rod  is  suspended 
by  a rope  attached  to  the  spring-pole,  and 
continued  above  the  pole  around  a pulley 
and  windlass,  used  to  raise  the  boring  tools 
when  it  is  necessary  to  draw  them  out. 
They  are  drawn  up  in  this  manner  at  inter- 
vals of  an  hour  or  two,  in  order  to  sharpen 
and  temper  the  drill,  and  to  make  room  for 
the  sand  pump.  This  is  a thin  iron  tube,  a 
little  more  than  half  the  diameter  of  the  hole, 
with  a simple  valve  at  the  bottom  opening  up- 
ward. It  is  lowered  by  a cord  to  the  bottom 
of  the  well,  then  raised  up  with  a jerk,  and  suf- 
fered to  drop  again  by  its  own  weight.  This  is 
repeated  quickly  eight  or  ten  times ; a whirl 
is  thus  produced  in  the  water  below  which 
stirs  up  the  mud  and  small  pieces  of  broken 
stone ; as  the  tube  drops,  the  mud  and  small 
stones  enter  the  open  valve  and  are  retained 
when  the  tube  is  drawn  out. 

The  jarrers  are  employed  to  increase  the 
force  of  the  spring-pole  when  the  drill  hap- 
pens to  be  wedged  in  the  hole  by  broken 
pieces  of  stone  or  by  other  obstructions. 
They  are  two  rectangular  links  about  18 
inches  in  length,  formed  of  stout  bars  of 
iron,  and  connecting  the  upper  rods  with  the 
lower.  When  the  drill  descends  to  the  bot- 
tom, the  upper  link,  as  it  descends,  slips 
down  eight  or  ten  inches  in  the  lower  link, 
and  when  the  pole  springs  up  the  upper  link 
has  the  advantage  of  moving  through  this 
space,  and  thereby  giving  a sudden  upward 
jerk  to  the  drill  rod.  The  force  of  this  up- 
ward jerk  is  greatly  increased  by  a heavy  rod 
introduced  above  the  upper  link,  and  which, 
as  it  moves  up,  lends  its  momentum  to  the 
stroke. 

The  hole  is  carried  down  by  three  men 
at  different  rates  according  to  the  nature 
of  the  strata  encountered,  varying  from  a 
foot  or  less  to  six  feet  in  a day.  In  the 
hard  sandstones  of  quartz  pebbles  firmly  uni- 
ted together,  two  or  three  inches  sinking  in 
1 2 hours  may  be  all  the  progress  practicable. 
The  material  brought  up  is  carefully  scanned 
for  any  oily  appearance  indicating  the  prox- 
imity of  oil,  and  the  well  is  watched  to  ob- 
serve if  any  carburetted  hydrogen  gas  escapes 
from  it,  which  is  considered  a favorable  sign. 

The  process  of  drilling  in  the  rock  is  con- 
sidered by  all  concerned  in  boring  for  petro- 
leum, a very  simple  and  even  welcome  oper- 
ation, especially  when  contrasted  with  the 


166 


MINING  INDUSTRY  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


uncertainties  and  apprehensions  that  sur- 
round the  driving  of  pipes.  At  the  outset, 
the  cost  of  four  iron  pipes  and  hands  long 
enough  to  reach  a depth  of  forty  feet,  is 
equal  to  that  of  a complete  set  of  boring 
tools  with  the  rods  and  ropes  sufficient  to 
bore  half  a dozen  wells  of  300  feet  each  in 
depth.  There  is  often  great  uncertainty  of 
knowing  how  deep  the  pipes  will  have  to  be 
driven,  and  it  is  impossible  to  foresee  the 
various  obstacles  through  which  they  have 
to  go.  When  the  work  has  gone  down  suc- 
cessfully VO  or  even  100  feet,  the  lowest  pipe 
is  often  suddenly  broken  or  takes  an  oblique 
direction.  The  pipes  in  the  ground  are  then 
abandoned,  and  a new  set  driven  in  another 
place,  although  in  several  instances  pipes 
reaching  60  feet  in  depth  have  been  pulled 
up  by  a lever  and  axle,  with  chains  or  rods 
attached  to  a lewis  wedge  driven  into  the 
bottom  pipe. 

The  pipes  are  of  cast  iron,  generally  ten 
or  twelve  feet  long,  about  five  inches  bore, 
and  the  shell  full  an  inch  thick.  The  lower 
end  of  the  first  pipe  is  not  sharpened,  but 
is  driven  down  blunt  as  it  comes  from  the 
mould.  The  pipes  are  fastened  together  in 
the  simplest  manner  possible,  by  wrought- 
iron  bands,  the  ends  being  turned  off,  leav- 
ing a neck  somewhat  larger  than  the  interior 
diameter  of  the  bands,  to  receive  them  when 
expanded  by  heat. 

Through  common  earth  or  gravel  the 
pipes  are  forced  down  by  the  ordinary  proc- 
ess of  pile-driving;  but  wheii  large  stones 
are  encountered,  or  round  boulders  as  large 
as  a man’s  head,  there  is  great  risk  of  break- 
ing or  turning  the  pipes.  As  soon,  there- 
fore, as  the  pipes  meet  with  any  great  resist- 
ance the  driving  is  suspended  and  the  drill 
is  applied  to  break  up  the  stone  or  to  bore 
a circular  hole  in  it,  which  is  afterward 
reamed  out  as  large  as  the  interior  diameter 
of  the  pipes.  The  driving  is  then  resumed, 
and  in  soft  shales  the  pipes  are  often  forced 
on,  crushing  down  the  sides  of  the  hole,  and 
making  their  way  through  to  the  depth  of 
12  or  15  inches  in  the  rocky  stratum. 

The  cost  of  boring  a well  200  feet  deep 
is  generally  estimated  at  from  $1000  to 
$1500.  The  latter  sum  includes  the  cost 
of  all  the  tools  and  materials,  and  also  of  a 
small  steam  engine,  a large  tank  of  pine 
plank,  in  which  the  product  is  collected  for 
the  oil  and  water  to  separate,  and  it  also  al- 
lows for  such  accidents  and  delays  as  are 
common  to  these  operations. 


When  the  oil  is  struck  it  often  rises  up  in 
the  well,  sometimes  flowing  over  the  top,  and 
in  several  instances  it  has  burst  forth  in  a jet 
and  played  like  a fountain,  throwing  the  oil 
mixed  with  water  high  up  into  the  air.  Such 
jets  have  rarely  lasted  long,  and  are  usually 
interrupted  by  discharges  of  gas,  the  elasticity 
of  which  drives  out  with  violence  the  fluids 
mixed  with  it,  as  champagne  wine  is  pro- 
jected from  a bottle  on  removing  the  cork. 
Hundreds  of  barrels  of  oil  have,  however, 
been  wasted  at  some  of  the  wells  for  want 
of  means  to  collect  it  or  stop  its  flow  in  its 
sudden  first  appearance.  At  Williams’  well, 
half  a mile  below  Titusville,  about  100  bar- 
rels of  oil  were  collected  the  first  night  the 
oil  was  reached,  and  a large  quantity  besides 
was  lost.  A similar  event  occurred  near 
Tidioute,  the  oil  rushing  up  so  violently  as' 
to  knock  over  the  laborer  who  held  the  drill 
and  to  pass  through  the  derrick  and  over 
the  trees  around.  After  a time  the  spouting 
wells  become  quiet  and  the  oil  settles  down, 
so  that  it  has  to  be  raised  by  pumping.  The 
pumps  are  contrived  to  work  at  any  depth, 
and  by  men,  or  by  horse  power,  or  the  steam 
engine.  For  a time  at  some  of  the  wells 
the  product  has  been  water  alone  or  water 
mixed  with  a little  oil ; and  after  pumping 
several  days  this  has  given  place  to  oil  with 
a moderate  proportion  of  water.  If  the 
pumping  be  suspended  for  a day  water  accu- 
mulates, and  it  may  be  several  days  before 
this  is  drawn  out  and  the  former  yield  of  oil 
recovered.  The  water  is  generally  salt.  The 
flow  of  oil  has  rarely  if  ever  been  known  to 
fail  entirely  except  by  reason  of  some  ob- 
struction in  the  wells,  and  in  such  cases  it 
has  usually  returned  after  the  hole  has  been 
bored  out  larger  or  made  deeper.  The  sup- 
ply is  not,  however,  altogether  regular  in 
any  of  the  wells,  even  after  the  flow  has  set- 
tled down  to  a moderate  production  of  10 
or  15  barrels  a day.  The  maximum  yield 
of  a well  for  a considerable  time  is  about  50 
barrels  a day,  and  from  this  the  production 
ranges  down  to  4 barrels,  below  which  it  is 
considered  insufficient  to  pay  expenses. 

The  oil  and  water  are  conducted  from  the 
pumps  into  the  large  receiving  vats,  and 
after  the  water  has  subsided  the  oil  is  bar- 
relled for  the  market.  From  the  upper  Oil 
Creek  it  is  mostly  wagoned  to  the  Union 
Mills  station  in  Erie  county,  on  the  Erie  and 
Sunbury  railroad ; and  from  Tidioute  to  Ir- 
vine, at  the  mouth  of  the  Broken  Straw,  od 
the  same  road.  But  most  of  the  oil  along 


PETROLEUM,  OR  ROCK  OIL. 


167 


the  Alleghany  river  and  French  Creek  is 
taken  by  steamboats  down  the  river  to  Pitts- 
burg. New  York  city  is  at  present  the  prin- 
cipal market,  but  the  country  refineries  are  al- 
ready taking  a considerable  share  of  the  oil. 

The  product  of  the  different  wells  varies 
somewhat  in  quality  and  value.  At  Frank- 
lin the  oil  for  the  most  part  is  heavy,  mark- 
ing as  low  as  33°  Baume,  which  corresponds 
to  specific  gravity  0.864.  Some  of  the  wells 
furnish  oils  of  35°  or  36° — on  Oil  Creek  the 
range  is  from  38°  to  46°,  at  Tidioute  43°. 
The  French  Creek  oils  are  heavy.  It  is  not 
unlikely  that  the  depth  of  the  wells  may 
have  some  effect  upon  the  quality  of  the  oil, 
as  from  very  shallow  wells  those  of  the  light- 
er varieties  must  be  likely  to  escape  by  evap- 
oration, leaving  the  heavier  portions  behind. 
The  oils  obtained  at  Mecca,  Trumbull  coun- 
ty, Ohio,  are  heavy  oils,  being  thick  like 
goose  grease  and  marking  26°  or  27°,  which 
is  equivalent  to  specific  gravity  0.900.  At 
Grafton,  Lorain  county,  Ohio,  the  oil  is  even 
darker  and  thicker  than  this,  marking  about 
25°  B. 

With  the  exception  of  some  light,  clear 
oils  of  reddish  color,  the  petroleum  is  usu- 
ally of  a greenish  hue,  more  or  less  deep  and 
opaque.  It  has  an  offensive  smell  which  is 
not  entirely  removed  by  the  ordinary  meth- 
ods of  deodorizing  practised  in  the  refineries. 
The  process  of  purification  is  similar  to  that 
of  the  coal  oil  manufacture,  as  already  de- 
scribed. The  proportion  of  light  oils  sepa- 
rated by  distillation  varies  with  the  crude 
petroleum  employed.  The  largest  product 
is  about  90  per  cent.,  and  from  this  less 
amounts  are  obtained  down  to  about  50  per 
cent.  The  properties  and  uses  of  these  prod- 
ucts have  already  been  considered  in  treat- 
ing of  coal  oil. 

To  complete  this  account  of  the  petroleum 
of  the  United  States  more  particular  men- 
tion should  be  made  of  the  extension  of  the 
district  from  north-western  Pennsylvania  in- 
to New  York  on  one  side,  and  Ohio  on  the 
other.  In  Chautauqua,  Cattaraugus,  and  Al- 
legany counties,  N.  Y.,  are  many  places 
where  the  appearace  of  small  quantities  of 
oil  upon  the  surface,  and  the  escape  of  jets 
of  carburetted  hydrogen,  indicate  the  exist- 
ence of  petroleum  below ; and  the  names  of 
dean  and  another  Oil  creek,  a branch  of  the 
Genesee  river,  suggest  the  probability  of  this 
proving  another  oil  district.  About  a mile 
north-west  from  Cuba  in  Allegany  county, 
is  a pool  about  20  feet  across  and  10  feet 


deep  that  has  always  been  called  an  oil 
spring,  its  surface  being  covered  with  a coat- 
ing of  oil  from  which  supplies  have  been  ob- 
tained for  medicinal  purposes.  A pipe  was 
sunk  into  this,  and  on  the  3d  of  Januarv,  1861, 
when  it  had  been  driven  down  20  or  30  feet, 
oil  mixed  with  water  suddenly  gushed  up 
with  great  force.  Oil  also  appeared  on  the 
water  drawn  up  from  an  artesian  well  sunk 
to  the  depth  of  130  feet  in  the  same  vicini- 
ty. Arrangements  are  now  in  progress  for 
thoroughly  testing  the  capacity  of  this  dis- 
trict. 

In  Ohio  the  oil-producing  counties  are 
Noble,  Adams,  Franklin,  Medina,  Lorain, 
Cuyahoga,  Trumbull,  Mahoning,  and  some 
others.  Near  Cleveland  and  in  the  valley 
of  the  Cuyahoga  oil  appears  in  many  places, 
but  it  has  not  yet  proved  of  much  impor- 
tance. The  vicinity  of  Mecca,  Trumbull 
county,  is  the  most  productive  locality.  Op- 
erations were  commenced  there  in  February, 
1860,  and  in  November  it  was  stated  that 
between  600  and  700  wells  had  been  sunk, 
and  75  steam  engines  were  in  operation 
pumping  oil.  Two  of  the  wells  were  yield- 
ing from  50  to  100  barrels  a day  each.  This 
statement  is  probably  much  exaggerated,  and 
while  others  report  that  several  hundred  wells 
have  been  sunk,  a dozen  or  more  are  said  to  be 
working  profitably.  These  wells  pass  through 
the  same  formation  as  those  near  Titusville, 
but  for  the  most  part  they  are  shallow,  rang- 
ing in  depth  from  30  to  100  feet,  and  the  most 
of  them  not  much  exceeding  50  feet.  About 
30  miles  south-east  from  Mecca,  at  Lowell- 
ville,  Mahoning  county,  a well  was  sunk  157 
feet  which  proved  very  successful,  yielding 
20  barrels  of  oil  a day.  This  well  was  com- 
menced in  the  conglomerate  and  ended  in 
the  Chemung  strata.  Duck  Creek,  Noble 
county,  was  formerly  noted  for  the  oil  which 
appeared  with  the  brine  of  the  salt  wells. 

In  Ritchie  and  Wirt  counties,  Virginia,  near 
the  Ohio  river,  some  wells  are  producing  oil, 
and  this  promises  to  be  an  important  oil  dis- 
trict. Canada  West  also  contains  an  oil  re- 
gion, extending  from  London  toward  the  St. 
Clair  river,  from  which  petroleum  has  been 
obtained  the  last  twelve  years.  On  the  south- 
ern coast  of  California  petroleum  is  said  to 
be  found  in  considerable  quantities ; and 
springs  of  it  are  described  by  Captain  Stans- 
bury  in  the  report  of  his  expedition,  in  1849, 
as  occurring  about  83  miles  east  from  Salt 
Lake  City,  Utah,  in  the  vicinity  of  sulphur 
springs  and  beds  of  bituminous  coal. 


168 


PETROLEUM,  OR  ROCK  OIL. 


The  fortunes  made  from  these  oil  wells  in 
Pennsylvania,  West  Virginia,  Ohio,  and  Can- 
ada, in  1860,  1861,  and  1862,  gave  rise  to 
the  wildest  speculation,  and  the  petroleum 
fever  which  set  the  whole  country  mad,  for 
three  or  four  years,  deserves  to  be  classed 
with  the  Moras  Multicaulis  speculation  of 
1836-7,  the  Washoe  Mining  Mania  of  1857, 
or  the  Tulip-mania,  and  the  South  Sea  Bub- 
ble of  John  Law,  in  the  last  century.  There 
was,  indeed,  a more  solid  substratum  of  fact 
on  which  to  base  the  petroleum  speculation, 
the  oil  was  found  in  great  quantities  and  over 
a wide  extent  of  territory,  and  there  was  a 
large  demand  for  it,  both  at  home  and  abroad; 
but  only  a small  proportion  of  the  eleven 
hundred  companies,  which  were  formed  be- 
tween 1861  and  1865,  with  their  six  hundred 
millions  of  dollars  of  nominal  capital  and 
actual  paid-up  capital  of,  perhaps,  105  mil- 
lions, either  owned  or  leased  lands  or  oil 
wells.  The  crafty  schemers  who  had  raised 
the  commotion  and  excitement,  preferred  to 
make  their  money  by  the  sale  of  stock,  and 
if  the  proposed  wells  were  to  be  bored,  to  let 
their  successors  undertake  their  development. 
The  whole  community,  meantime,  had  be- 
come infatuated  ; it  was  difficult  to  find  a man 
or  woman  in  the  city  or  country  who  had 
not  taken  at  least  a small  venture  in  what 
seemed  a royal  road  to  fortune,  while  in  real- 
ity the  chance  of  ever  getting  their  money 
back  was  not  one  in  a hundred.  Grave 
clergymen,  eminent  lawyers,  learned  doctors, 
shrewd  bankers,  literary  and  scientific  men 
of  the  highest  character,  and  with  them  mer- 
chants, tradesmen,  mechanics,  farmers,  and 
day-laborers,  all  purchased  shares,  and,  in 
many  instances,  invested  the  little  savings 
reserved  for  old  ag^,  or  disaster  in  these  very 
attractive  certificates  of  stock.  Counting  up 
their  prospective  wealth,  as  prophesied  in 
the  glowing  circulars  of  each  new  company, 
men  who  had  never  been  worth  a thousand 
dollars  fancied  themselves  millionaires,  and 
looked  forward  to  the  time  when  they  should 
set  up  their  carriage,  and  live  in  princely 
style.  It  was  much  that  the  bursting  of  this 
bubble  did  not  involve  the  whole  country  in 
financial  disaster  ; but  it  was  really  on  so 
sound  a basis  that  the  great  losses  which  fol- 
lowed, in  1866  and  1867,  were  borne  with- 
out any  serious  panic. 

It  was  worthy  of  notice,  that  during  the 
height  of  this  speculative  fever,  the  produc- 
tion of  the  oil  so  far  from  increasing  as  would 
naturally  have  been  expected  actually  dimin- 


ished, and  it  was  only  after  the  oil  had  touch- 
ed its  lowest  price  that  the  increased  and  pro- 
duction has  continued  to  do  so  from  that 
time  to  the  present.  For  several  years  the 
heavy  internal  revenue  tax  greatly  discour- 
aged production,  and  the  markets  were  glut- 
ted with  the  commodity  so  that  prices  ruled 
low ; but  the  export  demand  has,  for  several 
years  past,  steadily  increased,  while  the  home 
markets  have  each  year  absorbed  a larger 
quantity. 

The  following  table  shows  the  rapid  growth 
of  the  export  trade  in  petroleum ; and  reck- 
oning on  the  assumption,  which  the  most 
extensive  dealers  assure  is  the  true  one,  that 
not  more  than  forty-seven  per  cent,  of  the 
annual  production  is  exported,  exhibits  also 
an  approximate  estimate  of  the  annual  pro- 
duct: 

Exports  and  estimated  production  of  pe- 
troleum from  1862  to  1871. 


Gallons  of 
petroleum 
exported. 

10,337,701 

28,250,721 

31,872,972 

29,072,018 


99,844,316 

97,924,545 

108,325,819 


96,942,343 


Value  of 
export. 

$1,539,027 

5,227,839 

10,782,6,-9 

16,563,413 

24,830,837 

24,407,642 

21,810,676 

30,625,446 

32,101,485 


23,811,812 


Estimated 

gallons 

produced. 

21,387,°  33 
60,026,532 
67,730,065 
61,778,038 


212,169,171 

208,<:S9,653 

230,192,355 


206,002,478 


Estimated 
value  of 
product. 

$3,270,432 
11,109,15," 
22,913,214 
35,197,2  £ 
52,765,G3c 
51,866,238 
46,347,686 
65,079,071 
68,215,655 


50,600,100 


Here,  then,  is  an  item  of  production,  now 
exported  to  the  extent  of  nearly  35  millions 
of  dollars  a year,  and  sold  to  the  annual 
amount  of  70  millions,  which  was  not  ten 
years  ago,  produced  to  the  extent  of  S100,- 
000 ; yet  this  extraordinary  development  has 
only,  to  a very  slight  extent,  supplanted  the 
trade  in  other  means  of  illumination  and 
lubrication.  The  consumption  of  Olefiant 
gas  has,  as  we  have  seen,  greatly  increased 
in  the  same  decade  ; whale  oil,  sperm  oil,  and 
lard  oil,  have  somewhat  declined. 

It  could  not,  of  course,  have  been  other- 
wise than  that  a new  business  of  such  extent 
should  have  prompted  a great  amount  of 
speculation.  The  aggregate  losses  by  the 
formation  of  petroleum  companies  probably 
exceeded  1*25  millions  of  dollars.  For  sev- 
eral years  the  fluctuations  in  the  price  of  crude 
and  refined  petroleum  were  very  great  and 
very  rapid ; but  speculation  having  ceased 
it  has  now  settled  down  to  a scale  of  prices 
which  pay  a fair  but  not  exorbitant  profit  on 


■VIXVA'IASNKad  JO 


LAND  SETTLEMENT-INTERNAL  TRADE. 


CHAPTER  I! 

WESTERN  SETTLEMENT  AND  TRADE. 

PURCHASE  OF  LOUISIANA POPULATION"  AND 

LAND  SALES AVENUES  TO  THE  VALLEY 

CANAL  AND  RAILROAD  EXPENDITURES 

LAKE  CITIES  AND  TRADE RECIPROCITY. 

The  original  colonies,  settled  as  they  were 
under  different  grants,  circumstances,  and 
powers,  had  many  and  conflicting  claims  to 
the  then  comparatively  unknown  land  run- 
ning back  to  the  Mississippi  river,  bounded 
on  the  north  by  the  chain  of  lakes,  and  on 
the  south  by  the  Spanish  territories  of  Flori- 
da and  Louisiana,  when  there  was  a question 
of  union  into  a confederacy.  These  various 
claims  were  a matter  of  dispute,  which,  from 
being  serious,  was  settled  by  a mutual  ces- 
sion of  the  lands  to  the  federal  government, 
in  trust,  for  the  common  benefit  of  all  the 
states  then  existing,  or  thereafter  to  be- 
come members  of  the  Union.  The  federal 
government  having  thus  become  owner  of 
the  lands,  the  constitution  conferred  upon 
Congress  the  power  “to  dispose  of  and 
make  all  needful  rules  and  regulations  re- 
specting the  territory  and  other  property 
belonging  to  the  United  States.”  The  ob- 
vious policy  of  the  government,  like  that  of 
every  other  thrifty  owner,  was  at  once  to 
attract  settlers  to  these  lands,  thereby  mak- 
ing them  serviceable  to  the  whole  people  as 
fast  as  possible.  To  do  so,  the  lands  were 
to  be  sold  cheap,  and  as  few  formalities  as 
possible  placed  in  the  wav  of  the  settlers. 
The  domain  was  organized  under  the  control 
of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  being  ad- 
ministered under  him  by  a commissioner  of 
the  land  office.  The  whole  domain  is 
divided  into  districts,  for  each  of  which 
there  is  a surveyor  general,  under  whom  the 
territory  is  subdivided  for  survey  into  dis- 
tricts. For  each  district  there  is  a land 
office,  occupied  by  a register  and  a receiver. 
A plan  is  prepared  of  each  district  by  the 
surveyors,  with  the  utmost  care,  showing 


ranges,  sections,  and  townships,  with  topo- 
graphic characteristics.  Of  this  plan  there 
are  three  copies;  one  is  retained  at  the 
land  office,  one  by  the  surveyor,  and  the 
third  is  sent  to  the  general  office  at  Wash- 
ington, where  it  serves  to  regulate  all  tran- 
sactions. The  land  being  all  surveyed  into 
sections  of  640  acres  each,  is  offered  for 
sale  by  the  government  at  auction,  at  a 
minimum  price  of  $1.25  per  acre.  After 
the  land  has  been  on  sale  two  weeks,  it  may 
be  sold  in  40  acre  lots,  at  a less  price.  The 
actual  occupant  of  any  land  offered  has  the 
pre-emption  to  it.  The  buyer  of  the  land 
pays  the  money  to  the  receiver,  and  gets  for 
it  a receipt,  of  which  the  register  sends  a 
duplicate,  with  a certificate  of  the  sale,  to 
Washington.  On  the  verification  of  the 
sale  there,  the  deed  of  the  land,  called  a 
“ patent,”  is  made  out,  and  sent  to  the  local 
land  office  register,  who  gives  it  to  the  pur- 
chaser in  exchange  for  the  receipt  he  holds, 
and  his  title  is  then  complete.  In  addition 
to  the  attractions  of  low  prices  and  pre- 
emption rights,  long  credits  were  originally 
given,  to  enable  the  settler  to  pay  for  the 
land  out  of  its  proceeds.  But  these  speed- 
ily led  to  abuses,  and  the  cash  plan  was 
finally  adopted.  There  have  been,  however, 
large  grants  of  land  for  military  purposes, 
to  schools  and  universities,  to  states  for  in- 
ternal improvements,  for  seats  of  govern- 
ment, public  buildings,  benefit  of  Indians, 
salines,  swamp  lands,  and  lastly,  in  aid  of 
canals  and  railroads — the  construction  of 
which  aided  the  settlement  of  those  lands  at  a 
distance  from  large  water  courses,  and  there- 
fore from  markets.  Some  time  elapsed  be- 
fore the  organization  of  the  department  was 
effected,  and  the  first  land  office  was  opened 
in  1800,  at  Chillicothe,  Ohio.  The  first  sales 
of  land,  however,  took  place  in  New  York 
three  years  before,  and  in  that  year  a tri- 
angle on  the  lake  was  sold  to  Pennsylvania, 
in  order  to  give  her  a port  on  the  lake.  That 
port  is  Erie,  and  is  famous  for  the  building 


LAND  SETTLEMENT INTERNAL  TRADE. 


170 


of  Perry’s  fleet  there  in  1812,  in  seventy 
days  from  the  time  the  wood  stood  in  the 
forest  until  the  stars  and  stripes  floated  to 
the  breeze  of  the  lake  from  the  mast-head. 
That  fleet  was  fatal  to  British  supremacy  on 
the  lakes.  Almost  all  the  land  sales  took 
place  in  Ohio,  until  1807,  when  offices  were 
opened  in  Indiana  and  Mississippi.  In  1809 
an  office  was  opened  in  Alabama,  and  in 
1814  one  in  Illinois;  in  1818  in  Missouri, 
Louisiana,  and  Michigan.  The  sales  of  the 
lands  proceeded  with  great  activity  in  most 
of  these  states  up  to  1821,  particularly 
after  the  embargo  and  war  had  turned 
attention  from  commerce  and  navigation  to 
agriculture  and  manufacture.  Nearly  all 
the  lands  of  the  government  were  then  in 
the  great  valley  of  the  Mississippi.  This  is 
a vast  basin,  the  sides  of  which  are  the 
eastern  slopes  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  on 
the  west,  and  the  western  slopes  of  the  Al- 
leghany Mountains  on  the  east.  The  chain 
of  great  lakes  stretches  across  the  northern 
end  of  the  basin,  and  the  Mississippi  river 
flows  through  its  centre  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexi- 
co, receiving  on  its  eastern  side  the  Illinois, 
the  Ohio  with  its  affluents,  and  other 
large  rivers  which  flow  generally  west  from 
the  water-shed  of  the  Alleghanies ; and  on 
its  western  side  the  Missouri  and  other  large 
rivers  whose  waters  descend  from  the  east- 
ern slopes  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  The 
only  outlets  to  this  vast  basin  were  by  the 
St.  Lawrence  River  (not  then  navigable,  how- 
ever) north  to  the  ocean,  and  the  Mississippi 
river  south  to  the  gulf.  Hardy  pioneers 
did  penetrate  across  the  mountains,  by  a 
perilous  seven  weeks’  journey,  to  the  Ohio ; 
but  once  there,  intercourse  was  but  limited 
with  the  east.  The  fertile  soil  was,  how- 
ever, attractive,  and  the  Indian  trade  profit- 
able. In  1790  the  whole  population  west 
of  the  mountains  was  108,868  souls,  or 
about  3 per  cent  of  the  whole  population  of 
the  Union.  In  1800  that  population  had 
increased  to  nearly  400,000,  but  the  only 
outlet  for  their  produce  was  down  the  Mis- 
sissippi through  the  French  territory  of 
Louisiana.  That  circumstance  led  to  great 
dissatisfaction,  and  being  adroitly  handled 
by  the  political  adventurers  of  that  day, 
threatened  disunion,  by  dissolving  the  states 
east  and  west — the  latter  to  form  a new 
confederacy  with  the  south-west  and  Mexico. 
The  remedy  was  to  purchase  Louisiana. 
Fortunately,  at  the  moment  Napoleon  had 
relinquished  his  projects  of  forming  French 


colonies ; also  being  determined  on  war  with 
England,  he  feared  the  seizure  of  Louisiana 
by  that  power,  and  determined  to  sell  it  to 
the  United  States  for  $14,984,872.  This 
money,  in  1803,  gave  him  the  sinews  of  war, 
and  also  the  hope  that  the  transaction  would 
embroil  the  United  States  with  his  enemy. 
England  did  at  a later  period  attempt  to 
take  the  territories.  But  the  troops  who 
had  driven  the  French  out  of  Spain,  em- 
barked from  France  for  the  enterprise  only 
to  encounter  the  bloodiest  defeat  before 
cotton  bags  and  western  rifles.  Louisiana 
was  then  possessed  of  a certain  amount  of 
population  and  wealth,  which,  from  being 
French,  by  annexation  became  American.  A 
considerable  commerce  had  grown  up.  The 
amount  of  trade  then  existing  between  the 
eastern  and  western  states  may  be  gathered 
from  the  official  returns  of  exports  to  New 
Orleans,  in  the  four  years  before  it  was  an- 
nexed, as  follows : — 

States.  1799.  1800.  1801.  1802. 

Atlantic,  3,504,092  2,035,789  1,907,998  1,224,710 
Western,  1,124,842  1,596,640 

Total,  $3,504,092  2,035,789  3,032,840  2,821,350 

The  exports  from  the  Atlantic  States  were 
mostly  foreign  merchandise  destined  for  ex- 
port up  the  western  rivers.  The  exports  of 
the  western  states  were  the  produce  sent 
down  for  sale.  Those  exports  were  the 
productions  of  hardy  adventurers,  whom 
circumstances  had  induced  to  seek  their  for- 
tunes in  the  "west.  As  long  as  the  commerce 
of  the  country  was  active,  and  the  sales  of 
the  farm  products  of  the  Atlantic  states 
profitable,  there  was  less  inducement  to  mi- 
grate west  than  there  was  after  the  embargo 
had  wrought  a change  in  that  respect,  and 
the  means  of  communication  via  New  Or- 
leans had  improved.  When  that  port  be- 
came an  American  city,  and  the  mighty 
river  to  its  mouth  an  American  stream,  a 
new  attraction  was  added  to  the  fair  lands 
of  the  valley,  and  in  1810  its  population 
had  risen  to  878,315.  The  impulse  thus 
given  to  western  settlement  was  strength- 
ened by  the  effects  of  war  upon  the  Atlantic 
states.  The  interruption  of  commerce  and 
stagnation  of  exports  threw  out  of  employ- 
ment large  numbers,  who  now  turned  an 
inquiring  gaze  beyond  the  mountains.  The 
capital  of  the  east  thrown  out  of  commercial 
employment  by  the  same  circumstances, 
flowed  eagerly  into  banking,  in  the  hope  of 


INDIAN  ENCAMPMENT. 


WESTERN  SETTLEMENT  AND  TRADE. 


lYl 


deriving  large  profits  from  the  growing  re- 
sources of  the  west;  although  inevitable 
disaster  followed  the  erroneous  principles 
on  which  that  banking  was  conducted,  the 
capital,  so  lost  to  stockholders,  really  pro- 
moted agriculture.  Instead  of  confining 
themselves  to  advances  on  produce  shipped, 
the  institutions  loaned  money  to  make  im- 
provements and  build  houses  that  the  farm 
profits  could  not  pay  for.  The  result  was 
ruin  to  those  accepting  such  advances,  and 
insolvency  to  the  banks  making  them. 
From  1810  to  1820  six  states  grew  into  the 
Union,  while  in  the  fifteen  years  that  fol- 
lowed 1821  none  were  admitted. 

This  is  an  instructive  fact,  and  it  indicates 
that  western  land  speculation,  so  much  over- 
done at  those  periods,  was  a long  time 
in  recovering  itself.  The  process  of  forming 
new  states  is  mostly  a speculative  one.  The 
shrewdest  operators  get  possession  of  the 
leading  “ sites  ” of  future  cities,  and  by 
stimulating  and  guiding  the  tide  of  migra- 
tion, become  wealthy  in  the  rise  of  prices  that 
the  tide  creates  around  them.  As  the  wealth- 
iest names  of  the  eastern  cities  wero  men 
eminent  in  commercial  enterprise,  so  were 
those  of  the  western  cities  the  earliest  and 
most  extensive  land-holders.  The  political 
influence  which  brings  the  government  pat- 
ronage upon  the  theatre  of  such  locations, 
is  a part  of  the  machinery  to  guide  the  pop- 
ular movement.  When  in  seasons  of  specu- 
lation, these  operators  become  possessed  of 
considerable  tracts,  a period  of  steady  and 
healthy  migration  is  required  to  distribute 
possession  among  settlers  and  clear  the  way 
for  a new  excitement.  Y early  the  trade  grows 
by  reason  of  the  increasing  surplus  that  the 
settlers  throw  off  for  market,  and  which 
being  sold  increases  their  ability  to  buy 
merchandise  in  return. 

There  are  no  data  by  which  to  measure  the 
growth  of  trade  in  those  western  states  after 
the  admission  of  Louisiana,  up  to  within 
twenty  years,  since  the  accounts  were  kept 
only  for  the  foreign  trade,  and  when  Louisi- 
ana became  a state,  reports  were  no  longer 
made.  The  sales  of  lands,  and  population 
of  the  new  states,  progressed  as  follows,  how- 
ever : — 

1790  to  1800  1800  to  1810 

Population,  increase,  276,769  492,678 

Sales  of  land,  acres,  1,636,152  3,008,982 


1810  to  1820  Total,  1820 
Population,  increase,  1,201,248  2,079,663 

Sales  of  land,  acres,  8,499,673  13,044,807 


So  rapid  had  been  the  settlement  from 
1810  to  1820.  The  agricultural  productions 
of  that  region,  as  a matter  of  course,  fol- 
lowed this  rapid  settlement  of  lands,  and  the 
exchange  of  those  productions  created  a 
large  trade  of  which  there  is  little  record. 
The  mines  and  manufactures  sprung  up  in 
the  several  towns,  following  the  wants  of  the 
people.  ' 

The  cession  of  Louisiana  to  the  United 
States  had  produced  a dispute  in  relation  to 
its  boundaries  between  this  country  and 
Spain,  which  then  owned  Florida.  This  dis- 
pute became  very  warm  in  1819,  when  it  was 
settled  through  the  mediation  of  the  French 
minister,  by  a cession  of  east  and  west  Flor- 
ida by  Spain  to  the  United  States,  in  con- 
sideration of  being  released  from  claims  for 
spoliation  of  American  property  to  the  extent 
of  $4,985,599,  which  the  United  States  gov- 
ernment undertook  to  pay  its  own  citizens. 
The  coast  line  of  the  United  States  thus 
became  complete.  There  were  now  large 
interests  west  of  the  mountains,  a population 
of  over  2,000,000  souls,  occupying  fertile 
land,  capable  of  any  development,  and  great 
numbers  were  interested  in  the  rapid  appre- 
ciation of  those  lands  by  settlement.  The 
want  of  communication  was  a great  obstacle. 
It  required  seven  weeks  to  reach  the  newly 
settled  cities  of  the  west;  and  when  during 
the  war  it  was  necessary  to  send  a gun  from 
New  York  city  to  Buffalo  for  defense,  it  cost 
six  weeks  of  time  and  $1,000  in  money  to 
do  it.  There  could  be  little  trade  under 
such  circumstances,  and  the  question  was 
to  open  communication.  A canal  from  the 
lakes  to  tide  water  on  the  Hudson  was 
commenced  in  1817,  and  completed  in  1825. 
This  Erie  canal  cost  $7,143,789,  and  soon 
paid  for  itself,  being  the  most  profitable,  as  it 
was  the  greatest  of  modern  improvements. 
It  opened  the  door  for  the  great  western  val- 
ley to  tide  water,  and  by  doing  so  wrought  an 
immense  change  in  the  condition  and  pros- 
pects of  all  that  region.  In  October,  1823, 
New  York  had  also  completed  the  Cham- 
plain canal,  running  63  miles,  from  Albany 
to  Lake  Champlain,  at  a cost  of  $1,179,871. 
Pennsylvania,  in  1825,  passed  an  act  for  the 
connection  of  Pittsburg,  on  the  Ohio,  with 
Philadelphia,  a distance  of  394  miles.  This 
line  was  not  completed  until  1834.  In  1828, 
a company  was  chartered  to  connect  the 
Ohio  with  Georgetown,  on  the  Potomac,  by 
the  Chesapeake  and  Ohio  canal.  These 
works  gave  three  outlets  from  the  great  basin 


172 


LAND  SETTLEMENT INTERNAL  TRADE. 


to  tide  water.  While  yet  they  were  in  pro- 
cess of  construction,  however,  a new  power 
was  being  developed  to  supersede  them  for 
trade  and  light  freights.  In  1828,  Massa- 
chusetts had  three  miles  of  railroad;  from 
that  nest-egg,  capital  has  since  hatched  28,270 
miles,  which  cover  the  country  like  a net- 
work. The  opening  of  the  Erie  canal  was 
attended  with  great  results,  since  it  placed 
the  produce  of  western  lands  cheaply  in  com- 
petition with  that  of  the  valley  of  the  Hud- 
son, and  of  the  less  productive  states  of  the 
Atlantic  coast.  Commerce  and  manufactures 
increased,  for  the  reason  that  agriculture  paid 
less.  The  supply  of  labor  changed  direction, 
and  the  increasing  numbers  in  manufacturing 
employments  drew  their  subsistence  from  the 
west.  The  natural  water  courses  that  dis- 
charged themselves  into  the  lakes  were  lined 
with  settlers,  and  soon  Ohio  connected  the 
lakes  with  the  Ohio  river,  by  a canal  from 
Cleveland  to  Cincinnati,  and  also  to  Ports- 
mouth. Indiana  projected  a canal  from 
Toledo,  on  the  lakes,  to  the  Ohio  river,  cut- 
ting the  state  nearly  longitudinally ; and 
Illinois  projected  one  from  Chicago  to  the 
navigable  waters  of  the  Illinois  river,  thus 
connecting  the  lakes  with  the  Mississippi 
river,  nearly  opposite  the  old  French  town 
of  St.  Louis — across  the  state.  These  works 
were  not  completed,  some  of  them,  until  ten 
or  fifteen  years  after  they  were  undertaken. 
That  of  Ohio,  however,  gave  a new  impulse 
to  trade,  not  only  by  Cleveland,  on  the  lakes, 
but  by  way  of  Cincinnati,  down  the  river  to 
New  Orleans.  These  circumstances  gave  a 
new  impulse  to  the  sales  of  land  and  the 
settlement  of  the  west.  The  expenditure  of 
money  for  the  construction  of  canals,  and  by 
the  federal  government  for  the  construction 
of  the  great  national  road  running  west  from 
the  seat  of  government  to  the  Mississippi, 
inaugurated  the  speculative  movement  in 
that  direction.  The  bank  fever  then  raged 
once  more  in  support  of  the  land  move- 
ment, as  it  had  done  in  the  six  years  end- 
ing with  1820,  and  with  the  same  results. 
$200,000,000  of  money  went  from  east  to 
west,  feeding  the  flame,  until  all  real  capital 
was  nearly  consumed,  and  the  speculation 
ran  wild  until  it  burst  in  1837.  At  that 
time  a large  quantity  of  land  had  passed, 
under  the  credit  sales  of  the  federal  govern- 
ment, into  the  hands  of  private  speculators, 
and  the  western  fever  lay  dormant  up  to  the 
revival  that  it  experienced  in  1846-7,  by 
reason  of  the  famine  abroad,  and  the  growing 


strength  of  the  migration.  Attention  was 
then  again  turned  to  the  lands,  and  the  rail- 
road expenditure  began  to  exert  the  same 
influence  that  canal  and  bank  expenditure 
had  exercised  in  1836,  and  the  movement 
was  progressive  until  the  revulsion  of  1857. 

The  natural  water  courses  of  the  country 
had  been  followed  by  early  migrations,  and 
the  settlement  of  the  land  bordering  them 
had  been  stimulated  by  the  bank  paper 
speculation  of  1810  to  1820.  Following  the 
excitement  came  the  construction  of  the 
artificial  means  of  navigation,  involving  an 
expenditure  of  some  $50,000,000  for  canals 
through  new  lands  opened  up  by  their  opera- 
tion; and  these  enterprises  were  again  at- 
tended with  a great  bank  expansion,  that, 
although  ending  disastrously,  nevertheless 
had  the  effect  of  drawing  capital  from  Eng- 
land and  the  wealthier  Atlantic  states  to 
spread  it  upon  the  fertile  lands  of  the  west. 
The  subsidence  of  that  speculation  left  the 
west  in  comparative  quiet,  although  of  gene- 
ral progress,  for  some  years,  during  which  a 
new  and  more  powerful  element  of  internal 
development  was  coming  into  action.  This 
was  the  railroad  system. 

The  first  railroad  of  the  country  was  three 
miles,  built  in  Quincy,  Massachusetts,  and  in 
operation  in  1828,  about  the  time  the  suc- 
cess of  the  Manchester  railroad  in  England 
astonished  the  world  with  the  new  phenom- 
ena of  locomotion.  The  example  was  not 
slow  of  imitation  in  this  country;  and  the 
Boston  and  Providence  railroad,  uniting  those 
cities  by  forty  miles  of  rail,  to  connect  with 
the  steamboats  to  New  York,  was  soon  in 
operation.  Its  success  caused  other  works  to 
be  undertaken  in  New  England,  and  when 
the  Western  road  was  projected,  to  con- 
nect Albany  with  Boston,  it  gave  the  city  a 
direct  connection  with  the  Hudson  river  and 
the  Erie  canal.  New  York  projected  the  Har- 
lem railroad ; and  from  Albany  several  roads 
extended  west,  connecting  city  after  city, 
until  the  united  lerfgths  of  380  miles  made  a 
continuous  route  to  Buffalo — afterward,  in 
1850,  consolidated  in  the  New  York  Central 
railroad.  Another  road — the  Erie — to  con- 
nect New  York  with  Lake  Erie  at  Dunkirk 
(459  miles),  through  the  lower  tier  of  coun- 
ties, was  commenced  in  1842  and  completed 
in  1 853.  Baltimore  projected  the  connection 
with  Wheeling,  on  the  Ohio,  380  miles,  by 
rail,  and  Philadelphia  connected  Pittsburg,  on 
the  Ohio,  329  miles,  by  a line  of  works  which 
became  subsequently  a continuous  railway. 


SAW  MILLS 


WESTERN  SETTLEMENT  AND  TRADE. 


173 


The  New  York  railroads  were  not  allowed 
by  law  to  carry  freight  until  1850,  except  on 
payment  of  the  canal  tolls.  These  four  routes 
opened  the  western  valley  by  rail  to  tide 
water.  The  Canada  roads,  connecting  De- 
troit and  Buffalo,  and  Detroit  and  Portland, 


make  five  routes,  with  distances  as  follows : — 

X.  York  to  Chicago,  via  Erie,  Lake  Shore,  and 
Mich.  Southern,  -----  957 

N.  York  to  Chicago,  via  Central,  Canada,  and 

Mich.  Central, 957 

Philadelphia  to  Chicago,  via  Pittsburg  and 

Fort  Wayne, 823 

Baltimore  to  Chicago,  via  Ohio  Central,  - 942 

Portland  to  “ “ Canada  and  Michigan 

Central,  - - - - - - 1,133 


There  had  been,  meanwhile,  many  western 
roads  built  in  important  localities,  which  had 
much  favored  the  export  of  food  in  answer 
to  the  foreign  demand  growing  out  of  the 
famine  of  1846-7.  In  the  year  1850,  the 
federal  government  made  a grant  of  land  of 
about  2,500,000  acres  to  the  state  of  Illinois, 
in  aid  of  the  construction  of  the  Central 
railroad,  which  was  to  connect  Galena,  on 
the  Mississippi,  and  Chicago,  on  the  lake, 
with  Cairo,  at  the  junction  of  the  Ohio  and 
Mississippi  rivers.  The  two  roads  leaving 
respectively  Galena  and  Chicago,  run  south, 
converging  until  they  meet  at  a point  50 
miles  from  Cairo,  and  thence  proceed  to- 
gether. The  state  not  being  able  to  do  this 
herself,  made  over  the  lands  to  a company, 
on  condition  that  they  should  construct  the 
road.  This  was  commenced  in  1852,  and 
finished  in  1857,  at  a cost  of  $35,000,000. 
The  tract  given  by  the  government  was  in 
size  equal  to  the  whole  state  of  Connecticut, 
and  was  a part  of  11,000,000  acres  that  had 
been  over  fifteen  years  in  the  market  without 
finding  buyers.  The  fact  that  the  railroad  was 
to  run  through  them,  and  spend  $25,000,000, 
and  employ  10,000  men  in  the  building  of 
the  road,  made  the  lands  attractive,  and  ex- 
cited speculation.  At  about  the  same  time 
the  state  of  Michigan  sold  the  Michigan  Cen- 
tral road  and  the  Southern  Michigan  road  to 
two  companies,  on  the  condition  of  their 
finishing  them,  which  was  done  in  1852, 
establishing  a connection  between  Detroit 
and  Chicago.  About  the  same  time  the  Gale- 
na and  Chicago  railroad  was  commenced  and 
finished  in  1850,  making  a direct  communi- 
cation from  the  river  at  Galena  to  Chicago, 
prolonged  by  the  Michigan  roads  to  Detroit, 
and  thence  by  the  Lake  Shore  to  New  York, 
by  the  Eric  or  the  Central  railroads,  or  via 


the  Canada  route  to  Portland  or  to  Boston. 
Subsequent  connections  have  been  made  with 
the  Pennsylvania  and  the  Baltimore  roads ; 
and  the  western  connections  of  Chicago  and 
Milwaukee  have  been  pushed  under  a vast  ex- 
penditure of  money.  The  inauguration  of 
land  grants  by  government,  in  the  case  of 
the  Illinois  Central,  has  been  followed  by 
grants  to  other  states  for  the  same  object, 
until  all  the  grants  amount  to  25,403,993 
acres.  These  grants  have  rapidly  developed 
southern  connections,  until  the  route  is  now 
complete  between  Chicago  and  New  Orleans, 
shortening  the  river  route  by  over  400  miles. 
While  these  “ trunk  lines”  were  in  process 
of  construction,  cross  roads  were  multiplied 
to  an  immense  extent,  and  the  connections 
of  them  form  a continuous  route  from  Bangor, 
Maine,  to  New  Orleans,  1,996  miles.  This 
vast  chain  of  railways  is  composed  of  eigh- 
teen independent  roads,  costing  in  the  aggre- 
gate, for  2,394  miles  of  road,  $92,784,084, 
or  nearly  one-twenty-fourth  of  the  whole 
railway  system  of  the  United  States. 

The  progress  of  the  construction  by  miles 
in  each  locality  has  been  as  follows,  in 
periods  of  ten  years 


East’rn. 

Middle. 

South’rn. 

West’rn. 

Total  Miles.  Cost. 

1828. 

3 

3 

221,101 

1830. 

...  3 

88 

6 

6 

43 

3,501,100 

1840. 

...  444 

1,436 

461 

28 

2,369 

93,170,001 

1850. 

. . . 2,390 

2,025 

1,415 

1,041 

7,777 

291,482,101 

1S60. 

8,176 

5,552 

10,718 

28,270 

$1,009,172,000 

.870. 

. ..4,274 

10,791 

11,132 

22,664 

43  oOl 

2,212,412,719 

A vast  sum  of  money,  amounting  in  all  to 
$1,203, 240, 719,  has  been  expended  in  the  last 
ten  years  in  the  construction  of  20,59 1 miles  of 
road,  of  which  rather  more  than  one-half  has 
been  built  at  the  west.  There  are,  in  addi- 
tion to  these  roads,  some  28,000  miles  of 
road  incomplete.  A considerable  amount 
of  this  money  was  drawn  from  abroad.  The 
iron  was  got  in  exchange  for  bonds,  which 
have  not  in  all  cases  been  paid ; but  if  the 
bonds  were  poor,  the  iron  has  not  been  of 
good  quality.  The  quantity  of  railroad  iron 
imported  in  ten  years,  to  1850,  was  242,449 
tons,  at  a cost  of  $9,603,587.  In  the  twenty 
years  ending  with  1869,  the  quantity  im- 
ported was  3,519,896  tons,  at  a cost  of 
$281,591,680.  This  number  of  tons  suffices 
for  about  30,000  miles  of  road,  at  70  lbs.  to  the 
yard.  The  money  expended  upon  the  roads 
in  the  employment  of  men  and  in  the  manu- 
facture of  superstructure,  rolling  stock,  etc., 
of  itself  caused  an  immense  activity  and  de- 
mand for  produce,  which,  as  a matter  of 
course,  became  scarce  and  high  upon  the 
theatre  of  such  expenditure.  The  manufac- 


174 


LAND  SETTLEMENT INTERNAL  TRADE. 


ture  of  superstructure,  cars,  locomotives,  sta- 
tions, etc.,  were  the  means  of  employing 
great  numbers  of  men.  The  railroad  iron, 
of  which  the  manufacture  requires  the  in- 
vestment of  much  capital,  was  alone  import- 
ed to  any  great  extent.  The  remaining  por- 
tions of  the  railroads  were  manufactured  at 
home.  The  first  locomotives  in  the  United 
States  were  imported  from  England  in  the 
fall  of  1829  or  spring  of  1830.  The  first 
Stephenson  locomotive  ever  imported  was 
the  “Robert  Fulton,”  in  1831,  for  the  Mo- 
hawk and  Hudson  railroad.  The  first  loco- 
motive built  in  this  country  was  constructed 
at  the  West  Point  foundry  in  1830,  for  the 
South  Carolina  railroad.  Since  then  the  im- 
provement and  manufacture  of  railroads  has 
been  so  successful  as  to  admit  of  the  export 
of  many  American  machines.  As  the  roads 
were  completed,  and  the  hands,  numbering 
at  least  200,000  men  so  employed,  were  dis- 
charged, they  naturally  turned  their  atten- 
tion to  the  agriculture  of  the  neighborhood 
where  they  had  been  employed,  and  produc- 
tion thus  succeeded  to  consumption.  The 
effect  of  the  railroad  expenditure  upon  the 
grain  crops  is  to  some  extent  indicated  in 
the  following  table  of  miles  of  roads  in  oper- 
ation in  the  western  states  at  the  periods 
named,  and  the  population  and  corn  product 
of  those  states  :-r- 


1850. 

Miles 
of  Road. 

Population. 

Bushels 
of  Corn. 

Ohio 

...  299 

1,980.329 

59,078,695 

Indiana  . . . . 

.. . 86 

982,405 

52,964,363 

Illinois 

. . 22 

851,470 

57,646,984 

Iowa 

192,214 

8,656,799 

Michigan  . . . 

. . 344 

397,654 

5,641,420 

Wisconsin  . . 

305,391 

1,988,379 

Missouri . . . , 

682,044 

36,214,537 

751 

5,391,507 

222,191,177 

1870. 

Ohio 

..  3,724 

2,675,468 

65,250,005 

Indiana 

1,668,169 

73,000,000 

Illinois 

..  4,708 

2,567,036 

121,500,000 

Iowa 

1,181,359 

78,500,000 

Michigan 

..  1,200 

1 184,653 

14,100  000 

Wisconsin. .. 

...  1,491 

1,055,501 

9,500,000 

Missouri . . . . 

1,725,658 

80,500,000 

Total . . . . 

..  .18,068 

12,051,844 

445,350,005 

Increase. . 

..17,317 

6,666,337 

223,158,828 

The  corn  crops  had  more  than  doubled,  and 
the  wheat  crop  in  the  same  states  had  risen 
from  43,840,637  to  143,500,000  bushels  in 
1 870 — an  increase  of  1 00,000,000  per  annum, 
worth  as  many  dollars ; and  estimating  the 
corn  at  the  same  aggregate,  there  had  been 
a sum  of  $320, 000, ( >00  per  annum,  or  a third 


the  cost  of  the  railroads  built,  extracted  each 
year  from  the  soil  through  their  influence. 
We  may  now  observe  what  had  been  the 
actual  sales  of  the  public  lands  by  the  govern- 
ment in  the  forty  years  ending  with  1860, 
to  June  30th,  when  the  fiscal  year  ends, 
divided  into  periods  of  ten  years  each ; the 
first,  being  that  of  recovery  from  the  specu- 
lation that  attended  the  close  of  the  war; 
the  second,  embracing  the  period  of  bank 
and  canal  building  excitement ; the  third, 
that  of  recovery  from  that  excitement ; and 
the  fourth,  that  of  the  last  great  railroad 
building  excitement.  The  quantity  sold 
during  the  fifty  years  was,  it  appears,  1 60,- 
588,005  acres,  besides  about  286,000,000 
acres  granted  to  agricultural  colleges,  rail- 
roads, homesteads,  military  service,  &c. 


ANNUAL  SALES  OF  LAND  BY  THE  FEDERAL  GOVERNMENT. 


Acres. 

Acres. 

Acres. 

1821, 

822,185 

1831, 

2,804,745 

1841, 

1,164,796 

1822, 

763,811 

1832, 

2,411,952 

1842, 

1,129.217 

1823, 

63*, 749 

1833, 

3,856,227 

1843, 

1,605,264 

1824, 

723,038 

1834, 

4,658,218 

1844, 

1,754,763 

1825, 

871,619 

1835, 

12,564,478 

1845, 

1,843,527 

1826, 

839,263 

1836, 

20,074,870 

1846, 

2,263,730 

1827, 

905,937 

1837, 

5,601,103 

184  r, 

2,521,305 

1828, 

946,650 

1838, 

3,414,907 

1848, 

1,887,553 

1829, 

1,236,445 

1839, 

4,976,382 

1849, 

1,329,902 

1830, 

1,880,019 

1840, 

2,236,889 

1850, 

769,364 

Total, 

9,627,716 

62,599,771 

16,269,421 

Pop.  . 

.2,233,880 

3,707,299 

10,454,245 

1851, 

1,846,847 

1861,1 

| 

1852, 

1,553,071 

1862, | 

1 

1853, 

1,083,495 

1863, | 

[ 

9,109,075 

1854, 

7,035,735 

1864, 

1855, 

15,729,524 

1865, 

1856, 

9,227,878 

1766, 

4,629,313 

1857, 

4,142,744 

1867, 

7,041,114 

1*58, 

3,804,908 

1868, 

6,655,743 

1859, 

3,951,580 

1869, 

7,666.152 

1860, 

4,000,000 

1870, 

8,095,413 

Total. 

.52,385,782 

43,196,810 

Pop’n 

15,081,S91 

17,217,610 

The  total  sales  of  land,  from  the  opening 
of  the  land  offices  to  1870,  including  grants 
under  the  homestead  laws,  were  176,488,736 
acres.  There  have  been  issued  land  warrants 
to  soldiers,  which  have  taken  up  large  por- 
tions of  the  land.  These  warrants  are  for  1 60 
acres,  1 20  acres,  80  acres,  and  40  acres,  and 
have  been  sold  in  the  markets  at$I  per  acre 
for  the  smaller  lots,  and  about  80  cts.  the 
larger  warrants,  by  which  means  the  lands 
come  less  to  the  buyer.  In  addition  to  the 
lands  sold,  the  government  has  donated  69,- 
066,802  acres  to  schools ; 6,851,989  acres  to 
agricultural  colleges;  44.971  to  deaf  and 
dumb  asylums;  12,403.054  to  internal  im- 
provements; 2,240,184  to  individuals  ; 146,- 
860  to  seats  of  government;  61,076,922  to 
military  services;  514,585  salines  to  states; 


jrxmyTft&G^nrjs:  ‘ T.T^.'i”  ?r«  ^^Tr.o  jr.  stjex 


WESTERN  SETTLEMENT  AND  TRADE. 


175 


13,980,700  Indian  reserves;  17.645,244  pri- 
vate claims;  47,875. 246  swamp  lands, granted 
to  states;  27,453,522  to  railroads,  etc. ; re- 
served for  individuals,  companies,  and  corpor- 
ations, 8,955,394  acres;  and  there  remain 
unsold  lands  on  hand,  the  trifle  of  1,396,- 
286,164  acres. 

The  population  of  the  land  states  had  in- 
creased, it  appears,  from  2,233,88* > in  1830, 
to  17,217,610  in  1870,  during  which  period 
of  forty  years,  174,451,784  acres  of  land 
were  sold  by  the  Government.  These 
land  sales  and  population  are  the  ground 
work  of  the  national  trade,  which  grows  with 
the  surplus  produced  by  the  land  settlers. 
Those  people  at  first  make  few  purchases  of 
goods,  but  increase  them  as  their  surplus 
produce  sells  and  enables  them  to  do  so. 

The  people  who  seek  new  lands  on  which 
to  rear  their  future  homes  and  fortunes,  are, 
for  the  most  part,  not  possessed  of  much 
capital,  and  under  ordinary  circumstances 
much  is  required  for  a family  to  perform  a 
distant  journey,  locate  and  prepare  land  and 
wait  until  the  crops  are  grown.  Neverthe- 
less, pioneers  have  ceaselessly  pushed  for- 
ward into  the  wilderness  and  battled  with 
nature  in  the  shape  of  forests,  animals  and 
savages,  until  twenty  new  states  and  millions 
of  wealth  have  been  added  to  the  Union. 
The  great  instrument  of  this  progress,  has, 
under  Providence,  and  in  the  hands  of  skil- 
ful and  determined  men,  been  Indian  corn. 
That  grain  has  been  the  poor  man’s  capital, 
enabling  him  to  conquer  the  wilderness.  It 
needed  on  his  locating  his  future  home  but 
to  drop  the  seed  in  the  fertile  soil,  and 
while  he  busied  himself  with  his  new  dwel- 
ling, a sure  crop  grew  up,  which  in  a few 
months  became  food  for  his  family  and  his 
animals.  The  husks  furnish  his  bed  and 
the  cobs  his  fuel.  He  is  thus  by  the  gift  of 
nature  furnished  with  capital  for  the  coming 
year,  until  his  other  crops  and  young  ani- 
mals have  grown.  Indian  corn  has  thus 
given  the  pioneer  a hold  upon  the  land  and 
made  his  footing  firm  where  otherwise  he 
might  have  been  compelled  to  succumb  to 
hardships.  With  every  such  remove  on  to  new 
land  the  circle  of  trade  has  increased.  A 
few  months  only  suffice  for  the  settler  to 
furnish  a surplus  of  production  in  return  for 
comforts  that  he  desires.  For  this  reason 
chiefly  corn  figures  so  largely  in  the  agricul- 
ture of  the  west.  The  prolific  soil  throws 
out  quantities  far  beyond  the  wants  of  the 
planter,  and  in  a region  where  all  are  plant- 


ers, the  supply  becomes  superabundant  and 
must  find  distant  markets  only  at  rates  so 
low  as  to  leave  little  to  the  grower.  Two 
local  demands  are  created  for  it.  The  most 
important  of  them  is  to  feed  hogs,  and  pork 
becomes  a leading  staple  export ; the  other 
is  for  distillation,  and  whiskey  is  largely 
exported.  The  quantity  of  corn  required 
to  make  a certain  quantity  of  pork  becomes 
accurately  known,  and  the  price  of  meat 
rises  and  falls  with  that  of  the  grain,  as  does 
whiskey  also.  Thus  out  of  the  great  staple 
grain  Indian-corn  come  directly  the  three 
great  articles  of  export,  corn,  pork  and  its 
I manufacture,  and  whiskey.  Lumber  in  most 
new  countries  is  also  an  important  export, 
I As  the  settlements  progress,  beef,  wool, 
wheat  and  other  grains,  soon  follow,  and 
trade  increases.  While  Indian  corn  has  been 
largely  the  instrument  of  settlement  at  the 
West,  the  nature  of  the  country  and  the 
fertility  of  machine  inventions  have  been  no 
less  necessary  in  securing  a surplus  for  sale. 
If  the  corn  grows  readily  it  could  not  under 
the  old  system  be  so  readily  harvested  in  a 
region  where  land  belonged  to  every  man, 
and  every  man’s  labor  could  be  applied  only  to 
his  own  service.  At  the  same  time  no 
man’s  labor  more  than  suffices  for  the  wants 
of  his  own  family.  Here  machinery  steps 
in,  and  favored  by  the  level  nature  of  the 
soil  operates  to  a charm.  A man  who  could 
with  the  scythe  cut  from  one  to  one  and  a half 
acres  of  grass  per  day,  may  ride  round  a 
field  and  cut  ten  acres  in  a day  without 
fatigue.  Instead  of  a gang  to  rake  and  turn 
and  cock,  his  horse  and  himself  may  with  a 
patent  rake  perform  all  that  labor  and  more 
effectually  when  driven  by  a shower  of  rain, 
than  any  gang.  His  grain  is  cut  by  the 
same  means  and  light  labor  as  his  grass.  It 
is  threshed  out  by  a similar  process ; his 
corn  is  husked  and  shelled  by  machines ; 
and  when  drawn  to  the  railroad  depots  it  is 
elevated  into  vast  receptacles  to  be  trans- 
ported rapidly  and  at  small  cost  to  the  best 
market.  All  these  machine  aids  enable 
the  man  whose  own  labor  would  scarcely 
supply  the  demands  of  his  family  to  turn 
out  a vast  surplus.  This  surplus  seeks  the 
river  and  lake  cities  by  rail,  canal,  and  steam, 
to  be  transported  to  the  Atlantic  markets 
for  consumption  or  export,  or  may  now  leave 
Chicago  and  Milwaukee  on  the  lakes,  or  St. 
Louis  and  Cincinnati  on  the  rivers  for  Liver- 
pool direct  without  breaking  bulk.  The 
table  of  land  sales  above  gives  a very  good 


LAND  SETTLEMENT INTERNAL  TRADE. 


I7e 


indication  of  the  accumulating  force  behind 
the  forwarding  cities  to  push  forward  the 
trade.  As  every  bushel  of  grain  they  receive 
requires  an  equivalent  from  them  in  goods, 
each  grows  under  the  double  demand. 
Their  combined  growth  is  the  basis  of  lake 
and  river  trade,  distributing  the  produce  for 
consumption,  and  bearing  back  goods  in 
return,  while  the  foreign  commerce  of  the 
country  grows  with  the  aggregate  surplus 
to  be  exported  and  the  consequent  increase 
of  the  merchandise  received  in  exchange. 
Having  glanced  at  the  settlement  of  the 
western  lands,  it  becomes  no  matter  of  sur- 
prise that  the  cities  which  were  the  focus  at 
which  such  large  quantities  of  surplus  pro- 
ducts concentrated  grew  rapidly,  and  grew 
in  proportion  to  the  rapidity  of  settlement 
and  the  perfection  of  the  means  of  internal 
communication.  It  may  be  worth  while  to 
sketch  the  leading  ones,  first  those  of  the 
lakes. 

Buffalo,  on  Lake  Erie,  was  laid  out 
originally  in  1801,  but  wras  of  small  import- 
ance until  in  1825  by  the  opening  of  the 
Erie  canal,  it  became  the  gateway  from  the 
great  valley  to  the  Atlantic  states.  Its 
population  was  then  3,000.  As  the  “ great 
valley  ” at  that  time  had,  however,  but  little 
to  spare,  the  importance  of  Buffalo  was  to 
swell  with  the  growth  of  the  west  which 
was  rapid  indeed.  In  1832,  thirty-one  years 
from  its  settlement,  Buffalo  became  a city 
with  8,653  inhabitants.  In  the  twenty-eight 
years  that  have  since  elapsed  the  population 
has  risen  to  117,715.  In  1825,  the  tonnage 
belonging  to  the  port  was  200  tons.  It  has 
grown  to  87,243,  valued  at  $5,588,175,  be- 
sides 474  canal  boats.  The  steam  tonnage 
running  to  Buffalo  is  53,147  tons.  The 
exporls  of  Buffalo  by  canal  are  $54,000,000 
and  by  railroad  considerably  more.  The  open- 
ing of  Dunkirk  to  New  York  over  the  Erie 
road  created  a rival  to  Buffalo,  and  the 
Welland  canal  round  the  falls  permitted 
vessels  to  go  to  Oswego,  where  they  take 
either  canal  or  railroad  on  a shorter  route  to 
New  Y ork,  also  rivaling  Buffalo.  It  is  obvious 
that  a few  miles  longer  trip  adds  little  to 
the  cost  of  a loaded  ship,  and  by  reducing 
the  canal  and  railroad  transportation  the 
cost  is  diminished.  Ilencc  Oswego  has  an 
advantage  over  Buffalo. 

The  imports  into  Buffalo  by  lake  and  rail- 
road, showing  the  relative  and  aggregate  val- 
ues, indicate  the  gain  of  “ rails”  over  “sails.” 
They  were,  for  a number  of  years,  as  follows  : 


Lake. 

Railroad. 

Total. 

1850, 

$22,525,781 

$22,525,781 

1851, 

31,889,951 

31.889,951 

1852, 

34,943,855 

34,943,855 

1853, 

36,881,230 

2,234,273 

39,115,503 

1854, 

42,030,931 

6,397.923 

48,428,854 

1855, 

50,346,819 

10,968,384 

61,313,203 

1856, 

42,684,079 

16,422,505 

59,106,584 

185V, 

36,913,166 

15,020,580 

51,933,746 

1870, 

87,419,381 

95,183,721 

182,602,102 

Oswego,  settled 

in  1820  on 

Lake  Ontario 

has  been  mostly  the  creation  of  the  Oswego 
canal  and  of  the  railroad  communication  since 
established,  which  makes  its  position  on  the 
lake  with  reference  to  the  Canada  and  lake 
trade  very  desirable.  The  canal  was  com- 
pleted in  1828,  and  the  Oswego  and  Syra- 
cuse railroad  in  1848,  when  Oswego,  having 
10,305  inhabitants,  was  incorporated  as  a 
city.  The  modification  of  the  English  colo- 
nial trade  system,  and  the  admission  by  the 
United  States  of  goods  in  bond  under  the  ware- 
house system,  laid  the  foundation  for  a great 
development  of  the  business  of  Oswego  on  the 
occasion  of  the  famine  of  1847,  when  the 
trade  of  the  place  took  a sudden  start,  which 
it  has  since  sustained.  The  Welland  canal, 
connecting  Lakes  Erie  and  Ontario,  gave 
Oswego  a line  of  communication  with  the 
west,  by  which  freight  coming  thence  to  the 
east,  would  have,  via  Oswego,  less  canal  navi- 
gation than  by  other  routes.  In  May,  1857, 
the  Welland  railway,  running  along  the  banks 
of  the  canal,  was  projected,  and  completed 
in  1860,  thus  giving  a communication  all  the 
year  round.  By  these  means  Oswego  draws 
its  supplies  from  every  western  state.  The 
imports  from  Canada  in  1870  were  $7,399,- 
035,  and  the  exports  $1,043, 2^0;  the  ton- 
nage of  the  port  amounts  to  17,833  tons  ex- 
clusive of  772  canal-boats,  measuring  84,411 
j tons.  Pop.  in  186  ',  20.910. 

Cleveland. — The  place  was  settled  by 
! one  family  in  1799,  but  its  population  did 
not  increase  beyond  500  in  1825,  when  the 
Erie  canal  was  opened.  Its  greatest  impulse 
was  derived  from  the  construction  of  the 
Ohio  canal,  connecting  it  with  Cincinnati, 
the  Pennsylvania  and  Ohio  canal,  connecting 
it  with  Pittsburg,  and  the  Welland  canal 
in  Canada,  connecting  Lake  Erie  with  Lake 
Ontario.  Since  that  event  a considerable 
Canadian  trade  has  sprung  up  in  Cleveland. 
The  canals  of  Ohio  brought  down  the  in- 
creasing quantities  of  produce  that  were  then 
exported  in  exchange  for  the  merchandise 
that  was  delivered  by  lake  for  the  consump- 
l tion  of  the  interior.  In  1832  there  were  26 
j sail  vessels  and  one  steamer  belonging  to 


WESTERN  SETTLEMENT  AND  TRADE. 


177 


Cleveland ; there  are  now  49  steamers  and 
356  sail  vessels,  with  an  aggregate  tonnage  of 
54,474  tons  owned  there.  The  multiplica- 
tion of  railroads  has,  however,  added  of  late 
more  to  the  city  business  than  either  canals 
or  tonnage.  There  are  twelve  roads  running 
into  Cleveland,  of  an  aggregate  length  of 
1,623  miles,  and  their  annual  receipts  are 
more  than  25  million  dollars.  These  cross- 
ing Ohio  in  every  direction,  connect  the  city 
with  Toledo,  Columbus,  Pittsburg,  and  New 
York.  With  these  advantages,  and  an  active 
commerce  with  Canada,  a large  foreign  trade 
sprung  up.  In  1870  the  imports  and  exports 
were  as  follows : 

Vessels.  Tons.  Coastwise.  Foreign.  Total. 

Exports. . .1,060  302,170  $76,187,390  $395,203  $576,782,593 
Imports...  940  288,110  108,249,861  569, 9S4  108,819,845 

The  trade  between  Cleveland  and  Lake 
Superior  has  also  become  important  within 
fifteen  years,  in  which  time  it  has  risen  to 
more  than  $20,000,900,  mostly  in  iron  and 
copper  ore.  In  1856-1861,  Cleveland  had,  in 
common  with  several  of  the  other  lake  ports, 
a growing  and  flourishing  direct  trade  with 
Europe  through  the  Welland  canal.  Ten 
vessels,  of  300  or  400  tons,  ran  regularly  for 
some  time  between  Cleveland  and  Liverpool. 
Owing  to  the  war  and  the  unprofitableness 
of  this  trade,  it  has  now  very  much  declined, 
but  the  city  has  become  largely  interested 
manufactures,  having  over  SI  6,000,000  cap- 
ital invested  in  them,  with  an  annual  product 
of  nearly  $50,000,000.  The  coal  trade  of 
Cleveland  has  become  large  for  the  supply 
of  the  steamers  and  factories  on  and  around 
the  lakes;  the  supply  is  about  700,000  tons 
per  annum.  Population  in  1870,  93,918. 

Detroit. — This  is  the  oldest  of  the  west- 
ern cities,  having  been  early  occupied  by 
the  French,  but  its  progress,  like  the  others, 
was  slow  until  the  opening  of  the  Erie  canal. 
In  137  years,  up  to  1820,  the  population 
had  risen  only  to  1,44*2  souls.  The  greatest 
impulse  has  been  given  to  Detroit  by 
the  formation,  in  the  last  ten  years,  of 
the  railroad  system,  which  connects  it  with 
the  interior  country.  The  Great  Western 
Railway  of  Canada,  coming  299  miles,  has 
its  terminus  virtually  in  Detroit.  From  De- 
troit west  run  the  Michigan  Central  road, 
228  miles,  to  Chicago,  and  connecting  with 
the  whole  western  net-work  of  rails ; the 
Detroit  and  Milwaukee  railroad,  crossing  the 
Peninsula,  185  miles,  to  Grand  Haven; 
the  Michigan  Southern  road  running  also  to 
11* 


Chicago,  a road  to  Lansing,  and  other  smaller 
roads,  in  all  extending  about  1,120  miles. 
Population  in  1870,  79,588. 

Chicago  is  the  most  remarkable  of  the 
western  cities  for  its  growth.  Its  location 
was  good,  at  the  southern  extremity  of  the 
lake,  but  though  it  had  a fine  harbor  sufficient 
for  any  lake  trade,  it  could  not  thrive  until 
the  back  country  supplied  it  with  produce  t > 
sell,  and  required  of  it  merchandise  in  ex- 
change. Though  occupied  as  a garrison  in 
1812,  and  a trading  port  in  1823,  it  had  less 
than  fifty  inhabitants  till  1832.  The  Illinois 
and  Michigan  canal,  connecting  the  lake  wdtli 
the  navigable  waters  of  the  Illinois,  was  com- 
menced in  1836,  100  miles  in  length.  In  aid 
of  this  work  the  federal  government  donated 
alternate  six  mile  sections  of  the  public  lands. 
The  state  had  also  projected  a large  system 
of  railroad  improvements  on  a scale  far  be- 
yond its  means,  and  it  failed  in  1840.  Sub- 
sequently the  means  was  raised  to  complete 
the  canal,  which  was  effected  in  1850.  The 
yearly  arrivals  and  clearances  of  vessels  in 
the  port  are  little  more  than  six  million  ton*. 
In  1870,  there  were  15  trunk  and  about  50 
other  railroads  with  an  aggregate  mileage  of 
over  9,000  miles  radiating  from  Chicago  as 
their  common  centre.  The  expenditure  cf 
about  $450,000,000  in  the  construction  <.  f 
these  roads,  and  the  great  development  cf 
the  country  through  which  they  pass  has 
made  the  growth  of  Chicago  rapid  beyond 
all  precedent.  The  vast  grain,  live,  stock,  lum- 
ber and  mining  products  poured  into  it  have 
made  it  a great  commercial  city,  even  beyond 
what  its  population  would  indicate.  Ov<  r 
the  9,000  miles  of  railroad,  most  of  it  trav- 
ersing the  finest  grain  country  in  the  world, 
the  cereals  have  come  in  such  quantities  as 
to  make  Chicago  the  first  primary  grain  port 
in  the  world,  shipping  as  it  does  about  69 
million  bushels  of  grain  per  annum,  import- 
ing and  exporting  to  the  amount  of  $250,- 
000,000.  Chicago  is  only  six  or  eight  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  lake,  but  the  harbor 
has  a depth  of  thirteen  feet  of  water,  and  wi  1 
always  be  ample  for  the  commerce  of  the 
lakes.  The  number  of  vessels  arriving  hero 
in  1870  was  12,739.  The  new  Canadian 
rules  in  relation  to  navigation  enable  Chicago 
vessels  to  clear  direct  for  Europe,  and  there 
are  a number  in  the  trade  by  which  prod  in  e 
and  goods  are  shipped  direct  to  Europe. 
I lie  total  value  of  pro  luce  exported  in 
1870  was  $5,034,336.  Inasmuch  as  bread- 
stuffs  are  the  principal  product  of  the 


178 


LAND  SETTLEMENT INTERNAL  TRADE. 


the  commerce  of  the  place,  the  following  ta- 
ble will  best  illustrate  as  well  the  development 
of  agriculture  as  the  chief  element  of  trade  : 

SHIPMENTS  OF  FLOUR  (REDUCED  TO  WHEAT)  AND  GRAIN  FROM 
CHICAGO  FOR  THIRTY-THREE  YEARS. 


We  may  recapitulate  these  lake  cities  in 
the  following  table,  showing  the  date  of  set- 
tlement, of  incorporation,  and  population  at 
that  date,  with  the  population  and  valuation 
in  1850  and  1860  : — 


Bushels. 

1838,  78 

1839,  3,678 

1840,  10,000 

1841,  40,000 

1842,  586,907 

1843,  688,907 

1844,  923,494 

1845,  1,024,620 

1846,  1,599,819 
1S47,  2,243,201 
1848,  3,001,740 


Bushels. 
1819,  2,769,111 

1850,  1,830,930 

1851,  4,646,291 

1852,  5,813,141 

1853,  6,412,181 

1854,  12,932,320 

1855,  16,633,700 

1856,  21,583,221 

1857,  18,032,678 
•1858,  20,035,166 
1859,  16,753,795 


Bushels. 

1860,  31,108,759 

1861,  50,481,862 

1862,  56,477,110 
1833,  54,287,345 

1864,  46,718,543 

1865,  52,268,181 

1866,  65,486,323 

1867,  55,187,909 

1868,  63,688,358 

1869,  56,759,515 

1870,  54,745,903 


The  following  are  the  shipments  of  pork, 
provision,  and  cut  meats,  lard,  beef,  wool, 
and  lumber,  for  ten  years — 1861-1870  : 


Provisions  and 
Cut  Meats. 
Pounds. 


Lard.  Beef.  Wool. 

Pounds.  Barrels.  Pounds. 


Lumber. 

Feet 


1861,  65,106  59,748  388  16,400,822  50.154  1,360,617  189,379,445 

1862,  193,920  71,944,010  54,505,123  151,631  2,101,521  189,277,079 

1863,  449,152  95,300,815  58,030,728  137,302  3,435,956  221,709,3.30 

1864,  298,250  50,0.55,322  42,342,970  140.627  7,554,379  269,496,579 

1865,  284,734  55,026,609  28,487.407  103,604  9.923.069  385,353,678 

1866,  257,470  73,011,584  26.758,368  67,762  12,391,9.33  422,313,266 

1867,  176,851  82,325,522  27,211,225  84,622  11,293,717  518  973,354 

1868,  141.321  95,106,101  23,527,821  75,424  13,101,162  551,989,806 

1869,  121,635  86,707,466  17,278,520  48.624  8,273,924  581,533,480 

1870,  16V65  112,433,168  43,292,249  65,369  15,826,536  &3, 490, 634 


Milwaukee  is  one  of  the  chief  cities  of 
the  western  shore  of  Lake  Michigan.  It 
was  settled  in  1834,  and  up  to  1840  could 
boast  of  but  1,700  inhabitants.  The  popu- 
lation had  growm  to  nearly  20,000  in  1850, 
to  30,000  in  1853,  and  to  71,499  in  1870. 
The  growth  has  been  most  rapid  under  the 
settlement  of  the  country  west  of  it,  by 
means  of  the  large  expenditures  there  made 
in  the  last  fourteen  years  for  railroads.  These 
in  the  state  of  Wisconsin,  have  an  aggregate 
length  of  2,779  miles,  and  have  been  con- 
structed mostly  in  the  last  fifteen  years  at  an 
expense  of  $60,358,723.  The  expenditure 
of  this  large  sum  of  money,  in  addition  to 
that  laid  out  by  speculators  and  emigrants, 
imparted  an  impulse  to  the  prosperity  of  the 
city  which  is  reflected  in  its  population  and 
valuation.  The  circle  of  fertile  country 
poured  into  the  city  products  which  were 
exported  from  it  to  the  value  of  $35,890,288 
in  1870,  and  in  return  $59,180,000  worth 
of  goods  was  imported.  The  manufactures 
of  the  city  were  also  valued  at  $23,100,000. 
The  quantity  of  grain  shipped  from  Milwau- 
kee in  1870  was  28,645,000  bushels,  and 
from  other  lake  ports  of  Wisconsin  1,561,881 
bushels.  The  grain  movement,  which  is  the 
basis  of  the  city’s  commerce,  indicates  the 
ratio  of  its  grow  th,  and  is  as  follows  : — 

Bushels.  Bushels.  Bushels.  Bushels. 

1851,  576,580  1854,  2.5U.617  1857  , 3,727,468  1862,  18,730,000 

1852,  1,029,379  1855,  8.75«,H65  1858,  6,155,507  1896,  16,700,000 

1853,  1,476,998  1856,  3,720,103  1859,  6,438,038  1870,  23,100,000  I 


Settled.  Incorporated.  Population. 


Buffalo 

.1801 

1632 

8,653 

Oswego 

.1820 

1848 

10,305 

Cleveland . . 

.1799 

1836 

4,000 

Detroit 

.1683 

1602 

700 

Chicago 

ls>23 

1835 

800 

Milwaukee  . 

.1830 

1840 

9,655 

Total 

Population 

Total 

Population 

Total 

in  1850. 

Valuation. 

in  1860. 

Valuation. 

Buffalo. . 

, . 49,764 

$18,427,000 

117.715  $112,920,150 

Oswego 

...  12,205 

9,107,202 

20,910 

19,425,800 

Cleveland..  17,634 

12.102,101 

93,918 

92,325,000 

Detroit. , 

...  21.057 

10,741,657 

79,588 

79,809,951 

Chicago 

...  29,963 

31,205,000 

298,983 

358,783,515 

Milwaukee  31,077 

18,421,000 

71,499 

57,805,772 

Total 

...161,100 

$100,003,960 

682,613 

712,370,138 

Thus  these  prominent  cities  have  grown 
up,  so  to  speak,  in  35  years,  as  points  where 
farm  produce  is  received  from  the  country 
for  sale  and  where  goods  are  furnished  in 
exchange.  The  whole  value  of  the  lake 
trade  has  been  estimated  at  $1200,000,000 
per  annum,  and  the  transaction  of  this  busi- 
ness has,  it  appears,  created  six  cities,  wdth 
a population  of  682,610  and  a taxable  valu- 
ation of  $712,330,198.  The  manufactures 
have  gradually  increased  in  those  cities  in 
order  to  produce  a local  supply  instead  of 
importing,  and  new  inventions  in  sewing 
and  other  machines  have  promoted  that 
change,  as  machinery  aided  the  development 
of  surplus  produce.  The  aggregate  trade 
poured  upon  the  lakes  from  all  these  sources 
has  been  increasingly  large.  The  aggregate 
quantities  of  grain  shipped  from  the  grain 
regions  are  seen  in  the  following  table,  which 
shows  the  routes  taken  to  market : — 

1857.  1858.  1S59. 

Via  Lake  Ontario  18.044.854  11,S72,995  14,874,961 

Via  Suspension  Bridge  ... . 1,049,108  1,900,000  837, 77S 

Via  Lake  Erie 22.031,164  29,432,121  24,780, 5S2 

From  Ohio  liiver  eastward  4,352,036  6,242,441  4,446,281 

Grand  total 45,476,662  49,447,557  44,3"9,602 

The  totals  were  composed  of  these  follow- 
ing grains : — 

Flour.  Wheat.  Corn.  Oth.  Grain.  Total  in 
barrels,  bushels,  bushels,  bushels.  bushels. 

1856,  3,879,189  19,956,025  14,2S2,682  4,634,969  5aQ69,57l 

1857,  8,412,904  17,362,161  S, 779.832  2,270,149  45.476,662 

1858,  4,602,780  20.794,515  10,558,527  5,080,615  49,447.557 

1859,  8,760,2S5  16,S64,812  4,423,096  4,310,269  44,389,602 

1870  , 3,315,909  36,246,176  1,423,260  1,097.949  45,346,930 

These  fluctuations  follow  the  course  of 
western  business.  In  1857  there  was  a 
heavy  decline  under  the  influence  of  the 
panic  of  that  year.  In  1858  the  speculative 
consumption  of  the  interior  having  ceased, 
the  quantities  that  sought  market  were  less 


VICTORIA  BRIDGE 


WESTERN  SETTLEMENT  AND  TRADE. 


179 


than  in  1S56.  The  railroads  also  delivered 
considerable  quantities. 

The  rapid  settlement  of  the  west  attracted 
the  attention  of  the  Canadians,  and  they  be- 
gan early  with  some  energy  to  take  measures 
that  should  give  them  their  share  of  it. 
The  St.  Lawrence  river  was  for  them  the 
only  outlet,  and  to  make  that  serviceable,  ex- 
tensive works  were  necessary  to  pass  around 
the  rapids,  and  make  navigation  practicable 
from  the  lakes  to  the  sea.  The  Welland 
canal,  passing  around  the  Falls  and  connect- 
ing Lakes  Erie  and  Ontario,  was  constructed, 
with  other  necessary  works,  completing,  in 
1846,  a system,  at  a cost  of  $20,000,000. 
The  tolls  on  these  works  were  considerable, 
and  duties  on  goods  imported  into  Canada 
from  the  United  States  were  so  high  as  to 
check  trade — the  more  so  that  similar  duties 
were  imposed  in  the  United  States  on  Cana- 
dian goods.  In  1850  the  navigation  laws 

o # © 

were  repealed,  opening  the  canals  and  rivers 
to  foreign  vessels.  The  difficulties  in  the 
way  of  navigating  the  St.  Lawrence  have 
since  that  date  been,  to  a great  extent,  re- 
moved. Many  liglit-houses  have  been  con- 
structed, the  system  of  pilotage  has  been 
revised,  a service  of  tug-boats,  of  great  power, 
and  working  at  moderate  rates,  has  been 
organized,  and  the  depth  of  water  between 
Quebec  and  Montreal  has  been  increased  by 
dredging,  so  as  to  permit  the  passage  of 
vessels  drawing  eighteen  feet  six  inches. 
With  these  changes  and  improvements  a 
new  element  has  been  introduced.  The 
construction  of  railways  had  begun  to  occupy 
the  attention  of  the  public  mind  in  Canada. 
In  1849  an  act  of  the  Colonial  Legislature 
was  passed  guaranteeing  6 per  cent,  on  half 
the  cost  of  all  the  railways  seventy-five  miles 
in  extent.  Three  years  later  the  Grand 
Trunk  line,  from  Montreal  to  Toronto,  and 
from  Quebec  to  Riviere-du-Loup,  was  incor- 
porated as  a part  of  the  Main  Trunk  line, 
and  the  line  from  Quebec  to  Richmond  had 
been  commenced.  In  1853  the  ainalgama-. 
tion  of  all  the  companies  forming  the  Main 
Trunk  line  was  completed,  under  a Parlia- 
mentary sanction  with  powers  to  construct 
the  Victoria  Bridge  across  the  St.  Lawrence, 
and  thereby  connect  the  lines  west  of  Mon- 
treal with  those  leading  to  Quebec  and  Port- 
land. 

By  the  aid  of  all  these  enterprises  com- 
bined, there  is  now  in  operation  in  Canada 
2,093  miles  of  railway,  including  1,112  miles 
of  the  Grand  Trunk,  the  whole  connected 


with  the  great  winter  harbor  of  Portland,  in 
the  state  of  Maine. 

To  give  effect  to  this  great  system  of 
communication,  the  whole  system  of  tolls 
upon  inland  navigation  has  been  abandoned. 
The  whole  line  of  navigation  from  Chicago 
to  the  Atlantic  is  now  free  from  tolls  and 
lake  dues,  the  ports  of  Sault  Ste.  Marip 
and  Gaspe  have  been  made  free  ports,  and  it 
is  probable  many  more  will  be  thrown 
open.  A reciprocity  treaty  between  Canada 
and  the  United  States  was  adopted  in  1854, 
which  continued  in  force  till  March  1866, 
when,  as  the  two  contracting  parties  could 
not  agree  on  terms  for  its  renewal,  it  expired. 
This  treaty  designated  a number  of  articles 
which  were  to  be  free  from  duty,  and  also 
granted  some  concessions  in  regard  to  the 
fisheries  in  return  for  some  privileges  which 
Canadians  received  here.  The  treaty  went 
into  operation  in  the  latter  part  of  1854,  and 
the  trade  was  affected  by  it  as  follows : 


I860, 

18,667,429 

22,706,328 

23,851,381 

1861, 

18,883,715 

22,745,613 

23,062,933 

1862, 

18,652,012 

21,079,115 

19,299,995 

1863, 

28,629,110 

31,281,030 

24,021,264 

1864, 

26,567,221 

28,987,147 

38,922,015 

1865, 

30,455,989 

32,553,841 

38,820,969 

1866, 

26,874,888 

29,356,572 

54,714,383 

1867, 

20,548,704 

24,323,169 

33,604,178 

1868, 

23,600,717 

26,262,272 

30,362,221 

1869, 

20,891,786 

24,197,212 

32,090,314 

$362,900,937 

$444,512,595 

$435,443,751 

1870, 

25,118,604 

37,367,076 

The  exports  of  United  States  produce  to 
Canada  have  been  in  this  period  of  eighteen 
years  nearly  $73,000,000  less  than  the  im- 
ports from  Canada.  But  there  have  been 
exported  to  Canada,  in  the  same  time,  about 
$82,000,000  of  foreign  goods  first  received 
at  our  own  ports,  so  that  the  balance  of  the 
trade  was  about  $9,000,000  in  our  favor. 
Hie  domestic  exports  are  composed  of  the 
produce  shipped  from  the  American  lake 
ports,  and  entered  at  the  Canadian  ports. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  on  the  expiration  of 
the  treaty  in  March,  1866,  there  was  a very 
manifest  effort  to  crowd  Canadian  goods  into 
our  markets,  the  imports  from  Canada  being 
nearly  $16,000,000  more  than  in  any  former 
year,  while  the  Canadians  were  not  disposed 
to  take  so  many  of  our  goods  as  usual.  This 
matter,  however,  speedily  regulated  itself, 
and  the  trade  is  now  very  nearly  what  it 
was  before  the  treaty  was  annulled. 

The  efforts  of  Canada  to  obtain  the  trade, 
and  cause  it  to  pass  down  the  St.  Lawrence, 


180 


LAND  SETTLEMENT INTERNAL  TRADE. 


had  to  overcome,  however,  the  climate,  to  be 
successful ; for  four  months  in  the  year  that 
outlet  is  ice-hound,  while  the  ports  of  Lake 
Ontario  are  never  closed  by  the  ice,  and  offer 
railroad  connection  with  New  York,  Boston, 
and  Philadelphia,  the  former  for  export  and 
the  latter  for  supplies  of  manufacture. 


CHAPTER  II. 

RIYER  CITIES— ATLANTIC  CITIES. 

The  development  given  to  the  lake  cities 
by  the  canal  and  railroad  construction,  was 
participated  in  to  as  great  an  extent  by  the 
river  cities,  the  course  of  whose  trade  flowed 
downward  toward  New  Orleans  as  an  out- 
let. 

Pittsburg  is  situated  at  the  point  where 
the  junction  of  the  Monongahela  and  Alle- 
ghany forms  the  Ohio  river,  which  thence 
flows  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.  The  origin  of 
the  place  dates  from  its  occupation  by  the 
French  as  a post,  and  its  growth  is  due  to 
its  commanding  position.  It  is  301  miles 
east  by  north  from  Philadelphia,  and  is  130 
miles  from  Lake  Erie.  The  traveller  de- 
scends the  river  450  miles  to  Cincinnati; 
583  to  Louisville,  Kentucky;  977  to  Cairo, 
where  the  Ohio  pours  into  the  Mississippi ; 
1,157  to  St.  Louis,  and  2,004  miles  to  New 
Orleans.  That  vast  valley  collects  in  its 
course  the  produce  coming  right  and  left 
by  streams,  canals,  and  railroads,  to  deliver 
it  at  New  Orleans,  whence  ascend  the  mer- 
chandise, tropical  products,  and  materials  of 
manufacture,  to  be  distributed  at  the  com- 
mercial and  manufacturing  ports.  The 
position  of  Pittsburg  was  the  most  impor- 
tant, commercially,  until  the  opening  of  the 
Erie  canal.  Its  resources  were  highly 
favorable  to  ship-building,  and  it  supplied 
the  first  boats  that  descended  the  Ohio.  The 
commerce  and  ship-building  prospered 
largely  during  the  war  of  1812,  but  after  the 
peace  it  declined.  Since  that  period  manu- 
factures have  taken  the  place  of  commerce, 
and  it  ranks  next  to  Philadelphia  as  a man- 
ufacturing town.  The  population  in  1800 
was  1,565,  and  in  1816  it  was  incorporated 
as  a city  with  about  6,150  inhabitants. 
The  population  of  Pittsburg  in  1870  was 
86,235,  while  Alleghany  City,  across  the 
river,  had  53,181,  and  other  suburbs  really 
forming  part  of  the  city,  about  75,000 
more,  making  a total  of  about  210,000. 


The  progress  of  the  city  has  been  as  fol- 
lows : — 


1816, 

1836, 

1850, 

1860, 

1870, 


Population. 
6,182 
15,481 
46,601 
49,220 
86,235 


Value  of  manufactures. 
$1,896,366 
15,575,440 
55,287,000 
70,000,000 
111,881,000 


Cincinnati  was  located  at  the  mouth  of 


the  Licking  river  in  1788,  in  the  centre  of 
an  area  which  commanded  the  commerce  of 


the  Miami,  the  Wabash,  the  Scioto,  the 
Muskingum,  and  the  Kanawha  rivers.  These 
streams  delivered  large  quantities  of  produce 
to  foster  the  trade  of  Cincinnati,  which  grew 
with  great  rapidity,  corresponding  mostly 
with  New  Orleans,'  to  which  its  merchants 
sent  the  produce,  and  made  purchases  of 
goods  in  the  eastern  states,  which  came  up 
the  river  from  New  Orleans  by  a long  voy- 
age, charged  with  heavy  expenses  for  freight, 
insurance,  etc.  The  exchanges  ran  on  New 
Orleans  against  the  produce  sent  down,  and 
these  credits  were  the  means  of  payments 
for  goods.  The  opening  of  the  Ohio  canal 
to  the  lakes,  to  correspond  with  the  Erie 
canal  to  tide-water,  gave  a new  outlet  for 
produce  of  the  northern  part  of  Ohio  by  way 
of  Cleveland,  and  also  a better  channel  for 
the  receipt  of  goods.  The  net-work  of  rail- 
roads has  still  further  multiplied  the  means 
of  communication.  Portland,  Boston,  New 
York,  Philadelphia,  and  Baltimore,  are  almost 
equidistant  from  Cincinnati,  which  by  the 
same  means  has  its  markets  extended  in  a 
broader  circle  west.  The  progress  of  the 
city  has  been  as  follows  : — 


Population.  Imports.  Manufactures.  Exports. 
1800,  750 

1810.  2,540 

1820,  9,644  $1,619,030  $1,059,459  $1,834,080 

1880,  24,881  2,528.590  1.850.000  1,063.560 

1S86,  31,207  8,270,000  12,3SS.2uO  S, 101,000 

1S40,  46,338  10,972,000  17,780,033  15.4S0,00O 

1850,  115,486  41,256,199  54.550,134  33,234,896 

I860,  1.1.044  96,213.274  112,254.000  66,007,707 

1870  , 218,900  312,978,665  127,459,021  193,517,690 

These  figures  give  the  rapid  growth  of  the 
city  since  the  railroads  have  opened  a broader 
field  from  which  to  draw  the  materials  of 
trade  in  exchange  for  merchandise  demanded 
by  the  growers. 

Louisville,  Kentucky,  was  a port  early 
in  1781,  and  it  made  little  progress  as  a 
city.  Its  population  grew  but  to  600  in 
1800,  and  was  only  4,012  in  1820.  The 
difficulties  of  navigation  were  a drawback 
upon  its  commerce,  until  the  Portland  canal, 
two  miles  long,  which  liad  been  authorised 
in  1804,  around  the  falls  of  the  Ohio,  was 
opened  in  1830.  The  cost  of  the  work, 
$600,000,  was  paid,  one-third  by  the  United 


RIVER  CITIES ATLANTIC  CITIES. 


181 


States,  and  the  balance  mostly  in  eastern 
cities  interested  in  getting  goods  up  the 
river.  A bridge  over  the  Ohio  was  built  in 
1836,  at  a cost  of  $250,000.  The  city  was 
incorporated  in  1828,  and  its  population 
was  then  10,336.  In  1836  the  population 
was  19,967,  and  the  annual  amount  of  busi- 
ness transacted  was  $29,004,202.  In  1840 
the  population  was  21,210,  and  in  1850  it 
had  again  doubled,  reaching  43,194. 

St.  Louis  was  occupied  as  a French  trad- 
ing post  in  1763,  and  the  town  was  laid  out 
in  the  following  year,  with  the  name  of  St. 
Louis,  in  honor  of  that  Louis  XV.  who  had 
so  little  claim  to  saintship.  The  first  im- 
pulse to  its  growth  was,  however,  the  annex- 
ation of  Louisiana  to  the  United  States, 
when  emigrants  poured  into  the  new  coun- 
try, bringing  with  them  a spirit  of  enterprise 
which  soon  made  visible  effects  upon  St. 
Louis,  the  commerce  of  which  struggled 


against  the  difficulties  inherent  in  barge 
and  keel  boat  navigation.  In  1817  the 
General  Pike,  the  first  steamboat,  arrived  at 
St.  Louis.  That  event  marked  a new  era, 
and  in  1822,  the  population  being  4,598,  the 
city  was  incorporated.  It  was  not  until  the 
settlement  of  the  north-western  states,  under 
the  influence  of  the  canals  and  railroads,  that 
the  prosperity  of  St.  Louis  became  marked. 
In  1836  the  sales  of  merchandise  in  St. 
Louis  were  given  at  $6,335,000  ; in  1858  the 
local  insurance  was  $31,800,232.  The  popu- 
lation of  the  city,  which  had  been  63,491  in 
1848,  rose  to  151,780  in  1860,  and  the  city 
valuation  was  $7  8,463,37 5.  The  settlements 
of  the  upper  Mississippi,  east  and  west,  pour 
naturally  an  increasing  trade  into  the  city, 
and  its  railroad  connections  are  now  push- 
ing out  toward  the  Pacific.  We  may  re- 
capitulate the  leading  river  cities  as  fol- 
lows : — 


Settled.  Incorporated.  1840.  1850.  1S60. 

Date.  Date.  Populat'n  Populat'n.  Population.  Valuation.  Population.  Valuation. 


Pittsburg 1784,  18l6,  6,150  21,115  46.601  $27,960,600  49,220  $46,866,600 

Cincinnati 178S,  1802,  690  46,338  115,436  55,670,631  161,044  91.861,978 

Louisville 1773,  1828,  10,336  21,210  43,194  17,277,600  69,740  30,042,800 

St.  Louis 1764,  1822,  4,598  16,469  77,860  38,921,201  151,780  78,463,875 


Total  21,974  105,221  283,091  $139,830,032  431,784  $247,234,753 


The  numbers  and  wealth  of  the  river  cities  | 
have  increased  in  a ratio,  perhaps,  larger  than 
the  lake  cities.  They  divide  with  the  latter 
the  trade  of  country  lying  between  the  lakes 
and  the  Ohio  river,  drawing  produce  and 
shipping  merchandise,  while  they  have  also  a 
strong  hold  upon  southern  trade.  The  busi- 
ness of  all  those  cities,  as  well  lake  as  river,  is 
hut  a reflection  of  the  growth  of  the  great  sea- 
ports. The  canals,  streams,  and  railroads  that 
pour  forth  their  products  in  a southerly  di- 
rection, and  feed  the  river  cities,  combine 
with  the  other  business  points  of  the  region  to 
swell  the  trade  of  New  Orleans,  the  common 
correspondent  of  all ; the  roads,  rivers,  and 
streams  that  deliver  their  trade  in  a northerly 
and  easterly  direction,  glut  the  great  trunk 
lines  with  the  merchandise  which  they  pour 
into  Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and 
Baltimore. 

The  city  of  New  Orleans,  at  the  Delta 
of  the  Mississippi,  is  commercially  the  second 
city  of  the  Union,  and  in  respect  to  the  ex- 
ports of  domestic  produce,  it  ranks  first.  Its 
position  is  very  advantageous,  and  its  growth 
has  been  proportional  to  the  development 
of  the  country,  the  resources  of  which  sup- 
ply it  with  produce  and  depend  upon  it  for 
merchandise  in  return.  The  city  itself  was 


] founded  by  the  French  in  1 71 7,  and  passed 
into  the  hands  of  the  Spanish  in  17G2.  By 
them  it  was  reconveyed  to  the  French  in 
1 800,  and  was  sold  by  Napoleon  to  the  United 
States  in  1804.  At  that  time  its  population, 
mostly  French,  was  8,056,  and  it  was  rapidly 
increased  by  the  fact  of  annexation,  which 
not  only  carried  enterprising  men  thither,  but 
settled  the  upper  country,  which  was  the 
source  of  trade.  The  city  was  chartered  in 
1 805.  In  1 820  the  population  had  increased 
to  27,176  persons,  but  the  exports  of  the 
city  still  consisted  mostly  of  the  produce  of 
the  upper  country,  which  a population,  in- 
creased rapidly  by  the  influence  of  war  and 
speculation,  had  greatly  developed,  although 
the  valley  of  the  Mississippi  had  not  yet 
attracted  cotton  planters.  In  1830  the  trade 
of  the  city  marked  a larger  production  of 
farm  produce.  In  the  succeeding  ten  years 
the  migration  from  the  Atlantic  cotton  states 
to  the  new  lands  of  the  valley  produced  a 
great  change  in  the  trade  of  New  Orleans. 
The  cotton  receipts  rose  from  300,000  bales 
in  1830,  to  954,000  in  1840,  and  tobacco 
from  twenty-four  to  forty-three  thousand 
hogsheads,  and  the  sugar  crop  also  had  risen 
to  85,000  hhds.  The  exports  were  now 
swollen  by  the  sales  of  cotton  and  tobacco, 


182 


LAND  SETTLEMENT INTERNAL  TRADE. 


but,  with  the  operation  of  the  canals  and  j been  as  follows.  The  figures  for  1860  are 
railroads  in  the  upper  country,  the  supplies  not  published,  but  the  cotton  is  30  per  cent, 
of  home  produce  had  again  become  impor-  higher,  and  the  amount  will  be  about  $200,- 
tant.  The  progress  of  New  Orleans  has  000,000  received  from  the  interior. 


Population. 

Imports. 

Exports. 

Receipts  from 
Interior. 

Receipts  of 
Specie. 

Valuation  of 
Real  Estate. 

1804, 

8,056 

# . 

$1,392,093 

1810, 

17,242 

, . 

1,753,974 

1820, 

27,176 

$3,379,717 

7,242,415 

1830, 

46,310 

7,599,083 

13,042,740 

. . 

1840, 

102,193 

10,673,190 

34,236,936 

$45,761,045 

1850, 

116,375 

10,760,499 

38,105,350 

96,897,873 

$3,792,662 

1851, 

12,528,460 

54,413,963 

106,924,083 

7,938,119 

1852, 

12,057,724 

49,058,885 

108,051,708 

6,278,523 

$66,350,260 

1&53, 

13,654,113 

67,768,724 

134,233,731 

7,865,226 

1854, 

14,402,150 

60,172,628 

115,336,798 

6,967,056 

1855, 

12,923,608 

55,688,552 

117,106,823 

3,746,037 

1856, 

. . 

17,183,327 

80,547,963 

144,256,081 

4,913,540 

1857, 

24,981,150 

91,514,286 

158,061,369 

6,500,015 

1858, 

19,586,013 

88,382,438 

167,155,546 

13,268,013 

108,651,135 

1859, 

168,472 

18,349,516 

101,734,952 

172,952,664 

15,627,016 

111,193,802 

1870, 

191,322 

14,993,754 

107,651,042 

205,000,000 

127,942,781 

This  table  embraces  the  official  figures  for 
population,  trade,  and  valuation.  The  most 
marked  feature  is  the  small  amount  of  im- 
ports as  compared  with  exports.  This  we 
shall  find  to  be  the  reverse  with  the  trade  of 
New  York  ; the  trade  of  the  two  cities  for 
the  past  year  having  been  as  follows : — 


New  York.  New  Orleans. 

Imports $315,200,022  $14,993,744 

Exports 254,137,208  107,657,042 


The  exports  from  New  York,  exclusive 
of  specie  and  foreign  goods  re-exported,  were 
8185,740,061,  the  imports  exceeding  this  by 
$129,459,961,  while  at  New  Orleans  the  ex- 
cess of  exports  was  $82,564,902.  These 
figures  represent  the  course  of  trade.  The 
receipts  from  the  interior  at  New  Orleans 
rose  from  $96,897,873  in  1850,  to  $172,952,- 
664  in  1859.  The  vicissitudes  of  the  war 
made  great  changes  in  the  commerce  of  New 
Orleans,  yet  these  receipts  in  1 870  were  about 
$33,000,000  greater  than  in  1859.  Sugar 
and  molasses  were  $9,945,245 ; cotton  was 
$120,000,000;  rice,  $869,340,  while  farm 
produce,  minerals,  &c.,  made  up,  together,  a 
little  more  than  $75,000,000.  The  lighter 
merchandise  which  forms  the  sum  of  imports 
into  New  Y ork,  instead  of  going  round  by  way 
of  New  Orleans,  goes  across  the  country  on 
railroads.  It  follows,  that  when  the  west 
sends  forty  millions  of  produce  to  New  Or- 
leans for  sale,  and  lias  purchased  an  equal 
amount  of  goods  in  the  east,  that  its  money 
is  in  New  Orleans  and  its  debts  in  New  York. 
It  draws  upon  New  Orleans  then  to  pay 
New  York.  New  Orleans  being  so  large  an 


exporter,  has  large  sums  due  it,  for  which  it 
draws  to  meet  what  it  owes  to  the  west  for 
produce.  This  state  of  affairs  is  the  basis  of 
bill  operations.  Firms  being  connected,  one 
at  Liverpool,  one  at  New  Orleans,  and  one  at 
New  York,  the  New  Orleans  house  buys 
cotton  for  shipment  to  England,  and  draws 
for  it  at  sixty  days  on  the  New  York  firm; 
the  bill  being  discounted,  places  him  in  funds 
to  pay  for  the  cotton,  which  will  arrive  in 
Liverpool  in  thirty  days.  The  New  York 
firm  draws  a sterling  bill  against  it  at  sixty 
days,  and,  with  the  proceeds,  meets  the  bill 
drawn  on  it  from  New  Orleans.  The 
sterling  bill  is  then  met  by  the  sales  of  cotton 
four  months  after  it  was  bought.  In  the 
mean  time,  the  bill  on  New  York  passes  into 
the  hands  of  the  western  debtors  of  New 
York,  who  send  it  thither  in  payment  of 
goods  purchased.  The  sterling  bill  is  sold 
to  the  New  York  importer,  who  remits  it 
abroad  in  payment  of  goods  imported.  The 
receipts  of  cotton  and  sugar  have  been  very 
large  of  late  years,  but  the  quantities  of  west- 
ern produce  resulting  from  the  more  rapid  set- 
tlement of  the  land  under  the  influence  of  • 
the  railroads,  have  also  greatly  increased.  In 
1840,  the  value  of  cotton,  sugar,  and  to- 
bacco received  was  $36,124,275,  leaving  but 
$9,591,770  for  western  produce.  In  the 
year  of  famine  the  aggregate  receipts  at 
New  Orleans  rose  to  $90,033,251,  of  which 
$42,599,361  was  western  produce.  In  1857, 
those  articles  were  valued  at  $49,009,976 ; 
flour  and  grain  counting  in  that  year  for 
nearly  $15,000,000.  By  means  of  time  bills, 
New  Orleans  thus  furnishes  a large  capital  to 
dealers ; and  in  years  of  economy  and  re- 


ACADEMY  OF  DESIGN,  N.  Y, 


COOPEU  INSTITUTE.  CONTAINING  SCHOOL  OF  DESIGN 


are  taught 


JfEW  CJTY  HALL;  N,  Y- 


RIVER  CITIES ATLANTIC  CITIES. 


183 


trenchment,  when  the  purchases  of  goods  are 
diminished,  it  shows  a large  inward  current 
of  specie.  In  1851,  California  supplied  a 
good  deal  of  gold  at  that  point,  hut  changed 
direction  after  the  establishment  of  a mint 
at  San  Francisco,  and  the  receipts  of  specie 
were  small  at  New  Orleans  in  1855 — a specu- 
lative year.  They  became  large  wdth  the 
panic  year,  and  continued  so  till  1861,  when 
the  city,  joining  in  the  Rebellion,  the  branch 
mint  was  discontinued,  and  has  not  since 
been  re-established. 

While  New  Orleans  thus  expanded  its 
trade,  and  grew  in  wealth  under  the  influ- 
ence of  western  production,  the  proportion 
that  it  enjoyed  was  by  no  means  the  largest. 
Each  Atlantic  city  had  made  efforts  to  ob- 
tain a share,  and,  with  more  or  less  success, 
Canada  sought  to  attract  it  down  the  St. 
Lawrence.  New  York  built  two  railroads  to 
aid  the  canals  in  connecting  the  lakes  with 
tide  water.  Boston  formed  a connection 
with  the  Hudson  river,  and  another  with  the 
lakes  at  Ogdensburgh.  Philadelphia  im- 
proved its  hold  on  Pittsburg.  Baltimore 
thrust  out  its  iron  arm  to  Wheeling,  and  all 
these  offered  inducements  to  trade.  The 
number  of  tons  moved  one  mile  during  given 
years  in  each  shows  the  progress  of  trade : 


Tons.  Tons. 

Erie  canal,  1840 312,016,346 

New  York  canals,  1869 919,153,611 

New  York  Central  railroad,  1869  .2,179,419.726 

New  York  and  Erie,  1869 817,829,190  2.211 ,402,5- 1 


Increase  in  tonnage,. 


1,899,386,181 


The  valuation  of  this  tonnage  is  nearly 
$350,000,000  per  annum,  and  this  affords  an 
indication  only  of  the  wealth  which  has 
passed  eastward.  Thus,  in  1840,  the  value  of 
western  produce,  that  found  market  by  New 
Orleans  and  the  Erie  canal,  was  $51,000,000 ; 
in  1858,  it  was  nearly  $400,000,000,  or  an 
increase  ten-fold,  and  on  this  mainly  has 
the  prosperity  of  the  eastern  cities  depended. 
The  exports  of  the  southern  ports  have 
grown  mostly  with  the  direct  export  of  cot- 
ton, and  those  at  the  north  have  added  grad- 
ually food  and  manufactures  thereto.  The 
general  course  of  trade  has  been  to  cen- 
tralize imports  in  New  York. 

Charleston  owes  its  origin  to  a stock 
similar  to  that  of  New  England,  since  a 
colony  of  French  Huguenots,  flying  from 
persecution,  settled  there  in  1690.  It  was 
not  chartered  as  a city,  however,  until  nearly 


a century  later,  viz.:  in  1783,  when  its  popu- 
lation was  nearly  16,000.  The  commerce  of 
Charleston  is  not  extensive,  but  its  facilities 
for  internal  communications  are  large,  and 
enjoys  the  trade  of  the  whole  state,  together 
with  much  of  that  of  North  Carolina  and 
Georgia.  A canal,  twenty-two  miles  long, 
connects  the  Cooper  with  the  Santee  river. 
It  has  a fleet  of  steamboats  that  are  running 
to  the  neighboring  cities,  and  several  lines 
of  packets  running  to  New  York  regularly. 
Its  most  important  connection  is,  however, 
the  South  Carolina  railroad,  running  136 
miles  to  Hamburg,  on  the  Savannah  river, 
opposite  Augusta,  Georgia.  The  population 
and  business  have  been  as  follows  : — 


1790, 

Population. 

16.359 

Imports. 

$4,516,205 

Exports. 

$2,693,268 

1820, 

24,480 

3,007,113 

8,882,940 

1830, 

30,289 

1,054,619 

7,627,031 

11,042,070 

1840, 

29,261 

2,318,791 

1850, 

42,985 

1,933,785 

11,447,800 

1860, 

1870, 

51,210 

2,070  249 

16,888,262 

48,956 

617,094 

11,184,208 

The  importations  have  decreased  and  the 
export  also,  in  consequence  of  the  business 
depression  which  followed  the  war,  and  from 
which  the  city  is  now  slowly  recovering. 

Baltimore  was  laid  out  as  a town,  by 
Roman  Catholics,  in  1729,  and  up  to  1765 
it  contained  but  fifty  houses.  The  persua- 
sion of  the  founders  still  predominates.  It 
is  situated  on  the  Patapsco  river,  fourteen 
miles  from  Chesapeake  bay,  and  two  hundred 
miles  from  the  ocean.  The  harbor  is  a very 
fine  one.  The  city  enjoys  great  facilities  for 
commerce,  and  possesses  the  trade  of  Mary- 
land and  part  of  Pennsylvania,  while  it  has 
of  late  obtained  a good  share  of  that  of  the 
western  states.  It  was  the  great  tobacco 
market  of  the  country,  but  Richmond  now 
rivals  it  in  that  respect.  As  a flour  market, 
it  has  few  equals.  The  building  of  railroads 
to  connect  with  the  interior  has  greatly  pro- 
moted the  city  trade,  which  has  progressed 
as  follows : — 


Population. 

Imports. 

Exports. 

1790, 

13,503 

$6,018,500 

$2,239,691 

1800, 

26,514 

12,264,331 

1810, 

46,555 

6,489,018 

1820, 

62,738 

4,070,842 

G,  609,364 

1830, 

80,625 

4,523,866 

3,791,482 

1840, 

102,313 

5,701,869 

4,524,575 

1850, 

169,054 

6,124,201 

6,967,353 

1860, 

212,419 

8,930,157 

10,442,616 

1870, 

267,354 

20,000,000 

12,765,052 

The  importations  have  been  usually  fol- 
lowed increase  in  exports,  but  1870 


184 


LAND  SETTLEMENT INTERNAL  TRADE. 


was  an  exception  in  consequence  of  the 
Franco-German  war,  which  cut  off  the  Eu- 
ropean demand  for  tobacco. 

Philadelphia,  at  the  close  of  the  last  cen- 
tury,was  the  first  city  of  America,  and  though 
it  has  not  ceased  to  expand  since  that  time, 
yet  New  York,  by  force  of  natural  advanta- 
ges, has  come  to  exceed  it  as  a commercial 
city.  Its  resources  for  manufacturing  are 
such,  however,  as  to  have  given  it  a high 
rank  in  the  interior  trade  of  the  country. 
The  water-power  of  the  neighborhood  is  very 
important,  and  rails  and  canals  give  it  com- 
mand of  limitless  supplies  of  raw  materials, 
coal  and  iron  in  particular.  The  position  of 
the  city  was  early  improved  by  the  construc- 
tion of  canals  to  the  extent  of  336  miles,  at 
a cost  of  $24,000,000;  and  seven  lines,  com- 
posed of  12  railroads,  of  567  miles  in  length, 
radiated  to  every  point  of  the  compass,  hav- 
ing cost  $53,716,201.  The  canals  and  roads 
have  swollen  the  coal  receipts  of  Philadelphia 
from  365  tons  in  1820,  to  more  than  10,000,- 
000  tons  in  1870,  valued  at  $35,000,000 
per  annum.  The  population  and  external 
trade  of  Philadelphia  have  been  as  follows: — 


1 SSL, 
1 79:1, 

Population. 

2,500 

42,520 

108,116 

Imports. 

Exports. 

$3,436,893 

Total  valuation. 

IS  20, 

$8,158,922 

11,680,111 

5,743,549 

$40,487,239 

1340, 

258,037 

3,841,599 

99,321,881 

I *50, 

408,762 

12,066,154 

4,501,606 

550,000 

12.892,215 

6,036,411 

155,697,669 

3870, 

674,022 

17,355,825 

16,649,828 

507,987,900 

The  city  of  Philadelphia  was  first  settled 
in  1627  by  the  Swedes,  but  was  regulated 
and  laid  out  in  1682  according  to  the  views  of 
William  Penn,  and  its  population  in  1684  was 
2,500.  The  city  is  one  hundred  miles  from 
the  ocean,  eighty-seven  miles  from  New  York, 
and  130  miles  from  Washington.  It  is  five 
miles  from  the  junction  of  the  Schuylkill  and 
Delaware  rivers,  extending  from  one  to  the 
other,  and  its  harbor  is  on  theDelaware,or  east- 
ern side.  Vessels  drawing  more  than  twenty 
feet  water  cannot  reach  Philadelphia,  and  the 
navigation  for  large  ships  below  is  a little 
difficult.  Pilots  take  inward  bound  ships  at 
sea.  These  circumstances  have  aided  to  give 
Philadelphia,  a moderate  foreign  commerce 
as  compared  with  the  commanding  harbor 
of  New  York. 

But  if  the  foreign  commerce  of  Philadel- 
phia is  moderate,  owing  to  physical  diffi- 
culties, the  internal  commerce,  from  sales  of 
manufactures  and  goods  imported  at  New 
York,  is  very  large — and  the  real  growth 
of  the  city  is  indicated  by  her  external  trade 
less  than  that  of,  perhaps,  any  other  city  of 


the  Union.  The  census  of  1870  showed  a 
population  of  674,022.  The  manufacturing 
industry  of  Philadelphia  has  increased  in  a 
remarkable  ratio.  In  1845  the  capital  em- 
ployed in  the  city  proper  was  $18,000,000, 
the  production  $21,000,000,  and  of  the 
neighborhood  $83,000,000. 

In  1870  the  capital  invested  in  the  various 
industries  was  given  at  $205, 5 64, 238, employ- 
ing 119,532  hands,  and  producing  $251,663,- 
921  of  annual  value.  In  the  vicinity  the  amount 
is  $47,500,000  additional.  These  figures  de- 
note that  Philadelphia  is  probably  the  great- 
est manufacturing  city  of  the  Union,  and 
will  continue  to  grow  in  that  direction  by 
the  force  of  the  same  influences  which  tend 
to  give  New  York  the  commercial  prepon- 
derance. The  trade  of  the  city  is  on  a grand 
scale,  and  second  to  none  in  the  world  for 
magnitude  of  operations,  or  successful  method 
in  conducting  them.  A leading  store  of  that 
city  is  a model  of  mercantile  method.  Each 
department  in  the  store  is  alphabetically 
designated.  The  shelves  and  rows  of  goods 
in  each  department  aye  numbered,  and  upon 
the  tag  attached  to  the  goods  is  marked  the 
letter  of  the  department,  the  number  of  the 
shelf,  and  row  on  that  shelf  to  which  such 
piece  of  goods  belongs.  The  cashier  receives 
a certain  sum  extra  per  week,  and  he  is  res- 
ponsible for  all  worthless  money  received. 
Books  are  kept,  in  which  the  sales  of  each 
clerk  are  entered  for  the  day,  and  the  salary 
of  the  clerk  cast,  as  a per-centage  on  each 
day,  week,  and  year,  and,  at  the  foot  of  the 
page,  the  aggregate  of  the  sales  appears,  and 
the  per-centage  that  it  has  cost  to  effect 
these  sales  is  easily  calculated  for  each  day, 
month,  or  year.  The  counters  are  desig- 
nated by  an  imaginary  color,  as  the  blue, 
green,  brown,  etc.,  counter.  The  yard-sticks 
and  counter-brush  belonging  to  it  are  painted 
to  correspond  with  the  imaginary  color  of 
the  counter ; so  by  a very  simple  arrange- 
ment, each  of  these  necessaries  is  kept  where 
it  belongs;  and  should  any  be  missing,  the 
faulty  clerks  are  easily  known. 

All  wrapping  paper  coming  into  the  store 
is  immediately  taken  to  a counter  in  the 
basement,  where  a lad  attends  with  a pair 
of  shears,  whose  duty  it  is  to  cut  the  paper 
into  pieces  to  correspond  with  the  size  of  the 
parcels  sold  at  the  different  departments,  to 
which  he  sees  that  it  is  transferred.  All 
pieces  too  small  for  this,  even  to  the  smallest 
scraps,  are  by  him  put  into  a sack,  and  what 
is  usually  thrown  away  by  our  merchant*, 


GOV.  stuyvesant’s  MANSION.  X.  Y.,  first  class  dwellings  in  exchange  place,  1690. 

(Iii  olden  time.) 


A.  T.  STEWART’S  RESIDENCE,  FIFTH  AVENUE,  N.  Y.,  FIRST  CLASS  DWELLING,  1870. 


VIEW  IN  BROAD  ST.,  N.  Y.,  1796.  FEDERAL  HALL,  FIRST  CLASS  BUILDING,  1796. 


NEW  YORK TELEGRAPH EXPRESS GOLD. 


185 


yields  to  tlie  systematic  man  some  $20  per 
year.  In  one  part  of  the  establishment  is  a 
tool  closet,  with  a work-bench  attached  ; the 
closet  occupies  but  little  space,  yet  in  it  is 
seen  almost  every  useful  tool,  and  this  is 
arranged  with  the  hand-saw  to  form  the  cen- 
tre, and  the  smaller  tools  radiating  from  it 
in  sun  form ; behind  each  article  is  painted, 
with  black  paint,  the  shape  of  the  tool  be- 
longing in  that  place. 

It  is,  consequently,  impossible  that  any 
thing  should  be  out  of  place  except  through 
design,  and  if  any  tool  is  missing,  the  wall 
will  show  the  shadow  without  the  substance. 
The  proprietor’s  desk  stands  at  the  further 
end  of  the  store,  raised  on  a platform  facing 
the  front,  from  which  he  can  see  all  the 
operations  in  each  section  of  the  retail  de- 
partment. From  this  desk  run  tubes,  con- 
necting with  each  department  of  the  store, 
from  the  garret  to  the  cellar,  so  that  if  a 
person  in  any  department,  either  porter,  re- 
tail, or  w7holesale  clerk,  wishes  to  communi- 
cate with  the  employer,  he  can  do  so  with- 
out leaving  his  station.  Pages  are  kept  in 
each  department  to  take  the  bill  of  parcels, 
together  with  the  money  paid,  and  return 
the  bill  receipted,  and  change,  if  any,  to  the 
customer.  So  that  the  salesman  is  never 
obliged  to  leave  the  counter ; he  is  at  all 
times  ready  either  to  introduce  a new  article 
or  watch  that  no  goods  are  taken  from  his 
counter,  excepting  those  accounted  for. 

By  a peculiar  method  of  casting  the  per- 
centage of  a clerk’s  salary  on  his  sales,  coup- 
ling it  with  the  clerk’s  general  conduct,  and 
the  style  of  goods  he  is  selling,  a just  esti- 
mate m^y  be  formed  of  the  relative  value  of 
the  services  of  each,  in  proportion  to  his 
salary.  By  the  alphabetic  arrangement  of 
departments,  numbering  of  shelves,  and  form 
of  the  tools,  any  clerk,  no  matter  if  he  has 
not  been  in  the  store  more  than  an  hour,  can 
arrange  every  article  in  its  proper  place ; and 
at  any  time,  if  inquired  of  respecting,  or  re- 
ferred to  by  any  clerk,  the  proprietor  is  able 
to  speak  understandingly  of  the  capabilities 
and  business  qualities  of  any  of  his  employees. 
Population  in  I860,  673,022. 

Boston  was  settled  early  in  the  seven- 
teenth century,  and  in  1684  was  the  most 
populous  of  the  Atlantic  cities,  having  6,300 
inhabitants.  It  is  216  miles  from  New 
York,  and  although  possessed  of  one  of  the 
finest  harbors  on  the  coast,  it  had  no  facilities 
for  reaching  the  back  country,  which  was  for 
the  most  part  rocky  and  mountainous,  until 


railroads  wTerc  constructed.  Its  early  trade 
was  in  navigation  and  the  fisheries.  Its  first 
adventure  was  in  1G27,  when  a sloop,  loaded 
with  corn,  was  sent  to  Narraganset  to  trade, 
and  made  an  encouraging  voyage.  Its  in- 
habitants soon  became  rich  by  doing  the 
trade  of  others  in  their  celebrated  ships,  un- 
til manufacturing  became  possible.  The 
energy  and  intelligence  of  the  race,  when 
turned  in  that  direction,  soon  drew  large 
profits  from  their  industry,  and  more  freight 
for  their  coasting  tonnage,  which  increased 
as  the  numbers  engaged  in  manufacture  re- 
quired more  food  and  raw  materials.  The 
greatest  start  was  given  to  the  trade  of  the 
city  W'hen  railroads  had  laid  open  even  the 
remotest  regions  of  the  interior  to  its  enter- 
prise. The  general  course  of  its  population, 
trade,  and  valuation  has  been  as  follows : — 

Population.  Imports.  Exports.  Valuation. 

. 1684,  6,300 

1790,  18,038  $5,519,500  $2,517,651  $6,990,390 

1820,  43,298  14,826,732  11,008,922  3S,2S8,200 

1830,  61,392  10,453,544  7,213,194  61,7b0,2I0 

1840,  93,3b3  13,300,925  9,104,862  102,101,201 

1850,  136,881  30,374,684  10,681,763  180,000,500 

1855,  162,629  45,113,774  28, 190, 925  249,262,500 

1858,  170.000  40,432,710  20,979,853  262,014,500 

1870,  250,526  47,524,845  14,108,821  684,089,400 

The  exports  of  Boston  have  taken  a great 
start  since  1830,  and  since  then  there  have 
been  constructed  nine  lines  of  railroad,  which 
radiate  from  Boston  in  every  direction ; 
placing  every  town  in  New  England  in  con- 
nection with  it,  and  by  continuous  lines,  every 
city  of  the  Union,  from  Bangor  to  New 
Orleans,  St.  Louis,  Chicago,  and  St.  Paul. 
The  running  of  the  line  of  Cunard  steamers 
gives  it  a European  connection  more  prompt 
and  regular  than  any  other.  Its  extensive 
trade  shows  the  effect  of  these  connections, 
and  its  taxable  valuation  the  wealth  that 
accumulates  from  its  manufacturing  industry. 
That  valuation  was,  for  1870,  $584,089,400, 
and  the  population  250,526. 

CHAPTER  III. 

NEW  YORK— TELEGRAPH— EXPRESS- 
GOLD. 

Tiie  city  of  New  York,  at  the  close  of  the 
revolution,  was  the  second  city  of  the  new 
world,  taking  rank  after  Philadelphia.  Its  in- 
ternal trade  was  limited  to  the  capacity  of  the 
Hudson  river,  but  its  traders  pushed  across  to 
Lake  Champlain,  and  even  to  Lake  Ontario, 
whence  they  drew  skins  and  furs  from  the 
Indians,  and  brought  down  some  of  the  prod- 
uce of  Vermont  and  New  Hampshire.  At 
this  date  there  was  little  trade  west  of 
Albany.  The  trade  was  mostly  with  tho 


186 


LAND  SETTLEMENT INTERNAL  TRADE. 


towns  on  tlie  east  side  of  the  river,  and  with 
Rutland,  Burlington,  and  other  Vermont 
towns,  as  well  as  the  western  towns  of  Massa- 
chusetts. Remittances  -were  made  from 
these  towns  in  ashes,  wheat,  etc.,  and  during 
the  embargo  and  war,  smuggling  was  very  ex- 
tensively carried  on,  taking  pay  in  specie. 
The  goods  went  up  the  river  in  sloops.  The 
New  England  cities  had  equal  commercial 
advantages,  and  Philadelphia  enjoyed  many 
others  in  addition.  The  valley  of  the  Hud- 
son furnished,  however,  large  supplies  of 
farm  produce  during  the  wars  of  Europe, 
which  gave  a preponderance  to  the  New 
York  trade,  and  it  began  to  gain  strength. 
In  1807  the  passage  of  Fulton’s  steamer  to 
Albany  gave  a great  impulse  to  the  river 
trade.  Her  statesmen,  however,  soon  saw 
the  necessity  of  a more  extended  inland  com- 
munication, and  the  canal,  which  had  been 
projected  before  the  peace,  became  a legal 
reality  in  1817,  and  a physical  fact  in  1825. 
The  capital  of  the  New  York  merchants  be- 
gan to  be  invested  in  enterprises  which  re- 
sulted in  centring  trade  in  the  city.  The 
canal  connection  opened  the  vast  circle  of 
the  lake  trade  to  New  York  city,  and  poured 
into  its  basin  the  western  farm  produce  at 
rates  far  below  what  the  same  articles  could 
he  raised  for  at  the  east.  As  a necessity, 
therefore,  New  York  became  the  point  of 
supply,  not  only  for  the  foreign  trade,  but 
for  the  neighboring  states.  The  growing 
manufactures  of  Philadelphia  and  Boston 
found  cheaper  food  in  New  York  than  in 
their  own  neighborhood,  and  North  river 
sloops  and  schooners  continued  the  Erie 
canal  to  the  Delaware  and  the  Charles  river. 
As  new  routes  to  the  west,  and  more  ex- 
tended settlements  in  that  region  opened 
new  sources  for  the  supply  of  produce,  and 
new  markets  for  goods,  the  tendency  was  to 
New  York.  The  capital  engaged  in  com- 
merce at  that  point  being  the  largest,  prod- 
uce found  readier  advances  and  more 
prompt  realization,  while  the  large  imports 
and  consignments  of  foreign  goods  made  the 
assortment  larger  and  the  average  cost  less 
there  than  elsewhere.  The  same  circum- 
stance that  drew  produce  into  New  York 
bay,  also  drew  eastern  manufactures  to  the 
same  point,  and  this  increased  the  assort- 
ment which  was  to  be  found  at  the  common 
centre.  The  fact  that  produce  tended  gen- 
erally to  New  York,  as  a matter  of  course 
made  it  the  centre  of  finance.  The  United 
States  government,  and  bank,  and  mint  had 


been  established  at  Philadelphia.  Those 
circumstances  could  not,  however,  control 
the  currents  of  trade.  The  pork,  and  corn, 
and  wheat  of  the  west,  the  manufactures  of 
the  east,  the  tobacco,  cotton,  and  rice  of  the 
south,  being  sent  to  New  York  to  obtain 
advances,  it  followed  that  from  all  quarters 
bills  drawn  against  produce  ran  on  New 
York.  Those  bills  found  buyers  among 
the  country  dealers,  who,  in  all  directions, 
wanted  to  remit  to  New  York  to  pay  for 
goods  there  purchased.  Capital  could  not 
keep  aloof  from  the  focus  of  transactions,  and 
all  loans  to  be  made  or  financial  operations 
to  be  conducted,  sought  New  York.  For 
the  same  reason  all  funds  seeking  investments 
went  there  to  find  them.  Produce,  goods, 
raw  material,  capital,  all  operated  in  refer- 
ence to  New  York,  and  the  foreign  trade 
was  the  motor  which  kept  up  the  circulation. 
This  tendency  to  a centre  once  commenced, 
cannot  be  turned,  but  it  strengthens  with 
the  general  increase  of  the  country.  The 
other  cities  strive  to  turn  a portion  of  the 
current  each  in  its  own  direction,  but  the 
result  of  those  efforts  is  only  to  increase  the 
aggregate  trade  of  the  whole. 

If  the  amount  of  specie  exported,  and  for 
the  most  part  that  is  but  a transit  trade  from 
California,  is  deducted  from  the  New  York 
account,  New  Orleans  will  be  found  to  come 
within  $88,000,000  of  it.  The  lines  of 
communication  with  the  interior,  and  the 
facilities  for  advancing  on  produce,  drew  to 
New  York  a considerable  portion  of  the 
western  produce,  and  operations  are  now 
there  carried  on  which  partake  of  a specula- 
tive character.  Pork,  flour,  etc.,  are  often  sold 
largely  for  future  delivery  on  the  New  York 
exchange ; and  much  of  the  cotton  shipped 
from  southern  ports  direct  to  Europe,  is 
resold  in  New  York  many  times  before  it 
arrives  out.  When  the  cotton  is  put  on 
board  ship  for  Liverpool,  samples  and  bills 
of  lading  are  sent  to  New  York,  and  the 
cotton  sold  “ in  transitu  ” — that  is,  during 
its  passage  to  Europe.  Should  the  ocean 
telegraph  come  into  operation,  this  system 
could  be  carried  to  a much  greater  extent, 
since  news  from  the  Liverpool  market  could 
be  received  at  least  thirty  days  after  a cargo 
is  shipped  before  its  arrival  out;  and  in 
speculative  times,  other  articles  will  be  sub- 
ject to  the  same  operations.  The  export  of 
corn  first  became  a large  business  in  the 
famine  years  of  1847-8,  and  the  sub- 
divisions of  qualities,  round  and  flat,  yellow, 


NEW  YORK — TELEGRAPH — EXPRESS GOLD. 


187 


white,  etc.,  then  manifested  themselves.  In 
1859  the  crops  were  greatly  beyond  any 
former  experience,  and  every  available 
means  of  transportation  was  taken  up  to 
convey  them  to  market.  The  realization  of 
them  depends  upon  the  quantities  that  Eu- 
rope may  require,  and  this  depends  upon  the 
events  of  a few  weeks.  The  steamers  now 
give  intelligence  in  eight  or  ten  days,  when 
formerly  thirty  were  required.  Since  the 


ocean  telegraphs  have  worked,  the  price  of 
corn  in  Liverpool  is  known  simultaneously 
in  New  York  and  Chicago,  and  water  trans- 
portation pressed  to  the  utmost  before  the 
frosts  close  it. 

The  proportion  which  each  of  the  cities 
named  enjoys  of  the  aggregate  export  trade 
of  the  whole  country,  is  seen  in  the  following 
table : — 


EXPORTS  OF  THE  LEADING  ARTICLES  OF  DOMESTIC  PRODUCE  FROM  THE  CHIEF  ATLANTIC  CITIES  IN  1870. 


Boston. 

Philadelphia. 

Baltimore. 

New  Orleans. 

New  York. 

Total. 

B?ef 

$92,631 

$34,957 

$28,521 

$9,237 

$1,754,953 

$1,920,299 

Pork 

441,698 

116,147 

110,710 

25,914 

2,098,345 

2,792,814 

Lumber 

223,755 

92,556 

108,029 

30,691 

729,692 

1,194,723 

Furniture 

448,720 

3,181 

2,060 

2,122 

600,520 

1,056,603 

Petroleum  and  coal  oils. 

586,130 

11,662,120 

452,120 

6,920 

19,815,159 

32,522,449 

Butter 

37,875 

13,128 

30,694 

7,785 

415,136 

504,618 

Cheese 

7,623 

5,018 

11,644 

2,397 

8,824,987 

8,851,669 

Hams,  &c 

255,511 

39,272 

52,859 

57,341 

5,589,822 

5,994,505 

Lard 

139,694 

234,626 

288,657 

227,196 

4,980,906 

5,870,979 

Tallow 

346,547 

119,746 

65,518 

231,969 

3,013,415 

3,777,195 

Cotton 

148,179 

3,393,510 

100,686,701 

44  076,531 

148,304,921 

Tobacco,  manufactured. 

151,345 

6,218 

35,247 

4,657 

1,246,669 

1,434,176 

“ leaf 

478,226 

26,757 

3,553,418 

3,047,593 

12,373,804 

19,479,798 

Rice 

7,922 

85 

18 

500 

55,157 

63,682 

Naval  stores 

58,321 

10,687 

607,787 

27,484 

1,446,21 8 

2,150,497 

Brass  manufactures 

2,764 

1,095 

2,372 

143 

150,438 

156,792 

Iron  “ .... 

1,615,554 

384,107 

11,832 

16,297 

8,015,365 

10,043,155 

Cotton  “ .... 

50,980 

5,403 

112,203 

12,519 

2,354,747 

3,135,910 

Wood  “ 

767,770 

894,773 

771,105 

334,125 

3,083,275 

5,851,048 

Gold  and  silver  coin .... 

10,073 

7,317 

19,740 

270,366 

11,227,516 

11,556,012 

“ bullion.. 



• ••••••• 

11,674,570 

11,674,570 

Com  

80,519 

190,164 

224,180 

144,624 

976,208 

1,715,695 

Wheat 

1,504,377 

1,293,645 

444,180 

28,154,215 

31,396,417 

Flour 

1,160,653 

923,955 

2,320,651 

1,611,270 

11,614,663 

17,631,198 

Spirits 

652,952 

280 

366 

1,753 

40,846 

696,097 

Sewing  machines 

117,934 

2,460 

285 

2,155 

2,066,224 

2,187,058 

Total 

$7,784,376  ! 

$16,278,329  $13,507,177! 

$107,237,091  $186,983,288 

$331,963,180 

The  opening  of  the  Erie  canal  in  1825, 
gave  the  first  decided  impulse  to  the  city 
business,  and  produced  a powerful  effect 
upon  its  prosperity.  The  impulse  was  pro- 
longed under  the  bank  excitement  that  ex- 
ploded in  1837.  The  effect  of  railroad  ex- 
tension at  the  West  has,  in  the  last  twenty- 
five  years,  had  a still  more  powerful  influence 
upon  its  growth.  The  following  table  gives 
the  population,  imports,  exports,  and  taxable 
valuation,  for  a long  period : — 


1684, 

1750, 

1790, 

1800, 

1820, 

1830, 

1840, 

I860, 

1855, 

1860, 

1870, 


Population. 

2,600 

10,381 

33,131 

60,489 

128,706 

203,007 

312,710 

615,547 

629,904 

813,668 

942,310 


Imports. 

*4,679 

267,130 

10,739,250 

26.201,000 

23,629.216 

80,624^070 

60,440,750 

111,123,524 

164,776,611 

233,718,718 

315,200,022 


Exports. 

*10,093 

35,632 

2,605,415 

14.045.079 
13,160,918 
19,697,983 

84.264.080 
62,712,789 

118,781,288 

138,036,650 

264,131,205 


Valuation. 


*25,645,807 
69,530,763 
126,288,518 
252,233,615 
286,061 ,816 
486,998,278 
677,230,666 
906,283,404 


Up 


to  the  year  1840,  the  business  of  the 
West  depended  mostly  on  the  canal,  and  by 


way  of  New  Orleans.  The  city  held  then  a 
kind  of  monopoly,  but,  like  all  monopolies, 
it  cramped  the  producers.  The  large  ex- 
penditure at  the  West  for  bank  capital,  in 
the  years  1836-37,  caused  a great  credit 
demand  for  goods  upon  New  York,  which 
was  generally  met.  The  facilities  granted 
in  those  years  by  the  American  bankers  in 
London,  for  the  purchase  of  goods  on  credit, 
placed  these  within  the  reach  of  any  dealer 
who  could  make  a fair  show  ; and  the  goods 
obtained  on  credit  required  to  be  sold  on 
the  same  terms.  The  rivalry  thus  produced 
among  those  who  could  command  goods,  was 
very  great,  and  the  utmost  efforts  were  made 
to  obtain  paper  in  exchange  for  goods.  The 
hanks  showed  the  same  eagerness  to  discount 
the  paper  that  the  merchants  did  to  obtain 
it,  and  the  mass  grew  in  a rapid  ratio,  from 
the  small  country  dealers  to  city  jobbers  and 
importers,  and  London  bankers,  until  the 


188 


LAND  SETTLEMENT INTERNAL  TRADE. 


Bank  of  England,  in  August,  1836,  issued  a 
warning  to  those  houses  to  curtail  their 
credits.  This  was  the  “ hand  writing  on  the 
wall  ” — settling  day  had  come.  The  business 
south  and  west  had  then  been  eagerly  sought 
after  by  the  jobbing-houses,  who  employed 
drummers  to  haunt  the  New  York  hotels 
and  beset  every  new-comer  with  tempta- 
tions to  buy.  The  drummers  of  the  day  had 
usually  no  limit  placed  upon  their  expenses, 
which  were  intended  to  cover  the  “atten- 
tions ” shown  to  the  country  dealer.  These 
revelled  in  the  dissipations  of  the  town  at  the 
apparent  expense  of  their  entertainer,  and 
they  could  do  no  less  than  buy  of  such  atten- 
tive friends,  when  the  bill,  whether  they  dis- 
covered it  or  not,  would  often  cover  their 
own  and  other  people’s  expenses.  The 
mode  of  business  then  in  vogue,  when  banks 
were  multiplying  so  rapidly  all  over  the 
country,  was  to  take  the  paper  of  the  dealers, 
payable  at  their  own  local  bank.  It  was 
supposed  that  the  dealer  would  be  sure  to 
keep  his  credit  good  at  home.  The  result 
showed  that  the  dealer,  in  order  to  pay  the 
New  York  bill,  got  an  accommodation  note 
done  at  his  bank,  which  thus  became  the 
debtor  of  the  New  York  collecting  bank. 
By  this  means,  although  the  New  York 
merchant  got  his  money,  the  west  was  still 
in  debt  to  the  east ; and  this  continued  as 
long  as  capital  was  sent  from  the  east  to  the 
west  to  start  banks.  The  whole  system  ex- 
ploded in  183V,  and  the  bank  capitals  were 
sunk  in  these  credits.  From  that  date  there 
was  to  be  “ no  more  credit,”  a threat  which 
has  often  been  repeated  without  being  put 
in  practice.  The  only  permanent  change 
seemed  to  be  to  require  notes  payable  in  New 
York.  Those  are  given  at  dates  longer  or 
shorter,  but  the  system  is  an  improvement 
on  the  old  mode.  With  1840  also  began 
the  railroad  building,  which  brought  stocks 
and  bonds  to  New  York  for  negotiation,  and 
the  money  being  expended  west  promoted 
consumption  of  goods,  which  caused  a greater 
demand  in  New  York.  The  exports  of  prod- 
uce increased  at  higher  prices,  and  the 
sales  of  these  gave  the  producers  the  means 
of  buying  more  goods.  In  1838,  thirty-one 
years  after  the  first  successful  steamboat,  ar- 
rived the  first  ocean  steamer,  the  Sirius,  at 
New  York,  marking  a new  era  in  foreign 
trade,  since  communication  with  Europe 
was  now  reduced  to  half  the  time,  a circum- 
stance which  was  equivalent  to  an  increase  of 
capital  engaged  in  commerce,  because  it 


could  be  turned  oftener.  From  that  date 
ocean  steam  navigation  rapidly  increased. 
The  electric  telegraph  of  Morse  began  a few 
years  later  to  exert  its  influence  in  facili- 
tating intercourse,  and  the  express  sys- 
tem was  also  introduced.  It  is  somewhat 
singular,  that  with  the  breakdown  of  the  old 
credit  system  and  the  adoption  of  the  plan 
of  making  notes  payable  in  New  York,  four 
important  elements,  having  the  highest  cen- 
tralizing tendencies,  began  to  operate.  These 
were,  first,  ocean  navigation;  second,  the 
more  extended  construction  of  railroads ; 
third,  the  invention  and  construction  of  tele- 
graphs— there  are  now  25,000  miles  of  wires, 
that  have  Cost  over  $2,000,000,  consolidated 
in  one  company,  and  New  York  is  the  centre 
for  the  whole : and,  fourth,  the  express  system 
of  intercourse.  All  these,  centring  in  New 
York,  came  into  active  operation  at  the  mo- 
ment when  gold  was  discovered  in  California, 
to  give  them  an  extraordinary  impetus.  The 
express  business  is  peculiarly  American,  and 
has  grown  with  a vigor  which  places  it  among 
the  most  important  trading  facilities  of  the 
country.  In  the  spring  of  1839,  a year  after 
the  arrival  of  the  Sirius  at  New  York,  W. 
F.  Harnden,  then  out  of  employ  in  Boston, 
was  advised  by  his  friends  to  get  a valise  and 
take  small  packages  and  parcels  from  his 
acquaintances  in  Boston  to  their  correspond- 
ents in  New  York,  and  return  with  what 
they  had  to  send,  making  a small  charge  for 
his  services.  He  did  so,  and  discovered  that 
a great  public  want  was  to  be  supplied.  He 
soon  contracted  with  the  railroad  to  send  a 
car  through  with , his  goods,  and  with  busi- 
ness tact  he  opened  offices,  employed  mes- 
sengers, pushing  the  business  with  American 
energy.  In  1840  an  opposition  was  started 
by  Adams.  In  1 841  new  fields  were  explored 
by  Harnden,  who  ran  an  express  between 
Albany  and  Boston,  and  one  between  Albany 
and  New  York.  Route  after  route  was  then 
opened  to  express  agents,  penetrating  further 
and  further,  and  multiplying  their  lines  in 
the  densely  settled  portions  of  the  country; 
not  only  between  cities,  but  between  different 
portions  of  the  same  city.  In  1845,  Buffalo 
was  reached  by  Wells  <fe  Co.  In  1849,  the 
gold  fever  brought  California  within  the 
scope  of  express  operations,  and  from  San 
Francisco  as  a centre,  “pony”  expresses  ran 
to  the  diggings  with  great  success,  placing 
the  solitary  miners  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  in 
direct  connection  with  the  mint  and  with  Wall 
street.  As  these  busy  agents  continued  to 


NEW  YORK TELEGRAPH EXPRESS GOLD. 


189 


increase,  and  lessen  the  difficulty  of  commu- 
nication, trade  multiplied  as  a consequence. 
The  telegraph  had  also  penetrated  most 
direct  routes  between  cities,  and  that  instru- 
ment came  in  aid  of  the  express,  which 
executed  an  order  transmitted  by  telegraph. 
Instead  of  waiting  the  slow  course  of  the 
post  for  a reply,  the  telegraph  gave  an  in- 
stantaneous order  for  goods  that  the  express 
conveyed.  Thus,  the  three  months  that 
would  once  have  been  consumed  in  coming 
from  Cincinnati  for  goods  and  returning,  was 
reduced  to  three  days.  All  the  cities  of  the 
union  were  brought  within  similar  speaking 
distance.  In  1850  it  was  estimated  that  the 
expresses  travelled  twenty  thousand  miles 
daily,  in  discharge  of  orders,  and  the  service 
has  since  doubled.  Steam,  the  telegraph, 
and  the  express,  had  thus  greatly  facilitated 
trade,  by  making  the  long  semi-annual  ex- 
peditions  to  the  large  cities,  for  the  pur- 
chase of  goods,  unnecessary.  The  small 
dealers  could  now  buy  frequently  in  small 
parcels  the  goods  they  found  most  in  demand, 
instead  of  buying  a six  months’  stock,  and 
taking  the  risk  of  the  goods  being  well  se- 
lected for  the  market.  This  also  brought 
with  it  another  change.  It  had  been  the 
case,  that  most  of  the  goods  sent  to  America 
formerly  were  the  surplus  stock  of  the  British 
manufacturers.  That  is,  where  patterns  had 
been  got  up  for  the  home  consumption  and 
the  regular  trade  supplied,  there  would  remain 
a stock  that  had  become  comparatively  dead 
by  age.  This  dead  stock  was  “ good  enough 
for  the  American  market,”  and  was  sent  out 
almost  for  what  it  would  bring,  and  being 
transported  into  the  interior  for  six  months’ 
sales,  became  a sort  of  Hobson’s  choice  for 
the  consumers.  When,  however,  frequent 
arrivals  of  new  goods  came  to  be  laid  before 
the  customers,  they  immediately  displayed 
a taste  and  exercised  a choice.  Ill-assorted 
goods  would  now  not  sell  at  all.  English 
refuse  became  of  no  value,  because  American 
taste  was  developing  itself  with  considerable 
strength.  The  customer  was  no  longer  to 
take  what  was  laid  before  him;  but  in  order 
to  sell,  the  dealer  was  now  to  exercise  his 
sagacity  as  to  what  would  please  his  taste 
in  selecting  it,  and  his  judgment  in  buying  it. 
The  manufacturer  of  dry  goods  was  obliged 
to  follow  in  the  same  direction,  and  the  em- 
ployment of  designers  became  important.  It 
was  now  that  the  sagacity  and  taste  of  the 
factory  agents  were  felt  to  be  an  indispensa- 
ble element  in  the  success  of  a concern.  The 


production  of  a design  was  promptly  followed 
by  the  judgment  of  the  public,  and  manu- 
facturing became,  as  it  were,  one  of  the  fine 
arts. 

The  joint  operation  of  these  new  agencies 
manifested  itself  in  1850,  when  the  west  had 
become  enriched  with  the  large  sales  it  had 
made  of  its  produce  during  the  famine  years, 
and  the  railroads  and  canals,  then  in  opera- 
tion, had  profited  largely  by  the  high  freights 
and  tolls  paid  by  produce  on  its  way  to 
market.  The  gold  of  California  was  now  in 
its  turn  adding  a new  stimulus  to  the  busi- 
ness of  the  city.  In  1852  the  Michigan 
roads  had  opened  through  to  Chicago,  and 
New  York  was  now,  by  rail,  within  thirty- 
six  hours  of  that  city.  The  projection  and 
construction  of  railroads  went  on  rapidly, 
constantly  adding  to  the  business  of  New 
York — the  common  centre,  whence  the 
means  to  build  were  drawn,  and  to  which 
these  means  returned  in  the  purchase  of 
goods.  The  Crystal  Palace,  in  1853,  drew 
great  numbers  of  persons  to  the  city,  and 
gave  a start  to  retail  trade,  which  had  an 
important  effect  upon  the  value  of  real 
estate  and  the  location  of  business.  In  the 
above  table  we  find  that  the  imports  into 
the  city  from  abroad  rose  fifty  per  cent, 
in  the  five  years  to  1855,  and  the  total 
valuation  two  hundred  millions.  This  valu- 
ation followed  the  changed  location  of  busi- 
ness. In  the  speculative  times  of  1836-7, 
the  old  Pearl  street  house,  in  Hanover  square, 
was  the  headquarters  of  country  dealers,  and 
that  square  the  centre  of  the  dry  goods  trade, 
around  which  all  others  agglomerated.  The 
great  fire  of  December,  1835,  by  which  the 
lower  part  of  the  city  and  a value  of  $18,000,- 
000  was  destroyed,  broke  up  the  location, 
which,  however,  was  speedily  rebuilt,  and, with 
the  rebuilding,  the  Merchants’  Exchange  was 
enlarged  and  reconstructed  at  an  expense  of 
$1,800,000.  The  usual  fate  overtook  occu- 
piers in  the  inordinate  demands  of  landlords, 
and  the  leading  firms  pushed  across  Wall 
street  and  made  Pine  and  Cedar  streets  the 
great  centre.  Gradually  firm  after  firm  ven- 
tured upon  Broadway,  which,  in  1845,  was 
visited  by  a fire  that  caused  the  rebuilding  of 
the  lower  portion,  no  longer  for  dwellings, 
but  for  substantial  stores.  One  firm  went 
up  to  the  corner  of  Rector  street,  one-quarter 
of  a mile  from  the  Battery,  and  took  the  site, 
long  vacant,  of  the  old  Grace  church,  at  a 
lease.  “Too  high  up,”  said  conservatism, 
as  the  crowd  rushed  by,  and  the  great  retail 


190 


LAND  SETTLEMENT INTERNAL  TRADE. 


firm  of  Stewart  & Co.  took  the  old  Wash- 
ington hotel  at  the  corner  of  Chambers,  and 
occupied  the  block  with  a marble  store  which 
then  had  no  equal  in  any  city.  Here  import- 
ing and  jobbing  are  carried  on  to  the  extent 
of  $<>0,000,000  by  one  who,  by  his  energy 
and  enterprise,  has  increased  a capital  of  a 
few  hundreds  to  millions,  and  now  employs 
twelve  hundred  and  fifty  clerks  and  others. 
There  were  handsome  stores  before  this  was 
built,  but  this  commenced  the  era  of  expen- 
sive structures.  The  demands  of  luxury 
have  led  to  the  erection,  up  town,  of  elegant 
trade  palaces  of  iron,  marble,  and  freestone, 
for  the  leading  firms  in  the  dry  goods,  jew- 
elry, clothing,  porcelain,  and  other  branches 
of  trade  ; while  the  wholesale  dealers,  invad- 
ing the  old  college  ground,  have  covered  it 
with  stores  of  great  size  and  beauty.  The 
centre  of  business  which,  thirty  years  since, 
was  within  a fourth  of  a mile  of  the  Battery, 
is  now  two  and  a half  miles  distant,  and  the 
value  of  real  estate  has  followed  like  a 
“ground  swell,”  reaching  incredible  rates. 
A marble  store  on  Broadway  was  rented  in 
1860  for  $50,000  per  annum,  and  in  1867 
for  $75,000.  A lot  on  Broadway,  near 
Broome,  sold  in  1859  at  private  sale  for 
$110,000  ; it  had  been  bought  at  auction  in 
1852  for  $35,000.  An  elderly  gentleman 
present  remarked,  “ This  lot  was  part  of 
the  old  Colonel  Bayard  farm,  and  was  given 
by  the  colonel  to  his  barber  for  a hair-dress- 
ing bill.  I have  seen  it  sold  four  times,  and 
each  time  people  decided  the  buyer  crazy  to 
give  such  a price.”  The  Society  Library 
lot,  corner  of  Leonard  and  Broadway,  sold 
with  the  building  in  1849  for  $60,000;  after 
the  costly  stores  erected  on  rt  were  burned  in 
1867,  it  was  sold  for  $650,000,  and  a build- 
ing costing  about  $1,100,000  erected  on  it. 
The  “ Central  Park,”  to  cover  843  acres, 
was  projected,  and  has  since  been  prosecuted, 
at  a cost  of  over  $12,000,000,  having  em- 
ployed in  the  fourteen  years,  over  50,000 
men. 

The  city  has  spread  toward  the  upper 
wards  through  the  agency  of  railroads,  which 
have  enabled  workmen  and  merchants  to  live 
further  from  their  places  of  occupation.  The 
importance  of  consuming  as  little  time  as 
possible  in  coaling  from  and  going  to  occu- 
pation, made  it  requisite  formerly,  that  per- 
sons should  live  near  their  business.  The 
old  cities  of  Europe  are  thus  built  with  nar- 
row streets  and  very  high  houses,  to  accom- 


modate many  in  a little  space.  Modern 
cities  are  built  on  a broader  scale.  Omni- 
busses first  came  into  play  to  give  a greater 
breadth  to  the  dwellings  of  the  people,  and 
horse-railroads  have  still  further  expanded 
the  area.  Manhattan  island  forming  a point 
at  the  Battery,  runs  northerly  between  the 
North  and  East  rivers.  From  the  park  the 
city  spreads  in  a fan-like  form  east  and  west, 
and  from  that  point  radiate  twelve  railroads, 
including  the  Harlem,  which  runs  by  the 
Fourth  avenue  to  Albany.  The  eleven  other 
roads  run  on  as  many  routes,  and  carry  their 
passengers  from  three  to  eight  miles,  return- 
ing with  them  to  a common  centre  every 
morning  to  business.  These  eleven  railroads 
cost  about  $12,500,000.  In  1869  they 
transported  about  131,000,000  passengers. 
There  are  in  New  York  city  thirteen  other 
railroads  not  having  their  terminus  at  the 
Park,  which  cost  somewhat  more  than  the 
eleven,  and  carry  altogether  nearly  as  many 
passengers.  In  Brooklyn  there  are  thirty 
horse-railroads  which  have  cost  nearly  $25,- 
000,000,  and  carry  about  150,000,01)0  pas- 
sengers. The  telegraph  also  comes  to  play 
an  important  part  in  the  city  business.  Many 
large  firms  whose  offices  are  in  the  lower 
part  of  the  city,  and  warehouses  and  manu- 
factories in  the  upper  part,  connect  the  two 
by  telegraph,  to  transmit  orders  and  for  in- 
formation. All  the  police  stations  connect 
by  telegraph  to  give  alarms  of  robbery,  and 
fire  alarms  are  also  conveyed  by  the  same 
means.  The  “ time  ball  ” also  operates  by 
telegraph.  On  the  top  of  the  Custom  House, 
sixty  feet  high,  is  a mast  on  which  slides  a 
black  ball  some  twenty  feet  in  diameter. 
This  can  be  seen  from  any  part  of  the 
bay.  It  is  hoisted  to  the  top  of  the  pole, 
and  is  so  arranged  that  the  moment  the 
sun  reaches  the  zenith,  by  observation,  at 
Albany,  it  is  released  by  electricity  and  falls, 
marking  twelve  o’clock,  by  which  every 
ship  master  in  the  port  may  sethis  chrono- 
meter. 

All  the  railroads,  continually  running 
night  and  day,  aided  by  six  stage  routes, 
bring  the  business  and  working  population 
to  their  occupations,  and  back  at  night ; yet 
all  these  routes  are  insufficient  to  transport 
the  hundreds  of  thousands  who  need  convey* 
ance,  within  a reasonable  time,  and  new 
routes,  elevated  and  viaduct,  have  been  pro* 
jected,  with  cars  drawn  by  steam  power,  to 
I facilitate  rapid  transit. 


INTERIOR  OF  A CARPET  HOUSE. 


OF  A DRY  COOL 


NEW  YORK TELEGRAPH EXPRESS GOLD. 


191 


The  aggregate  of  passengers  conveyed  I 
each  year  by  the  railroads  and  stages  in  New 
York  and  Brooklyn,  is  about  ten  times  the 
pop  u.at  ion  of  the  United  States  ; the  greater 
number  going  to  and  coming  from  their  busi- 
ness by  these  conveyances  every  working 
day.  This  facility  of  transit  allows  business 
men  to  concentrate  their  stores  and  ware- 
houses around  certain  points,  thus  affording 
better  opportunities  lor  purchasers  from  dis- 
tant cities  and  villages  to  purchase  their 
stocks  without  spending  much  time  in  going 
from  one  warehouse  to  another  to  select  the 
great  variety  of  goods  which  go  to  make  up 
a general  assortment.  The  importers,  job- 
bers, and  large  dealers  reside,  of  course,  at  a 
distance  from  their  warehouses,  but  they  are 
brought  promptly  and  readily  to  them  by 
cars,  stages,  or  steamers.  Yet  these  centres 
of  trade  change  materially  every  four  or 
five  years.  The  jobbing  and  importing  trade 
in  all  articles  pertaining  to  a dry  goods  stock, 
are  none  of  them  below  the  Park,  and  are 
rapidly  concentrating  above  Canal  street, 
while  the  retailers  of  the  first  class  are  erect- 
ing their  magnificent  stores  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  Union  Park.  Ten  or  twelve  years 
ago  Lord  & Taylor’s  fine  store  on  the  corner 
of  Grand  street  and  Broadway,  was  regarded 
as  very  far  up-town  for  a retail  establish- 
ment. That,  as  well  as  Arnold  & Consta- 
ble’s on  Canal  street,  and  Stewart’s  on  the 
corner  of  Broadway  and  Chambers  street, 
have  now  been  for  some  time  wholesale 
stores  exclusively.  The  change  is  a very 
great  one  from  the  time  when  even  large 
dealers  lived  in  the  dwelling  houses  over 
their  stores  and  boarded  their  clerks. 

Perhaps  the  greatest  difference  which 
purchasers  who  come  to  the  New  York  mar- 
ket are  called  to  observe,  is  in  the  division 
of  the  goods.  Formerly  a dry  goods  jobber 
kept  a lull  assortment  of  every  thing  in  his 
line,  and  it  required  no  little  tact  and  exer- 
cise of  memory  to  keep  each  line  full.  Now, 
one  house  confines  it-elf  to  woolens,  another 
to  cottons,  another  to  silk<,  and  yet  another 
to  fancy  articles ; and  even  these  are  sub- 
divided, as  in  woolens  one  will  keep  tailors’ 
goods,  another  dress  goods  and  women’s 
wear;  in  cottons,  one  confines  himself  to 
prints,  another  to  the  plain  goods  ; in  silks, 
we  have  establishments  for  piece  goods,  and 
others  for  ribbons  and  smaller  articles.  The 
tendency  is  to  a still  more  minute  division, 
and  thus  we  have  a dealer  in  hosiery,  a ! 


I dealer  in  lace,  a dealer  in  perfumery,  a dealer 
in  pocket  handkerchiefs,  a dealer  in  shawls, 
and  one  house  keeps  nothing  but  suspenders  ! 
Thirty  years  since  the  manufacture  of  cloth- 
ing became  a separate  business,  and  it  has 
since  subdivided  into  many  branches.  There 
are  now  establishments  exclusively  for  the 
sale  of  spool  cotton,  and  others  for  braids 
and  bindings,  and  others  still  for  buttons,  for 
fringes,  and  for  Berlin  wool.  We  are  not 
prepared  to  say  that  the  division  of  goods 
here  noticed  may  not  be  a positive  conveni- 
ence, although  it  certainly  increases  the  la- 
bor of  the  purchaser.  It  has  led  to  greater 
method  in  the  purchase  of  goods,  and  buyers 
are  now  provided  with  catalogues  of  goods  in 
each  department,  so  arranged  as  to  make 
purchasing  much  easier.  Buyers  now  make 
a corresponding  division  also  of  their  time, 
and  one  day  is  set  apart  for  woolens,  another 
for  silks,  and  so  on  through  the  whole  cata- 
logue. Could  some  staid  customer  of  the 
last  century,  awaking  from  a Rip  Van  Win- 
kle sleep,  be  set  down  at  this  day  in  some  of 
our  thronged  thoroughfares,  he  would  get 
sorely  jostled  and  foot- weary  before  he  had 
made  a black  cross  against  all  the  articles 
upon  his  memorandum. 

The  supplies  of  goods  for  the  country 
dealers  are  derived  from  various  sources ; 
small  wares  from  city  manufacturers  ; do- 
mestics from  the  mills  or  agents  ; foreign 
goods  from  importers  or  agents  of  foreign 
manufacturers.  The  local  manufactures  are 
generally  purchased  by  the  jobbers  to  make 
good  their  assortments,  as  is  also  the  case 
with  hardware,  and  most  articles  of  domestic 
manufacture,  except  the  productions  of  the 
large  mills,  which  have  agents  in  the  city  for 
their  special  sale. 

It  was  formerly  the  custom  for  all  parties, 
manufacturers, importers,  jobbers,  and  houses 
jobbing  in  the  small  way,  as  well  as  retailers, 
to  give  long  credits,  six,  eight,  and  twelve 
months,  and  the  jobbers  often  sold  for  open 
notes,  which  were  frequently  renewed  wholly 
or  in  part  when  they  came  due.  The  panic 
of  18.07,  and  the  hard  times  of  18G1,  put  an 
end  to  most  of  this.  Four  months  is  now 
generally  the  longest  limit,  and  many  of  the 
best  houses  sell  oidy  on  thirty  or  sixty  days 
time,  or  for  cash  only.  Custom  is  now 
sought  in  the  country  by  means  of  agents, 
instead  of  by  the  old  system  of  drummers. 
Sellers  depend  largely  upon  the  mercantile 
I agencies  for  information  in  relation  to  the 


192 


LAND  SETTLEMENT INTERNAL  TRADE. 


liability  of  the  buyer.  These  agencies  have 
ramifications  in  every  town  of  the  country, 
but  their  usefulness  is  not  what  was  at  one 
time  expected  from  them.  The  grocers 
who  sell  sugar,  etc.,  do  so  generally  at  from 
ten  to  sixty  days,  and  get  their  money  before 
the  dry  goods  people,  who  also  come  after 
the  hardware  and  earthenware  dealers.  The 
supply  of  capital  in  the  city,  under  these 
circumstances,  brings  to  it  the  largest  assort- 
ment of  goods,  and  of  course  it  is  the  best 
point  at  which  to  buy,  the  more  so  that  at 
times  there  is  an  over- supply  of  goods,  which 
being  worked  off  at  auction,  realizes  a loss 
sometimes  of  25  to  30  per  cent,  to  the  im- 
porter and  foreign  owner,  and  of  course  to 
the  advantage  of  the  country  buyer.  The 


general  attractions  offered  to  buyers  make  it 
to  the  advantage  of  sellers  elsewhere  to  send 
their  merchandise  to  New  York  to  meet  the 
purchasers.  Boston  made,  recently,  an  at- 
tempt to  break  up  this,  by  establishing  sales 
of  her  manufactures  there,  instead  of  sending 
them  to  New  York.  The  force  of  centrali- 
zation is,  however,  difficult  to  overcome,  and 
the  imports  at  New  York  show  an  increas- 
ing share  of  the  arrivals  into  the  whole 
country.  Thus,  in  1870,  New  York  im- 
ported $315,200,022  out  of  an  aggregate  of 
$462,377,587  ; in  1840,  $60,0U0,000  out  of 
an  aggregate  of  $121,000,000.  The  propor- 
tionate imports  at  the  Atlantic  ports  are  as 
follows : — 


IMPORTS  OF  CERTAIN  GOODS  INTO  THE  LEADING  ATLANTIC  PORTS,  AND  ALSO  THE  TOTAL  IMPORTS  INTO 

THE  UNION  IN  1870. 


Boston. 

Philadelphia. 

Baltimore. 

New  Orleans. 

New  York.  Tot’l  into  Union. 

Gold  Bullion 

$13,026 

92,159 

680,760 

“ coin 

20^876 

17,586 

84,446 

9,514,749 

11,376,190 

Silver  bullion 

1,302 

500 

40,636 

162,432 

“ coin 

5,581 

531,337 

3,293,649 

14,199,797 

Coffee 

1,210,044 

193,761 

6,409,818 

2,283,647 

12,578,223 

24,234,879 

Tea 

848,369 

106 

882 

6,168 

12,206,109 

13,863,273 

Linseed  

1,140,091 

2,886,860 

4,141,304 

Guano 

35,342 

618,422 

5,003 

734,726 

1,415,519 

Wool,  raw  and  fleece. . 

2,303,687 

33,669 

25,763 

3,497,254 

6,743,350 

Wool  shoddy, 

53,412 

55,609 

Watches 

117,651 

12,311 

13,156 

2,830,692 

3,021,875 

Coal,  bituminous t 

222,848 

332 

1,164 

276,230 

1,110316 

Woolens 

4,113,117 

40,839 

271,123 

290.846 

28,569,889 

34,435,059 

Cotton  hose, 

31,547 

100,411 

61,690 

4,388,551 

4,734,475 

“ goods 

775,651 

21,648 

73,297 

1,354,439 

15,849,392 

18,645,578 

Steel,  bar  and  ingot. . . 

572,338 

232*241 

41,967 

15  233 

1,322,492 

2,342,408 

Silks 

882,661 

330 

108,045 

129,306 

22,168.766 

23,904,048 

Linen  

1,704,048 

8,413 

61,868 

340,097 

14,316,599 

16,859,124 

Gloves 

229,580 

19,938 

22,881 

3,059,987 

3,405,966 

Window  glass 

£32,938 

15,434 

14,038 

34,002 

1,575,949 

2,322,504 

Gunny  bags  and  cloth. 

133,288 

2,064 

2,538 

133,961 

291,218 

Iron,  bar. 

1,555,501 

214,439 

7,155 

73,777 

855,099 

3,156,236 

“ pig 

326,835 

221,709 

74,083 

214,868 

874,267 

2,509,280 

“ railroad 

316.742 

113,788 

292,623 

2,099,567 

4,858.971 

9,669,571 

Cutlery  and  files. ...... 

114,208 

15,671 

26,169 

144,579 

1,824,016 

2,248,819 

.Tute 

157,635 

273 

4,078 

1,537,422 

1,799,928 

Leather 

19,173 

17,083 

132,251 

5,458,624 

5*, 728*028 

Hides 

3,131,711 

8,534 

306,877 

1,721 

9,999,971 

14,402,339 

Molasses 

1,912,447 

2,981,538 

782,566 

263,090 

4,635,966 

12,888,250 

Sugar 

7,731,049 

5,556,549 

7,795,164 

1,787,030 

30,301,742 

56,939,034 

Other  articles 

1,867,308 

523,154 

301,221 

499,929 

9,041,854 

15,583,831 

Total 

$31,731,152  $10,235,356  $17,195,890 

$10,367,943 

$208,778,188 

$311,871,006 

The  aggregate  imports  at  these  five  ports 
of  these  items,  are  $278,308,529,  which 
leaves  $33,562,477  of  these  goods  as  the 


imports  of  all  the  other  ports.  The  im- 
ports of  coffee  at  New  Orleans  from  Bra- 
zil, to  go  up  the  river,  are  large ; and  at 


NEW  YORK TELEGRAPH EXPRESS GOLD. 


193 


Boston,  coffee  and  hides,  from  the  same 
source,  figure  high.  But  both  Baltimore 
and  Philadelphia  receive  much  coffee  direct ; 
in  fact,  that  is  the  largest  item  of  import  at 
those  two  cities.  Boston  imports  many  ma- 
terials for  her  manufacture — linseed,  wool, 
jute,  hides,  etc.  Philadelphia  also  imports 
some  of  these.  The  great  mass  of  the 
goods,  for  the  consumption  of  the  interior, 
passes  into  the  port  of  New  York.  It  is  to  be 
borne  in  mind,  however,  that  many  of  the 
importations  at  New  York  are  really  foi 
Philadelphia,  Albany,  and  other  cities,  even 
western  ones.  They  are  entered  at  the 
custom-house  by  a broker,  who  pays  the  duty 
and  forwards  them  by  express  to  their  desti- 
nation, for  a small  commission.  The  express, 
the  rails,  and  the  telegraph,  facilitate  such 
operations. 

The  gold  and  silver  imported  at  New  York 
are  from  various  sources,  but  in  the  last  few 
years  have  consisted  mostly  of  doubloons  and 
Spanish  gold  from  Europe,  to  re-export  to 
Havana  for  the  purchase  of  the  sugar  crop. 
In  1 857,  that  movement  was  very  large,  early 
in  the  year,  to  the  island,  and  subsequently, 
when  the  stock  of  sugar  accumulated  very 
largely  in  New  York,  the  gold  came  back  from 
Havana  to  prevent  it  from  being  sacrificed. 
The  bulk  of  the  gold  that  forms  the  amount 
exported,  is  direct  from  California,  and  has 
been  annually  since  the  discovery,  in  sums 
of  nearly  fifty  millions. 

The  gold  extracted  from  the  earth  by  the 
miners  of  California  has  a considerable  degree 
of  purity,  and  before  refining  establishments 
were  set  up  in  the  state,  sold  at  from  $16  to 
$20  per  ounce.  Much  was  used  as  a currency. 
It  was  carried  in  little  leather  pouches,  and 
weighed  out  to  shopmen  in  exchange  for 
goods.  A large  portion  of  it  was  carried  to 
New  York,  in  the  pockets  of  home-bound 
adventurers,  and  sold  in  New  York  at  such 
rates  as  were  possible.  The  buyers  mostly 
had  it  sent  to  Philadelphia,  by  express,  at  an 
expense  of  3-8  per  cent.  It  was  then  assayed 
and  coined  at  the  public  mint,  and  the  pro- 
ceeds returned  to  the  owner.  This  expensive 
and  round-about  process  led  to  the  establish- 
ment of  a mint  in  San  Francisco  and  an  assay 
office  in  New  York,  where  the  miners  them- 
selves could  deposit  the  dust  and  get  the  full 
value  in  return.  When  the  dust  is  deposited, 
a certificate  of  weight  is  given  and  the  gold 
in  bars  returned.  There  are  a number  of 
private  assaying  houses  in  San  Francisco, 
where  the  dust  is  cast  into  bars  of  large  size. 

12  * 


Most  of  these  are  connected  with  banking 
houses,  and  the  bars  are  the  basis  of  ex- 
change. The  express  companies  deal  in  this 
gold.  The  miner  now  having  a lot  of  dust, 
sells  it  to  an  express  agent,  or  sends  it  down 
to  a banker  in  San  Francisco,  who  has  it 
assayed  and  cast  into  bars.  The  value  is 
credited  to  the  depositor,  less  the  commis- 
sions. The  bars  are  mostly  shipped  to  New 
York,  and  the  bankers  draw  bills  against 
them  in  favor  of  those  who  have  remittances 
to  make  to  the  bank.  The  competition 
among  the  bankers  reduces  the  rate  at  which 
these  bills  can  be  sold  to  a point  that  leaves 
apparently  no  profit,  and  it  is  charged  in 
some  cases  that  they  draw  at  a loss,  in  the 
view  of  monopolizing  the  business.  The  re- 
fining leaves  a small  profit.  The  cost  of 
shipping  the  gold  to  New  York  may  be  thus 
stated:  freight,  etc.,  $1  57 ; state  stamp  on 
bill,  20  cents;  insurance,  $1  50 — making 
$3  27  on  $100.  But  the  insurer  gets  from 
the  Mutual  companies  scrip,  worth  on  an 
average  35  cts.,  which  reduces  the  cost  to 
$2  92.  The  bars  sometimes  command  a 
higher  price  in  New  York  than  in  San  Fran- 
•cisco.  Thus,  a bar  of  100  ounces,  880  fine, 
is  at  this  moment  worth  par  in  San  Fran- 
cisco, and  900  fine  it  is  worth  87£  cts.  pre- 
mium in  New  York.  This  price  has  reference 
to  the  gold  only  of  the  bar.  There  is  some 
silver  in  each.  Thus,  in  the  bar  880  fine 
there  is  88  ounces  of  gold,  11Y  of  silver,  and 
1-2  oz.  copper.  In  the  other,  90  oz.  gold,  9 
1-2  silver,  and  a half  copper.  This  makes 
the  gold  worthy  per  cent,  more  in  New  York 
than  in  San  Francisco,  and  reduces  the  cost 
of  the  bill  to  $1  92  per  cent.  It  is  evident 
that  he  who  sells  his  bills  at  2 per  cent, 
makes  but  8-10  of  1 per  cent,  or,  including 
other  items,  a small  loss.  If  the  house  feels 
strong  enough  to  insure  itself,  it  saves 
the  insurance ; but  this  must  be  more  or  less 
a risk  to  those  who  take  the  bills.  Thus 
the  operation  is  one  of  mere  cost  of  ship- 
ment of  the  gold ; but  the  control  of  so 
much  gold  on  paper  issued  is  an  object  with 
large  firms.  The  higher  value  of  gold  at 
New  York  arises  from  the  fact  that  it  is  the 
financial  centre  of  the  Union.  The  ex- 
changes of  the  country  with  Europe  and 
with  the  interior  of  the  states  turn  there. 
The  south  ships  its  cotton,  and  tobacco,  and 
rice ; the  west  its  produce ; and  the  At- 
lantic states  their  manufactures.  These,  as 
we  have  seen,  give  an  aggregate  value  of  over 
$300,000,000  sent  abroad  in  a year.  The 


194 


LAND  SETTLEMENT INTERNAL  TRADE. 


shippers  of  these  goods  draw  hills  against 
them,  and  offer  them  for  sale.  The  market 
of  sale  must  he  where  the  greatest  demand 
for  them  for  remittance  exists.  New  York 
imports  two-thirds  of  all  the  goods  received 
into  the  country,  consequently  the  demand 
is  there  the  greatest  for  the  bills,  and  they  are 
sent  there  for  sale.  It  happens  that  the  great 
majority  of  bill-drawers  are  unknown  to  the 
buyers,  hence  there  is  hesitation  in  taking 
their  bills.  To  obviate  this,  a number  of  large 
banking-houses  connected  abroad,  and  having 
great  capital,  buy  the  bills  that  have  “ bills 
lading”  attached,  and  the  goods  are  sent  to 
their  correspondents  abroad.  In  the  seasons 
of  the  year  when  shipments  are  most  active, 
these  bills  are  plenty  and  low.  They  are 
then  purchased  and  endorsed,  and  sold  with 
the  endorsement  at  a higher  rate  when  the 
season  advances  and  the  cotton-bills  run 
short.  If  the  demand  is  active,  and  the  rate 
of  money  higher  here  than  abroad,  the  bank- 
ers draw  on  their  own  resources,  and  lend 
them  the  proceeds  of  the  bills  they  sell  on 
stocks  or  other  securities.  They  are  also  the 
buyers  of  the  gold  bars  as  they  arrive  from 
California,  and  pay  such  rates  as  the  demand 
for  exchange,  or  the  rate  of  money,  or  the 
price  of  gold  on  the  continent,  present  or 
prospective,  will  warrant.  A demand  for 
silver  to  go  to  Asia,  causes  a demand  for  gold 
with  which  to  buy  it  on  the  continent,  and 
this  demand  draws  upon  New  York,  and  in- 
directly upon  the  whole  country.  It  is  ob- 
vious that  the  bill  business  is  thus  mostly  in 
the  hands  of  large  bankers.  This  grows  out 
of  the  fact  that  there  is  abroad  no  market 
for  bills  on  New  Y ork.  Thus,  the  New  Y ork 
importer  of  goods,  in  order  to  pay  for  them, 
buys  a bill  on  ships’  specie,  instead  of  order- 
ing his  creditor  abroad  to  draw  upon  him, 
which  would  be  done  if  a bill  on  New  York 
were  saleable  in  the  London  market.  It  is 
understood,  that  when  such  amounts  of  bills 
from  the  south  and  elsewhere  are  sent  to 
New  York  for  sale,  the  proceeds  of  those 
sales  form  a large  fund  due  by  New  York  to 
those  sections.  These  funds  are  deposited 
in  the  New  York  banks,  and  by  them  em- 
ployed in  loans  upon  stocks,  or  in  such  other 
ways  as  will  pay  an  interest.  Thus  the 
whole  country  contributes  to  the  supply  of 
capital  at  that  common  centre.  The  New 
York  banks,  some  fifteen  years  since,  in 
order  to  encourage  that  centralization,  allow- 
ed interest  of  4 per  cent,  on  the  funds  so 
deposited.  This  caused  a greater  sum  to  be 


so  employed,  and  imposed  on  the  banks  the 
necessity  of  lending  it,  in  order  to  make  a 
profit.  The  amount  of  funds  lying  in  New 
York  varies  from  $50,000,000  to  $90,000, 
000,  according  to  the  season  of  the  year.  The 
banks  in  all  sections  of  the  country  that  have 
such  funds  in  New  York  do  not  draw  against 
it  directly  in  favor  of  those  who  want  to  re- 
mit to  New  York,  but  they  use  the  funds  to 
buy  up  their  own  or  other  paper  cheap. 
The  effect  is  to  swell  the  supply  of  funds  in 
New  York,  and  at  times  foster  speculation 
there. 

The  funds  that  accumulate  in  New  York, 
make  it  also  the  mart  for  stock  operations ; 
and  these  are  very  large,  as  well  for  regular 
investments,  as  for  merely  gambling  opera- 
tions. 

With  the  creation  of  any  commodity 
whatever,  there  springs  up  almost  simul- 
taneously a class  of  persons  to  deal  in  it,  and 
to  appropriate  more  or  less  capital  to  its 
prosecution.  This  capital  is  most  generally 
applied  to  the  purchasing  of  it  when  it  is 
thought  to  be  cheap,  in  order  to  hold  it  un- 
til it  can  be  disposed  of  to  better  advantage, 
or  in  advancing  money  to  the  needy  seller. 
The  persons  so  engaged,  by  devoting  their 
time  and  attention  to  the  subject  of  their 
traffic,  reduce  it  to  science,  and  soon  deter- 
mine and  classify  the  kinds  and  qualities 
adapted  to  the  markets  and  wants  of  the 
public.  The  dealing  in  stocks  is  compara- 
tively of  modern  origin,  and  commenced  with 
the  credit  system  of  the  European  govern- 
ments, at  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, when  William  of  Orange  avoided  the 
dangers  that  beset  the  throne  of  the  Stuarts, 
by  borrowing  money  instead  of  extorting  it 
by  illegal  taxation  like  Charles  I.,  or  steal- 
ing it  like  Charles  II.  The  moment  that 
government  stocks — or  certificates  of  debt 
issued  to  the  government  creditors — made 
their  appearance,  they  became  subjects  of 
traffic,  and  with  the  certificates  of  stock  in 
corporate  companies,  formed  the  material  for 
speculation,  and  the  exchange  markets, 
where  the  surplus  wealth  of  communities 
seek  investment,  became  the  theatre  for 
operations  in  securities.  The  American 
colonies  had  no  stock  debts  or  corporate 
companies,  since  little  surplus  capital  existed 
for  such  investments.  The  paper  money 
that  they  issued,  however,  afforded  by  its 
fluctuation  many  opportunities  of  jobbing  at 
the  expense  of  the  public.  When  the  revo- 
lutionary war  broke  out,  the  continental 


NEW  YORK TELEGRAPH EXPRESS GOLD. 


195 


money  of  the  federal  government  gave  a 
larger  field  for  these  operations,  which  were 
based  mostly  on  the  rapid  depreciation  of 
their  value.  Thus,  a person  Avould  borrow  a 
sum,  returnable  in  the  same  description  in  a 
fixed  time..  Its  value  in  that  time  having 
fallen,  he  could  return  it  at  a profit.  Sup- 
posing the  money  to  be  par,  a person  would 
pledge  a bag  of  $1,000  for  paper ; a fall  of 
eio-ht  or  ten  per  cent,  in  sixty  days  would 
enable  him  to  redeem  his  dollars  with  $100 
profit.  In  the  time  of  the  revolution,  a 
stage  driver,  having  a talent  that  way,  made 
money  in  the  traffic,  and  subsequently  be- 
came the  head  of  the  largest  bank  and  stock 
house  of  his  time  in  New  York,  ending  a 
long  and  respected  life  by  suicide.  This 
paper  soon  perished,  and  was  succeeded  by 
the  government  stock,  representing  the  pub- 
lic debt.  This  was  soon  accompanied  by 
United  States  and  other  bank  stock,  insu- 
rance, canal,  mining,  railroad,  etc.,  to  an 
immense  amount.  Up  to  1825  the  majority 
of  the  stocks  were  banks  and  insurance,  but 
there  was  no  regular  stock  market.  There 
were  brokers  who  bought  and  sold  stocks, 
but  there  was  no  concentration  of  operations, 
lii  that  year  the  legislature  of  New  York 
authorized  the  New  York  stock  board,  which 
has  since  continued  to  be  the  stock  market. 
Within  the  last  twenty  years,  boards  of  bro- 
kers have  been  started  in  most  of  our  large 
cities.  Their  operations  are,  however,  to 
a very  great  extent,  based  upon  those  of 
New  York,  with  which  they  communicate  by 
telegraph.  The  board  of  brokers  sits  with 
closed  doors  from  10  1-2  A.  M.  to  12  M. ; 
an  irregular  session  is  held  about  2 1-2  P.  M. 
There  is  a president,  a treasurer,  and  a 
secretary  ; the  latter  keeps  a list  of  all  the 
stocks  dealt  in  in  the  market ; the  members 
are  admitted  by  ballot  after  notice  of  nomi- 
nation by  one  of  the  board.  He  must  have 
been  at  least  a year  a broker,  and  on  his 
admission  pays  a fee  of  $450.  When  the 
members  are  assembled,  the  president  pro- 
ceeds to  call  the  list,  and  as  each  stock  is 
named  in  succession,  those  who  have  orders 
to  buy  or  sell  make  their  offers,  and  the 
transactions  are  recorded,  when  they  become 
binding  upon  the  members.  If  any  of  these 
defaults  he  loses  his  scat  until  he  can  pay  or 
arrange  the  claim.  Thc'thcory  of  the  board 
is  that  it  is  the  reservoir  where  all  stocks 
held  by  the  public  are  brought  for  sale,  and 
where  all  buyers  come,  through  brokers,  to 
purchase.  The  number  of  brokers  is  some 


850,  and  the  commission  charged  is  a quar- 
ter of  one  per  cent.,  that  is  to  say  $25  on 
$10,000.  The  board  requires  each  member 
to  charge  not  less  than  a quarter,  but  as 
most  of  them  sell  again  for  their  customers  for 
nothing,  the  charge  is  practically  one-eighth. 

The  quantities  of  stocks  to  be  dealt  in 
have  rapidly  increased  of  late  years.  A 
late  report  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
gives  an  approximation  of  the  amount  of 
stocks  now  in  the  country;  to  that  return 
we  have  prefixed  the  amount  of  the  same  at 
a previous  date  : — 

1840.  1871. 

United  States  stocks  and  bonds.  $25,000,000  $1,935,000,000 

State  stocks 174,906,997  425,132.425 

113  cities’  & towns’  stk’s  & b’ds.  13,107,000  312,000,000 

350  counties’ stocks  and  bonds. . 1,500,000  125,000,000 

1715  national  bank  stocks 290,772,091  436,478,311 

State  Banks 92,000,000 

150  insurance  stocks 40,101 ,000  100,000,000 

Railroad  stocks 45,102,208  1.100,000,000 

“ bonds 40,897,792  1,220,000,000 

15  canal  and  navigation  stocks. . 31,219,911  48.000,000 

“ “ bonds..  19,207,101  46,400,0000 

45  mining  and  other  co’s  stocks. . 10,101,201  185,000,000 

“ “ bonds..  1,000,000  7,800,000 

$692,915,301  $6,032,810,736 
This  vast  increase  of  stocks  is  manipulated 
mostly  upon  the  New  York  stock  board,  and 
the  stocks  are  to  a considerable  extent 
caused  to  float  by  the  sums  serit  to  brokers 
by  their  correspondents  in  the  country  and 
neighboring  cities,  with  which  to  “ operate.” 
The  speculative  transactions  far  exceed  those 
of  other  kinds.  The  actual  investments  of 
capital  are  not  large  at  the  board.  Those  who 
take  stocks  for  income  do  so  of  the  issuers 
when  the  proposals  are  put  out,  and  they 
hold  them  like  the  United  States  and  state 
stocks,  which  rarely  come  on  the  stock  ex- 
change. The  mass  of  the  transactions  then 
are  of  non-dividend  paying  stocks,  that  arc 
the  foot-ball  of  speculation,  and  so  pay  the 
operators  profits.  The  brokers  are  mostly 
cliques  of  operators,  who,  when  the  market 
is  dull  and  prices  are  low,  combine,  as  “bulls,” 
to  purchase,  producing  a rapid  rise,  in  the 
hope,  seldom  disappointed,  that  the  spec- 
ulative community  will  be  tempted  by  that 
rise  to  come  in  and  buy  ; as  they  do  so  the 
brokers  unload  themselves  upon  the  buyers, 
and  then  become  “ bears,”  combining  to  de- 
press the  market,  and  to  compel  a fall  at  least 
equal  to  the  rise,  skinning  the  outsiders  in 
the  process.  The  speculators  generally  buy 
on  time,  that  is,  to  pay  for  the  stock  at  their 
option,  any  day  within  thirty  or  sixty,  as  the 
case  maybe.  In  this  way  the  buyer  pays 
interest  on  the  purchases.  lie  may  also  sell 
to  deliver  at  any  day  he  pleases  within  a 
specified  time,  or  “ seller’s  option,”  or  to 


190 


LAND  SETTLEMENT INTERNAL  TRADE. 


deliver  at  the  “buyer’s  option;”  lie  may 
borrow  stock  and  sell  it  in  the  hope  of  buy- 
ing it  back  cheaper  on  delivery ; he  may 
buy  a privilege  to  deliver  a stock  at  a certain 
price  at  a specified  time,  or  not,  as  it  suits 
him ; or  he  may  sell  or  buy  a privilege  of 
taking  and  paying  for  a stock  or  not  as  it 
suits  him  ; he  may  buy  cash  stock  and  sell 
on  time.  To  produce  a fall,  cliques  will  sell 
for  cash  all  the  stock  they  have  or  can  bor- 
row, and  then  offer  time  contracts  without 
limit,  until  other  holders  are  frightened  and 
sell.  Confederates  keeping  up  a clamor  to 
alarm  the  public  at  such  times,  all  offers  to 
buy  are  smothered,  and  orders  to  purchase 
are  suppressed.  On  the  other  hand,  a com- 
bination for  a rise  is  accompanied  by  the 
most  astonishing  prophecies  of  a “ good 
time.”  Considerable  quantities  are  bought  on 
time,  the  sellers  hoping  to  get  them  cheaper. 
Meanwhile  the  cash  stock  is  bought  up  and 
pledged  for  more  money  to  repeat  the  opera- 
tion ; the  demand  for  the  stock  bought  on 
time  runs  up  the  rate,  and  the  public  are 
expected  to  come  in  with  sufficient  strength 
to  let  the  clique  all  sell  out  at  a profit,  when 
they  will  be  ready  for  a bear  operation. 
There  are  numberless  modes  of  varying  and 
combining  speculative  operations,  which 
would  fill  a volume.  All  these  time  operations 
were  illegal  until  1859,  when  they  were  all 
legalized,  and  a stock  debt  may  now  be  col- 
lected like  any  other. 

The  amount  of  the  transactions  is  immense. 
In  1840,  the  aggregate  of  sales  for  the  month 
of  June  was  $3,684,460;  of  this  one-half  was 
bank  stock  and  one-half  Delaware  and  Hud- 
son canal.  In  June,  1857,  previous  to  the 
panic,  the  sales  reached  $250,000,000,  mostly 
railroad  stocks.  In  1871  the  sales  for  May 
were  considerably  over  $600,000,000.  In 
a speculative  year  the  stock  transactions 
will  run  twenty-eight  or  thirty-eight  thou- 
sand millions  of  dollars.  Those  trans- 
actions require  a great  deal  of  money  to  con- 
duct them,  and  these  funds  come  to  New 
York  to  a considerable  extent  from  neigh- 
boring cities,  as  well  as  from  the  west.  They 
also  employ  a large  portion  of  the  funds  of 
the  banks  put  out  “at  call,”  and  also  the 
proceeds  of  bills  sold  by  large  exchange 
houses.  Thus  we  may  suppose  a house  sells 
on  the  departure  of  a steam-packet  $500,- 
000  of  sterling  bills.  This  money  is  paid 
into  bank,  and  is  loaned  out  on  stock  secu- 
rities at  7 per  cent,  on  call,  until,  by  a suc- 
ceeding packet,  it  may  be  called  in  and  re- 


mitted in  gold  to  Europe.  This  operation, 
on  a large  scale,  will  induce  the  banks  to 
call  in  their  loans  to  protect  their  specie, 
and  the  value  of  money  will  rise  in  the 
market.  The  rule  in  stock  speculation  is 
loss,  and  the  experience  of  the  most  fortu- 
nate dealers  is  that  the  interest  and  com- 
missions absorb  the  whole  average  profits. 
The  funds  sent  to  New  York,  therefore,  for 
stock-dealing,  only  contribute  to  the  central 
profits. 

If  we  were  to  throw  into  a tabular  form 
the  new  agencies  of  business  centring  in  New 
York,  we  should  have  results  as  follows: — 

Cost. 

Ocean  navigation,  15  lines,  135  ships,  $96,000,000 

Telegraphs 60,000  miles,  44,063,000 

Express  companies. ..  112,000  “ 45,000,000 

Railroads 30,000  “ 1,128,000,000 

City  railroads 55  “ 23,000,000 

Canals 59,000,000 

$1,395,063,000 

The  number  of  strangers  that  are  drawn 
to  the  city  in  a year  by  ocean  steamers  is 
nearly  300,000,  and  they  fill  the  hotels  that 
have  of  late  taken  such  splendid  proportions, 
and  have  been  carried  up  to  Thirty -first  street 
and  Broadway,  a distance  of  three  and  a half 
miles  from  the  old  business  centre.  The 
march  of  hotels  up-town  has  been  steady. 
The  Astor  House  was,  in  1833,  the  up-town 
house.  From  the  Astor  House  to  Chambers 
street  was  a long  remove,  in  1840.  In  1852 
the  St.  Nicholas  advanced  a mile  to  Spring 
street,  and  became  not  only  the  up-town,  but 
the  “upper-crust”  of  all  hotels.  In  1854, 
Niblo’s  Garden,  on  Prince  street,  was  occu- 
pied by  the  Metropolitan;  and,  soon  fol- 
lowing, the  Everett  House,  taking  ground  a 
mile  higher,  opened  on  Sixteenth  street ; and 
in  1859,  superior  in  distance,  size,  magnifi- 
cence. and  expense,  the  Fifth  Avenue  Hotel 
opened  on  23d  street.  The  Southern,  the 
Grand  Central,  the  Hoffman,  the  St.  James, 
and  a score  of  others  have  since  been  added, 
besides  the  family  hotels,  like  the  New  York, 
St.  Denis,  Clarendon,  St.  Germain,  Spingler, 
Sturtevant,  Prescott,  etc.  Extravagance 
is  only  an  allurement.  Indeed,  the  hotel- 
keepers  seem  to  have  followed  the  advice  of 
Boyden,  when  he  first  gave  popularity  to 
the  Astor.  His  cracker-baker  complained 
that  the  waiters  were  inattentive:  “Kill  me 
two  of  them,  and  put  it  in  your  bill,”  he 
briskly  replied.  And  to  his  partner,  who 
spoke  of  the  exactions  of  guests,  lie  replied, 
“ Furnish  a gold-dust  pudding,  with  diamond 


NEW  YORK TELEGRAPH EXPRESS GOLD. 


197 


plums,  if  they  require,  but  charge  accord- 
ingly.” That  is  the  secret  of  hotel-keep- 
ing in  New  York — let  nothing  be  wanting, 
not  even  a sufficient  charge.  Immense  waste, 
no  doubt,  attends  the  system,  but  it  attracts. 
The  splendid  arrangements  tempt  many  city 
families  to  take  up  their  abode  in  them ; and 
a small  family,  even  at  $3.50  per  day  per  head, 
do  better  than  to  pay  the  extravagant  rents 
demanded  for  fashionable  houses,  with  the  at- 
tendant expenses.  That  these  things  are  not 
done  cheaply,  the  bill  of  $91,000,  presented 
to  the  city  of  New  York  by  the  Metropolitan 
Hotel  for  the  entertainment  of  the  Japanese 
ambassadors,  is  ample  evidence.  The  nu- 
merous visitors  to  New  York  from  the  south 
and  west,  as  well  as  the  constant  current  of 
traders,  better  class  of  emigrants,  and  Cali- 
fornia passengers,  fill  the  hotels  of  the  lower 
parts  of  the  city;  and  the  whole  mass,  by 
their  purchases  for  personal  use,  make  an 
important  part  of  the  city  retail  trade,  of 
which  Broadway  is  the  main  locality.  The 
records  of  arrivals  show  the  average  number 
per  day  at  all  the  hotels  is  not  far  from 
3,000,  or  the  immense  number  of  $1,095,000 
per  annum.  This,  at  an  average  of  $3,  gives 
$3,285,000  for  hotel  bills  alone,  but  all  the 
expenses  cannot  be  estimated  under  $12,000, 
000.  The  facilities  of  railroads  and  ferries 
also  induce  a great  deal  of  trade  from  sur- 
rounding cities  and  towns  within  a reason- 
able distance.  Within  an  area  of  fifty  miles 
there  are  few  who  do  not  do  their  shopping 
in  New  York,  and  very  many  of  the  small 
local  shops  send  daily  messages  to  the  city 
to  complete  orders  they  may  have  received. 
On  the  other  hgnd,  a large  quantity  of  manu- 
factures that  were  formerly  confined  to  the 
city  are  now  sent  long  distances  into  the 
country,  particularly  in  the  winter,  where  they 
are  done  cheaply  by  those  who  arc  not  de- 
pendent upon  them  for  a living.  The  large 
circle  of  country  thus  loses  its  rural  charac- 
ter, and  partakes  of  the  metropolitan  nature. 
It  follows  that,  as  city  localities  become 
known  for  particular  business,  and  visitors 
seek  them  to  trade,  all  of  that  class  of  deal- 
ers seek  business  places  there,  and  thus  con- 
centrate the  business.  The  fixed  population 
of  the  city  is  given  by  the  census  at  942,338, 
and,  with  the  neighborhood  more  or  less 
connected,  the  wants  of  3,000,000  require 
to  be  met  from  the  retail  stores  of  the  cities, 
in  addition  to  the  crowds  of  visitors  from 


abroad.  The  retail  trade  is  therefore  a very 
important  one,  and  its  v^igor,  apart  from  the 
purchases  of  visitors,  depends  in  some  degree 
upon  the  cheapness  of  food.  Where  immi- 
gration has  reached  over  1,000  souls  per 
day,  composed  of  persons  skilled  in  almost 
all  employments,  and  all  eager  to  obtain 
work,  competing  with  those  in  the  city  who 
live  by  their  occupation,  and  with  those  in 
the  country,  who  are,  so  to  speak,  amateurs, 
it  is  evident  the  wages  cannot  be  extravagant, 
and  the  amount  that  can  be  spared  from 
them,  after  deducting  house-rent  and  food, 
is  not  much  in  the  average.  Food  is,  how- 
ever, the  important  item.  When  that  is 
cheap,  trade  is  more  active.  An  indication 
may  be  afforded  in  flour.  The  quantity  used 
in  New  York  is  2,400,000  bbls.  per  annum. 
In  some  years  the  price  has  been  as  low  as  $4, 
in  others  as  high  as  $15.  The  difference  be- 
tween these  sums  is  $26,400,000  in  one  year. 
The  tax,  in  years  of  dear  food,  thus  thrown 
upon  the  city  is  enormous.  It  fortunately 
happens,  that  in  years  of  dear  food  the  food- 
sellers  make  more  purchases.  The  influence 
of  such  times  is  very  perceptible  in  the 
operations  of  the  pawnbroker,  whose  busi- 
ness it  is  to  lend  small  sums  on  the  pledge 
of  almost  any  conceivable  article  that  may 
be  offered.  They  charge  24  per  cent,  per 
annum,  and  the  article,  unredeemed  at  the 
end  of  a year,  becomes  forfeit  by  sale  at 
auction.  The  amount  of  loans  in  one  year 
was  given  at  $3,000,000,  and  the  number  of 
pledges  4,875,000,  which  would  give  an 
average  of  about  68  cents  each  loan. 

While  cheap  food  is  an  important  item  in 
the  ability  to  purchase,  yet  employment  is 
the  main  consideration,  and  this  depends 
upon  the  prosperity  of  those  sources  on 
which  the  city  depends  for  its  business. 
These  in  the  long  run  are  progressive,  not- 
withstanding the  reactions  that  sometimes 
take  place,  and  the  diffusion  of  employments 
which  machine  inventions  tend  to  bring 
about. 

The  general  prosperity  of  the  whole  country 
docs  not,  however,  depend  upon  any  locality : 
all  production  and  all  business  is  constantly 
seeking  the  conditions  under  which  it  can 
best  thrive.  These  cannot  be  dictated;  but, 
being  found,  the  general  welfare  is  as  a con- 
sequence the  greater,  and  with  the  general 
prosperity  the  common  centre  must  only 
become  the  more  magnificent. 


BANKS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


CHAPTER  I. 

BILLS  OF  CREDIT— GOVERNMENT  ISSUES— 
UNITED  STATES  BANK. 

The  use  of  paper  money  is  a modern  in- 
vention, and  may  yet  be  considered  but  as 
an  experiment,  since,  from  its  first  emission 
in  the  colonies  to  the  present  day,  paper 
money  bas  constantly  changed  its  form  and 
tbe  conditions  of  its  circulation.  It  is  not  to 
be  inferred  that  paper  money  originated  on 
this  continent,  since  it  was  used  long  before 
in  the  countries  of  Europe.  Its  nature  has, 
however,  been  more  developed  here,  and 
every  phase  of  it  has  had  full  scope  of  action. 
The  circulating  paper  is  of  many  forms,  such 
as  bills  of  exchange,  promissory  notes,  gov- 
ernment bonds  bearing  interest,  government 
bonds  bearing  no  interest  and  not  converti- 
ble into  coin,  but  receivable  for  taxes  and 
dues,  and  lastly,  corporation  or  bank  prom- 
ises to  pay  coin  on  demand.  There  are  many 
other  descriptions  of  circulating  paper,  but 
these  are  the  chief  that  are  used.  The  last 
two  are  those  which  have  figured  most  as 
money.  The  intention  of  paper  money  is  to 
supply  the  place  of  coin  where  that  article  is 
not  sufficiently  abundant,  as  was  eminently 
the  case  with  the  early  colonies.  The  colo- 
nies were  none  of  them  rich,  and  had  not 
been  able  to  import  and  keep  as  much  of  the 
precious  metals  as  would  serve  for  a currency, 
that  being  as  much  an  instrument  of  com- 
merce as  a road  or  a ship.  In  substituting 
paper  for  coin  there  is  no  difficulty  as  long 
as  the  quantity  emitted  does  not  exceed  the 
demands  of  business  for  a currency.  If  there  is 
no  trade — that  is,  if  no  one  wants  to  exchange 
his  commodities  for  others — there  is  no  want 
of  currency.  As  the  desire  to  trade  increases, 
a want  of  money  to  represent  commodities 
is  experienced,  and  the  want  is  proportioned 
to  the  numbers,  wealth,  and  activity  of  the 
traders  up  to  a certain  point;  because  when 
trade  is  very  active,  money  itself  changes 
hands  rapidly  and  performs  more  transfers 


than  when  it  is  sluggish.  There  must  be, 
however,  great  confidence  in  the  value  of  the 
money,  because  doubt  in  that  respect  in- 
stantly checks  traffic.  The  early  colonists 
were  in  that  position.  They  had  commodi- 
ties which  they  had  raised  and  made,  but 
they  had  no  currency,  or  not  enough.  In 
this  position,  in  1690,  it  became  necessary  for 
Massachusetts  to  send  a military  expedition 
to  Quebec  to  drive  the  French  out  of  Canada. 
The  expedition  failed,  and  the  troops  came 
back  clamorous  for  pay.  The  colony  had  no 
money  to  pay  with,  and  it  adopted  the  expe- 
dient of  issuing  promises  in  convenient 
amounts.  The  faith  of  the  colony  was 
pledged  for  the  payment  of  these,  and  they 
would  be  received  for  taxes  and  dues.  It 
will  be  observed,  that  these  bore  no  interest, 
and  were  not  convertible  into  coin.  They 
were,  in  fact,  mere  orders  of  the  government 
upon  farmers  and  others  for  food,  clothing, 
etc.,  in  favor  of  the  soldiers, 'to  be  called  in 
by  taxes,  not  to  be  paid  in  money.  The 
paper  was  worth  nothing  to  export.  Its  only 
value  consisted  in  its  being  good  to  pay  taxes 
with.  It  is  at  once  obvious  that  no  man 
wanted  more  than  would  suffice  for  that  pur- 
pose. The  aggregate  amount  that  could  be 
issued  was  then  measured  by  the  sum  of  the 
taxes.  In  order  to  increase  the  amount,  the 
colonial  government  made  it  a legal  tender, 
that  is,  compelled  creditors  to  take  it  for  pri- 
vate debts.  This  was  so  palpably  unjust,  and 
was  productive  of  so  many  evils,  that  the 
home  government  suppressed  it.  Neverthe- 
less, the  same  necessities  produced  similar 
devices,  and  other  colonies  followed  the  ex- 
ample of  Massachusetts  with  similar  results. 

In  1745,  Massachusetts,  to  defray  the  ex- 
pense of  an  expedition  to  Louisburg,  again 
issued  bills  of  credit  to  the  extent  of 
£3,000,000.  This  paper  speedily  deprecia- 
ted to  11  for  1:  that  is,  £l  in  silver  was 
worth  £ll  in  those  bills.  The  English  gov- 
ernment then  sent  out  £180,000  in  silver,  to 
pay  the  cost  of  the  expedition,  and  with  this 


BILLS  OF  CREDIT GOVERNMENT  ISSUES UNITED  STATES  BANK. 


199 


the  thrifty  colony  bought  up  its  own  paper 
at  11  for  1.  New  York,  during  the  period 
1709  to  1786,  made  thirty-four  issues  of  bills 
of  credit,  amounting  in  the  aggregate  to 
£1,563,407,  and  the  depreciation  was  about 
2 to  1 ; in  other  colonies  much  more.  The 
evils  attending  these  issues  were  very  great, 
but  the  cause  continued  to  operate,  and  when 
the  war  broke  out  in  1775,  the  Congress  of 
the  Confederation  was  forced  upon  the  issue 
of  $3,000,000  worth  of  “ continental  money,” 
as  distinguished  from  the  state  issues;  and 
to  give  these  issues  some  firmness,  they  made 
them  a legal  tender.  This  supply  of  paper, 
in  addition  to  the  colonial  emissions,  in- 
creased the  difficulties,  and  some  of  the  colo- 
nies went  a step  further  and  made  personal 
property  a legal  tender,  according  to  apprais- 
als to  be  made  for  the  purpose.  Notwith- 
standing the  general  discredit,  Congress  was 
obliged  to  push  the  issues.  In  1779  the 
amount  outstanding  was  $160,000,000,  and 
by  1780  it  reached  $200,000,000,  when  the 
value  fell  so  fast  that  before  the  end  of  the 
year  the  bills  ceased  to  circulate.  There  are 
those  still  living  who  remember  giving  $100 
for  “a  cake  of  gingerbread,”  or  $10,000  for 
a hat  cocked  in  the  fashion  of  the  day. 
The  whole  amount  issued  by  Congress  was 
$359,456,000,  and  on  the  formation  of  the 
new  government  they  were  purchased  at  the 
rate  of  1 cent  for  $1.  The  state  issues  met 
with  similar  fate.  The  entire  absence  of 
money  thus  brought  about,  with  the  attend- 
ant evils,  mainly  induced  the  adoption  of  the 
federal  constitution,  which  at  once  prohib- 
ited the  states  from  ever  again  issuing  “bills 
of  credit,”  or  making  “any  thing  but  gold 
and  silver  a tender  for  the  payment  of  debts.” 
That  is,  those  prohibitions  are  a record  of 
the  experience  derived  from  the  colonial  ex- 
periments in  paper  money. 

The  condemnation  of  “bills  of  credit”  was 
a great  good.  The  important  question  was, 
however,  what  to  do  next ; and  this  engaged 
all  minds.  Specie  had  vanished,  and  govern- 
ment paper  money  was  dead.  Mercantile 
sagacity  had,  however,  on  the  death  of  the 
continental  money,  devised  a partial  remedy 
in  1781.  This  consisted  of  the  substitution 
of  private  corporate  credit  in  place  of  gov- 
ernment credit,  and  took  shape  in  the  char- 
tering of  the  Bank  of  North  America,  at 
Philadelphia ; the  Bank  of  New  York,  in 
the  city  of  New  York ; and  the  Bank  of  Mas- 
sachusetts, in  Boston. 

It  is  an  erroneous  idea,  that  was  enter- 


tained for  a long  time,  that  banks,  by  the 
issues  of  credit,  create  capital,  and  on  this 
idea  many  new  banks  were  started,  impart- 
ing much  activity  to  trade.  The  good 
effects  of  their  operation  were  due,  however, 
rather  to  the  concentration  and  application 
of  capital  to  mercantile  uses,  than  to  an  in- 
crease in  the  quantity  of  capital.  Before  the 
establishment  of  banks,  individuals  kept  the 
money  they  received  in  their  own  houses, 
tempting  robberies,  and  subjecting  them- 
selves to  loss  of  interest,  and  to  risk  and 
trouble  in  seeking  small  investments.  The 
shopkeeper  and  merchant  who  received 
money  in  the  course  of  business  in  small 
sums,  kept  it  by  him  until  he  made  his 
wholesale  purchases,  when  he  paid  it  out 
altogether.  The  aggregate  sum  thus  lying 
entirely  idle  was  very  large.  On  the  estab- 
lishment of  a bank,  the  owners  of  money 
deposited  it  in  the  vaults.  The  institution 
thus  became  the  common  receptacle  for  all 
idle  funds.  Inasmuch  as  that,  although  all 
the  depositors  were  entitled  to  draw  their 
money  whenever  they  chose,  yet  but  a small 
proportion  did  so,  the  banks  might  safely 
lend  the  money  so  deposited  on  notes  at 
short  dates,  sixty  to  ninety  days,  and  still 
have  as  much  within  their  control  as  would 
meet  the  probable  demand  of  the  depositors 
for  payment.  It  was  necessary,  however, 
that  the  notes  discounted  should  be  prompt- 
ly paid  at  maturity,  in  order  that  the  bank, 
itself  subject  to  be  called  upon  to  pay  on 
demand,  might  have  control  of  the  means  of 
payment.  The  discount  of  mercantile  notes 
with  two  good  endorsers  then  became  the 
business  of  banks  ; and  we  may  here  remark 
in  passing,  that  this  wrought  a change  in  the 
mode  of  borrowing  money  in  the  communi- 
ty. Up  to  that  period,  good  character,  in- 
dustry, and  sobriety  were  security  for  loans. 
An  illustration  of  this  is  afforded  in  a be- 
quest of  Dr.  Franklin  in  trust  to  the  city 
(then  town)  of  Boston,  of  a sum  of  money 
from  which  young  mechanics  of  the  above 
characteristics  were  to  be  loaned  two  hun- 
dred dollars  to  start  them  in  business.  They 
were  to  repay  the  money  with  interest,  and 
the  sum,  with  its  accumulation,  was  to  con- 
tinue a fund  for  the  same  purpose.  The 
fund  still  continues  to  exist,  but  without 
accumulation.  Under  the  newly  established 
banking  system,  character  was  no  longer  an 
clement  of  credit.  A note  with  two  good 
names  became  indispensable.  The  capitals 
of  the  banks  were  seldom  paid  in  loanable 


200 


BANKS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


money.  They  were  notes  of  the  subscriber, 
or  real  estate,  and  were  mostly  designed  to 
inspire  confidence.  A portion  of  it  was  req- 
uisite to  be  kept  on  hand  in  specie  to  meet 
the  calls  of  depositors  and  note-holders. 
The  banks,  in  order  to  increase  their  loan- 
able funds,  were  permitted  to  issue  their  own 
promises  to  pay  specie  on  demand,  these 
promises  to  circulate  as  money.  The  old 
colonial  issues  of  credit  bills  did  not  pretend 
to  be  payable  on  demand,  and  the  applica- 
tion of  that  principle,  it  was  now  supposed, 
would  obviate  the  evils  that  had  grown  out 
of  the  old  system.  The  bills  were  freely 
taken  and  circulated.  The  institutions  were 
not  limited  in  the  amount  that  they  might 
issue,  and  they  increased  the  currency  al- 
most at  pleasure.  It  became  obvious,  how- 
ever, that  if  one  bank  issued  a larger  quan- 
tity in  proportion  than  the  other  banks,  its 
notes,  paid  into  the  rival  institutions,  would 
immediately  be  sent  back  to  it  for  redemp- 
tion, and  it  would  have  to  pay  in  specie  the 
balance  above  what  it  held  of  their  notes. 
Hence  the  laws  of  trade  compelled  each 
bank  to  keep  its  credits  within  a safe  ratio 
to  those  of  other  institutions.  This,  how- 
ever, did  not  prevent  all  from  increasing 
their  issues  to  any  extent  as  long  as  their 
mutual  balances  were  adjusted.  When, 
however,  the  whole  of  them  increased  their 
circulation,  the  mass  of  currency  became 
cheap,  a fact  which  manifests  itself  in  a rise  in 
prices  of  all  commodities.  The  effect  of  this 
is,  that  the  produce  of  the  country  ceases  to 
be  exported,  because  it  is  too  high  to  pay  a 
profit  to  the  merchant,  while,  on  the  other 
hand,  goods  are  imported  to  avail  of  the  high 
prices.  This  state  of  affairs  involves  an  ex- 
port of  specie,  which  drains  the  banks,  and 
forces  back  upon  them  their  bills  for  re- 
demption. Hence,  if  the  banks  regulate 
each  other  by  their  balances,  the  foreign 
trade  becomes  the  common  regulator  of  all. 
Kept  within  a certain  limit,  governed  by 
produce  and  business,  the  bank  circulation 
is  useful.  Although  it  does  not  in  any  de- 
gree create  capital,  it  supplies  the  place  of 
the  precious  metals  as  currency.  If  we  sup- 
pose a miller  wishes  to  purchase  grain  ; he 
gets  a note  or  acceptance  at  sixty  days,  on 
New  York,  discounted  at  a local  bank, 
which  pays  out  to  him  circulating  notes. 
With  these  he  purchases  wheat  of  the  farmer, 
flours  it,  and  forwards  it  to  New  York  for 
sale,  and  the  proceeds  are  applied  to  the 
taking  up  of  his  draft  that  the  bank  had  dis- 


counted. In  the  mean  time  the  farmer  has 
paid  away  the  notes  he  took  for  his  wheat, 
probably  to  the  storekeeper  in  discharge  of 
his  bill.  The  storekeeper  has  now  to  remit 
to  New  York  to  pay  a note  that  falls  due  for 
merchandise  previously  purchased,  and  fur- 
nished to  the  farmer.  To  do  so  he  goes  to 
the  bank,  and  buys  of  it  the  draft  on  New 
York  that  the  institution  had  discounted  for 
the  miller.  This  he  remits  to  his  merchant, 
who  gets  it  paid  from  the  proceeds  of  the 
flour.  The  transaction  is  thus  closed,  and 
by  it  farm  produce  has  been  got  to  market, 
and  merchandise,  in  return,  has  passed  from 
the  manufacturer  to  the  consumer,  effecting 
an  exchange  of  commodities  without  the  use 
of  any  money  at  all.  The  notes  that  the 
bank  put  out  on  a draft,  after  performing 
the  functions  of  money,  returned  to  it  in  ex- 
change for  the  draft,  and  all  obligations 
were  cancelled.  This  is  the  operation  of 
paper  when  confined  to  actual  business 
transactions.  . The  number  and  kinds  of 
these  are  almost  infinite,  but  the  principle  is 
the  same  when  the  paper  is  only  issued  on 
actual  commodities,  the  exchange  of  which 
cancels  the  obligations  that  grow  out  of 
them.  There  is,  in  this,  no  creation  of  capi- 
tal, only  the  facilitating  the  exchange  of  that 
already  created.  Under  such  circumstances, 
the  quantity  of  currency  rises  and  falls  with 
the  quantities  of  produce  and  merchandise. 
The  moment  the  bank  lends  its  notes  to 
speculative  operators,  who  seek  to  borrow 
capital  itself,  rather  than  credits  with  which 
to  interchange  capital,  it  becomes  insolvent, 
because  it  lends  what  it  has  not  got  to  spare. 
The  early  banks  mostly  confined  themselves 
to  sound  rules,  and  with  the  rapid  increase 
of  business  which  followed  the  formation  of 
the  new  government,  their  business  being 
profitable,  stimulated  the  increase  of  institu- 
tions, mostly  in  New  England,  where  com- 
merce was  concentrated.  The  three  origi- 
nal state  banks  were  eminently  success- 
ful, and  they  suggested  a resource  to  the 
federal  government.  This  was  developed 
in  the  celebrated  report  of  Alexander  Ham- 
ilton, Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  in  favor  of 
a National  Bank.  The  proposition  at  once 
called  up  the  right  of  Congress  to  charter  a 
bank  under  the  constitution.  After  a warm 
congressional  debate  upon  the  subject,  Presi- 
dent Washington  demanded  written  opinions 
of  his  four  cabinet  officers.  The  Attorney 
General  and  the  Secretary  of  State  declared 
the  bank  unconstitutional.  The  Secretary 


BILLS  OF  CREDIT GOVERNMENT  ISSUES UNITED  STATES  BANK. 


201 


of  War  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
were  of  a contrary  opinion,  and  the  celebra- 
ted paper  of  the  latter  upon  the  subject  de- 
cided Washington,  who  signed  the  bill,  and 
the  bank  went  into  operation  with  a capital 
of  $10,000,000,  of  which  $2,000,000  was  sub- 
scribed by  the  government,  and  $8,000,000 
by  individuals.  Of  this  latter  amount, 
$2,000,000  was  to  be  paid  in  specie  and 
$6,000,000  in  six  per  cent,  stock  of  the 
United  States.  The  charter  was  to  continue 
until  March  4,  1811.  Immediately  on  the 
organization  of  the  bank,  the  shares  rose  25 
to  45  per  cent,  premium,  and  the  institution 
paid  8 1-2  per  cent,  dividend.  The  creation 
of  this  bank  was  attended  by  the  rapid  mul- 
tiplication of  banks  in  the  various  states,  be- 
coming rivals  to  each  other,  and  gradually 
consolidating  an  interest  which  was  strong 
enough  in  1 81 1,  with  other  interests,  to  defeat 
the  recharter  of  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States.  The  recharter  was  opposed  on  the 
grounds:  1st,  that  it  was  unconstitutional; 
2d,  that  too  much  of  its  stock  was  owned  by 
foreigners ; 3d,  that  state  banks  were  better. 
It  is  singular  that  at  a time  when  capital 
was  scarce  in  the  country,  objections  should 
have  been  made  to  its  coming  in  from  abroad. 
Nevertheless,  the  bank  was  closed,  and  on 
settlement  paid  $108  1-2  to  each  share  of 
$100.  From  that  date,  gold  and  silver  only 
were  by  law  receivable  for  government  dues. 
The  winding  up  of  the  National  Bank  was  the 
signal  for  creating  state  banks  to  fill  the 
vacuum.  The  old  bank  and  its  business  was 
purchased  by  Stephen  Girard,  who  conducted 
with  it  a large  private  banking  business  with 
great  success  on  a capital  of  $1,000,000.  In 
four  years,  to  1815,  120  banks,  with  an  ag- 
gregate capital  of  $40,000,000,  went  into 
operation.  Pennsylvania  alone,  by  act  of 
March  21,  1814,  created  41  banks.  The 
amount  of  notes  emitted  by  these  institutions 
was  never  known  with  certainty,  but  was  es- 
timated by  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  1814,  as  high  as 
$200,000,000.  A large  portion  of  these,  in 
the  middle  states,  were  issued  as  loans  to  the 
government ; and  the  war  pressure  became 
such,  that  in  September,  1814,  all  the  banks 
out  of  New  England  stopped  payment.  The 
bills  immediately  depreciated  20  per  cent, 
in  Baltimore,  and  15  per  cent,  in  New  York. 
The  news  of  peace,  in  February  1815,  caused 
some  improvement,  but  in  1810  the  difficul- 
ties were  greater  than  ever.  The  discount 
in  Baltimore  was  20  per  cent.,  Philadelphia 
17,  New  York  12  1-2.  This  kind  of  paper 


being  the  only  currency,  the  government  was 
compelled  to  take  it  for  dues,  in  violation  of 
law.  This  caused  the  greatest  injustice,  since 
the  funds  received  in  one  place  were  more 
depreciated  than  in  another,  and  New  Eng- 
land, where  the  currency  was  sound,  had 
great  cause  of  complaint.  In  such  a state  of 
affairs,  although  the  state  banks  had  multi- 
plied to  246,  with  $89,822,422  capital,  a new 
National  Bank  became  inevitable,  and  Con- 
gress, by  act  of  April,  1816,  again  chartered 
a National  Bank,  which  went  into  operation 
January  1817.  Its  charter  was  to  last  until 
March  4,  1836;  its  capital  was  $35,000,000, 
of  which  the  United  States  subscribed 
$7,000,000  in  a 5 per  cent,  stock,  and  the 
remaining  $28,000,000  was  to  be  subscribed 
by  individuals — one-fourth  in  gold  and  silver 
and  three-fourths  in  the  funded  debt  of  the 
United  States.  The  debts  of  the  bank,  in 
excess  of  its  deposits,  were  not  to  exceed 
$35,000,000.  The  bank  was  to  pay  a bonus 
of  $1,500,000,  and  perform  the  money  busi- 
ness of  the  government  free  of  charge.  In 
return  it  received  the  public  funds  on  deposit, 
and  nothing  was  to  be  taken  for  public  dues 
except  specie,  treasury  notes,  notes  of  specie 
paying  banks,  and  the  National  Bank  notes. 
When  the  bank  went  into  operation  it  became 
necessary  for  the  state  banks  to  resume  or 
wind  up.  Those  of  New  York,  Philadelphia, 
Baltimore,  and  Virginia  resumed,  and  those 
which  did  not  were  gradually  purged  off. 
From  1811  to  1830, 165  banks,  with  a capital 
of  $30,000,000,  closed  business.  The  loss 
of  the  government  by  these  was  estimated  at 
$1,390,707,  and  the  public  lost  much  larger 
sums.  The  bank,  in  the  first  few  years  of 
its  operation,  encountered  many  perils,  grow- 
ing out  of  the  foreign  trade.  Imports  poured 
into  the  country  in  prodigious  amounts,  and 
an  active  demand  for  silver  sprung  up  for 
Europe  and  Asia.  The  institution  had,  how- 
ever, in  the  public  stock  and  in  it;s  own  stock, 
forming  its  capital,  the  means  of  drawing 
specie  from  Europe,  which  it  did  to  an  ex- 
tent that  subjected  it  to  a loss  of  over  half  a 
million  dollars. 

The  institution  was  of  much  service  to 
the  government,  and  enjoyed  great  facilities 
from  the  use  of  the  public  funds.  The  prin- 
cipal bank  was  at  Philadelphia,  with  branches 
in  most  of  the  large  cities.  This  organiza- 
tion of  the  bank  made  it  very  powerful  as  a 
means  of  exchange,  and  this  power  was  likely 
to  grow  with  the  increasing  wealth  of  the 
country,  up  to  the  time  when  railroads  and 


202 


BANKS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


telegraphs  made  communication  more  rapid. 
The  power  of  the  hank  was  based  upon  the 
federal  finances,  of  which  it  was  the  agent, 
and  it  operated  through  the  growing  busi- 
ness of  the  country,  which  was  conducted 
largely  upon  the  credit  system.  As  the 
country  increased  in  prosperity,  other  banks, 
under  state  charters,  sprung  up,  and  these 
became  the  recipients  of  mercantile  deposits, 
or,  in  other  words,  of  the  money  which  each 
merchant  received  in  the  course  of  his  busi- 
ness, and  also  of  private  funds.  The  mer- 
chants who  thus  placed  their  funds  with  the 
banks  were  constantly  debtors  of  the  govern- 
ment for  duties  and  taxes  ; these  they  paid 
by  checks  on  their  respective  banks.  The 
United  States  Bank,  being  the  common  re- 
cipient of  all  these  checks,  was  thus  always 
the  creditor  of  the  local  banks,  and  could 
always  force  them  to  contract  their  loans  by 
compelling  them  to  pay,  or  could  permit 
them  to  increase  their  loans  by  being  indul- 
gent in  regard  to  balances.  The  govern- 
ment funds  thus  collected  by  the  United 
States  Bank  were  paid  out  by  it  wherever 
the  government  required.  Thus  the  Boston 
and  New  York  branches  would  collect  the 
largest  amounts,  but  the  branches  in  Rich- 
mond and  elsewhere,  or  the  parent  bank  in 
Philadelphia,  would  pay  the  drafts  of  the 
government.  In  the  first  year  of  the  old 
bank  it  received  $3,652,000  of  the  pub- 
lic money.  As  business  prospered,  the 
amount  rose  annually,  until  it  reached 
$17,038,859  in  1808,  before  the  embargo. 
Thus  the  receipts  and  payments  on  govern- 
ment account  were  thirty-four  millions  in  a 
year,  when  the  whole  population  was 
5,200,000  souls.  The  new  bank  in  1817  re- 
ceived $32,786,662  for  accounts  of  the  gov- 
ernment. The  sum  declined  year  by  year 
to  $21,347,000  in  the  year  of  crisis,  1825, 
and  subsequently  continued  at  about  twenty- 
four  millions  per  annum,  until  1833,  when 
the  deposits  were  removed  by  the  govern- 
ment. These  large  sums  annually  flowed  in 
and  flowed  out  of  the  bank  on  account  of 
the  government,  and  a large  proportion  of 
the  payments  were  on  account  of  the  public 
debt.  This  reached  $127,334,934  in  1816, 
and  was  by  annual  payments  extinguished 
in  1835,  a period  of  nineteen  years;  the 
average  amount  paid  off  annually  by  the 
government  was  thus  $6,700,000.  The 
government  bank,  being  furnished  with  such 
machinery,  was  necessarily  the  best  medium 
of  collecting  bills  ; thus  the  New  York  mer- 


chants, as  an  instance,  sold  their  goods  to 
the  shopkeepers  all  over  the  Union,  and 
they  took  notes  payable  at  the  local  banks. 
The  credits  thus  granted  could  be  collected 
by  the  United  States  Bank  cheaper  than  by 
any  other  bank.  Hence,  in  New  York,  the 
“ branch”  would  be  the  receptacle  for 
accounts  to  be  collected  in  all  other  cities  ; 
the  bank  would  forward  these  to  its  appro- 
priate branch,  say  Richmond ; the  branch 
there  would  notify  the  local  merchants  of 
the  notes  it  held  against  them  ; these  would 
pay  in  checks  upon  the  local  banks  where 
they  kept  their  deposits,  and  all  these  checks 
collected  by  the  United  States  branch  would 
make  it  the  common  creditor  of  all  the  local 
banks,  whose  specie  it  thus  controlled ; it 
would  notify  the  New  York  branch  of  what 
collections  had  been  made,  and  these  would 
credit  the  mercantile  owners  with  the 
amounts.  The  power  of  the  bank  from  this 
source,  operating  through  all  its  branches, 
was  much  greater  than  from  the  use  of  the 
government  funds,  and  the  state  banks  com- 
plained loudly  of  the  tyranny  that  they 
alleged  it  exerted  over  them.  A stormy 
opposition  was  thus  formed  against  it,  while, 
on  the  other  hand,  a generation  of  merchants 
had  grown  up  under  its  administration  of  the 
exchanges,  and  they  feared  the  results  of  a 
change.  Meanwhile,  the  question  became 
political,  and  a great  party,  as  early  as  1829, 
gave  indication  that  the  recharter  in  1836 
would  not  be  granted.  A struggle  between 
the  bank  and  the  government  ensued,  and 
in  1833  the  President  removed  the  public 
deposits  from  the  bank  and  placed  them 
with  numerous  state  banks.  These  ran  a 
race  of  expansion  with  the  United  States 
Bank;  the  consequence  was  an  immense  spec- 
ulation, which  resulted  in  general  bankruptcy 
in  1837.  The  government,  on  removing  the 
deposits  to  the  state  banks,  enjoined  them 
to  be  liberal  to  the  merchants.  This  was 
done  in  the  view  of  counteracting  the  strin- 
gency which  the  closing  up  of  the  United 
States  Bank  was  expected  to  cause.  This 
did  not  occur,  however,  since  that  institu- 
tion also  was  liberal  with  its  loans.  A rapid 
expansion  resulted  from  this  rivalry,  and 
speculation  ran  wild,  particularly  in  public 
lands.  In  the  midst  of  this  excitement,  the 
government  issued  the  famous  “ specie  cir- 
cular,” by  which  the  lands  were  to  be  sold 
for  cash,  gold  and  silver  only.  The  effect  of 
this  would  be  either  to  kill  the  speculation 
| or  to  drain  all  the  specie  into  the  land  offices; 


BILLS  OF  CREDIT GOVERNMENT  ISSUES UNITED  STATES  BANK. 


203 


it  did  the  former.  This  was  followed  by  a 
resolution  of  the  Bank  of  England  to  cut 
off  credits  to  American  merchants,  and  the 
revulsion  was  precipitated.  The  charter  of 
the  United  States  Bank  was  not  renewed  by 
Congress,  but  the  same  institution  obtained 
a charter  from  the  State  of  Pennsylvania, 
February  18,  1836,  under  the  name  of  the 
United  States  Bank  of  Philadelphia.  The 
terms  of  this  charter  were  very  onerous,  such 
as  no  institution  could  pay  from  profits  ; the 
hank  consequently  failed,  in  common  with 
all  others  in  the  Union,  in  1837.  It  resumed 
its  payments,  following,  those  of  New  York, 
January,  1839,  and  struggled  on  until  Octo- 
ber 1839,  when  it  finally  failed.  On 
going  into  liquidation,  it  was  found  that 
more  than  the  whole  of  its  large  capital, 
$35,000,000,  had  been  swallowed  up,  sub- 
jecting the  stockholders  to  a total  loss.  This 
disaster  was  no  doubt  brought  about  by  its 
abandonment  of  sound  principles  in  the  vain 
hope  of  compelling  the  government  to  re- 
charter  it.  But  the  institution  had  outlived 
its  usefulness ; the  country  had  outgrown 
the  circumstances  for  which  such  a bank 
was  fitted.  We  have  thus  sketched  the 
outline  of  that  bank  before  glancing  at  the 
progress  of  the  state  institutions,  because, 
up  to  1840,  that  bank  was  the  controlling 
power.  The  progress  of  banking  among  the 
states  has  been  step  by  step  with  the  grow- 
ing wealth,  population,  and  commerce  of  the 
country.  This  growth  was  manifestly  too 
vigorous  to  permit  of  the  continued  existence 
of  any  regulating  power. 

The  relative  growth  of  the  state  banks, 
and  the  business  of  the  country  proportional 
to  the  national  bank,  was  as  follows  : — 


No. 

State  banks. 

National  bank. 

Capital. 

Capital. 

1791, 

3 

2,000.000 

10,000,000 

1811, 

89 

52,601,601 

10,000,000 

1817, 

246 

89,822,422 

35,000,000 

1837, 

634 

290,772,091 

35,000,000 

1860, 

1,562 

421,880,095 

Thus  the  national  bank,  which  began 
with  a capital  five  times  as  large  as  all  the 
state  banks,  was  only  one-fifth  of  their 
aggregate  in  1811.  In  1817  the  state  capi- 
tal was  two  and  a half  times  the  new  Na- 
tional Bank  capital,  and  in  1 836  it  was  eight 
times  that  capital.  Had  it  then  been  re- 
chartered, with  the  same  amount,  it  would 
now  have  been  but  one-twelfth  of  the  capital 
of  the  state  banks. 


CHAPTER  II. 

STATE  BANKS— SUFFOLK  SYSTEM— SAFETY 
FUNDS— FREE  BANKS. 

The  growth  of  state  banks  has  fluctuated 
from  time  to  time,  under  different  circum- 
stances of  local  trade,  and  the  general  nature 
of  banks  has  changed  in  obedience  to  similar 
conditions.  The  nature  of  the  banking  sys- 
tems of  each  locality  has,  however,  under- 
gone repeated  modifications,  and  the  general 
tendency  is  to  the  circulation  of  less  paper. 
WTe  shall  endeavor  to  give  a sketch  of  each. 
The  first  attempt  at  banking  in  New  England 
was  the  creation  of  a land  bank  in  1740. 
At  that  time  about  eight  hundred  persons 
subscribed  a capital  in  real  estate,  and  hav- 
ing appointed  ten  directors,  agreed  to  issue 
one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  pounds  in 
paper,  to  circulate  as  money.  This  was  dis- 
solved by  Parliament,  and  the  stockholders 
held  individually  liable  for  the  bills.  In 
1784  a bank  was  chartered  by  the  Massachu- 
setts Legislature,  and  the  other  New  England 
states  followed  the  example  from  time  to 
time.  In  1805  there  were  in  existence 
forty-seven  banks  in  the  six  New  England 
states,  with  an  aggregate  capital  of  $13,- 
353j,000.  In  1815,  at  the  close  of  the  war, 
these  had  risen  to  sixty-three  banks,  and 
$19,053,902  of  capital,  and  the  circulation 
had  become  large.  In  1860  the  number  of 
banks  in  those  states  had  risen  to  five  hun- 
dred and  five,  with  a capital  of  $90,186,990. 
In  the  course  of  this  increase,  the  system  of 
banking  there  had  undergone  less  changes 
than  in  other  states- 

The  paper  currency  of  New  England  was 
generally  of  small  denominations,  and  emit- 
ted by  a larger  number  of  banks  with  small 
capitals  than  that  of  most  other  sections. 
These  institutions  were  scattered  over  the 
six  New  England  states,  and  the  bills  of 
each  bank  forming  the  currency  of  its  neigh- 
borhood, would,  in  the  course  of  trade,  ulti- 
mately find  their  way  to  Boston,  the  com- 
mon centre  of  business.  There  being  no 
provision  for  their  redemption,  they  circu- 
lated at  a discount,  and  this  discount  was 
increased  in  proportion  to  the  issues  of  each 
bank,  inflicting  loss  upon  the  community. 
To  remedy  this,  the  Suffolk  Bank  of  Boston, 
in  1825,  undertook  to  receive  all  the  bills 
and  send  them  home  by  an  agent  to  the 
issuing  bank,  requiring  each  to  redeem  in 


204 


BANKS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


specie  at  its  own  counter.  This  compelled 
each  hank  to  keep  a large  amount  of  specie 
on  hand,  at  an  expense  which  ate  up  the 
profits  of  the  circulation.  They  all  agreed, 
in  consequence,  to  keep  at  the  Suffolk  about 
three  thousand  dollars  deposited,  to  redeem 
any  balance  of  notes  that  might  be  there 
found  against  them.  To  keep  down  that 
balance  each  was  then  compelled  to  restrict 
its  circulation  to  the  actual  business  wants 
of  its  locality,  that  there  might  be  no  surplus 
currency ; in  other  words,  that  the  course 
of  trade  might  carry  to  Boston  no  more  of 
its  bills  than  would  be  paid  by  the  produce 
of  the  locality  sent  thither  for  sale,  and  also 
to  send  promptly  to  the  Suffolk  any  bills  of 
other  banks  that  might  come  into  its  hands, 
as  an  offset  to  its  own  balances.  Thus  all 
the  banks  in  New  England  were  actively  en- 
gaged in  running  each  other,  and  five  hun- 
dred streams  poured  country  money  daily 
into  the  Suffolk  receptacle,  to  be  assorted 
and  sent  back  to  the  issuers.  This  kept  down 
the  volume  of  the  currency  in  that  section. 
After  the  creation  of  railroads  and  tele- 
graphs, the  difficulty  of  keeping  out  an  excess 
of  circulation  was  greater.  To  be  “ thrown 
out  of  the  Suffolk,”  or,  in  other  words,  not 
be  able  to  meet  a balance  there,  was  fatal 
to  the  reputation  of  a bank.  The  system 
worked  well  up  to  the  civil  war.  It  was 
the  case,  however,  that  although  those  insti- 
tutions could  not  put  out  an  excessive  cir- 
culation in  New  England,  many  of  them 
lent  their  notes  on  securities,  on  condition 
that  the  notes  should  be  paid  out  at  the  far 
west,  whence  they  would  be  very  slow  in  re- 
turning for  redemption.  The  Suffolk  mode 
of  regulation  by  the  laws  of  trade  was,  upon 
the  whole,  very  successful. 

In  N e w Y ork  the  same  evils  manifested  them- 
selves as  in  New  England,  and  in  1829  a rem- 
edy was  attempted  in  the  shape  of  the  “ safety 
fund.”  This  did  not  undertake  to  restrain  the 
issues  of  the  banks,  but  to  protect  the  public 
from  loss  by  failure.  Under  it  all  the  banks 
doing  business  in  the  state  were  required  to 
contribute  one-half  of  one  per  cent  of  their 
aggregate  circulation  to  a fund  to  be  called 
the  “ Safety  Fund,”  out  of  which  the  notes 
of  a broken  bank  were  to  be  paid  in  full. 
This  worked  very  well  during  a number  of 
years  of  prosperity,  but  in  the  revulsion  of 
1837  a number  of  banks  failed  under  disas- 
trous circumstances,  and  the  fund  was  found 
to  be  entirely  insufficient — besides  being 
wrong  in  principle,  since  it  called  upon  the 


honest  and  well-conducted  banks  to  pay  the 
debts  of  the  dishonest  ones.  It  is  hardly 
worth  while,  in  a short  history  like  this,  to 
enumerate  all  the  restrictions  as  to  discounts, 
specie  on  hand,  and  emission  of  bills,  that 
the  various  states  have  incorporated  in  bank 
laws.  It  may  suffice  to  say,  that  all  $re 
powerless  to  prevent  evil.  On  the  failure  of 
the  safety  fund  system  of  New  York,  how- 
ever, a radical  change  took  place  in  the  policy 
in  regard  to  banks.  The  privilege  of  issuing 
notes  to  circulate  as  money  at  their  own  will 
and  pleasure,  had  been  found  to  be  danger- 
ous to  the  public,  and  the  law  of  April,  1838, 
called  the  “ free  banking  law,”  was  passed, 
by  which  the  power  to  issue  bills  directly 
was  taken  from  the  banks.  Under  that  law, 
the  Comptroller  of  the  state  prepared  the 
plates,  and  delivered  the  bills  to  the  banks, 
upon  their  lodging  with  him  such  securities, 
mostly  state  stocks,  as  amply  secured  the  re- 
demption of  the  bills.  The  name,  “free 
banking,”  was  given  to  the  law,  because  it  re- 
moved from  the  banks  the  restrictions  rela- 
tive to  discounts,  and  the  necessity  for  a char- 
ter. This  law  was  altered  in  some  respects 
almost  every  year  of  its  existence,  but  its 
main  features  remained  the  same,  and  it  be- 
came in  New  York  the  sole  law  to  regulate 
banking.  All  the  old  banks,  as  their  charters 
expired,  reorganized  under  it,  since  the  state 
constitution  provided  that  no  new  charters 
could  be  granted  or  old  ones  renewed.  The 
working  of  this  law  was  so  efficient  and  pop- 
ular, that  it  spread  into  most  of  the  northern 
and  western  states.  The  progress  of  bank- 
ing in  New  York  has  been  as  follows : 

NUMBER  OP  BANKS  AND  AGGREGATE  CAPITAL. 


No.  Capital. 
1801,  5 4,720,000 

1811,  8 7,522,760 

1816,  27  18,766.756 

1836,  86  31,281,461 

1838  , 94  36,401,460 

1857,  294  107,449,143 
1860  , 303  111,441,370 
1861,  302  109,982,324 
1863,  309  109,258,147 


Expiration  of  first  U.  S.  bank. 
Recharter  U.  S.  bank. 

Charter  U.  S.  Bk  expired  ; susp. 
Free  banking  law  ; resumption. 
Suspenion. 

Recovery. 

War  commenced. 

Organization  of  Nat.  banks. 


The  New  York  law  requires  the  banks  to 
issue  the  bills  at  the  place  of  their  location, 
and  to  redeem  them  at  not  more  than  one- 
half  per  cent,  discount  in  the  city  of  New 
York.  These  institutions,  however,  have  an 
arrangement  with  the  Metropolitan  Bank,  in 
New  York,  by  which  they  are  redeemed  at 
a less  rate. 

Pennsylvania,  in  the  early  part  of  the  cen- 
tury, was  slow  to  create  banks,  and  it  had 
but  three  up  to  1814,  in  which  year  41  new 


STATE  BANKS SUFFOLK  SYSTEM SAFETY  FUNDS FREE  BANKS. 


205 


banks  were  incorporated.  Subsequently,  it 
created  numbers,  and  has  probably  suffered 
more  than  any  other  state  from  its  abused 
bank  credits.  The  progress  of  affairs  there 
was  as  follows,  exclusive  of  the  United  States 
Bank,  which  was  situated  at  Philadelphia : — 


1801, 

No. 

1 

Capital. 

$110,000 

1815, 

5 

966,000 

Suspension. 

1819, 

6 

974,000 

1837, 

4 

817,775 

Suspension. 

1849 

2 

210,000 

Gold  discovery. 

1859, 

12 

1,638,185 

1862, 

14 

1,915,010 

War  in  progress. 

No 

Capital. 

1801, 

2 

5,000,000 

1811, 

4 

6,153,000 

Expiration  of  U.  S.  bank. 

1815, 

42 

15,038,000 

Low  credit  ; 41  new  banks. 

1820, 

36 

14,681,000 

Twenty-two  banks  failed. 

1830, 

49 

23,75  >,338 

State  charter  U.  S.  bk ; susp. 

1839, 

49 

25,255,783 

Resumption. 

1359, 

87 

24,565,805 

Recovery  from  panic  of  1857. 

1S61, 

89 

25,843.215 

War  commenced. 

1863, 

94 

26,561,337 

Organization  Nat.  banks. 

There  was,  up  to  1830,  a great  number  of 
unauthorized  banks  doing  business  in  Penn- 
sylvania, and  they  presented  a constant  suc- 
cession ot  bankruptcies.  The  authorized 
capital  down  to  the  present  time  has  not  kept 
pace  with  that  of  other  states,  taking  the 
wealth  and  population  of  Pennsylvania  into 
consideration. 

Maryland  chartered  its  first  bank  in  1790, 
the  Bank  of  Maryland,  capital  $300,000,  and 
continued  to  increase  them  moderately  up  to 
the  present  time.  The  progress  of  capital 
there  has  been  as  follows  : — 


1801, 

No. 

2 

Capital. 

$1,600,000 

1811, 

6 

4,835,402 

U.  S.  Bank  expired. 

1814, 

17 

7,882,000 

Banks  suspended. 

1820, 

14 

6,708,180 

1 837, 

21 

10,438,655 

Suspension. 

1859, 

32 

12,560,6.35 

1862, 

33 

12,505,559 

War  in  progress. 

New  Jersey  has  been  influenced  to  some 
extent  in  her  banking  operations,  by  the  state 
of  things  in  New  York  and  Pennsylvania, 
and  in  1 850  it  adopted  the  general  banking 
law  of  New  York.  Its  progress  has  been  as 


follows 

: — 

No. 

Capital. 

1805, 

2 

$1,000,000 

1811, 

3 

789,740 

U.  S.  Bank  expired. 

1815, 

11 

2,121,933 

Suspension. 

1820, 

14 

2,130,949 

1837, 

25 

8*976,690 

Suspension. 

1850, 

24 

3,565,283 

Free  law. 

1855, 

32 

5,314,885 

1857, 

48 

7,494,4(12 

Suspension. 

1859, 

46 

7,356,122 

1862, 

51 

7,933,933 

War  in  progress. 

The  multiplication  of  banks  in  New  Jersey 
under  the  new  law,  was  mostly  for  the  benefit 
of  circulating  their  issues  in  New  York  at  a 
discount,  and  they  were  of  but  little  service 
to  New  Jersey. 

Delaware  has  created  banks  in  proportion 
to  its  size,  in  the  following  ratio : — 


Ohio  has  been,  of  all  the  states,  the  most 
diversified  in  its  policy  in  regard  to  banks. 
Its  first  bank  was  chartered  in  1803,  but  it 
did  not  increase  charters  much  until  migra- 
tion set  thither  after  the  war  of  18! 2.  when 
the  new  United  States  Bank  established  two 
branches,  one  in  Cincinnati  and  one  in  Chil- 
licothe.  The  progress  of  banks  was  then 
rapid  up  to  the  explosion  of  1837,  when  about 
36  of  the  banks  of  that  state  failed,  under 
disastrous  circumstances,  leaving  but  fewr  in 
existence  on  the  resumption  of  specie  pay- 
ments in  1840.  In  1845,  a new  system  of 
banking  was  introduced,  designed  to  restore 
that  confidence  in  banks  which  had  been  so 
rudely  shaken  by  the  previous  failures.  It 
was  called  the  “ safety  fund  system,”  being 
composed  of  thirty -six  banks  which,  t ogether, 
form  the  State  Bank,  under  a board  of  con- 
trol, composed  of  delegates  from  each  bank, 
which  furnishes  the  notes  to  all  for  circula- 
tion. Each  bank  must  deposit  with  the  board 
10  per  cent,  of  its  circulation  in  securities. 
Of  42  banks  started  under  this  law,  36  re- 
mained with  capital  of  $4,034,525.  The  same 
law  created  the  “ independent  system,”  by 
which  the  banks  doing  business  under  it 
must  deposit  Ohio  or  United  States  stock 
with  the  State  Treasurer  to  secure  the  circu- 
lation. There  were  7 of  these  banks.  There 
remained  the  old  chartered  banks,  of  which 
the  Ohio  Life  and  Trust — whose  explosion 
in  1857  precipitated  the  panic  which  had 
been  prepared  for  the  public  mind — was 
the  la9t.  In  1851,  the  free  banking  law  of 
New  York  w'as  adopted  ; under  this  13  banks 
were  started.  In  the  same  year,  by  the  new 
constitution  of  the  state,  the  legislature  w as 
deprived  of  the  right  to  grant  banking  powers 
until  the  law7  for  so  doing  should  be  approved 
by  the  people.  The  general  progress  in  Ohio 
to  1862,  was  as  follows  : — 


No. 

Capital. 

1805, 

1 

$200,000 

i 1811, 

4 

895,000 

: 1816, 

21 

2,061,927 

New  U.  S.  Bank. 

1837, 

32 

10,870,089 

Suspension. 

; 1845, 

8 

2,171,807 

State  bank  law. 

1 1851, 

56 

7,1 29,227 

Free  law. 

1854, 

66 

7,166,581 

Free  law. 

1859, 

53 

6,701 ,151 

Recovery. 

1862, 

56 

5,539,950 

War  in  progress- 

206 


BANKS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


Indiana  became  a state  in  1816,  and  in 
1819  there  were  two  banks,  with  a capital 
of  $202,857,  and  so  continued  until  1834, 
when  the  State  Bank  of  Indiana  was  created, 
capital  $1,600,000,  and  with  ten  branches, 
which  were  mutually  liable  for  each  other’s 
debts,  and  notes  under  $5  were  prohibited. 
The  bank  stopped,  partially,  in  1837,  and 
resumed  payment  October,  1841.  In  1852 
the  general  banking  law  of  New  York  was 
adopted,  and  under  it  ninety-four  banks  were 
speedily  organized,  and  fifty-one  of  them  soon 
failed.  The  charter  of  the  State  Bank  of 
Indiana  having  expired,  the  legislature  char- 
tered a new  one,  with  capital  of  $6,000,000, 
and  twenty  branches,  which  bought  out  the 
state  interest  in  the  old  bank,  the  charter 
being  paid  up  to  January  1,  1857.  The 
progress  of  the  state  has  been  as  follows  • 


No. 

Capital. 

1819, 

2 

$202,857 

1835, 

10 

800,000 

State  bank. 

1837, 

11 

1,845,000 

Suspension. 

1839, 

11 

2,216,700 

Resumption. 

1841, 

11 

1852, 

44 

5,554,552 

Free  banking  law. 

1854, 

59 

7,281,934 

New  state  bank. 

1859, 

37 

3,617,629 

1862, 

39 

4,557,654 

War  in  progress. 

Eighteen  of  these  free  banks,  capital 
$1,203,454. 


Illinois  came  into  the  Union  in  1818,  and 
in  1819  there  were  two  banks,  capital 
$140,910 — one  of  which  had  been  chartered 
in  1813,  under  the  territory.  It  stopped  in 
1815  and  remained  so  until  1835,  when  the 
legislature  revived  it  and  increased  its  capital 
to  $1,400,000.  The  constitution  of  the 
state  in  1818  forbade  the  creation  of  any 
new  banks  except  a state  bank,  which 
was  chartered  in  1819,  with  a capital  of 
$4,000,000.  This  was  repealed  and  a new 
bank  chartered,  which  speedily  failed.  In 
1835  a new  bank  was  chartered,  capital 
$1,500,000  to  $2,500,000.  These  banks  sus- 
pended in  1837,  going  into  liquidation  in 
1842,  and  no  banks  existed  in  the  state  until 
the  adoption  of  the  free  banking  law  in  1851. 


The  general  progress  to  1862,  was  as  follows : 

1819, 

1835, 

No. 

2 

2 

Capital. 

$140,910 

278,739 

State  bank  charter. 

1838, 

2 

5,473,050 

Failure. 

1843, 

1854, 

29 

2,513,790 

Liquidation. 

Free  banking  law. 

1857, 

45 

4,679,325 

Suspension. 

1859, 

103 

8,900,000 

Recoveiy. 

1862, 

18 

712,351 

War  produced  a crisis. 

Michigan  was  admitted  as  a state  in  Jan- 
uary, 1837,  but  there  had  been  already  a 


number  of  small  banks  authorized  by  the 
territorial  legislature.  These  rapidly  multi- 
plied under  the  state,  during  the  speculative 
year  1837.  In  the  early  part  of  that  year 
there  existed  20  banks,  with  a capital  of 
$1,918,361.  These  were  a total  wreck,  and 
in  March,  1838,  a general  banking  law 
was  passed,  in  order,  as  was  alleged,  to  throw 
the  business  open.  In  one  year,  49  banks, 
with  a capital  of  $3,915,000,  were  projected. 
Of  these,  42  went  into  operation.  Those 
banks  were  not  required  to  redeem  their 
issues  on  demand.  The  result  was  utter  in- 
solvency, inflicting  a heavy  loss  upon  the 
public.  In  1849,  the  “ free  banking  law  ” 
was  adopted,  with  personal  liabilities  to  stock- 
holders. The  progress  was  as  follows ; — 


1835, 

No. 

8 

Capital. 

$658,980 

Territorial  government. 

1837, 

9 

1,400,000 

State  and  general  law. 

1838, 

43 

2,317,765 

Revulsion. 

1844, 

3 

202,650 

Liquidation. 

1849, 

5 

392,530 

Free  law. 

1859, 

4 

755,461 

1862, 

4 

786,455 

Iowa  was  admitted  into  the  Union  in  1 846. 
It  had  at  Dubuque  the  Miners’  Bank,  char- 
tered by  Wisconsin  before  the  erection  of 
Iowa  territory,  in  operation  since  1838.  In 
1858  it  adopted  the  free  banking  law,  and 
authorized  a State  Bank,  which,  with  its 
branches,  organized  in  1859.  In  1862,  the 
State  Bank  and  its  15  branches  had  $720,- 
890  capital. 

Wisconsin  was  admittted  into  the  Union 
in  1848.  It  had,  during  some  ten  years,  two 
banks,  tha  jf  Mineral  Point  and  the  Bank 
of  Wisconsin  ; these  failed,  and  in  1851  a 
new  bank  was  started  at  Milwaukee.  In  1854 
the  free  banking  law  was  adopted  ; since  that 
time  the  progress  has  been  as  follows : — 


No. 

Capital. 

1837, 

2 

$119,625 

1839, 

2 

139,125 

Suspension. 

1848, 

State  admitted. 

1854, 

10 

600,000 

Free  law. 

1857, 

38 

2,635,000 

Suspension. 

1859, 

98 

7,995,000 

Expansion. 

1860, 

108 

7,620,000 

Expansion. 

1862, 

70 

4,397,000 

Panic. 

The  operation  of  the  free  law,  by  retarding 
the  convertibility  of  the  bills  of  the  Wis- 
consin banks,  caused,  when  crops  are  short, 
exchange  on  the  east  to  rule  high,  in  other 
words  depreciates  the  currency.  The  bank 
circulation  was  about  $4,600,000. 

Minnesota  has  made,  as  yet,  little  prog- 
ress in  banking.  It  adopted  the  free  bank- 
| ing  law  in  1858,  and  several  banks  were 


STATE  BANKS SUFFOLK  SYSTEM SAFETY  FUNDS FREE  BANKS. 


207 


started  under  it.  In  I860  there  were  17, 
but  before  May,  1862,  14  of  these  had  failed 
and  2 of  the  remaining  three  did  no  business 
in  the  state. 

Nebraska,  before  becoming  a state,  had 
a number  of  banks,  chartered  by  the  legisla- 
ture, but  these  all  went  down,  some  in  the 
panic  of  1857  and  some  afterwards,  and  in 
1862  she  had  not  one  left. 

Kentucky  was  admitted  into  the  Union  in 
1792,  and  in  1801  it  authorized  a bank,  with 
a capital  of  $150,000,  under  the  guise  of  an 
Insurance  Company,  authorized  to  issue 
notes.  In  1804  it  chartered  the  Bank  of 
Kentucky,  capital  $1,000,000 ; this  bank 
failed  in  1814,  but  resumed  in  1815.  In 
1817a  batch  of  forty  banks,  with  $1 0,000,000 
capital,  was  authorized  to  redeem  their  notes 
by  paying  out  Kentucky  bank-notes  for 
them  instead  of  specie.  The  result  was  a 
flood  of  irredeemable  paper,  which  stimu- 
lated all  kinds  of  speculation  and  jobbing, 
and  ended  in  a general  explosion  and  dis- 
tress within  the  year.  To  “ relieve  ” the 
people,  the  state  chartered  the  Common- 
wealth Bank,  capital  $3,000,000,  pledging 
lands  south  of  the  Tennessee  river,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  faith  of  the  state,  for  the  redemp- 
tion of  the  bills,  which  creditors  were  re- 
quired to  take  at  par  for  their  claims,  or 
wait  two  years  for  their  pay.  The  bills  fell 
at  once  to  fifty  cents  on  the  dollar,  and 
which  proportion  of  their  debts  creditors 
were  thus  required  to  lose.  This  gave  rise 
to  party  strife,  which,  at  the  end  of  five  years, 
resulted  in  the  repeal  of  the  law  and  the 
suppression  of  the  paper.  The  United  States 
Bank  had  two  branches  in  the  state,  one  at 
Lexington  and  one  at  Louisville.  When,  in 
1833,  it  became  evident  that  that  institution 
would  not  be  rechartered,  three  new  banks, 
with  branches,  were  authorized,  capital 
$7,030,000  ; subsequently  another  was  start- 
ed. These  went  into  operation,  but  sus- 
pended in  1837,  resuming  in  1839  with  the 
United  States  Bank,  and  again  suspended  on 
the  final  failure  of  that  concern.  In  1842, 
the  banks  again  resumed,  and  since  then  the 
number  has  gradually  increased,  as  follows: 


1819, 

No. 

18 

Capital. 

$4,307,431 

Irredeemable. 

1833, 

2 

792,427 

New  charter. 

1835, 

4 

4,106,262 

With  ten  branches. 

1837, 

4 

8,499,094 

Suspension. 

1851, 

26 

7,636,927 

1857, 

35 

10,596.°°"' 

Suspension. 

1860, 

45 

12,835,670 

Recovery. 

1862, 

57 

15,305,500 

War  time. 

Tennessee  commenced  banking  in  1807, 
with  the  Bank  of  Nashville,  which  soon 
failed  with  great  loss.  In  1811  it  again 
chartered  ten  banks,  and  a number  of  others 
were  from  time  to  time  started,  but  failed 
disastrously.  In  1852  the  free  banking  law 
was  adopted,  and  the  progress  of  affairs  to 
1860  was  as  follows  : — 


1319, 

No. 

3 

Capital. 

$1,545,867 

Disastrous  failure. 

1820, 

1 

737,817 

State  bank  charter. 

1835, 

3 

2,890.381 

Dour  branches. 

1837, 

3 

5,293,079 

Suspension. 

1852, 

23 

6,881,568 

1857, 

45 

9,083,693 

Suspension. 

1860, 

34 

8,067,037 

Arkansas  had  two  banks  that  were  started 
upon  state  bonds.  These  the  state  issued 
to  the  extent  of  $3,500,000  to  the  banks  to 
form  their  capitals.  The  bonds  were  sold 
through  the  United  States  Bank,  and  the 
money  obtained  for  them  was  loaned  out 
pro  rata  to  the  stockholders,  who  became  so 
by  filing  mortgages  on  their  plantations  and 
lands.  Speedy  ruin,  of  course,  overtook 
both  banks.  These  went  into  liquidation, 
owing  the  state  some  $3,000,000  on  the 
bonds4  which  were  not  paid.  No  banks  were 
started  again  in  Arkansas  till  after  the  war. 

Mississippi  is  a state  in  which  banking 
for  a long  time  ran  riot,  but  which  has  had 
but  little  in  the  last  ten  years.  When  the 
state  came  into  the  Union  in  1817  it  had 
one  bank,  which  continued  with  an  increased 
capital  to  1830.  In  that  year  the  state 
chartered  the  Planters’  Bank,  with  a capital 
of  $3,000,000,  two-thirds  to  be  subscribed 
by  the  state  in  stock,  which  was  issued,  and 
the  bank  went  into  operation.  Other  banks 
were  then  chartered,  and  in  1837  there  were 
seventeen,  with  eighteen  branches,  and  a 
capital  of  $16,760,951.  In  that  year  the 
Union  Bank  was  chartered,  with  a capital  of 
$15,000,000  in  state  stock;  of  this  amount 
$5,000,000  was  issued,  and  repudiated  on 
the  ground  of  illegality  of  sale,  and  in  1852 
the  people  refused,  by  a large  vote,  to  pay 
those  bonds.  All  the  banks  of  Mississippi 
failed,  and  there  has  since  been  but  little 
movement,  as  follows  : — 


No. 

Capital. 

1820, 

1 

$900,000 

1830, 

1 

950,600 

Capital  increased. 

1 834, 

1 

2,666,805 

1837, 

17 

16,760,951 

18  branches. 

1 838, 

11 

19,231,123 

Suspension. 

1840, 

18 

30,379,403 

Failure. 

1851, 

1 

118,460 

1 859, 

2 

1,100,000 

1861, 

0 

All  failed. 

208 


BANKS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


Missouri  had  one  bank  when  it  came  into 
the  Union  in  1821,  but  it  failed  disastrously. 
The  State  Bank  of  Missouri  and  branches 
continued  to  be  the  only  institution  up  to 
1836,  when  a law  was  passed  authorizing 
others,  and  the  progress  to  1862,  was  as 
follows  : — 


1819, 

1837, 

No. 

1 

Branches. 

1 

Capital. 

$250,000 

533,350 

State  bank. 

1839, 

I 

1 

1,027,870 

1857, 

5 

5 

2,620,615 

Suspension. 

1859, 

17 

5 

5,796,781 

Expansion. 

1860, 

9 

29 

9,082,951 

1862, 

44 

— 

13,884,383 

Louisiana  came  into  the  Union  in  1812, 
with  one  bank,  having  a capital  of  $500,000. 
This  was  increased  to  three  banks  in  1815, 
capital  $1,432,000.  The  progress  subse- 
quently was  not  great  until  after  1830,  when 
the  speculative  spirit  of  those  years  was 
largely  developed  in  Louisiana,  and  thence 
to  1860,  was  as  follows  : — 


Virginia  chartered  a bank  as  early  as  1804 
for  53  years,  the  Bank  of  Virginia,  capital 
$1,500,000,  since  enlarged.  In  1830  there 
were  four  banks,  and  the  change  was  not  great 
down  to  185 1 , when  the  free  law  was  adopted, 
but  the  charters,  of  the  old  banks  were  re- 
newed as  they  expired.  The  course  of 
events  was  as  follows  : — 


No.  Branches.  Capital. 


1819, 

3 

$5,112,192 

1830, 

4 

18 

5,571,181 

1837, 

5 

18 

6,732,500 

Suspension. 

1839, 

5 

20 

7,458,248 

1840, 

6 

10,363,362 

1851, 

6 

20 

9,731,370 

Free  banking  law. 

1857, 

22 

40 

14,651,600 

Suspension. 

1860, 

24 

41 

16,005,156 

North  Carolina  began  her  Dank  career  in 
1804,  in  granting  a charter  for  $250,000 
capital.  From  that  time  the  number  and 
atnount  of  capital  steadily  increased,  with- 
out any  material  deviation  from  a steady 
course,  until  1860,  as  follows  : — 


No. 

Branches. 

Capital. 

1830, 

3 

$4,665,980 

1837, 

16 

31 

36,769,455  Suspension. 

1840, 

16 

31 

41,711,214  Failure. 

1843, 

6 

22 

20,929,340  Liquidation. 

1851, 

6 

22 

12,370,390  Free  bank  law. 

1857, 

6 

22,800,830  Suspension. 

1860, 

13 

— 

24,496,866 

The  free  banking  law  was  adopted  in 
1853,  and  four  banks  were  started  under  its 
provisions,  which  required  the  banks  to 
keep  one  third  of  their  liabilities  in  specie 
on  hand. 

Alabama  has  had  experience  of  a disas- 
trous nature  in  state  banking,  and  there  has 
been  little  enterprise  in  that  direction  since 
the  failure  of  the  State  Bank.  When  she 
came  into  the  Union  in  1819  she  had  one 
bank,  with  a capital  of  $321,112.  In  1830 
she  had  two  banks.  It  was  then  supposed 


No. 

Branches. 

Capital. 

1810, 

3 

$2,964,887 

1830, 

3 

3,195,000 

1837, 

3 

7 

2,880,590  Suspension. 

1850, 

3 

12 

3,789,250 

1860, 

12 

18 

6,526,488 

South  Carolina  was  more  variable  in  its 
banking  movement.  Its  first  institution 
was  the  State  Bank.  In  1820  the  capital 
was  pledged  as  security  for  the  state  debt, 
and  it  became  a regular  bank.  The  progress 
of  the  state  to  1860  was  as  follows  : — 


No. 

Capital. 

1792, 

1 

$675,000 

1711, 

4 

3,475,000 

1820, 

3 

2,474,000 

1836, 

10 

8,636,118 

1837, 

4 

4,100,000 

1839, 

11 

9,153,498 

1850, 

14 

13,179,131 

1860, 

20 

962,062 

Suspension. 

Eight  new  charters. 


that  by  embarking  in  banking,  the  state 
might  derive  profits  enough  to  pay  all  the 
state  expenses  and  dispense  with  taxation. 
Accordingly,  state  bonds  were  issued  to  form 
the  capital  of  the  State  Bank,  which  how- 
ever, soon  failed,  and  the  state  was  saddled 


with  a 

debt  of 

some  $11,000,000. 

was  as 

follows : — 

The 

progress  was  as  follows  : — 

No.  Capital. 

1811, 

No. 

Capital. 

$215,000 

1819, 

1 

$321,112 

1816, 

3 

1,502,000 

1830, 

2 

781,010 

1820, 

4 

3,401,510 

1837, 

3 

10,141,806 

Suspension. 

1833, 

13 

6,534,691 

1840, 

3 

14  379,255 

Liquidation. 

1837, 

16 

11,438,828 

1843, 

1 

1 ,500,000 

Bank  of  Mobile. 

1840, 

39 

15,098,694 

1851, 

1 

1 ,500,000 

F ree  banking  law. 

1846, 

22 

8,970,789 

1857, 

4 

2,297,800 

Suspension. 

1857, 

30 

16,015,256 

1860, 

8 

4,901,000 

1860, 

20 

16,689,560 

Georgia  had  a regular  supply  of  banks 
after  the  expiration  of  the  first  United  States 
Bank  in  1811,  when  she  chartered  an  insti- 
tution with  $215,000  capital.  In  1820  this 
had  increased  to  four  banks,  with  a capital 


chartered. 


BANKS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES CLEARING  HOUSES PRIVATE  BANKING.  209 


District  of  Columbia  banks  were  estab- 
lished as  early  as  1792,  in  the  district,  and 
increased  pretty  rapidly,  as  follows  : — 


No. 

Capital. 

1792, 

1 

$500,000 

1802, 

2 

1,500,000 

1811, 

4 

2,341,395 

1815, 

10 

4,078,295 

1820, 

13 

5,525,319 

1830, 

9 

3,879,574 

1837, 

7 

2,204,445 

1844, 

6 

1,649,280 

. Most  of  the  charters  expired,  and  not 
being  renewed,  the  concerns  gradually  went 
into  liquidation. 

Florida  came  into  the  Union  in  1845,  with 
a load  of  five  banks  that  had  been  chartered 
by  the  territory  in  1838,  with  an  aggregate 
capital  of  $2,113,000.  These  were  mostly 
based  upon  $3,500,000  territorial  bonds, 
issued  to  the  banks  for  capital,  and -sold  in 
London.  The  concerns  failed  almost  as  soon 
as  they  got  the  money,  and  went  into  liqui- 
dation, when  the  state  repudiated  the  bonds, 


and  there  were  no  banks  in  Florida,  until 
1860,  w'hen  two  were  started,  with  $300,000 
capital. 

From  this  sketch  of  banking  in  each  state, 
it  is  to  be  observed  that  the  creation  of  banks 
has  been  due  more  to  the  desire  to  borrow 
money  through  their  operation  than  to  lend 
it.  The  mistaken  idea  that  they  could  sup- 
ply capital,  was  the  temptation  to  their  cre- 
ation, and  disastrous  failure  everywhere  at- 
tended the  experiment.  Gradually  a prin- 
ciple of  sound  banking  vindicated  itself  amid 
numerous  disasters,  and  actual  capital  came 
to  be  employed  in  the  business. 


CHAPTER  III. 

BANKS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES— CLEAR- 
ING HOUSES— PRIVATE  BANKING. 

Having  sketched  the  course  of  events  in 
each  state,  we  may  recapitulate  the  leading 
features  of  all  the  state  banks  : — 


BANKS  OF  ALL  THE  UNITED  STATES TOTAL  OF  TMPORTS  AND  EXPORTS — POPULATION. 


No. 

Capital. 

Loans. 

Circulation. 

Specie. 

Deposits.  Imports  & Exports 

. Population. 

1791, 

3 

$2,000,000 

$48,212,041 

3,929,827 

1800, 

32 

23,550,000 

162,224,548 

5,305.925 

1811, 

89 

52,601,601 

$28,100,000 

$15,400,000 

144,716,833 

7,449,960 

1815, 

208 

82,259,590 

45,500,000 

17,000,000 

165,5#9,027 

8,353,338 

1816, 

246 

89,822,422 

68,000,000 

19,000,000 

229,024,452 

8,595,806 

1820, 

308 

137,110,611 

44,863,344 

19,820,240 

$35,950,470 

144,141,669 

9,638,131 

1830, 

330 

145,192,268 

200,451,214 

61,323,898 

22,114,917 

55,559,928 

144,726,428 

12,866,020 

1837, 

634 

290,772,091 

525,115,702 

149,185,890 

37,915,340 

127,397,185 

258,408,593 

15,681,467 

1840, 

901 

358,442,692 

462,896,523 

106,968,57^ 

33,105,155 

75,686,857 

239,227,465 

17,069,453 

1843, 

691 

228,861,948 

254.544,937 

58,563,608 

33,515,806 

56,168,628 

149,100,279 

18,713,479 

1846, 

707 

196,894,309 

312,114,404 

105,552,427 

42,012,095 

96,913,070 

235,180,313 

20,515,871 

1854, 

1,208 

301,376,071 

557,397,779 

204,689,207 

59,410,353 

188,188,744 

582,803,445 

26,051,890 

1857, 

1,416 

370,834,686 

684,456,889 

214,778,822 

58,349,838 

230,351,352 

723,850,823 

28,406,974 

1860, 

1,562 

421,880,095 

691,945,580 

207,102,477 

83,594,537 

253,802,129 

854,500,000 

31,443,321 

1863, 

1,466 

405,045,829 

648,601,863 

238,677,208 

101,227,367 

393,686,126 

594,097,046 

34,478,633 

This  table  shows  the  number  of  banks, 
with  their  aggregate  capital,  at  important 
eras.  As  in  1791,  when  the  national  bank 
and  mint  went  into  operation  ; 1811,  when 
the  bank  charter  expired;  1815,  when  the 
numerous  banks  that  had  sprung  into  being 
on  the  dissolution  of  the  National  Hank,  w'ere 
all  suspended;  in  1816,  when  the  peace, 
bringing  with  it  large  imports  of  goods,  and 
a heavy  drain  of  specie  to  Europe  and  Asia, 
increased  the  confusion  and  aided  the  re- 
establishment of  a national  bank ; 1820, 
when  that  bank,  in  full  operation,  was  stag- 
gerring under  adverse  exchanges  and  the  ope- 
ration of  local  banks  ; 1830,  when  five  years 
of  successful  working,  after  the  revulsion  of 
1825,  and  under  a high  tariff,  had  given  con- 
fidence  to  the  public  ; 1837,  when  the  rivalry  | 
between  the  state  and  the  national  banks  ; 

13* 


had,  aided  by  the  state  of  affairs  in  Europe, 
stimulated  speculation,  which  resulted  in  the 
revulsion  of  that  year;  1840,  when  the 
number  of  banks  had  reached  the  highest 
point,  under  efforts  to  restore  prosperity 
by  paper  credits  ; 1843,  the  lowest  point  of 
j depression  after  the  failure  of  those  efforts, 
| and  the  liquidation  of  the  unsound  banks  ; 
1846,  when  the  bank  capital  was  at  a low 
point,  but  bank  credits  had  begun  to  multiply 
under  the  effects  of  the  famine  abroad  ; 1 854, 
when  the  gold  discoveries  had  prompted  the 
creation  of  five  hundred  new  banks  ; the 
panic  period  of  1857  ; the  partial  restora- 
tion of  1860  ; and  the  contraction  and  gen- 
eral upheaval  in  all  financial  operations  pro- 
duced by  two  years  of  war,  in  1863. 

The  mere  figures,  showing  the  magnitude 
of  the  bank  movement,  do  not  indicate  the 


210 


BANKS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


changes  in  the  manner  of  doing  business,  nor 
do  they  indicate  any  unsafe  expansion,  except 
as  in  connection  with  the  business  they 
represent.  Thus,  in  1837,  the  bank  loans 
were  $525,000,000,  and  their  circulation 
$149,000,000.  Events  proved  that  those 
loans  were  of  the  most  speculative  and  un- 
safe character.  In  1860,  the  loans  were 
$691,900,000,  and  the  circulation  $207,000,- 
000.  Yet  these  larger  figures  were  very  far 
from  being  excessive.  They  represent  but 
$6  circulation  per  head  of  the  people,  while 
that  of  1837  was  nearly  $10  per  head.  The 
imports  and  exports,  were,  in  1837,  but  half 
the  amount  of  bank  loans.  In  1860  they 
exceeded  the  amount  of  bank  loans,  but 
in  1863  were  fifty -four  million  less.  It  is 
thus  evident,  that  the  larger  sum  of  bank 
loans  represents  actual  business,  while  those 
of  1837  represented  only  speculative  values. 
This  fact  of  the  nature  of  loans  made  is  the 
key  to  sound  banking.  It  is  a matter  which 
depends  upon  the  judgment  and  skill  of  the 
banker,  and  it  cannot  be  regulated  by  law. 
Hence  the  futility  of  all  the  laws  that  have 
been  devised  to  prevent  banks  from  breaking. 
It  is  to  be  remembered,  that  the  bank  loans 
form  but  a portion  of  the  credits  which  are 
the  great  purchasing  power  in  trade.  Almost 
all  the  wholesale  business  of  the  country  is 
done  with  the  notes  of  individuals,  running 
for  a longer  or  less  time.  These  are  entirely 
independent  of  law  or  banks.  In  a time  of 
great  mercantile  confidence  and  speculative 
activity,  business  men  are  disposed  to  buy 
on  credit,  and  their  competition  for  produce 
and  merchandise  causes  a rise  in  prices.  This 
rise  stimulates  greater  activity,  which  reacts 
upon  prices  until  revulsion  is  brought  about. 
The  agency  which  the  banks  have  in  this 
matter  is  to  discount  a portion  of  the  notes 
which  a dealer  takes  in  exchange  for  the  mer- 
chandise he  sells.  The  bank  in  discounting 
does  not  actually  lend  any  money.  It 
merely  operates  a canceling  of  credits  by 
book  accounts.  Thus,  a merchant  buys  goods 
and  gives  his  note  at  six  months.  He  then 
deposits  what  money  he  receives  in  the 
course  of  business  to  await  the  maturity  of 
the  note.  As  the  period  approaches,  he  finds 
that  he  has  not  money  enough,  but  he  has  in 
his  pocket-book  a number  of  notes  that  he 
has  taken  for  goods.  These  he  takes  to  the 
bank  and  offers  as  collateral  security  for  his 
own  note,  that  he  offers  for  discount.  The 
bank  making  the  discount  places  the  amount 
to  his  credit.  He  draws  a check  against  that 


credit  in  favor  of  the  note  he  has  to  pay,  and 
the  two  entries  cancel  each  other.  There 
has  been  no  money  used,  but  one  kind  of 
promise  has  supplanted  another.  As  the 
crops  come  forward  from  the  country,  the 
drafts  drawn  against  them  pay  the  notes  held 
by  the  merchant  and  lodged  as  collateral. 
Dearness  or  scarcity  of  money  in  the  market 
depends  mainly  upon  the  disposition  of  the 
banks  to  facilitate  the  canceling  of  credits, 
and  in  this  the  institution  affects  to  be  gov- 
erned by  the  state  of  the  foreign  trade.  If 
the  disposition  to  buy  goods  has  been  very 
active  and  prices  are  consequently  so  high  as 
to  pay  good  profits  on  imports,  the  arrivals 
of  merchandise  will  be  large  and  the  exports 
proportionably  small.  This  involves  a demand 
for  specie  which  the  banks  avoid,  by  refusing 
to  come  under  new  obligations.  A competi- 
tion in  curtailment  sets  in.  The  bank  that 
curtails  the  most  rapidly  will  have  the 
balances  in  its  favor  from  the  other  banks, 
and  will  command  their  specie.  Each  en- 
deavors to  attain  such  a position.  The  pres- 
sure becomes  great,  the  public  alarmed,  and 
individual  depositors  draw  their  specie,  which 
exhausts  the  banks,  and  they  stop.  This  was 
the  state  of  affairs  in  1857. 

The  general  tendency  of  the  banks  has 
been,  under  the  teachings  of  experience,  to 
equalize  balances  and  to  insist  on  prompt 
payment.  In  the  case  of  circulation  this  was 
done  in  New  England  by  the  Suffolk  system, 
and  in  New  York  and  most  other  states  by 
the  free  law,  which  required  a deposit  of  state 
stocks  of  dollar  for  dollar  of  the  circulation. 
It  is  obvious,  however,  that  these  regulations 
in  no  degree  affect  discounts  and  those  ope- 
rations where  circulation  is  not  in  question ; 
as  in  the  checks  of  individuals,  by  which  a 
large  portion  of  credits  are  transferred.  In 
New  York  city  there  were  about  50  banks, 
each  of  which  received  checks  on  all  the  other 
oanks,  and  had  checks  drawn  upon  it  in  favor 
of  all  others.  There  were  also  drafts  and  bills 
from  abroad,  constanly  coming  to  each 
to  be  paid  by  others.  Up  to  1853,  all 
the  banks  employed  each  a man  to  go  round 
and  collect  all  these  checks  and  drafts  each 
day,  and  each  bank  kept  fifty  accounts  open. 
To  obviate  this  and  to  enforce  settlement, 
the  “ clearing  house  ” was  devised.  By  this 
system,  each  hank  sends  thither  every  day  a 
clerk,  with  all  the  demands  it  has  against  all 
other  banks.  The  fifty  or  sixty  clerks  as- 
sembled make  a mutual  exchange  of  all 
claims,  and  the  balance,  if  any,  is  struck,  and 


fcANKS  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES CLEARING  HOUSES — PRIVATE  BANKING.  211 


each  bank  pays  in  cash  the  amount  of  that 
balance.  The  amount  of  accounts  depends 
upon  the  activity  of  business.  The  clearing 
house  commenced  in  Oct , 1853,  and  its  ope- 
rations have  been  as  follows  : — 


Amount  Exchanged. 

Balances  Paid. 

1S54, 

5,750,455,987 

297,411,493 

1856, 

6,906,213,328 

334,714,489 

1858, 

4,756,664,386 

314,238,910 

1860, 

7,231,143,057 

351,000,000 

1862, 

6,871,443,591 

415,530,331 

1864, 

24,097,196,656 

885,719,205 

1866, 

28,717,146,914 

1,066,135,106 

1868, 

28,484,288,637 

1,125,455,237 

1870, 

27,804,539,406 

1,036,484,822 

The  emergencies  of  the  war  required  the 
issue  of  demand  notes  by  the  Government, 
of  small  denominations  to  serve  for  circula- 
tion, as  well  as  the  putting  forth  of  bonds, 
treasury  notes,  and  loans  of  various  kinds. 
At  first  these  demand  notes  were  the  equiva- 
lent of  gold  and  silver,  and  were  receivable 
in  payment  of  customs  duties,  as  well  as  all 
other  moneys  due  to  the  United  States  ; but 
the  gradual  advance  in  the  price  of  gold  made 
them  so  valuable  as  to  take  them  out  of  the 
circulation,  and  cause  them  to  be  hoarded  as 
gold.  Congress  then  authorized  the  issue 
of  legal-tender  notes  of  small  denomina- 
tions, receivable  for  the  payment  of  all  dues 
to  the  Unites  States  except  customs,  which 
must  be  paid  in  gold,  the  coin  being  needed 
to  pay  the  interest  on  that  portion  of  the 
national  debt  upon  which  interest  in  gold 
was  guaranteed.  Of  these  legal  tender  notes, 
or  greenbacks , $450,000,000  were  issued,  and 
on  the  1st  of  December,  1871,  there  was 
outstanding  only  $357,592,801.  Beside 
this,  Congress  authorized  the  issue  of  postal 
and  fractional  currency  to  the  extent  of 
$50,000,000,  but  the  amount  issued  never 
exceeded  $45,000,000,  and  was,  December 
1,  1871,  only  $40,166,036.  From  our  brief 
review  of  the  condition  of  the  banks  in  the 
various  states,  from  1860  to  1863,  it  will  be 
apparent  that  they  were  rapidly  approach- 
ing a crisis,  their  issues  being  very  generally 
distrusted  and  the  discounts  on  them  so  per- 
plexing and  ruinous  to  the  holders  that  every 
one  who  could,  shunned  them.  The  issue 
of  legal-tender  notes  and  fractional  currency, 
while  it  was  absolutely  necessary  to  the  ex- 
istence and  efficiency  of  the  National  Gov- 
ernment, in  the  great  war  it  was  conducting, 
was  seen  by  the  great  financiers  who  were 
managing  the  nation’s  finances,  to  be  but  a 
temporary  expedient,  and  liable  to  the  seri- 
ous objection,  as  a permanent  currency,  of 


expanding  most  when  it  should  be  contract- 
ed and  least,  when  expansion  was  necessary. 
But  a national  currency  was  needed  ; for  the 
people  would  not  go  back  to  the  old  uncur- 
rent money  and  the  mysteries  of  the  coun- 
terfeit detectors  and  uncurrent  money  lists, 
the  banks  of  the  country  could  not  issue  notes 
which  would  inspire  general  confidence.  The 
national  banking  system  devised  by  Mr. 
Chase,  then  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and 
based  in  its  main  features  upon  the  New 
York  Free  Banking  law,  though  with  addi- 
tional safeguards  for  depositors  and  bill  hold- 
ers, satisfied  this  demand  fully,  and  at  the 
same  time  furnished  a home  market  for 
$300,000,000  or  more  of  the  bonds  and 
Treasury  notes  the  Government  was  then 
issuing.  The  capital  of  the  National  Banks 
consisted  of  these  Bonds,  Treasury  Notes, 
&c.,  and  these  being  deposited  in  the  U.  S. 
Treasury,  the  Controller  of  the  currency  is- 
sued to  the  banks,  National  Bank  notes  of 
different  denominations  (printed  from  the 
same  plates,  but  with  the  name  and  place  of 
the  bank  and  the  coat  of  arms  of  the  state 
to  which  it  belonged  inserted,)  to  the  amount 
of  not  more  than  ninety  per  cent,  of  the  par 
value  of  the  bonds.  The  amount  of  circu- 
lation was  at  first  limited  to  $300,000,000, 
but  in  July,  1870,  an  additional  amount  of 
$50,000,000  was  permitted.  Minor  modi- 
fications of  the  original  law  have  been' made 
providing  for  rigid  and  frequent  inspection 
of  the  condition  of  each  bank,  redemption 
in  New  York  city,  and  avoiding  all  depreci- 
ation of  the  notes.  At  first  the  development 
of  the  National  Banks  was  slow,  as  their 
advantages  were  not  appreciated,  and  the 
state  and  local  banks  made  a very  bitter 
fight  against  them,  but  Congress  passed  in 
1865,  an  amendment  to  the  Internal  Reve- 
nue Law  taxing  the  circulation  of  the  state 
banks  so  heavily  that  they  were  glad  to  with- 
draw it  from  the  market  and  most  of  them 
reorganized  as  National  Banks,  which  from 
this  time  had  a rapid  growth. 

The  following  Table  shows  the  progress 
| of  the  National  Banks  : 


Oct., 

Year. 

No.  of  Banks. 

Capital. 

Circulation. 

1863, 

66 

$7,188,393 

n 

1864, 

507 

86,782,802 

45,260,504 

it 

1 865, 

1,513 

393,157,206 

171,321,903 

a 

1866, 

1 ,643 

415,278,969 

280, 1 29,558 

1867, 

1,643 

420,073,415 

293,887,941 

a 

1868, 

1,645 

420,634,51 1 

295,769,486 

44 

1869, 

1,617 

426,399,151 

293,593,645 

1 870, 

1,615 

430,399,301 

291,798,640 

U 

1871, 

1,784 

462,518,602 

322,952,030 

212 


BANKS. 


The  following  Table,  giving  the  condi- 
tion in  several  particulars  of  the  National 


Banks,  Sept.  30,  1871,  is  of  interest  in  this 
connection.  It  is  official. 


Statement  showing  the  number  of  Banks,  amount  of  capital,  amount  of  bonds  deposited,  and  circulation,  in  each 
State  and  Territory,  on  the  30 th  day  of  September,  1871. 


States  and 

Territories.  In  operation. 

Capital  paid  in.  Bonds  on  deposit. 

Circulation  issued. 

In  actual  circulation. 

Maine, 

61 

$9,125,000.00 

$8,399,250 

$8,414,346 

$7,538  600.00 

New  Hampshire, . . . 

42 

4,889,000.00 

4,919,000 

4,835,845 

4,341,695.00 

Vermont 

41 

7,910,012  50 

7,271,400 

7,191,350 

6,468,720.00 

Massachusetts, 

207 

88,072,000.00 

65,616,750 

68,233,960 

57,480,866.00 

Rhode  Island, 

62 

20,364,800.00 

14,851,400 

15,081,565 

13,236,805.00 

Connecticut, 

81 

25,056,820.00 

20,078,400 

20,443,410 

17,800,455.00 

New  York, 

291 

113,140,741.00 

73,545,900 

83,960,388 

64,018,348X0 

New  Jersey, 

Pennsylvania, 

57 

12,580,350.00 

11,371,850 

11 ,424,575 

10,032,520  00 

198 

51,780,240  00 

45,731,750 

46,537,610 

40,357,046.00 

Maryland 

32 

13,590,202.50 

10,296,750 

10,789,210 

9,181,306.00 

Delaware 

11 

1,528,185.00 

1,453,200 

1,477,875 

1,303,475.00 

District  of  Columbia, 

, 3 

1,350,000  00 

1,234,000 

1,471,800 

1,081,570.00 

Virginia, 

23 

3,870,000.00 

3,711,500 

3,481,880 

3,312,400.00 

West  Virginia, 

17 

2,621,000.00 

2,504,750 

2,452,540 

2,175,540.00 

Ohio,. . . 

130 

24,349,700.00 

21,401,400 

22,357,655 

19,338,976.00 

Indiana, 

75 

15,032,000.00 

14,333,300 

14,095,465 

12,524,942.00 

Illinois, 

115 

17,128,000.00 

15,527,200 

15,245,550 

13,722,825  00 

Michigan, 

61 

7,263,800.00 

5,896,300 

5,909,210 

5,310,360.00 

Wisconsin, 

41 

3,400,000.00 

3,314,550 

3,359,650 

3,083,257.00 

Iowa, 

60 

4,997,750.00 

4,764,000 

5,146,875 

4,452,999  00 

Minnesota, 

23 

2,432,025.00 

2,413,000 

2,325,500 

2,104,600.00 

Kansas, 

12 

850,000.00 

785,000 

741,800 

649,600.00 

Missouri, 

, 30 

8,895,300.00 

6,191,750 

6,401,670 

5,679,718.00 

Kentucky, 

29 

6.168,240.60 

5,625,150 

5,350,510 

5,071,730.00 

Tennessee, 

19 

2,817,300.00 

2,706,150 

2,656,170 

2,443,171.00 

Louisiana, 

6 

3,500,000.00 

2,858,000 

2,813,020 

2,555,489.00 

Mississippi, 

1 

100,000.00 

80,000 

66,000 

33,776.00 

Nebraska, 

5 

650,000.00 

640,000 

581,100 

561,500.00 

Colorado, 

4 

400,000.00 

404,000 

383,490 

358,990.00 

Georgia, 

10 

2,384,400.00 

2,156,400 

2,041,300 

1,942,743.00 

North  Carolina, . . . . 

9 

1,560,000.00 

1,515,100 

1,385,300 

1,362,300.00 

South  Carolina, . . . . 

7 

1,895,460  00 

1,380,000 

1,245,340 

1,240,150.00 

Alabama, 

8 

916,275  00 

842,150 

884,100 

766,783.00 

Nevada, 

1 

250,000.00 

100,000 

146,200 

72,486.00 

Oregon, 

1 

250,000  00 

250,000 

136,000 

135,000.00 

Texas, 

. 5 

625,000.00 

625,000 

648,300 

557,500.00 

Arkansas, 

. 2 

200,000.00 

200,000 

192,500 

180,000.00 

Utah, 

1 

250,000.00 

150,000 

176,520 

132,281.00 

Montana, 

1 

100,000.00 

100,000 

90,000 

90,000.00 

Idaho, 

1 

100,000.00 

100,000 

94,300 

89,500.00 

Wyoming,  

1 

75,000.00 

30,000 

27,000 

27,000.00 

New  Mexico, 

1 

150,000.00 

150,000 

135,000 

135,000.00 

Fractional  redemption,  . . 

8 20 

Total, 

1,784 

462,518,601.60 

365,444,350 

380,609,879 

322,952,030.20 

There  are  two 

National  Gold  Banks  in  existence,  as  follows : 

Gold  Banks. 

Capital. 

Gold  on  Deposit. 

Gold  Notes  Issued. 

Circulation. 

Massachusetts, 

. 1 300,000.00 

150,000 

120,000 

120,000.00 

California,. . . 

. 1 1,000,000.00 

500,000 

375,000 

375,000.00 

Total, . . . 

2 1,300,000.00 

650,000 

495,000 

495,000.00 

There  were  in  the  United  States  in  May, 
1871,352  chartered  banks  (not  National) 
but  working  under  special  charters.  None 
of  them  were,  of  course,  banks  of  circulation, 
but  only  of  discount  and  deposit.  Their 
aggregate  capital  was,  at  that  date,  about 


$93,000,000.  There  has  been  also  a great 
increase  of  private  banking  houses,  and 
some  of  these  having  extensive  foreign  con- 
nections and  employing  a larger  capital  than 
any  National  bank,  do  an  extensive  busi- 
ness. 


INTERIOR  VIEW  OF  THE  V.  S.  SENATE  CHAMBER. 


UNITED  STATES  MINT. 


CHAPTER  I. 

ESTABLISHMENT  OF  MINT— STANDARD  OF 
COINS— LAWS  REGULATING  COINAGE- 
PROGRESS  OF  COINAGE— PRECIOUS  MET- 
ALS IN  THE  COUNTRY. 

The  currency,  or  circulating  medium  of 
a country,  is  of  itself  a very  simple  matter, 
although  complicated  at  times  by  the  theo- 
ries of  financiers,  and  the  efforts  to  make 
promises  of  a thing  pass  for  the  thing  it- 
self. In  the  early  stages  of  society  the  pro- 
ducts of  industry  constitute  the  wealth  of 
the  people,  after  they  have  ceased  to  be 
merely  herdsmen.  These  products  being 
exchanged  against  each  other,  the  transac- 
tions form  barter  trade.  As  wealth  in- 
creases and  wants  become  more  diversified, 
as  well  as  the  products  of  industry,  by  being 
subdivided,  some  common  medium  of  value 
becomes  requisite  to  meet  all  the  wants  of 
interchange.  The  precious  metals  have  gen- 
erally been  adopted  as  this  medium,  because 
the  supply  is  the  most  steady,  the  equivalent 
value  most  generally  known,  and  the  trans- 
portation most  convenient.  Hence  all  trade 
comes  to  be  represented  by  a weight  of  pure 
gold  or  its  equivalent  of  pure  silver,  and  all 
commodities  come  to  be  valued,  or  called 
equivalent,  to  certain  quantities  of  these 
metals.  To  ascertain  the  purity  and  weight 
of  the  metal  offered  in  payment  at  each 
transaction  would,  however,  involve  difficul- 
ties that  would  neutralize  the  value  of  the 
metals  as  a common  medium  of  exchange. 
Every  man  would  require  to  be  an  assayer, 
and  to  be  provided  with  scales.  To  obviate 
this  the  government  steps  in,  and  by  means 
of  a mint  assays  the  metals,  and  weighs 
them  into  convenient  pieces,  placing  on  each 
a stamp,  which  soon  becomes  universally 
known,  and  this  is  called  “ money.”  Every 
nation  makes  the  pieces  of  different  weights, 
and  puts  in  more  or  less  pure  metal.  To  as- 
certain the  “ par  of  exchange”  between  two 


countries,  the  coin  of  each  is  assayed,  and 
the  quantity  of  pure  metal  in  each  being 
ascertained,  the  par  of  exchange  is  known. 
When  this  continent  was  discovered,  its  in- 
habitants were  savages,  who  had  no  idea  of 
property,  and  no  trade  beyond  the  mere  ex- 
change of,  perhaps,  a skin  for  a bow  or  a 
bunch  of  arrows.  Money  was  unknown, 
and  the  value  of  the  precious  metals  was  not 
understood.  The  little  gold  and  copper  that 
they  had  was  twisted  into  rude  ornaments ; 
but  no  man  would  work  for  a piece  of  these 
metals.  When  the  first  emigrants  landed, 
they  commenced  the  cultivation  of  the  earth 
and  the  interchange  of  its  products.  The  ac- 
cumulation of  industrial  products  formed 
wealth.  Their  first  exchanges  were  mere 
barter.  As  late  as  1652  the  payment  of 
taxes  and  other  dues  was  made  in  cattle, 
skins,  and  other  products  in  Massachusetts ; 
and  tobacco  was  a medium  of  trade  in  Vir- 
ginia. Some  money  existed,  but  this  was 
mostly  the  coins  brought  by  the  immigrants 
from  the  mother  country,  and  did  not  suffice 
for  the  daily  wants.  Massachusetts,  there- 
fore, established  a mint  for  the  coinage  of 
shillings,  sixpences,  and  threepences  of  ster- 
ling silver,  which  were  “ two  pence  in  the 
shilling  of  less  valew  than  the  English 
coyne.”  This  “ pine  tree  shilling,”  so  called 
from  a pine  tree  on  the  reverse,  was  worth 
about  twenty  cents.  This  coinage  gave 
umbrage  to  the  mother  country,  and  when 
Governor  Winslow  was  introduced  to 
Charles  II.,  that  usually  good-natured  mon- 
arch took  him  roughly  to  task  for  the  pre- 
sumption of  the  colony  in  assuming  to  coin 
money,  at  the  same  time  producing  the  coin 
with  the  pine  tree  upon  it.  The  ready  wit 
of  the  governor,  however,  turned  the  rebuke, 
by  assuring  his  Majesty  that  it  was  an  evi- 
dence of  the  devotion  of  the  eolony,  which 
struck  these  medals  in  commemoration  of 
the  escape  of  his  Majesty  in  the  Royal  Oak, 
which  was  executed  as  well  as  the  poor  state 
of  the  arts  in  the  colony  would  permit.  The 


214 


UNITED  STATES  MINT. 


coinage  was  nevertheless  suppressed,  and  the 
example  of  Massachusets  was  followed  by 
Maryland  with  the  like  results.  Carolina 
and  Virginia  struck  some  copper  coins,  hut 
without  much  effect.  There  being  no  mint, 
therefore,  in  any  of  the  colonies,  foreign  coins 
were  circulated  freely  as  a legal  tender.  The 
country  produced  none  of  the  precious 
metals,  hut  as  the  trade  of  the  colonies  in- 
creased, and  they  began  to  have  a surplus  of 
fish,  provisions,  food,  tobacco,  etc.,  beyond 
their  own  wants,  to  sell,  they  built  vessels, 
and  carried  these  articles,  mostly  fish,  to  the 
West  Indies  and  the  catholic  countries  of 
Europe  ; and  as  the  mother  country  did  not 
allow  the  colonies  to  buy  manufactures  ex- 
cept from  herself,  money  was  mostly  had  in 
exchange  for  this  produce.  Guineas,  joes, 
half  joes,  doubloons,  and  pistoles  of  various 
origin  constituted  the  gold  currency,  while 
the  silver  was  mostly  the  Spanish  American 
dollar  and  its  fractions  : the  half,  quarter, 
eighth,  and  sixteenth,  with  the  pistareen  and 
half  pistareen.  This  silver  coin  flowed  into 
the  colonies  from  the  Spanish  West  Indies, 
in  exchange  for  fish  and  food ; and  the 
Spanish  dollar  thus  came  to  be  the  best 
known  and  most  generally  adopted  unit  of 
money.  The  coin  had  upon  its  reverse  the 
pillars  of  Hercules,  and  was  known  as  the 
pillar  dollar ; hence  the  dollar  mark  ($),  which 
represents  “ S,”  for  “ Spanish,”  entwining  the 
pillars.  Inasmuch  as  the  “ balance  of 
trade”  was  in  favor  of  England,  the  largest 
portion  of  the  coin  that  flowed  in  from  other 
quarters  was  sent  thither,  and  this  tendency 
was  increased  by  the  pernicious  issues  of 
paper  money  by  the  colonies.  This  paper 
displaced  the  coin,  and  drove  it  all  out  of  the 
country.  The  exigencies  of  the  several 
colonial  governments  caused  them  to  make 
excessive  issues  of  this  “ paper”  or  “ bills  of 
credit,”  and  it  fell  to  a heavy  discount  as 
compared  with  coin.  Not  being  convertible 
at  the  date  of  the  Revolution  the  deprecia- 
tion in  the  several  colonies  was  nearly  as 
follows : — 

VALUE  OF  THE  DOLLAR  AND  THE  £ STERLING  IN 
COLONIAL  PAPER  MONEY. 

£ sterling.  Dollar. 

£.  s.  d.  s.  d. 
New  England  and  Virginia  ...  1 6 8 6 0 

New  York  and  North-eastern  . 1 15  61  8 0 

Middle  states 1 13  4 7 6 

South  Carolina  and  Georgia. . . 1 0 8J  4 8 

On  the  formation  of  the  new  government, 
the  terrible  state  of  the  currency  first  attract- 


ed attention.  The  country  had  been  flooded 
with  “ continental  money,”  which  had  been 
issued  to  the  extent  of  three  hundred  and 
sixty  millions  for  war  expenses.  The  states 
had  issued  “ bills  of  credit,”  which  were  de- 
preciated as  in  the  table ; and  the  debased 
and  diversified  foreign  coins  that  circulated 
were  very  few  in  number.  Private  credit 
hardly  existed.  Frightful  jobbing  took 
place  in  the  government  paper,  and  industry 
could  with  difficulty  get  its  proper  reward. 
The  first  effort  was  to  give  the  federal  gov- 
ernment alone  the  right  to  coin  money,  to 
prohibit  the  states  from  issuing  any  more 
“ bills  of  credit,”  and  to  get  the  continental 
money  out  of  circulation  by  providing  for 
its  payment.  Robert  Morris  had  been  di- 
rected to  report  upon  the  mint  and  a system 
of  coinage,  and  he  did  so  early  in  1782. 
Many  plans  were  based  upon  his  report,  and 
finally  that  of  Mr.  Jefferson  was  adopted. 
It  conformed  to  the  decimal  notation,  with 
the  Spanish  dollar  as  the  unit : A gold  piece 
of  ten  dollars,  to  be  called  the  eagle,  with 
its  half  and  quarter ; a dollar  in  silver ; a 
tenth  of  a dollar  in  silver  ; a hundredth  of  a 
dollar  in  copper. 

In  accordance  with  the  plan  of  Mr.  Jeffer- 
son, a law  of  April  2,  1792,  enacted  regula- 
tions for  a mint,  located  at  Philadelphia,  and 
the  coinage  proceeded.  It  was  found  that, 
owing  to  the  rise  in  the  value  of  copper,  the 
cent  had  been  made  too  heavy,  and,  Janu- 
ary 14,  1790,  it  was  reduced  to  two  hundred 
and  eight  grains,  and  January  26,  1796,  it 
was  again  reduced  to  one  hundred  and  sixty- 
eight  grains,  at  which  rate  it  remained  until 
the  late  introduction  of  nickle.  The  mint 
being  established  at  Philadelphia,  the  work 
of  coinage  went  on  slowly,  for  two  principal 
reasons.  The  first  was  that  the  material  for 
coin — that  is,  gold  and  silver,  no  matter  in 
what  shape  it  may  be — was  obtained  only,  by 
the  operation  of  trade,  from  abroad,  and 
nearly  all  of  it  arrived  at  New  York,  the 
property  of  merchants.  Now,  although  the 
government  charged  nothing  for  coining, 
yet,  to  send  the  metal  from  New  York  to 
Philadelphia  during  the  first  forty  years 
of  the  government,  when  there  was  none  but 
wagon  conveyance,  was  expensive,  and  ac- 
companied with  some  risk.  It  was  not, 
therefore,  to  be  expected  that  the  merchants 
would  undertake  this  without  any  benefit ; 
the  more  so,  as  the  same  law,  in  the  second 
place,  still  allowed  the  foreign  coins  to  be 
legal  tender.  The  merchant  who  received, 


UNITED  STATES  MINT. 


215 


say  ten  thousand  dollars  in  gold  coin  at 
New  York  had  only  to  lodge  that  coin  in  the 
local  bank,  and  use  the  paper  money  issued 
by  the  bank.  There  was  no  necessity  to 
send  the  coin  to  Philadelphia  merely  to  be 
recoined  without  profit.  It  was  also  the 
case  that  in  the  course  of  the  newly  devel- 
oped commerce  between  the  United  States 
and  the  countries  of  Europe,  it  was  found 
that  silver  had  been  valued  too  high  at  the 
mint.  It  was  coined  in  the  ratio  of  fifteen 
to  one  of  gold,  when  its  real  value  was  near- 
er sixteen  to  one.  This  relative  value  of  the 
two  metals  depends  upon  the  respective  de- 
mand and  supply  in  the  markets  of  the 
world.  At  about  the  date  of  the  discovery 
of  America  it  was  ten  to  one  ; that  is,  ten 
ounces  of  pure  silver  were  equal  to  one 
ounce  of  pure  gold.  When  Peru  and  Span- 
ish America  poured  in  their  large  supplies 
of  silver,  the  rate  gradually  fell  to  fifteen  to 
one.  At  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  centu- 
ry, and  with  the  greater  freedom  of  com- 
merce in  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, it  was  found  still  to  decline.  The 
reason  of  this  is  obvious,  since,  in  any  local- 
ity, the  relative  value  of  the  metals  will  be 
proportioned  to  the  local  supply  of  either, 
influenced  by  the  expense  of  sending  either 
to  other  localities.  Thus,  silver  may  have 
been  really  fourteen  to  one  in  one  place,  and 
sixteen  to  one  in  another,  and  the  difficul- 
ties of  transportation  prevented  an  equaliza- 
tion. As  soon  as  communication  became 
prompt  and  cheap  the  equalization  took 
place,  and  the  general  relative  value  was 
found  to  be  somewhat  changed.  The  effect 
of  this  was  that  silver  came  here  and  gold 
went  away.  Nearly  all  the  coinage  of  the 
mint  was  silver.  This  evil  attracted  the  at- 
tention of  the  government,  and  a remedy 
was  sought.  This  was  finally  found  in 
changing  the  relative  value  of  the  silver  to 
gold  in  the  coinage  by  simply  putting  less 
pure  gold  into  the  eagle,  and  letting  the 
silver  remain  as  it  was.  The  quantity  of 
pure  gold  in  the  eagle  was,  therefore,  by  the 
law  of  June  28,  1834,  reduced  from  247.5 
grains  to  232  grains,  or  rather  more  than 
six  and  five-eighths  per  cent,  and  the  quan- 
tity of  alloy  was  slightly  increased,  so  as  to 
make  the  fineness  of  the  gold  nine-tenths, 
or  nine  grains  of  fine  gold  to  one  of  alloy  in 
each  piece. 

This  was  found  not  to  be  exact,  and  in 
1837  the  pure  gold  was  slightly  increased, 
and  this  regulation  remains.  Under  all 


the  laws  the 

gold 

coins 

have  been  as  fob 

lows : — 

Pure 

gold. 

Grains. 

Alloy. 

Silver.  Copper. 

Total 

Alloy. 

Total  «. 

weight.  Fine‘ 
Grains.  ness* 

1792,  247.5 

5.62* 

16.871 

22.5 

270  916.7 

1834,  232.0 

6.50 

19.50 

26.0 

258  899.2 

1837,  232.2 

6.45 

19.35 

25.8 

258  900.0 

These  proportions  remain  now  the  same 
for  gold.  In  order  to  bring  the  silver  to  the 
same  standard,  the  law  of  1837  reduced  the 
alloy  in  dollars  three  and  a half  grains,  mak- 
ing the  dollar  weigh  412  1-2  grains  instead 
of  416. 

In  all  this  period,  up  to  1838,  there  had 
been  but  one  mint,  and  that  at  Philadelphia. 
In  1831,  under  the  desire  of  the  government 
to  enlarge  the  metallic  basis  of  the  national 
currency,  three  branches  were  authorized, 
one  at  New  Orleans,  one  at  Charlotte,  North 
Carolina,  and  one  at  Dahlonega,  Georgia. 
These  two  latter  were  in  mining  districts, 
where  gold  began  to  be  produced  to  some 
extent,  and  all  three  went  into  operation  in 
1838.  The  coinage  progressed  down  to 
1853,  when,  in  consequence  of  the  change 
brought  about  by  the  gold  discoveries  in 
California,  a new  law  in  relation  to  the  silver 
currency  was  enacted.  Before  giving  an 
account  of  that  change,  we  may  take  a table 
of  the  coinage  at  the  mint  since  its  organiza- 
tion for  several  periods. 


UNITED 

STATES  COINAGE. 

1793  to  1820, 
1821  to  1834, 

Gold. 

7,431,545 

4,394.345 

Silver. 

10,980,431 

25,311,647 

Copper 
and  Nickel. 
421,795 
236,793 

Total. 

18,833,771 

29,945,787 

Total  to  1834, 
1834  to  1837, 
1838  to  1848, 
1849  to  1852, 
1853  to  1860, 
1861  to  1870, 

11,825,890 

11,424,450 

53,329,965 

60,211,315 

351,377,501 

383,240,010 

36,295,078 

12,560,115 

24,251,769 

6,014,509 

46,318,956 

18,476,710 

658,590 

137,323 

513,336 

311,207 

1,099,347 

8,473,235 

48,779,558 

24,121,888 

78,195,570 

166,567,031 

498,790,804 

410,180,985 

Total, 

$871,409,161 

144,012,137 

11,223,038 

1,226,144,833 

In  the  first  twenty-seven  years  of  the  mint 
operation,  the  gold  coinage  was  about  seven- 
ty-five per  cent,  of  the  silver  coinage.  That 
whole  period  embraced  the  European  war, 
and  the  first  operations  of  the  mint  were  to 
coin  as  much  of  the  metals  already  in  the 
country  as  came  within  their  reach.  In  the 
second  period,  from  1821  to  1834,  the  effect 
of  the  change  in  the  relative  value  of  the 
metals  of  which  we  have  spoken,  became 
manifest,  and  the  gold  coinage  was  about 
one-sixth  only  of  the  silver  coinage.  In 
1834  the  new  gold  bill  produced  a change, 
and  the  gold  coinage  became  nearly  equal  to 
that  of  silver.  Soon  after  the  passage  of 
this  law,  the  payment  of  the  French  indom- 


216 


UNITED  STATES  MINT. 


nity,  enforced  under  the  administration  of 
General  Jackson,  took  place,  and  it  was  paid 
in  the  form  of  gold  bars,  of  weight  varying 
from  twenty-five  to  six  hundred  and  fifty 
ounces  each.  The  first  of  them  were  received 
at  the  United  States  mint  September,  1834, 
and  from  that  date  to  September,  1838,  six 
hundred  of  these  bars  were  deposited  at  the 
mint;  the  value  was  $3,500,000.  In  1838 
the  branches  came  into  operation,  and  the 
coinage  was  increased  by  their  operations 
and  by  13,705,250  of  gold  of  domestic  pro- 
duction, to  the  close  of  1848.  In  1849 
California  gold  began  to  make  its  appear- 
ance, and  $7,079,144  worth  of  it  was  coined 
in  that  year.  The  great  influx  of  gold  bul- 
lion upon  the  mint  by  far  exceeded  its  capac- 
ity to  do  the  work,  and  Congress  author- 
ized, by  the  act  of  March  3d,  1849,  the  coin- 
age of  double  eagles,  or  $20  pieces,  and 
also  one  dollar  pieces  to  supply  the  place  of 
the  silver  coin,  which  had  been  drained  off 
to  California  in  exchange  for  the  gold,  which 
sold  as  low  as  $15  and  $16  per  ounce, 
although  worth  $20  and  $21.  The  law  of 
May,  1852,  authorized  the  coinage  of  $3 
pieces. 

In  ten  years,  to  the  close  of  1848,  the 
gold  coinage  had  amounted  to  double  the  sil- 
ver coinage,  and  the  new  influx  of  gold  excited 
fears  that  the  value  of  silver  would  rise  rap- 
idly as  compared  with  gold.  From  1848 
to  1857  the  coinage  of  silver  was  very  small, 
while  the.  demand  for  it  was  large.  To  avoid 
inconvenience  from  this  cause,  a new  bill 
was  passed,  to  take  effect  April  1st,  1853. 
By  this  bill  it  was  enacted  that  gold  or  sil- 
ver deposited  with  the  mint,  might  be  cast 
into  bars  or  ingots  of  pure  metal,  or  standard 
fineness,  at  the  option  of  the  depositor,  with 
a stamp  designating  the  weight  and  fineness; 
no  pieces  less  than  ten  ounces  shall  be  other 
than  of  standard  fineness ; the  charge  for 
this  is  one-half  per  cent.  Inasmuch  as  most 
of  the  gold  arrives  at  New  York,  efforts  were 
made  to  procure  the  establishment  of  a mint 
at  that  point.  Instead,  however,  of  a mint, 
an  assay  office  was  established  there,  and  a 
branch  mint  at  San  Francisco,  in  1854.  The 
law  allows  the  depositor  to  draw  either  bars 
or  coin  in  return,  the  description  desired  to 
be  stated  at  the  time  of  the  deposit.  The 
production  of  bars  and  coins  under  all  these 
regulations  has  been  large,  for  gold  as  well 
as  silver. 

Until  the  law  of  1834,  the  quantity  of 
gold  coin  in  circulation  was  not  large.  The 


banks  supplied  so  large  a quantity  of  small 
bills  as  to  fill  the  channels  of  circulation  for 
sums  above  a dollar,  and  under  that  amount 
the  circulation  was  almost  altogether  small 
Spanish  coins,  which,  being  much  depreci- 
ated by  wear  and  tear,  passed  for  more  than 
their  intrinsic  value,  and  consequently  flood- 
ed the  country,  greatly  influencing  retail 
prices.  This  was  particularly  the  case  with 
the  pistareens,  which,  up  to  1827,  were 
taken  at  twenty  cents,  or  five  to  the  dollar, 
although  they  were  really  worth  but  eighteen 
and  a half  cents,  consequently  there  was  lit- 
tle other  change  to  be  had.  In  consequence 
of  a report  of  the  Mint  Director  of  that  year, 
they  were  refused  at  more  than  seventeen 
cents,  and  they  very  speedily  disappeared 
from  circulation,  and  have  not  now  been 
seen  for  more  than  35  years.  The  quar- 
ters continued  to  circulate  at  twenty-five 
cents,  although  the  average  value  was  twen- 
ty-three and  a half  cents  ; the  eighths  were 
taken  at  twelve  and  a half,  although  they 
were  worth  only  eleven  and  one-eighth  ; the 
sixteenth  was  taken  at  six  and  a quarter, 
although  worth  but  five  cents.  It  resulted 
that  these  coins  became  very  abundant,  driv- 
ing out  the  dimes  and  half  dimes,  and  in 
1843  the  post-office  and  the  banks  refusing 
them  altogether,  they  were  supplanted  by 
the  American  coin,  until  the  gold  discover- 
ies of  1848.  After  that  event,  owing  to  the 
increased  production  of  gold,  and  the  fact 
that  some  of  the  European  states  changed 
their  monetary  policy,  making  silver  the 
sole  standard  of  value,  the  latter  metal  be- 
came worth  more  in  market  than  its  nominal 
value  in  United  States  coin,  and  was  gradu- 
ally withdrawn  from  the  currency,  until,  in 
1852,  silver  coin  became  very  scarce,  and 
there  was  not  sufficient  left  in  circulation  for 
the  purposes  of  change.  A premium  of  four 
per  cent,  was  paid  for  dollars  and  half  dol- 
lars for  export,  and  the  smaller  coins  com- 
manded, in  many  cases,  a still  higher  price, 
for  use  among  shop-keepers  and  small  traders. 
It  was  easy  to  see  that,  unless  the  weight  of 
our  silver  coin  was  reduced,  there  would 
soon  be  none  left  in  the  country.  Already 
the  eating-houses  and  drinking  saloons  had 
issued  their  tickets,  or  shinplaster  tokens,  in 
place  of  coin  ; and  the  poor,  who  purchased 
the  necessaries  of  life  in  small  amounts, 
were  put  to  great  inconvenience,  or  obliged 
to  submit  to  ruinous  shaves  upon  their  paper 
money.  To  remedy  these  evils,  Congress 
passed  the  act  of  February  21st,  1853  (to 


UNITED  STATES  MINT. 


217 


take  effect  the  1st  of  April  following),  au- 
thorizing the  coinage  of  half  dollars,  quarter 
dollars,  d ines,  and  half  dimes,  weighing 
less  than  the  old  coin,  as  follows  : 

Old  coin.  New  coin. 

H If  dollar,  grains. . . .206^  192 

Qua -ter  dollar,  do 103  96 


J - me,  do 4\U  38  2-5 

Half  dime,  do 20^j  19  1-5 


The  dollar  was  not  changed,  and  the 
weight  of  that  piece  is  412  1-2  grains,  the 
weight  which  it  has  borne  since  1836  ; this 


Philadelphia.  New  Orleans. 
Pieces.  Pieces. 

Dollars 1 ,62 1 ,000  875,000 

Half  dollars 1 4,323, 1 30  1 2,566,000 

Quarter  dollars . . . 23,089,430  2,348,000 

Dimes, 7,236,380  2,350,000 

Half  dimes 13,826,130  4,660,000 

3 cent  pieces 4,222,230  720,000 


64,318,300  23,519,000 

In  addition  to  this  small  silver  coin,  there 
has  been  coined  since  1849,  $18,900,000  in 
one  dollar  gold  pieces.  These  were  never, 
however,  a popular  coin. 

The  main  source  of  supply  of  the  precious 
metals  to  the  mint  was,  before  1849,  from 
abroad,  through  the  operations  of  commerce, 
though  the  Southern  States  furnished  almost 
fifteen  millions.  Since  that  time,  the  Pacific 
slope  has  been  the  leading  t-ource.  The  quan- 
tity of  domestic  gold  deposited  at  the  mint 
has  been  as  follows  : — 


DEPOSITS  OP  DOMESTIC  GOLD  AT  MINT  AND  BRANCHES. 


To  1851. 

1851  to  1859.  To  1870. 

Virginia, 

1,197,338 

327,977 

1,615,736 

N.  Carolina, 

6,707,458 

2,236,951 

9,684,622 

S.  Carolina, 

817,692 

462,913 

1,371,384 

Georgia, 

Tennessee, 

6,018,603 

782,270 

7,151,236 

76,574 

4,337 

81,530 

Alabama, 

186,627 

10,131 

206,041 

New  Mexico, 

38,963 

9,709 

523,133 

California, 

31,838,079 

419,472,761 

630,575,666 

Kansas, 

4,172 

5,008 

Oregon, 
Other  places, 

69,272 

10,738,134 

41,103 

33,121 

106  596,699 

Total,  $46,922,437  $423,418,614  $768,019,189 

Of  this  large  amount,  $721,096,752  of  gold 
deposited  at  the  mint  and  its  branches  in  the 
20  years,  1851-1870,  about  $236,000,000 
was  cast  into  bars,  and  exported,  together 
with  the  surplus  of  coin,  to  Europe,  as  mer- 
chandise. The  domestic  silver  supplied  to 
the  mint  and  branches  amounted  in  all  to 
$12,558,244  up  to  June  30,  1870.  The 


reduction  of  weight  being  fourteen  and  a 
half  grains  in  the  half  dollar,  or  nearly  seven 
per  cent.  The  silver  currency  was  not 
debased , in  the  ordinary  sense  of  the  word, 
the  same  fineness  (nine  hundred  parts  pure 
silver,  and  one  hundred  of  alloy)  being  re- 
tained, and  the  only  change  in  the  coin  itself 
being  in  the  weight.  A very  important  pro- 
vision, however,  was  made  in  regard  to  it ; 
it  is  not  a legal  tender  in  payment  of  debts 
in  sums  exceeding  five  dollars. 

The  quantity  of  silver  coined  at  the  mint 
and  branches,  under  the  law  of  1853,  to  1870, 
has  been  as  follows  : — 


S.  Francisco. 
Pieces. 

Total  pieces. 

Value. 

20,000 

2,516,200 

2,516,000 

11,163,450 

38,052,580 

19,026,290 

1,509,400 

26,946,830 

6,736,709 

2,160,750 

11,747,130 

1,174,713 

1,060,000 

19,546,130 

977,306 

4,942,000 

148,260 

15,913,600 

103,750,670 

$30,579,278 

largest  amount,  almost  one-half,  was  parted 
from  domestic  gold,  and  $7  67,448  was  from 
fine  bars  privately  assayed.  Nevada  fur- 
nished almost  $5,000,000. 

The  amount  of  specie  actually  in  the  coun- 
try cannot  be  ascertained  with  perfect  ac- 
curacy. The  amount  in  the  country  in  1821 
was  estimated  at  $37,000,000.  The  calcula- 
tion, then,  up  to  1849,  upon  official  figures, 
would  be  as  follows  ; — 

% 

Specie  in  the  country  in  1821,  $37,000,000 

Product  of  U.  S.  mines  to  1849,  13,811,206 


Imported  1821  to  1849,  242,239,061  50,811,206 

Exported  “ “ 180,596,664  61,642,397 


Specie  in  the  country  in  1849,  $112,453,603 

Of  this  amount,  $43,619,000  was  in  the 
banks  and  $5,700,925  in  the  federal  treas- 
ury ; $32,133,688  was  probably  in  circula- 
tion, and  $31,000,000  in  plate  and  orna- 
ments. From  1849  to  1859  the  amount 
was  as  follows  : — 

In  the  country  in  1849,  $112,453,603 

Coinage,  1849  to  1859,  529,619,919 


Supply  to  1859,  $642,073,522 

Import  of  the  metals,  1849 

to  1859,  78,838,864 

Export  in  the  same  time,  435,023,906 


Excess  export,  356,185,042 

In  the  country  in  1859, 


$285,888,480 


218 


UNITED  STATES  MINT 


This  gives  an  increase  of  $173,434,877  of 
specie  in  the  country  to  1860.  The  distri- 
bution of  this  money  was  nearly  as  follows  : 

Stock  in  the  country,  $285,888,480 

United  States  treasury,  Si 0,000,000 

In  all  the  banks,  10 », 537,8 18 

In  plate,  ornaments,  &c.,  50,000,000 

In  general  circulation  121,350,662 

$285,888,480 

Immigrants  bring  with  them  large  sums  of 
coin  and  bullion  which  go  either  to  the  mint 
or  the  brokers  for  export.  We  may  now 
ascertain  the  amount  of  money  that  circula- 
ted in  the  country  in  1859,  as  follows  : — 

1849.  1859. 

Less  notes  on  hand  16,427,000  18,858,289 

Bank  notes  in  circulat’n,  112,079,000  174,448,529 

Specie  in  circulation,  32,133,688  121,350,662 

Total  mixed  circulat’n,  $144,212,688  $295,799,191 
From  1859  to  1870  some  new  elements 
entered  into  the  calculation.  The  suspen- 
sion of  specie  payments  in  1861,  led  to  hoard- 
ing and  the  disuse  of  specie  in  circulation, 
but  the  amount  of  gold  and  silver  in  the 
country  was  very  nearly  as  follows  : — 


Specie  in  the  country  in  1859, $285,888,480 

Accession  from  1859  to  1870, 836,452,754 


$1,122,341,234 

Less  export  1859  to  1870, 582,074,940 


$546,266,294 

Of  this  large  amount,  the  United  States 


Treasury  held — 

At  the  end  of  1870, $107,802,280 

The  National  Banks  held 26,307,251 

State  banks  and  private  banks  about  104,000,000 

Gold  brokers  and  speculators, 25,000,000 

Plate,  watches,  ornaments,  &c., 150,000,000 

Hoarded, 127,1 40, Of  0 


$540,259,531 

There  was  at  this  time,  (Dec.  1870)  of 
course  no  specie  in  general  circulation,  ex- 
cept the  nickel  and  silver  five  and  three  cent 
pieces,  and  the  copper  cents  and  two  cent 
pieces,  and  these  did  not  exceed  $4,000,000 
or  $5,000,000  in  value.  The  circulating  me- 
dium consisted  of — 

Legal  tender  notes,  (greenbacks) ....  $356,101,086 


Fractional  currency, 39,995,089 

Gold  certificates  of  deposit, 26,149,000 

National  Bank  Notes, 296,205,446 


$718,450,621 

The  mint  operates  upon  the  various  forms 
of  the  metals  brought  to  it,  and  these  are  of 
great  variety,  from  the  most  delicate  plates 


and  ornaments  down  to  base  alloys,  and  these 
are  all  included  under  the  general  term  bul- 
lion, except  United  States  coins.  The  bullion 
is  either  un wrought  or  manufactured.  The 
first  description  embraces  gold  dust,  amalga- 
mated cakes  and  balls,  laminated  gold,  melted 
bars  and  cakes.  The  “ dust  ” is  the  shape  in 
which  it  is  derived  by  washing  in  the  placer 
mines.  In  South  America,  Russia,  and 
elsewhere,  amalgamated  gold  is  that  which 
has  been  procured  by  the  use  of  quicksilver, 
forming  a lump.  Laminated  gold  is  that 
which  is  combined  with  silver,  and  derived 
mostly  from  Central  America.  Both  these 
kinds  come  to  the  mint  in  bars  and  cakes 
three  inches  wide,  and  one  and  a half  thick, 
weighing  275  ounces,  and  are  worth  $5,900. 
The  manufactured  is  mostly  jewelry,  plate, 
and  coin.  Jewelry  is  received  at  the  mint 
in  every  variety  of  article  into  the  manufac- 
ture of  which  gold  enters.  Its  value  depends 
upon  the  quantity  of  pure  gold  in  it,  and  this 
requires  to  be  extracted  by  assaying.  The 
range  of  fineness  of  the  better  kinds  of  jew- 
elry is  300  to  6o0,  or  from  1 3 to  2-3  the 
value  of  coin  of  the  same  weight,  but  the 
cheaper  kinds  contain  very  little  gold.  All 
this  mass  of  metal  must  be  reduced  to  a uni- 
form material,  containing  the  proper  propor- 
tion of  alloy,  and  cast  in  bars,  1 2 in.  long, 
^ in.  thick,  and  from  1 to  1 J in  breadth,  ac- 
cording to  the  size  of  the  coin  to  be  struck. 
These  are  tested  to  see  if  they  are  of  the  legal 
fineness.  They  are  then  annealed,  and  rolled 
into  long  thin  strips  by  means  of  a steam  en- 
gine. These  strips  are  then  drawn  through 
plates  of  the  hardest  steel,  to  proper  thickness, 
and  by  a steam  press  cut  into  “ planchets  ” 
or  pieces  of  the  exact  size  of  the  coin  wanted, 
at  the  rate  of  1 60  per  minute.  These  are 
then  cleaned,  annealed,  whitened,  weighed, 
and  placed  in  a tube,  which  slides  them  one 
by  one  into  a steel  collar,  in  which  they  fit. 
The  piece  is  seized,  stamped  with  perfect  im- 
pressions on  both  sides  by  the  dies,  and  in- 
stantly pushed  away  to  be  followed  by  ano- 
ther piece.  The  devices  on  these  dies  are  first 
cut  in  soft  steel.  This  “ original  die  ” is  then 
hardened,  and  is  used  to  impress  a piece  of 
soft  steel,  which  is  then  like  a coin  with  the 
figures  raised,  and  is  called  a “ nub.”  This 
being  again  hardened,  is  used  to  impress  the 
dies,  with  which  the  coining  is  done,  and  a 
pair  of  them  will  do  two  weeks’  work.  The 
coining  presses  are  of  sizes  proportionate  to 
the  work. 


INSURANCE— FIRE  AND  MARINE. 


The  history  of  Fire  Insurance  dates  back 
only  to  the  year  following  the  Great  Fire  in 
London  in  1666,  if  indeed  it  can  be  said  to 
have  had  any  clearly  defined  existence  be- 
fore the  year  1696,  when  the  first  organized 
association  was  formed,  based  upon  the  sim- 
ple principle  of  contribution  in  the  shape  of 
annual  premiums  proportionate  to  the 
amount  of  property  insured,  to  a common 
fund,  out  of  which  the  losses  of  its  various 
members  were  to  be  made  good.  This  as- 
sociation was  very  appropriately  styled  the 
“ Hand  in  Hand,  or  Amicable  Contribution 
Society,”  and  was  strictly  mutual  in  charac- 
ter. A number  of  attempts  had  been  made 
for  some  system  of  Fire  Insurance  as  early 
as  1669,  all  of  which  proved  abortive,  as 
did  the  attempt  of  the  City  of  London  in 
1681  to  settle  lands  and  ground  rents  to  the 
value  of  £ ip0,000,  together  with  the  sums 
to  be  received  for  premiums,  as  a fund  for 
the  insurance  of  houses.  About  the  year 
1 670  a company  was  established  in  Edinburgh 
for  friendly  insurance  against  fire,  consisting 
of  a number  of  private  contributors,  who 
agreed  to  insure  each  other.  This  insur- 
ance, however,  was  not  personal,  like  modern 
fire  insurance,  but  the  interest,  and  stock, 
and  benefit  were  inseparably  annexed  to  the 
houses  insured  as  long  as  the  contribution 
was  continued.  Little  progress  was  made 
under  any  of  these  forms  before  the  com- 
mencement of  the  eighteenth  century,  when 
the  Sun  Fire  Office  in  London  was  estab- 
lished in  1710,  from  which  time  Fire  Insur- 
ance may  be  said  to  date  its  progress  under 
the  form  of  both  mutual  and  stock  compan- 
ies. The  limited  experience  obtained  up  to 
that  time,  had  given  some  general  notions  as 
to  hazards  of  different  classes  of  property, 
and  by  enabling  a proper  rate  to  be  fixed 
proportionate  to  the  hazard,  had  so  far  re- 
duced the  rates  charged  as  to  render  insur- 
ance easily  obtainable  and  popular.  From 
this  time  companies  multiplied  in  England, 
and  previous  to  the  war  of  our  revolution 
had  numerous  agencies  in  the  then  Colonies. 
In  other  countries  of  Europe  the  practice  of  j 
insuring  against  fire  was  not  introduced  until 
a much  later  period,  about  1754,  when  the  | 


marine  companies  in  Paris  obtained  permis- 
sion from  the  government  to  make  insurances 
against  fire.  For  a long  time  the  practice 
was  by  no  means  general.  Owring  to  the 
solid  structure  of  their  buildings  and  the  ex- 
traordinary caution  on  the  part  of  the  people 
for  the  prevention  of  fires,  few  sought  pro- 
tection by  means  of  insurance.  It  has  been 
confidently  asserted  by  pe rsons  well  ac- 
quainted with  both  the  cities  of  London  and 
Amsterdam,  that  after  making  all  fair  allow- 
ances there  is  upon  an  average  more  pro- 
perty destroyed  by  fire  in  the  former  in  one 
year  than  in  the  latter  in  twenty.  Fire  In- 
surance has,  however,  now  become  very 
general,  and  some  of  the  continental  com- 
panies are  the  largest  and  strongest  in  the 
world. 

The  first  Fire  Insurance  Company  organ- 
ized in  the  United  States  was  the  “ Philadel- 
phia Contributionship  for  insuring  houses 
from  loss  by  fire,”  in  175*2.  This  was  pure- 
ly a mutual  company,  requiring  a deposit 
from  the  insured,  the  interest  of  which  would 
meet  the  losses  of  each  year  and  yield  some- 
thing over  for  a dividend  at  the  termination 
of  the  risk,  which  was  for  seven  years.  The 
plan  was  borrowed  from  the  first  English 
company  of  similar  name,  and  the  company 
numbered  among  its  directors  Dr.  Franklin 
and  other  men  eminent  in  colonial  and  revo- 
lutionary times.  For  many  years  after  the 
peace  of  1783,  an  insurance  company,  on 
the  principle  of  the  ancient  London  “ Hand 
in  Hand,”  existed  in  New  York,  and  con- 
tinued to  do  a moderate  business  until  incor- 
porated companies  with  capital  stock  became 
common  and  superceded  the  mutual  plan, 
which  was  found  to  be  too  slow  and  cum- 
brous for  the  growing  business  of  that  city. 
The  first  stock  company  formed  in  the 
United  States  was  the  Insurance  Company 
of  North  America  in  Philadelphia  in  1791. 
Others  followed  in  Providence,  Boston,  and 
New  York  from  that  time  until  a few  years 
after  the  beginning  of  the  present  century, 
when  Fire  Insurance  in  this  country  may  bo 
said  to  have  been  established  on  essentially 
the  same  general  principles  as  at  present 
conducted.  The  first  quarter  of  this  cen- 


220 


INSURANCE FIRE  AND  MARINE. 


tury  witnessed  a moderate  growth ; the 
second  quarter  made  some  progress,  not- 
withstanding the  two  great  fires,  and  ended 
with  a moderate  increase  in  capital  and 
business.  The  extensive  and  enormous  de- 
velopment of  fire  insurance  in  this  country 
has  been  the  work  of  the  last  twenty-five 
years,  during  which  time  a radical  change 
has  been  wrought  in  the  mode  of  doing  the 
business  by  stock  companies  instead  of  mu- 
tual, and  by  the  present  wide-spread  and 
almost  universal  system  of  agencies. 

In  1833,  previous  to  which  we  have  no 
reliable  statistical  information,  there  were  in 
the  City  of  New  York  some  eighteen  Fire 
Insurance  Companies,  with  an  aggregate 
capital  of  a little  over  $6,000,000,  one  of 
which  had  a capital  of  $1,000,000,  and  three 
others  had  $500,000  each,  while  the  remain- 
ing capitals  ranged  from  $200,000  to  $350,- 
000.  It  would  be  interesting  to  know  the 
exact  amount  of  premiums  annually  received 
by  these  companies  at  that  date,  but  having 
no  reliable  statistics  to  refer  to,  an  approxi- 
mate estimate  can  only  be  formed,  based 
upon  the  recollection  of  parties  who  were 
then  connected  with  certain  of  those  institu- 
tions. From  the  last  data  of  this  kind  now 
available  it  is  ascertained  quite  satisfactorily 
that  the  whole  amount  of  premiums  received 
by  all  the  companies  in  that  and  the  two 
following  years  respectively,  was  something 
less  than  $1,000,000.  At  that  time  there 
were  no  agencies  of  companies  of  other 
states,  or  foreign  companies,  in  the  State  of 
New  York,  the  English  companies  having 
been  excluded  by  a law  passed  March,  1814. 
From  1833  to  December,  1835,  seven  new 
companies  were  organized,  with  an  aggregate 
capital  of  about  $1,700,000,  making  the  en- 
tire fire  insurance  capital  at  the  time  of  the 
great  fire  in  December  of  the  latter  year  a 
little  less  than  $8,000,000.  The  great  fire 
of  1 835,  which  destroyed  about  six  hundred 
buildings,  mostly  stores  and  warehouses,  and 
property  to  the  value  of  between  $15,000,000 
and  $20,000,000,  caused  the  insolvency  of 
all  but  seven  of  the  companies  then  in  exis- 
tence in  that  city,  thus  reducing  the  actual 
capital  for  fire  insurance  to  about  $1,000,000. 
The  insolvent  companies  paid  variously  from 
40  to  90  per  cent,  on  the  claims  for  losses 
under  their  policies.  During  the  next  ten 
years  many  of  the  companies  were  revived 
under  favorable  legislation  and  new  com- 
panies organized,  so  that  the  fire  insurance 


capital  of  New  York  and  Brooklyn  amount- 
ed to  about  $6,000,000 ; to  which  should  be 
added  a considerable  number  of  mutual 
companies  and  agencies  of  Hartford  and 
Boston  companies,  which  were  then  estab- 
lished for  the  first  time  to  any  considerable 
extent  in  that  city.  The  great  fire  of  July, 
1845,  swept  most  of  these  mutuals  and  again 
several  of  the  stock  companies  into  insolv- 
ency, and  left  a large  number  with  capitals 
seriously  impaired.  Of  the  companies  ren- 
dered insolvent  by  this  last  calamity,  none 
ever  revived.  From  this  time  there  was 
little  increase  in  companies  or  capital  until 
the  passage  of  the  general  insurance  law  by 
the  State  of  New  York  in  1849,  under  which, 
and  the  law  of  1853,  which  took  its  place,  a 
very  large  number  of  the  companies  were 
organized  in  the  City  of  New  York,  thus 
bringing  the  aggregate  fire  insurance  capital 
of  the  state  at  the  end  of  1870  up  to  over 
twenty-nine  millions  of  dollars,  again,  how- 
ever, reduced  at  the  end  of  1871  to  a trifle 
over  twenty-two  millions  by  the  great  fire 
at  Chicago.  The  progress  of  fire  insurance 
in  the  City  of  New  York  may  be  taken  as 
a fair  criterion  by  which  to  judge  of  its  pro- 
gress in  other  prominent  cities  of  our  coun- 
try. Philadelphia  and  Boston  have  not  ex- 
perienced such  sudden  fluctuations  in  capital 
as  New  York,  having  escaped  fires  of  mag- 
nitude like  those  of  1835  and  1845.  The 
older  companies  in  both  cities  have  been 
noted  for  solidity  and  conservatism.  To 
Hartford  belongs  the  credit  of  originating 
and  giving  vitality  to  the  agency  system  in 
fire  insurance.  For  a time,  indeed,  that  city 
had  almost  a monopoly  of  the  agency  fir^ 
business,  and  is  now  second  to  none  in  the 
country  in  the  character,  position,  and  finan- 
cial strength  of  its  companies.  The  busi- 
ness has  proved  a source  of  wealth  to  that 
city,  and  it  now  has  more  insurance  capital 
in  proportion  to  its  size  than  any  other  city 
in  the  country.  Within  the  past  fifteen 
years  a great  number  of  companies  have 
been  started  in  the  prominent  cities  of  the 
west,  with  more  or  less  success.  Such  as 
have  been  organized  with  actual  capital  and 
prudently  managed  have  generally  succeeded, 
with  the  exception  of  the  Chicago  companies, 
which  were  engulfed  in  the  terrible  disas- 
ter of  October,  1871.  The  past  thirty  years 
have  witnessed  the  rise  and  extinction  of 
hundreds  of  mutual  and  stock  companies  of 
purely  speculative  character,  which  never 


INSURANCE FIRE  AND  MARINE. 


221 


deserved  public  confidence,  and  soon  met  the 
fate  which  always  attends  corporations  or- 
ganized with  fraudulent  purpose  or  managed 
by  incompetent  men.  To  one  of  these 
causes  may  be  attributed  the  failure  of  near- 
ly all  the  companies  which  have  gone  down 
during  that  time,  except  such  as  have  been 
overwhelmed  in  one  or  the  other  of  the 
three  great  fires  already  referred  to.  Many 
strong  and  well  managed  companies  have 
been  swept  away  before  the  great  cyclones 
of  fire  which  have  more  than  once  marked 
the  history  of  the  past  forty  years,  and  in 
yielding  to  inevitable  and  unavoidable  ca- 
lamity have  secured  the  commendation  rather 
than  C3nsure  of  the  public ; while  such  cor- 
porations, whether  mutual  or  stock,  as  have 
been  conceived  in  fraud  and  designed  to  prey 
upon  the  credulity  or  ignorance  of  the  as- 
sured deserve  only  contempt  and  the  sever- 
est punishment  of  the  managers  through 
whom  such  vast  injury  has  been  done  to  the 
insuring  public. 

Of  this  class  of  companies,  those  of  a 
mutual  character  have  been  most  noticeable 
for  the  injury  which  has  been  inflicted  on 
the  insured  and  the  disrepute  into  which  the 
business  of  fire  insurance  was  brought  in 
the  ten  years  following  1850.  Under  the 
general  insurance  law  of  1849  a large  num- 
ber of  mutual  companies  were  organized  in 
the  State  of  New  York,  and  in  1853  num- 
bered 62,  with  nominal  assets  in  excess  of 
eleven  and  a half  millions  of  dollars.  In 
1860  the  number  had  fallen  to  27,  with  as- 
sets less  than  four  and  a quarter  millions, 
and  in  1870  only  eight  companies  were  in 
existence,  with  assets  of  about  two  and  a 
quarter  millions.  In  the  State  of  New  York 
the  system  of  mutual  insurance  has  proved 
a signal  failure.  In  Massachusetts,  at  the 
close  of  1849,  sixty  mutual  companies  were 
in  existence,  and  at  the  close  of  1868  the 
number  had  been  reduced  to  54,  with  gross 
assets  of  $3,99*1,367.66,  and  outstanding 
risks  t&  the  amount  of  $307,063,988.05. 
Most  of  these  are  located  in  the  interior  of 
the  state,  and  are  so  small  as  to  make  the 
policies  of  comparatively  little  value,  since, 
to  pay  losses,  assessments  are  required,  and 
these,  if  of  any  considerable  magnitude,  are 
fatal  to  the  standing  of  the  companies.  The 
mutual  system  in  Massachusetts  is  adapted 
only  to  the  immediate  locality  of  the  com- 
panies, and  seems  to  be  gradually  following  ' 
the  fate  of  the  system  in  New  York,  as  will  | 


be  noticed  in  the  fact  that  the  entire  premium 
receipts  of  all  the  mutual  fire  insurance  com- 
panies in  that  state  do  not  exceed  one-third 
of  those  of  the  iEtna  of  Hartford,  or  one- 
half  those  of  the  Home  of  New  York,  while 
the  premiums  of  nearly  a dozen  stock  com- 
panies separately  equal  the  entire  aggregate. 
In  Vermont  the  system  has  been  tried  for 
more  than  forty  years  by  the  Vermont  Mu- 
tual with  better  results,  owing  to  the  excel- 
lent management  of  the  company,  and  the 
fact  that  its  business  has  ever  been  confined 
exclusively  to  risks  in  that  state.  In  other 
states  of  the  Union  mutual  companies  have 
shared  the  same  fate  as  those  of  New  York, 
and  it  would  seem  that  the  system,  as  such, 
is  totally  inadequate  to  the  growing  demands 
of  trade  and  the  increasing  value  of  property 
to  be  insured. 

It  is  a noticeable  fact  that  in  1837  there 
were  48  joint  stock  companies  in  Massa- 
chusetts, with  a combined  capital  of  $9,415,- 
000,  while  in  1868  there  were  only  29  com- 
panies, with  a capital  stock  of  $6,934,800. 
Comparing,  however,  the  business  of  the 
companies,  it  will  be  found  that  the  48  com- 
panies in  1837  were  insuring  fire  and  marine 
risks  to  the  amount  of  only  $110,000,000, 
while  the  29  companies  in  1868  had  $330,- 
000,000  at  risk.  The  increase  of  risks  as- 
sumed in  that  state  by  companies  from  other 
states  for  the  16  years  previous  to  1869,  was 
even  more  marked  than  that  of  the  state 
companies,  having  risen  from  $6,373,000  in 
1852  to  $250,00* ), 000  in  1868.  The  devel- 
opment of  the  joint  stock  plan  of  fire  in- 
surance in  the  State  of  New  York  has  been 
equally  remarkable.  In  1844  there  were 
20  companies,  having  an  aggregate  capital 
of  $5,710,000,  with  amount  insured  $119,- 
571,000,  while  in  1870  the  number  had  in- 
creased to  105,  with  an  aggregate  capital  of 
29,761,23 2,  and  amount  insured  $2,813,- 
983,7  69.  The  number  of  companies  in  the 
state  at  the  end  of  1871  was  reduced  by  the 
great  fire  at  Chicago  to  84,  with  capital  of 
$22,307,010,  and  amount  of  risks  covered 
$2,397,339.63.  It  may  be  proper  to  note 
in  this  connection  the  increase  of  capital  in 
companies  from  other  states  doing  business 
in  the  State  of  New  York  from  $12,351,315 
with  $567,887,673  at  risk  in  1859,  to  $22,- 
971,101  for  capital  in  1870,  with  risks  $1,- 
695,633,560. 

The  following  table,  compiled  from  offi- 
cial reports  of  companies  doing  business  in 


222 


INSURANCE FIRE  AND  MARINE. 


the  State  of  New  York  from  1859  to  1871 
inclusive,  shows  the  increase  of  capital  in- 
vested in  the  business  of  fire  insurance  dur- 
ing that  time,  and  the  amount  of  dividends 
declared  from  year  to  year,  with  the  yearly 
percentage  and  the  average  percentage  for 
the  whole  period. 


TEAR. 

CAPITAL. 

DIVIDENDS. 

PERCENTAGE. 

1859 

$32,358,315 

$4,595,350  74 

14.19 

1860 

29,998,760 

3,836,141.97 

12.78 

1861 

29,384,260 

3,250,749.76 

10.06 

1862 

29,834,260 

3,324,566.01 

11.11 

1863 

33,246,760 

3,567,331.51 

10.72 

1864 

41,629,945 

4,141,374.42 

9.94 

1865 

44,282.750 

4,616,607.11 

10.42 

1866 

44,410,350 

3,369,250.70 

7.81 

1867 

45,611,232 

3,774,326.96 

8.27 

1868 

49.331,194 

5,051,796.38 

10.24 

1869 

51  ;il8,602 

6.252,779.39 

12.23 

1870  . 

62,732.333 

6,509,998.68 

12.34 

1871 

43,857,010 

4,834,880.00 

11.02 

Aggregate, 

$527,795,771 

$57,125,153.63 

10.82 

This  table  embraces  a very  large  propor- 
tion of  all  the  American  companies,  as  near- 
ly all  fire  companies  seek  to  do  business  in 
the  State  of  New  York,  and  in  order  to  do 
so  have  to  make  annual  reports,  which  form 
the  basis  of  this  table.  As  near  as  can  be 
ascertained  the  entire  fire  insurance  capital 
of  the  country  at  the  close  of  1870  amounted 
to  $65,000,000.  It  will  be  noticed  that  the 
average  dividends  on  this  enormous  amount 
of  capital  has  been  less  than  11  per  cent, 
during  the  past  thirteen  years.  If  the  loss 
of  capital  itself  during  that  time  be  taken 
into  account,  it  is  doubtful  if  the  average 
dividends  would  amount  to  nine  per  cent.,  a 
figure  by  no  means  unreasonable  for  income 
on  capital  subjected  to  such  fearful  hazards 
as  those  of  fire  insurance.  It  is  fair  to  as- 
sume that  the  capital  of  all  the  companies 
not  reporting  to  the  New  York  Department 
has  yielded  about  the  same  average  divi- 
dends, and  as  the  capital  would  of  itself  earn 
at  least  seven  per  cent.,  there  remains  only 
about  two  per  cent,  for  the  profits  of  the 
business,  as  such,  a figure  quite  insignificant 
in  view  of  the  nature  of  the  business  and 
the  risk  assumed. 

It  may  be  interesting  to  note  the  increase 
in  the  amount  of  premiums  received,  and  the 
fluctuations  in  the  amount  of  losses,  with 
the  various  yearly  percentage  of  losses  to 
premiums,  as  will  appear  by  the  following 
table,  showing  the  same  for  the  past  thir- 
teen years,  compiled  from  official  sources 


and  embracing  the  same  companies  as  the 
foregoing  table. 


TEAR. 

FIRE  PREM.  REC’D. 

FIRE  LOSSES  PAID. 

PER  CENT. 

1859 

$14,413,458.56 

$8,031,247.41 

55.72 

1860 

11,866,548.45 

6,993,630.90 

58.93 

1861 

10,527,327.76 

6,249,689.79 

59.36 

1862 

11,308.418.99 

7,056.731.57 

62.40 

1863 

14,019,658.13 

5,656,975.64 

40.35 

1864 

20,141,152.68 

11356,624.97 

56.38 

1865 

25,419,589.55 

17,264.618.33 

67.91 

1866 

32,281,404.76 

23,913,745.87 

74.07 

1867 

36,162,138.45 

20,818,269.87 

57.56 

1868 

37,395,740.25 

19,283.979.11 

51.56 

1869 

39,353,578.57 

20,054.341.80 

50.95 

1870 

37.237.621.73 

21,869,440.75 

68.72 

1871 

36,984,570.00 

31,504,180.00 

85.18 

Aggregate, 

$327,111,207.88 

$200,053,476.01 

61.15 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  leading  Ame- 
rican fire  companies  lost  over  61  per  cent, 
of  their  premium  receipts  from  1859  to  1871 
inclusive. 

It  is  proper  to  remark  that  the  New  York 
Report  for  1867,  embracing  the  New  Yrork 
Companies  doing  Fire,  Inland,  and  Marine 
business  from  1848  to  1866  inclusive,  gives 
over  63  per  cent,  of  losses  to  premiums  for 
that  period ; while  the  strictly  mutual  state 
companies  from  1853  to  1867  inclusive  suf- 
fered a loss  of  over  61  per  cent.  The  fire 
companies  in  Massachusetts  from  1858  to 
1866  inclusive  paid  for  losses  t)7  per  cent., 
and  companies  from  other  states,  doing  fire 
business  in  that  state,  over  59  per  cent,  for 
the  same  period,  or  an  aggregate  loss  on 
both  classes  of  companies  of  over  60  per 
cent.  The  great  fire  at  Chicago  increased 
the  general  average  of  the  last  thirteen  y ears 
at  least  one  per  cent,  above  the  normal  aver- 
age. It  will  therefore  be  safe  to  assume  60 
per  cent,  as  the  average  for  the  last  thirty 
or  forty  years  of  fire  losses  in  this  country 
to  premium  receipts. 

The  expenses  of  management  form  an  im- 
portant item  in  the  history  of  fire  insurance, 
and  have  not  only  exercised  a great  influence 
on  the  profitableness  of  the  business  but 
also  on  the  character  of  the  business  done. 
The  increase  of  the  commission  to  brokers 
and  agents  in  1865  from  ten  to  fifteen  per 
cent.,  no  doubt  had  a bad  influence  on  the 
general  conduct  of  the  business,  aside  from 
the  increased  losses  on  risks  influenced  by 
the  increased  commission. 

The  following  table  shows  the  cash  pre- 
miums received  and  expenses  paid,  with 
average  percentage  for  time  named : 


INSURANCE FIRE  AND  MARINE. 


223 


TEAR. 

NET  CASH  PREM’S 
RECEIVED,  IN- 
CLUDING INLAND. 

EXPEND’S,  LESS 

divd’s,  losses,  and 

AMOUNT  PAID  IN 
INTEREST  ON  SCRIP 
AND  REDEMPTION. 

PER  CENT. 

1859 

$14,; 535.112.94 

$4,004,557.39 

27.55 

1860 

13,750,762.49 

3,741.323.86 

27.20 

1361 

12,400,645.09 

3,484.593.73 

28.10 

1862 

13,404,597.62 

3,569,905.98 

26.63 

1863 

16,414. 2^3.94 

4,500.850.50 

27.42 

1864 

23,843,521.89 

6,861,790.25 

28.77 

1865 

29,519,092.28 

9,403,134.28 

31.85 

1866 

38,867,492.27 

11,791,369.66 

30.33 

1867 

42,236,059.38 

13,124,292.14 

31.07 

1868 

43,023,947  81 

13,874,810.99 

32.24 

1869 

45,024,145.51 

14,924,366.16 

33.14 

1870 

42,593,085.68 

15,128,290.66 

35.51 

1871 

40,818,312  00 

10,879,392.00 

26.65 

Aggregate , 

$376,430,998.90 

$115,288,677.60 

30.62 

From  this  table  it  appears  that  the  aver- 
age expenses  of  American  Companies  is  not 
less  than  30  per  cent,  of  the  premiums  re- 
ceived. This  figure,  however,  includes  taxes 
on  capital,  which  in  most  of  the  states  are 
paid  by  the  companies.  The  expenses  of 
companies  in  England  average  about  31  per 
cent. ; those  of  France  about  the  same,  while 
those  of  Germany  average  about  thirty  per 
cent.  If,  therefore,  we  assume  thirty  per 
cent.,  in  round  numbers,  as  the  average  ex- 
pense of  conducting  the  business,  we  shall 
not  be  far  from  the  absolute  figure.  Com- 


bining the  ratio  of  losses  with  that  of  ex- 
penses, we  find  a margin  of  only  one-tenth 
of  the  premium  received  for  profit , loss  of 
capital , sweeping  conflagrations , and  epidemic 
periods.  How  far  this  can  be  trifled  with 
by  ignorance  or  credulity  the  public  mind 
must  judge  for  itself.  To  the  intelligent  and 
prudent  property-holder  these  figures  are 
full  of  meaning  and  admonition. 

Thus  far  attention  has  been  directed  to 
the  profits  of  underwriting  and  only  inferen- 
tially  to  the  adjustment  of  rates  to  hazards. 
The  comparison  of  losses  and  expenses  with 
premiums  will  go  far  towards  enabling  the 
practical  underwriter  to  form  a correct  judg- 
ment, in  view  of  past  rates  and  experience, 
on  individual  risks  ; but  to  the  political  econ- 
omist it  is  of  first  importance  to  know  the 
absolute  relation  between  losses  and  amount 
of  property  insured,  the  actual  amount  of 
risks  assumed  to  each  dollar  of  loss,  and  the 
average  rate  of  premium  on  risks  written, 
as  affording  some  safe  criterion  of  judgment 
as  to  the  aspect  of  the  business  as  a whole. 
With  this  view  the  following  table  has  been 
prepared,  embracing  twelve  years,  from  1860 
to  1871  inclusive: 


TEAR. 

FIRE  RISKS  WRITTEN. 

FIRE  PREMIUMS 
RECEIVED. 

FIRE  LOSSES  PAID. 

Percentage 
of  l ire  Losses 
to  Prem’s. 

Percentage 
of  Fire  Losses 
to  Fire  Risks 
written. 

z>  c ^ 

£;ia 

Ilf 

Average  Rate 
of  Prem’s  on 
Fire  Risks. 

I860 

$1,617,439,267 

$11,866,548.45 

$6,993,630.90 

58.93 

.4323 

231.27 

.7336 

1861 

1,530,019,235 

10,527,327.76 

6,249,689  79 

59.36 

.4084 

244.81 

.6880 

1862 

1,729,988,571 

11,308,418.99 

7,056,731.57 

62.40 

.4079 

245.15 

.6536 

1863 

2,150,200,798 

14,019,658.13 

5,656,975.64 

40.35 

.2630 

380.09 

.6520 

1864 

3,166,532,904 

20,141,152.68 

11,356,624.97 

56.38 

.3586 

278.82 

.6360 

1865 

3,428,105,224 

25,419,589.55 

17,264,618.33 

67.91 

.5036 

198.56 

.7415 

1866 

3,930,048,321 

32,281,404.76 

23,913,745.87 

74.07 

.6084 

164.34 

.8213 

1867 

3,812,294  907 

36,162,138.45 

20,818,269.87 

57.56 

.5460 

183.12 

.9485 

1868 

4,169,495,474 

37,395,740.25 

19,283,979.11 

51.56 

.4625 

216.21 

.8968 

1869 

4,454,808,663 

39,353,578.57 

20,054,341.80 

50.95 

.4501 

222.13 

.8833 

1870 

4,509,617,329 

37,237,621.73 

21,869,440.75 

58.72 

.4849 

206.20 

.8257 

1871 

4,204,798,338 

36,984,570.00 

31,504,180.00 

85.18 

.7492 

133.46 

.8795 

Aggregate, 

$38,703,349,031 

$312,697,749.32 

$192,022,228.60 

61.40 

.4961 

201.55 

.8079 

During  these  eventful  twelve  years  the  I 
amount  insured  has  more  than  doubled,  hav- ' 
ing  reached  in  1H70  more  than  four  thousand 
five  hundred  millions  of  dollars.  The  gross 
premiums  have  more  than  tripled,  having 
risen  from  less  than  twelve  millions  in  1860 
to  nearly  thirty-seven  millions  in  1871.  The 
losses  also  increased  from  less  than  seven 
millions  in  I860  to  more  than  twenty-one 
millions  in  1870,  and  more  than  thirty-one 
millions  in  1871,  including  losses  paid  at  j 


Chicago.  The  most  alarming  feature  is, 
however,  found  in  the  enormous  increase  of 
the  percentage  of  losses  to  amount  insured 
from  .4323  to  .4849  in  1870,  or  .7492  in 
1871,  including  the  Chicago  fire,  or  a general 
average  for  the  twelve  years  of  .4961.  This 
fact  is  full  of  meaning,  and  shows  that  the 
losses  by  fire  have  more  than  doubled  in 
that  time,  a fact  well  calculated  to  call  at- 
tention to  the  causes  which  have  produced, 
in  so  short  a time,  so  fearful  an  increase  in 


224 


INSURANCE — FIRE  AND  MARINE. 


the  destruction  of  property  in  this  country 
by  fire.  When  it  is  considered  that  every 
loss  of  property  by  fire,  whether  insured  or 
not,  is  a loss  to  the  common  wealth  of  the 
country,  the  import  of  these  figures  will  be 
more  fully  appreciated.  So  great,  indeed, 
has  become  the  destruction  of  property  by 
fire,  that  it  has  been  doubted  even  by  wise 
and  intelligent  persons  whether,  in  a general 
or  national  point  of  view,  the  benefits  re- 
sulting from  insurance  are  not  more  than 
counterbalanced  by  the  mischief  it  occasions. 
The  objections  in  that  point  of  view  which 
have  been  urged  are,  carelessness  and  inat- 
tention which  security  by  insurance  naturally 
creates,  and  the  temptation  to  arson  engen- 
dered by  it.  But  though  it  must  be  admit- 
ted that  this  species  of  insurance  has  been 
oftentimes  the  cause  of  fires,  the  benefits 
really  outweigh  the  mischiefs  ascribed  to  it, 
and  it  would  at  this  day  he  difficult  to  con- 
ceive how  the  vast  movements  of  trade  and 
manufacture  could  be  carried  on  without  the 
protection  of  fire  insurance.  The  immense 
accumulations  of  merchandise  demand  it, 
and  notwithstanding  the  serious  objections 
stated,  it  is  essential  to  credit  and  the  great 
industrial  interests  of  the  country.  The 
general  practice  marks  tlie  civilization  of  the 
age  in  which  we  live,  and  has  now  become 
indispensible  to  the  interests  of  trade  and 
progress. 

With  all  the  development  made  in  this 
important  branch  of  political  economy  there 
yet  remains  much  to  be  done  before  the 
business  of  fire  insurance  will  be  reduced  to 
anything  like  the  exactness  its  importance 
demands.  Many  reforms  must  be  intro- 
duced, systematic  statistics  on  fire  insurance 
must  be  obtained  and  classified  so  as  to  af- 
ford a scientific  basis  on  which  the  business 
should  be  conducted.  The  evils  of  over-in- 
surance, so  productive  of  incendiarism  ; loose 
underwriting;  hasty  adjustment  and  pay- 
ment of  losses,  as  an  encouragement  to  crim- 
inal carelessness  or  positive  fraud,  with  nu- 
merous irregularities  that  have  insidiously 
crept  in  upon  the  business,  must  be  corrected 
before  it  can  claim  the  high  rank  to  which 
it  is  entitled. 

There  is  a great  law  of  average  governing 
the  business,  certain  and  universal  as  the 
law  of  gravitation,  though  it  is  as  yet  im- 
perfectly understood.  Its  principles  are  even 
now  sufficiently  well  known  to  afford  a safe 


guide  for  the  practical  administration  of  the 
business,  and  with  a wise  caution  on  the  part 
of  the  public  there  is  little  danger  that  a 
business  like  that  of  fire  insurance,  com- 
manding as  it  does  its  full  share  of  skill, 
talent,  integrity,  and  honor,  w ill  be  wantonly 
thrown  into  the  hands  of  men  or  corpora- 
tions devoid  of  all  these  qualities.  It  is  a 
matter  of  public  concern  that  these  great 
interests,  so  intimately  interwoven  with  all 
the  industrial  pursuits  of  the  country,  should 
be  so  conducted  as  to  lessen  one  of  the  bur- 
dens that  now  presses  so  heavily  upon  them. 
Such  should  be  the  aim  of  those  to  whom 
these  interests  are  entrusted,  to  the  end  that 
undoubted  indemnity  may  be  secured  to 
the  insured  and  profit  to  the  capital  invest- 
ed. 

Marine  Insurance  is  of  a much  older 
date  than  fire,  and  is  supposed  to  have  ex- 
isted under  the  early  Roman  Emperots. 

The  Lombards  from  Italy  introduced  ma- 
rine underwriting  into  England  about  the 
end  of  the  14th  century.  The  first  organized 
Company  in  New  York  was  the  New  Yoik 
Insurance  Company  in  171)6,  with  a capital 
of  $560,000.  The  business  has  increased 
under  Stock  and  Mutual  Companies  until 
the  total  assets  in  I860  were  $21,867,198, 
and  in  1871  $25,874,146.  Total  losses  for 
same  time  were  $138,658,961. 

The  u United  States  Lloyds,”  of  New 
York,  is  composed  of  100  individual  under- 
writers, who  have  each  paid  into  the  com- 
mon fund  or  capital  $1,000,  and  each  of 
whom  is  personally  liable  for  at  least  an 
hundredth  part  of  each  and  every  risk  taken 
by  the  attorneys  of  the  association. 

The  Fire  and  Marine  Companies  of 
Massachusetts  in  1868  insured  $104,654,- 
966  — received  $2,458,256  premiums,  and 
sustained  losses  to  the  amount  of  $l.7o9,872. 
Many  of  the  fire  companies  assume  also  In- 
land risks  on  our  Western  rivers  and  lakes, 
and  there  are  a large  number  of  companies 
scattered  along  the  great  rivers  of  the  west 
devoted  exclusively  to  this  class  of  business. 
It  is,  however,  impossible  to  obtain  informa- 
tion sufficiently  accurate  to  warrant  any  gen- 
eral classification. 

The  business  of  marine  insurance  has 
made  rapid  progress  within  the  last  fifty 
years  under  the  mutual  plan,  which  seems 
to  be  the  only  system  adapted  to  its  success- 
ful prosecution  in  this  country. 


EARLY  MAKE  OF  FIRE  ENGINE  WITHOUT  SUCTION,  WATER  BEING  SUPPLIED  WITH  BUCKETS. 


HOOK  AND  LADDER  HOSE  CARRAIGE,  AND  MODERN  HAND  FIRE  ENGINE,  WITH  SUCTION  AND  FORCE  PUMPS. 


FIRE-ENGINE. 


LIFE  INSURANCE. 


Life  Insurance  treats  human  life  as  pro- 
ductive capital,  as  having  absolute  and  defi- 
nite money  value,  and  offers  indemnity 
against  its  loss.  Every  person  engaged  in 
a productive  industry,  or  whose  income  de- 
pends in  any  degree  upon  his  labor,  skill,  or 
care,  is  worth  in  money  to  those  dependent 
upon  him  what  he  earns,  and  is  to  earn  for 
them  during  the  period  he  may  expect  to 
live  according  to  the  average  duration  of 
life  among  men  of  his  age.  If  he  die  pre- 
maturely, his  dependents  lose  just  so  much 
capital  or  money  as  would  be  earned  by 
him  had  he  lived  his  full  limit.  Life  insur- 
ance brings  together  the  men  so  situated, 
and  upon  their  contributing  to  a common 
fund,  according  to  their  several  chances  of 
dying,  according  to  the  law  of  mortality, 
undertakes  to  replace  to  the  surviving  de- 
pendents the  capital  lost  by  the  death  of 
him  who  produced  it  for  them. 

As  regards  the  individual,  nothing  is  so 
uncertain  as  the  time  of  his  death ; as  re- 
gards the  multitude,  nothing  is  so  uncertain 
as  what  individuals  will  die  first,  or  within 
a given  time ; but,  on  the  other  hand,  noth- 
ing is  so  certain  as  that  the  individual  must 
die  at  some  time  : and  that  among  the  mul- 
titude, the  individuals  will  die  at  a certain 
rate  until  all  are  gone.  To  ascertain  the 
rate  of  death  or  mortality,  is  therefore  the 
consideration  of  first  importance  to  a Life 
Insurance  Company.  This  can  be  done 
only  by  a long  and  careful  observation  of  a 
number  of  lives  sufficiently  large  to  give  a 
uniform  operation  of  the  law  of  average  in 
each  year.  Many  tables  of  mortality,  more 
or  less  imperfect,  according  to  the  circum- 
stances of  their  construction,  have  been  pre- 
pared and  used.  Those  in  use  in  modern 
offices  are  principally  four,  the  Carlisle,  the 
Actuaries,  Farr’s  Table  No.  3,  and  the 
American  Experience.  Any  of  these  seem, 

*14 


by  the  experience  of  American  companies 
at  least,  to  place  the  rate  of  mortality  so 
high  as  to  make  them  safe  guides  for  offices 
which  accept  only  sound  lives,  as  is  gener- 
ally the  case.  Experience  proves  the  rate 
to  be  an  increasing  one ; that  is,  the  pro- 
portion of  the  dying  to  the  living,  increases 
with  each  year  of  age ; in  consequence  of 
which  the  contribution  each  person  insured 
would  be  called  upon  to  make  in  payment 
of  policies  of  decedents  would  considera- 
bly increase  from  year  to  year.  For  exam- 
ple, suppose  10,000  persons  mutually  insur- 
ing each  other  for  $10,000  each,  at  the  age 
of  30 ; the  first  year  each  survivor  would 
have  to  contribute  $84.71  to  pay  the  losses 
occurring  during  that  year.  In  the  tenth 
year  he  would  have  to  pay  $102.03  ; in  the 
twentieth  year,  $152.64;  in  the  thirtieth 
year,  $207.96,  nearly  a thousand  dollars  in 
the  forty-fifth  year,  over  two  thousand  in 
the  fifty -fifth  year,  and  so  on.  It  was  found 
necessary  to  devise  means  whereby  a com- 
pany could  provide  the  increasing  sums 
necessary  to  pay  its  increasing  losses,  and  at 
the  same  time  demand  from  its  members  no 
increase  of  their  annual  contribution  or  pre- 
mium. This  could  only  be  done  by  charging 
a premium  in  excess  of  the  losses  for  the 
first  years  of  the  contract,  and  reserving  the 
excess  to  meet  the  future  rapid  losses.  This 
accounts  for  the  large  accumulation  of  assets 
by  the  life  offices,  as  compared  with  the 
fire.  To  take  the  example  just  given : 
Suppose  the  company  assumes  that  it  can 
earn  four  per  cent,  compound  interest,  on 
any  investments  for  the  next  seventy  years, 
and  charges  each  of  the  ten  thousand  mem- 
bers $169.72  each,  for  life  : it  will  receive 
for  the  first  year  $1,697,200,  payout  $840,- 
000  for  losses,  and  have  in  reserve,  from 
the  premiums  and  interest,  $930,700  invest- 
ed in  some  sort  of  proper  assets ; the  second 
(225) 


226 


LIFE  INSURANCE. 


year  it  will  receive  in  premiums  $1,682,942, 
and  pay  for  losses  $850,000,  and  have  in 
reserve,  from  premiums,  interest,  and  former 
reserve,  $1,875,512:  the  fifth  year  it  will 
receive  in  premiums  $1,639,156,  pay  for 
losses  $880,000,  and  have  in  reserve,  from 
premiums,  interest,  and  former  reserves,  $4,- 
793,169;  the  tenth  year  it  will  receive  in 
premiums  $1,562,782,  pay  for  losses  $930,- 
000,  and  have  in  reserve,  from  premiums, 
interest,  and  former  reserves,  $9,936,629: 
the  twentieth  year  it  will  receive  in  premi- 
ums $1,388,479,  pay  for  losses  $1,230,000, 
and  have  in  reserve  $20,721,981  : in  the 
thirtieth  year  it  will  receive  in  premiums 
$1,101,143,  pay  for  losses,  $1,890,000,  and 
have  in  reserve  $27,423,219:  the  highest 
reserve  will  be  in  the  thirty-third  year,  when 
the  premium  receipts  will  be  $996,596, 
losses  $2,140,000,  and  the  reserve  $27,913,- 
843 : in  the  fortieth  year  the  premium  re- 
ceipts will  be  $705,017,  the  losses,  $2,650,- 
000,  and  the  reserve,  $24,690,628 ; the 
reserve  is  now  being  constantly  drawn 
upon  to  pay  losses  which  have  really  ex- 
ceeded the  premium  receipts  since  the 
twenty-third  year ; the  fiftieth  year  the 
premium  receipts  will  be  $261,538,  loss- 
es $2,300,000,  and  reserve,  $10,428,688 : 
the  sixtieth  year  the  premium  receipts 
will  be  $25,797,  losses  $630,000,  reserve 
$1,310,591 : in  the  sixty -seventh  year  the 
premium  receipts  will  be  only  $339,  losses 
$20,000,  reserve  $18,484,  and  only  two 
persons  left  alive,  who  will  die  within  the 


next  three  years,  and  the  $18,484  reserve, 
with  the  additional  premiums  to  be  paid  by 
them,  and  the  four  per  cent,  interest  will 
provide  the  $10,000  to  be  paid  at  the  death 
of  each,  and  leave  not  a cent  in  the  hands 
of  the  company.  Every  dollar  of  the  vast 
accumulation  it  once  held  was  reserved 
against  a day  of  certain  need,  and  went  in 
its  appointed  time  to  its  appointed  owner, 
according  to  the  law  of  mortality. 

The  constant  additions  of  new  lives,  pro- 
cured by  the  companies,  prevents  any  such 
extinction  of  assets  as  is  above  shown,  by 
replacing  the  reserves  withdrawn  by  old 
members,  with  those  derived  from  the  new. 
There  is  always  in  progress,  the  practical 
substitution  of  a new  company  for  an  old 
one. 

No  enterprise  has  had  more  rapid  growth  in 
this  country  within  the  last  ten  years,  than 
Life  Insurance.  On  the  first  of  January, 
1871,  there  were  113  companies  incorpo- 
rated by  the  several  States ; these  had  in 
force  834,498  policies,  insuring  the  immense 
sum  of  $2,263,438,213.  The  necessary 
reserve  to  provide  for  the  ultimate  payment 
of  this  sum  was,  at  that  date,  about  $250,- 
000,000,  and  they  held  assets  amounting  to 
$300,616,056.  Over  620,000  of  these  poli- 
cies were  issued  by  only  24  companies,  who 
also  held  over  $232,000,000  of  the  entire 
amount  of  assets  held  by  all  the  companies. 
The  following  table  shows  the  distribution 
of  this  business  by  States: 


State. 

No.  of  Co’s. 

No.  of  Policies. 

Amount  insured. 

Amount  of  Assets. 

Average  amount  of 
Assets  to  each  Co. 

Maine,  - 

1 

15,852 

y $36,008,360 

$5,295,233 

Vermont,  - 

2 

3,494 

6,500,326 

1,075,111 

$537,555  60 

Massachusetts,  - 

6 

52,137 

135,189,840 

17,724,629 

2,954,104.66 

Rhode  Island,  - 

1 

2,743 

6,359,718 

817,897 

Connecticut, 

9 

177,676 

447,207,886 

65,373,407 

7,263,600.00 

New  York, 

41 

377,744 

1,048,889,779 

133,546,120 

3,257,222.43 

New  Jersey, 

4 

45,339 

148,793,850 

23.343,275 

6,835,818.75 

Pennsylvania,  - 

6 

*23,778 

64,493,461 

16,519,647 

2,753,274.50 

Maryland,  - 

2 

1,425 

4,296,772 

623,332 

311,666.00 

Delaware,  - 

1 

1,052 

1,841,907 

187,923 

Virginia, 

1 

8,715 

28,178,654 

1,606,063 

South  Carolina, 

1 

320 

1,099,040 

47,375 

Georgia,  - 

1 

1,592 

6,675,425 

562,607 

Alabama, 

1 

790 

1,808,500 

331,235 

Louisiana, 

1 

408 

2,070,500 

264,242 

Tennessee,  - 

1 

3,467 

33,361.709 

2,045,169 

1,022,580.00 

Kentucky, 

2 

2,530 

9,548,243 

1,059,142 

629,561.00 

Missouri, 

8 

33,256 

131,388,883 

10,671,534 

1,333,941.76 

Ohio, 

4 

11,807 

22,135.199 

1,375,952 

343,988  00 

Illinois, 

6 

9,545 

13,938,708 

2,364,404 

390,734.00 

Indiana,  - 

1 

1,011 

2,433.314 

177,311 

Michigan,  - 

1 

1,674 

3,021,065 

219.842 

Iowa, 

1 

452 

796,622 

166,687 

Minnesota,  - 

1 

326 

703,700 

137,460 

California, 

2 

2,568 

8,357,745 

1,361,683 

LIFE  INSURANCE. 


227 


The  following  table  shows  the  comparative 
magnitude  of  the  business  of  Life  Insurance 
in  the  United  States  as  compared  with  Great 
Britain,  the  English  Colonies,  and  Germany : 


Number  of 
Companies. 

Number  of 
policies. 

Amount  in- 
sured. 

Assets. 

United  States, 

113 

834,498 

$2,263,438,213 

$300,616,056 

Great  Britain, 

85 

1,225,308 

1,437,969,895 

26,050,270 

Thalers. 

459,330,350 

English.  Colonies, 

4 

12,741 

6,079,815 

Thalers. 

Germany, 

36 

424,922 

401,032,407 

61,446,040 

The  largest  foreign  company  is  the 
Gotha  of  Germany,  which  had  in  force 
January  1st,  1871,  36,392  policies,  with 
assets  amounting  to  19,439,728  thalers. 
The  Mutual  Life  of  New  York,  the  Con- 
necticut Mutual,  and  the  iEtna  of  Hartford, 
the  Mutual  Benefit  of  New  Jersey,  and  the 
New  York  Life,  each  had  a larger  number 
of  policies  in  force  at  that  time,  and  pos- 
sessed a larger  amount  of  assets,  some  of 
them  several  fold. 


IMMIGRATION 


CHAPTER  I. 

GENERAL  MIGRATION— COLONIES  AND 
UNITED  STATES. 

At  the  date  of  the  recent  national  census, 
(1870)  nearly  one-seventh  of  the  inhabitants 
of  the  United  States,  (5,566,546  out  of  38,- 
555,983)  were  of  foreign  birth,  and  since 
that  time  (to  Jan.  1,  1872)  about  500,000 
more  aliens  have  arrived  in  this  country.  Of 
those  classed  as  “ natives  ” in  the  census, 
quite  as  many  more  are  children,  one  or  both 
of  whose  parents  were  foreigners.  It  may, 
then,  be  safely  computed  that  two-sevenths 
of  our  population  are  either  of  foreign  birth 
or  parentage.  This  is  irrespective  of  the 
large  negro  element,  most  of  which  has  been 
in  this  country  for  more  than  one  genera- 
tion. 

The  term  “ native  ” has  been  used  to  dis- 
tinguish the  born  citizen  from  the  newly  ar- 
rived foreigner,  as  well  as  the  former  from  the 
“ red  man,”  who  was  also  an  emigrant  in  the 
view  of  the  lost  races  that  preceded  him,  and 
of  which  monumental  traces  alone  remain  in 
evidence  that  they  ever  existed.  The  history 
of  the  human  race  is  a history  of  migration. 
Twice  has  the  race  comprised  only  a sin- 
gle family,  occupying  a single  point  on  the 
earth’s  surface,  and  twice  has  it  spread  in  all 
directions,  forming  nations  and  founding  em- 
pires. The  antediluvian  world  was  swept 
away  by  the  deluge,  and  all  traces  of  the 
race  of  Adam  had  been  washed  away  by  the 
obliterating  waters  from  the  earth’s  surface 
when  the  ark  gave  up  its  freight.  From  its 
door  migration  was  resumed,  and  three  con- 
tinents owe  their  populations  to  the  several 
sons  of  the  patriarch.  Asia,  Africa,  and 
Europe  were  settled  by  Shem,  Ham,  and 
Japhet  and  their  descendants,  who  have 
stamped  their  characteristics  upon  each. 
From  that  day  to  the  present,  the  same  re- 
curring circumstances  have  from  time  to 
time  produced  the  same  results.  As  each 
locality  became  overcrowded  by  increase,  the 
most  adventurous  sallied  forth  in  quest  of 
new  homes,  which,  in  their  turn,  filled,  and 


overflowed  into  some  more  distant  region. 
These  successive  waters  rolling  on  until  the 
remotest  shores  of  each  continent  were  occu- 
pied, were  succeeded  by  more  formidable 
hosts  of  armed  invaders,  who  came,  sword  in 
hand,  to  dispossess  occupiers  and  seize  accu- 
mulated wealth.  With  the  growth  of  mod- 
ern civilization  migration  has  no  longer  a 
destructive  character.  It  seeks  to  build  up 
by  bringing  industry  and  aid  of  natural  re- 
sources, rather  than  to  destroy  by  seizing 
what  others  have  produced.  It  is  more  steady 
and  effective  in  its  commercial  character — 
having  industry  for  a means  and  prosperity 
for  an  object — than  in  its  old  form  of  inva- 
sion, plundering  by  force  and  leaving  deso- 
lation in  its  train. 

The  British  Islands  were  the  last  subjects 
of  European  incursions.  The  Britons,  of 
mythic  origin,  were  plundered  by  Norse  en- 
terprise, and  the  Saxons  alternated  with  the 
Danes  in  dominating  the  nation  on  the  with- 
drawal of  the  Romans,  to  be  in  their  turn 
subjected  to  the  Normans.  Sin  -e  then  800 
years  have  been  spent  in  amalgamating  the 
races  and  in  peopling  the  islands.  Even  at 
that  date  the  adventurous  Norseman,  in 
search  of  the  whale,  had  discovered  the  new 
continent  and  formed  a colony  on  what  is 
now  known  as  Newfoundland.  It  required 
long  centuries,  however,  in  that  barbarous 
age,  for  the  people  to  struggle  successfully 
against  the  effects  of  feudal  oppression,  civil 
wars,  and  their  consequences,  famine  and 
plague.  Nevertheless,  progress  was  made  and 
commerce  a good  deal  developed,  when,  at 
the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century,  the  dis- 
covery of  the  West  Indies  by  Columbus  was 
followed  by  an  influx  of  the  precious  metals 
into  Europe,  giving  a renewed  impetus  to 
industry  and  enterprise.  The  Spanish  were 
attracted  by  gold,  and  the  commercial  Dutch 
by  the  desire  to  found  colonies,  and  their 
example  was  followed  by  the  English  and 
French.  In  both  these  cases,  however,  the 
desire  of  civil  and  religious  freedom  was  a 
powerful  incentive  to  the  emigrants.  These 
motives  were  more  strongly  developed  when 


GENERAL  MIGRATION — COLONIES  AND  UNITED  STATES. 


229 


the  English  revolution  began  to  operate  in 
the  first  half  of  the  17th  century.  The  new 
world  was  then  looked  upon  as  the  place  of 
refuge,  and  Cromwell  himself,  with  his  com- 
panions, were  only  prevented  from  migra- 
ting by  the  interposition  of  the  government 
which  they  afterward  overthrew.  Of  the  four 
leading  nations  that  planted  colonies  on  this 
continent,  the  English  alone  became  perma- 
nently successful.  The  Spaniards  sought  gold 
only.  The  French  settlement  of  the  Missis- 
sippi was  more  a financial  bubble  of  Law  than 
a movement  ot  settlers.  The  Dutch  had  not 
sufficient  breadth  at  home  to  sustain  the  un- 
dertaking; and  the  English  necessarily  ab- 
sorbed the  whole,  with  their  steady  industry 
and  abiding  religious  faith. 

The  disposition  to  emigrate  to  America 
gradually  gained  ground  as  the  eighteenth 
century  advanced,  more  particularly  in  the 
north  of  Ireland  and  Scotland,  which  already 
enjoyed  the  advantage  of  some  intercourse 
with  friends  in  America.  Just  before  the 
Revolutionary  war,  this  disposition  to  emi- 
grate showed  itself  strongly.  The  linen 
weavers  in  the  northern  part  of  Ireland  were, 
by  the  decline  in  that  trade,  induced  to  mi- 
grate. For  two  years,  1771  and  1772,  sixty- 
two  vessels  left  with  eighteen  thousand  pas- 
sengers for  America,  paying  passages  seven- 
teen dollars  each.  Most  of  these  were  linen 
weavers  and  farmers,  possessed  of  property, 
aad  they  carried  wdth  them  so  much  money 
as  to  attract  the  notice  of  the  government. 
The  movement,  however,  continued  in  1773 
and  extended  itself  to  the  north  of  Scotland, 
whence  the  highlanders  migrated  in  great 
numbers.  Knox,  in  his  view  of  the  British 
empire  at  that  time,  asserts  that  in  the  twelve 
years  ending  in  1775,  about  thirty  thousand 
highlanders  emigrated,  exclusive  of  the  low- 
landers  ; and  it  was  compute*!  that  there 
were  sixty  thousand  highlanders  citizens  of 
the  United  States  in  1799.  In  the  report 
of  the  committee  on  the  linen  manufactures 
in  the  Irish  Parliament  in  1774,  it  is  stated 
that  the  w hole  emigration  from  the  province 
of  Ulster  was  estimated  at  thirty  thousand 
people,  of  whom  ten  thousand  w ere  weavers, 
who,  with  their  tools  and  money,  departed 
for  America  ; thus  adding  to  the  numbers  j 
and  wealth  in  the  new  world,  in  the  propor- 
tion that  the  British  Islands  lost  from  the 
same  cause. 

The  breaking  out  of  the  War  of  Inde- 
pendence, naturally  interrupted  the  commu- 


nication between  America  and  the  old  world  ; 
but  with  the  return  of  peace,  in  1783,  the 
migration  revived,  notwithstanding  the  in- 
credible hardships  which  at  that  time  at- 
tended the  transit.  The  shipping  was  little 
adapted  to  the  trade,  and  no  special  laws 
protected  the  rights  of  the  poor  emigrant. 
As  an  instance  of  this,  it  is  related  that  in 
September,  1784,  a ship  left  Greenock  with 
a large  number  of  passengers,  who  had  paid 
twenty-five  dollars  each  for  their  passage. 
They  were  robbed  of  their  chests  and  pro- 
visions by  the  master,  and  one  hundred  of 
them  turned  ashore  on  the  Island  of  Iiathlin, 
coast  of  Ireland.  Another  vessel  rescued 
seventy-six  emigrants  from  a desert  island, 
where  they  had  been  turned  adrift  by  the 
master  of  a brig,  who  had  engaged  to  carry 
them  from  Dunleary,  in  Iceland,  to  Charles- 
town. In  the  same  year  there  were  great 
numbers  landed  at  Baltimore,  Philadelphia, 
and  elsewhere.  Blodgett’s  Statistical  Man- 
ual, published  in  1806,  states  that  from  1784 
to  1794,  the  arrivals  were  four  thousand  per 
annum.  In  the  year  1794,  ten  thousand 
persons  were  estimated  to  have  arrived  in 
the  United  States.  Adam  Seybert,  a mem- 
ber of  the  House  of  Representatives,  in  his 
“ Statistical  Annals,”  admitting  the  number 
for  that  year,  states  that  so  large  a move- 
ment did  not  again  occur  until  1817. 

When  the  colonies  separated  from  the 
mother  country,  the  population  of  the  latter 
was,  for  England  and  Wales,  7,225,000,  and 
about  2,000,000  for  Ireland,  making  to- 
gether 9,225,000  souls,  or  about  one-fourth 
the  present  inhabitants  of  the  United  States. 
The  population  of  the  newly  formed  United 
States  in  the  year  1790  was  3,174,167 
whites,  or  about  one-third  the  numbers  in 
England  and  Wales.  The  founders  of  the 
nation  were  then  not  unmindful  of  the 
fact  that  these  three  millions  of  people, 
occupying  163,746,686  acres  of  land  al- 
though possessed  of  a vast  territory,  had 
little  else  to  depend  upon.  Capital  was 
scarce,  and  manufactures  had  not  been  per- 
mitted under  imperial  rule,  hence  skilled 
artisans  wTere  not  to  be  found.  While  all 
these  things  w'ere  indispensable  to  the  new 
country,  crowds  of  poorly  paid  and  oppres- 
sed operatives  on  the  other  side  of  the  At- 
lantic were  impatient  to  enjoy  the  privileges 
that  our  new  form  of  government  held  out 
to  them.  The  French,  German,  and  Eng- 
lish troops,  that  returned  home  after  the 


230 


IMMIGRATION. 


war,  had  not  only  left  a portion  of  their 
numbers  here  as  settlers,  but  had  carried 
home  favorable  reports  of  the  advantages  to 
be  here  enjoyed.  It  was  manifestly  to  the 
interest  of  the  new  government  here  to  in- 
vite and  encourage  these  settlers,  at  the 
same  time  to  guard  against  possible  political 
abuse  of  the  privilege.  The  new  Constitu- 
tion therefore  required  Congress  to  pass 
uniform  laws  for  naturalization.  This  was 
not  done  until  April  14th,  1802,  when  the 
regulations  that  have  since  mainly  continued 
were  enacted.  By  that  law,  those  aliens 
who  were  in  the  country  prior  to  1795 
might  be  admitted  to  citizenship  on  proof 
of  two  years’  continuous  residence  in  the 
United  States,  sustaining  a good  moral  char- 
acter, and  abjuring  allegiance  to  foreign 
nations.  Any  alien  arriving  in  the  United 
States  after  the  passage  of  the  act  was  to 
comply  with  the  following  conditions : 

1.  He  shall,  before  some  compent  court, 
swear,  at  least  three  years  before  his  admis- 
sion, that  it  is  his  bona  fide  intention  to  re- 
nounce forever  all  allegiance  to  any  sove- 
reign state  to  which  he  was  a subject. 

2.  He  shall  swear  to  support  the  Consti- 
tution of  the  United  States. 

3.  Before  he  can  be  admitted  he  must 
show  that  he  has  resided  within  the  United 
States  five  years,  and  within  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  court  one  year.  He  must  also  show 
that  he  has  been  of  good  moral  character, 
and  well  disposed  to  the  happiness  of  the 
United  States. 

4.  He  must  renounce  all  titles  of  nobility. 
The  law  of  March  3,  1813,  required  that  the 
residence  of  five  years  should  have  been  con- 
tinuous in  the  United  States.  This  restric- 
tion was  repealed  Jan.  26,  1848.  The  law 
of  May  26,  1824,  reduced  the  term  of  notice 
of  intentions  from  three  to  two  years. 
These  were  the  chief  regulations  of  the  fed- 
eral government  in  relation  to  naturalization. 
Many  of  the  states  have,  however,  from  time 
to  time,  passed  laws  relative  to  immigrants, 
importation  of  paupers,  convicts,  lunatics, 
etc.  New  York  and  many  other  states  have 
laws  requiring  of  the  owner,  or  master,  or 
consignee  of  the  passenger  ship,  a well  se- 
cured bond  to  the  people  of  the  state  against 
loss  for  the  relief  or  support  of  such  pas- 
sengers. In  lieu  of  this  bond,  commutation 
money  may  be  paid. 

The  federal  government  having  smoothed 
the  way,  the  migration  proceeded  until 


unfriendly  relations  between  the  United 
States  and  Great  Britain,  growing  out  of  the 
wars  of  Europe,  checked  intercourse.  The 
claim  enforced  by  Great  Britain  to  the  prin- 
ciple, “ Once  a subject  always  a subject,” 
served  to  take  from  emigrants  the  security 
they  sought  under  the  American  flag ; and 
in  1806  Great  Britain  declared  France  in  a 
state  of  blockade,  and  France  retorted  upon 
the  British  Isles.  These  proceedings  being 
succeeded  by  others,  compelled  the  United 
States,  in  1 809,  to  prohibit  intercourse  with 
France  and  Great  Britain.  In  1810  Na  o- 
leon  annulled  his  decree,  but  Great  Britain 
continued  her  vexations,  seizing  American 
seamen,  and  riding  rough-shod  over  their 
rights..  The  embargo  was  then  succeeded 
by  the  war  of  1812,  during  which  migration 
was  very  limited.  In  F ebruary,  1815,  peace 
was  concluded,  and  the  stream  of  migration, 
long  pent  up,  resumed  its  flow  with  greater 
force  The  accommodation  was,  of  course, 
limited,  and  the  more  restrained  that  a law 
of  Parliament  restricted  the  number  that 
might  be  carried  to  the  United  States  to  one 
for  every  five  tons,  although  one  for  every 
two  tons  might  be  carried  to  any  other  coun- 
try. In  the  year  1817,  22,240  persons  ar- 
rived in  the  United  States,  including  Ameri- 
cans who  returned  home.  This  large  mi- 
gration was  attended  with  immense  suffering. 
The  attention  of  Congress  was  called  to  it, 
and  a law  was  passed,  March  2,  1819,  to 
regulate  the  transportation  of  passengers. 
This  act  limited  the  number  to  two  for  every 
five  tons  of*  measurement,  and  provided  for 
an  ample  allowance  of  food  and  fuel.  When 
the  famine  of  1846-7  gave  a new  impulse 
to  the  movement,  more  complete  laws  were 
found  requisite,  and  a number  were  passed. 
March  3,  1857,  the  present  passenger  act 
was  enacted,  repealing  all  former  laws  upon 
the  subject,  which  with  some  slight  modifica- 
tions since  made,  establishes  the  regulations 
now  in  force.  It  regulates  the  space  for 
each  passenger,  the  number  of  berths,  ven- 
tilation and  warming,  and  the  kind  and 
quantity  of  food  to  be  furnished  by  the  ship 
and  how  it  is  to  be  dealt  out,  and  if  any  pas- 
senger is  put  on  short  allowance,  the  mas- 
ter or  owner  shall  pay  him  three  dollars  each 
day  of  short  allowance. 

The  first  accounts  of  the  numbers  of  im- 
migrants commenced  in  1820,  under  the  law 
of  18 1 9.  The  following  table  shows  the  num- 
ber of  emigrants  for  fifty  years. 


GENERAL  MIGRATION — COLONIES  AND  UNITED  STATES. 


231 


The  number  of  Alien  Passengers  arrived  in  the  United  States  from  Foreign  Countries,  from  the  commencement  of  the 
Government  to  the  31st  of  December,  1870.  The  dates  are  inclusive. 


COUNTIES.  | Prior  to  1820. 

1820  to  1830. 

1831  to  1840.  1841  to  1850. 

1851  to  1860.  1861  to  1869.1  Aggregate. 

15,037 

27,106 

3,180 

170 

35,534 

7,611 

29,188 

2,667 

185 

243,540 

32,092 

162,332 

3,712 

1,261 

848,366 

247,125 

748,740 

38,331 

6,319 

297,578 

154,039 

392,685 

24,913 

3,828 

389,422 

456,704 

1,360,051 

72,803 

11,763 

1,805,440 

Total  from  British  Isles 

81,827 

7,583 

146 

283,191 

148,204 

4,250 

1,067,763 

422.477 

12,149 

1,338,093 

907,780 

43,887 

955,887 

690,288 

39,949 

4,114 

93,434 

14,844 

8,569 

34,162 

21,365 

6,377 

6,455 

1,790 

9,856 

73 

115 

8 

67 

1,905 

1,955 

487 

124 

3,706,761 

2,176.332 

100,372 

4,115 

129,563 

20,384 

39,148 

242,226 

59,098 

16,239 

22,703 

4,404 

21,058 

2,103 

675 

127 

183 

3,279 

3,614 

487 

294 

526 

97.559 

'185 

176 

33 

4 

25 
27 

79 
50 
12 

5 
5 

458 

2 

231,151 

19,691 

1,039 

43 

38 

36 

26 
40 

7 
3 
2 
1 

7,364 

3,598 

84 

80 
42 

45,274 

238 

154 

99 

3 

8 

7 
2 

6,326 

68 

71 

823 

26 

290 

8 
11 

462,608 

9 

4 

94 

189 

1,127 

8,868 

3,257 

28 

2,616 

180 

389 

22 

17 

1 

20 

89 

21 

1,201 

1,063 

1,112 

45,575 

4,821 

22 

2,125 

829 

2,211 

7 

35 

35 

49 

277 

369 

13,903 

539 

8,251 

77,262 

4,644 

5,074 

2,209 

550 
1,590 

221 

79 

78 

16 

551 
105 

20  931 
3,749 
10,789 
79,358 
25,011 
4,738 
9,298 
1,055 
7,012 
1,790 
426 
5 
31 
457 
1,164 

Holland 

Sicily 

Malta 

Poland 

Turkey 

21 

2 

3 

7 

59 

51 

35 

83 

427 

41,397 

Europe,  not  specified 

China 

8 

66,116 

185 

49 

33 

4 

3 

Japan  

India 

9 

39 

36 

43 

Arabia 

Syria 

Persia 

7 

4 

15 

19 

3 

2 

1 

1 

Cape  of  Good  Hope 

77 

31 

8 

6 

Liberia 

8 

4 

6 

5 

Egypt 

Abyssinia 

Morocco 

4 

36 

1 

47 

2 

41,723 

3,271 

368 

Africa,  not  specified 

10 

186 

179 

Algiers 

British  America 

2,486 

4,818 

107 

13,624 

6,599 

44 

69,309 

3,078 

449 

114,009 

1,923 

71 

43 

38 

36 

26 

40 

7 

3 

2 

1 

1,163 

3,598 

84 

80 

42 

4,787 

129 

75 

20 

Mexico 

Central  America 

Guiana 

Venezuela 

Peru 

Chili 

Brazil 

Buenos  Ayres 

Bolivia 

New  Grenada 

Paraguay 

South  America,  not  specified 
Cuba 

643 

856 

3,579 

1,224 

Jamaica 

Hayti 

Porto  Rico 

West  Indies,  not  specified. . . 

8,998 

2 

1 

79 

12,301 

3 

6 

13,528 

10,660 

104 

44 

Australia 

8andwich  Islands 

28 

East  India  Islands 

Isle  of  France 

2 

1 

New  Zealand 

4 

6 

4 

Society  Islands  

1 

Islands  of  Pacific,  not  spec’d 
Azores 

2 

8,083 

68 

42 

9 

9 

4 

3 

1 

34,764 

13 

29 

327 

2,873 

Bermudas 

Cape  de  Verdes 

Madeira 

4 

70 

15 

62 

1 

6 

8 

3 

3 

1 

7 

189 

13 

8 

8t.  Helena  

Canary  Islands 

271 

Miquelon 

Iceland 

10 

26,438 

Countries  not  specified 

Corsica 

260,000 

32,892 

2 

4 

69,799 

6 

52,725 

2 

Barbary  States 

Aggregate 

Add  emigration  to  Dec.  31,  ’70 
Total  from  the  beginning  of 
the  government  to  Dec.  31, 
1870 

260,000 

161,824 

699,126 

1,713,226 

2,598,214 

2,112,655 
:«*.n  p; 

7,425,069 

339,040 

| 2,451,701 

7,766,611 

232 


immigration. 


The  returns  gave  the  number  from  Great 
Britain  in  many  cases  without  distinguishing 
the  particular  divisions  where  all  the  passen- 
gers were  born.  A very  large  portion  of  the 
whole,  however,  came  from  Ireland.  The 
return  shows,  then,  that  Ireland  and  Germany 
furnish  the  largest  proportion  of  the  emi- 
grants. Other  nations  have  supplied  a 
greater  or  less  number,  but  irregularly. 
Since  1850,  or  the  era  of  gold  discovery, 
Asia — mainly  China  and  Japan — have  sent 
about  80,000  emigrants  to  California.  Those 
do  not,  however,  as  a general  thing,  intend 
remaining.  They  are  for  the  most  part  fitted 
out  with  small  sums  borrowed  of  friends  and 
neighbors,  who  share  in  the  profits  of  the 
adventurer  on  his  return.  Numbers  of  those 
who  come  from  other  countries,  as  France, 
West  Indies,  and  Southern  Europe,  as  well 
as  to  some  extent  from  England,  are  mer- 
chants and  travelers,  who  are  not  to  be  em- 
braced in  the  aggregate  of  settlers  in  new 
homes.  The  great  sources  of  migration  are, 
then.  British  and  German,  and  the  latter  are 
confined  mostly  to  the  valley  of  the  Rhine. 
The  people  of  the  north  of  Europe  except 
the  Norse  folk  seem  to  have  lost  the  noma- 
dic character  of  their  ancestors.  It  is  true 
that  then  they  were  led  by  chiefs  and  tempt- 
ed by  plunder  to  overrun  the  richer  countries 
of  the  west,  while  at  the  present  day  migra- 
tion has  no  object  but  to  seek  an  honest  liv- 
ing in  countries  where  labor  is  in  demand, 
and  where  hospitality  and  protection  await 
the  worker.  The  Russian  peasants  while 
surfs  were  not  allowed  to  leave  their  country, 
and  the  Russians  in  the  table  are  mostly 
merchants  and  travelers.  The  Swede  and 
the  Norwegian  are  more  free  in  their  choice, 
and  since  1860,  have  emigrated  to  this  coun- 
try in  large  numbers,  settling  mainly  in  Iowa, 
Wisconsin,  Minnesota,  Kansas,  and  Nebras- 
ka. Many  of  them  also  enter  into  domestic 
service  in  our  large  cities.  The  Swiss  are  to 
a considerable  extent  free  and  thrifty  in  their 
mountain  homes,  but  great  divisions  exist  in 
respect  of  n-ligion  as  well  as  politics,  and 
there  is  among  them  a want  of  nationality. 
The  cantons  of  Vaud  and  Geneva  are  mostly 
French,  and  threaten  to  become  quite  so.  On 
the  side  of  the  Tyrol  the  Swiss  become  Ital- 
ians. The  German  Swiss  are  mostly  con- 
nected with  Baden,  and  are  embraced  in  the 
German  movement.  The  Hollanders  mi- 
grate to  some  extent,  and  often  from  motives 
of  religion.  The  Moravian  Brethren  thus 


founded  colonies  in  Pennsylvania.  Gold 
seems,  since  its  discovery  in  California,  to 
have  stimulated  Dutch  enterprise.  I he  Ital- 
ians and  Spanish  do  not  migrate  in  the  true 
sense  of  the  word ; they  leave  their  homes 
to  some  extent  for  the  countries  that  border 
the  Mediterranean,  but  they  do  not,  unless 
under  the  ban  of  exile,  cross  the  Atlantic. 
The  Sardinians  and  Basque  Spaniards  go  to 
some  extent  to  the  La  Plata  in  South  Amer- 
ica ; they  do  not  frankly  abandon  their  coun- 
try to  adopt  a new  one.  The  French  are 
more  markedly  attached  to  their  native  soil 
and  national  character,  and  colonize  little  ; 
they  migrate  but  moderately.  Even  Algiers 
has  grown  but  very  slowly  under  thirty  years 
of  governmental  fostering  care,  and  there  are 
now  but  60,000  French  in  the  colony.  Of 
those  French  who  arrived  in  the  United 
States  up  to  1870,  about  40  per  cent  re- 
mained in  the  country  according  to  the  cen- 
sus. 


CHAPTER  II. 

EUROPEAN  MIGRATION— FRENCH  AND 
GERMAN— NEW  TRADE. 

The  peace  of  1815,  in  re-establishing  the 
liberty  of  the  seas,  so  long  suppressed, 
opened  new  countries  to  European  com- 
merce. On  the  other  hand,  many  interests 
underwent  adverse  changes;  numerous  ar- 
mies were  newly  disbanded,  and  great  num- 
bers of  men  were  forced  to  leave  home  in 
search  of  a useful  application  of  their  talents 
and  energies.  America  was  to  them  the  chief 
point  of  attraction  ; those  who  knew  only  the 
trade  of  arms,  offered  their  swords  to  the 
Spanish  colonies  then  fighting  for  emancipa- 
tion. Of  these  a majority  found  early  graves 
from  excess,  fatigue,  and  misery  ; many  turn- 
ed their  attention  to  agriculture,  and  the 
wisest  sought  refuge  in  the  United  States, 
where  services  were  well  requited,  and  the 
broad  territories  offered  a limitless  field  for 
activity.  At  first  the  emigrants  were  iso- 
lated individuals  ; soon  entire  families  went 
in  quest  of  new  homes,  and  their  success  was 
a tempting  example  to  other  families,  each 
of  whom  drew  others  in  their  train,  until  a 
continuous  movement  was  established  from 
the  valley  of  the  Rhine  to  America. 

This  developed  a new  era  in  the  inter- 
national commerce.  The  cotton  of  the  south- 
ern states  had  up  to  that  time  found  a limited 


EUROPEAN  MIGRATION. 


233 


market  in  Havre,  but  being  carried  tbitber 
in  American  ships,  there  being  little  return 
freight  for  those  vessels,  the  cotton  was 
charged  with  freight  both  ways,  out  and 
home.  The  moment  that  considerable  num- 
bers of  passengers  offered  themselves  for  the 
return,  that  trade  of  itself  became  an  object, 
affording  a profitable  home  freight.  It  was 
then  apparent  that  the  light  and  elegant 
models  of  the  American  ships,  which  had  so 
well  answered  the  purpose  of  speed  and 
efficiency  during  the  war,  were  not  adapted 
to  the  transportation  of  passengers.  A differ- 
ent style  of  construction  was  needed, allowing 
of  greater  stowage  of  cotton  out,  and  better 
accommodation  to  passengers,  in  accordance 
with  the  provisions  of  the  law  prescribing  the 
room  to  be  allowed  to  each  passenger.  This 
change  causing  greater  attractions  to  the 
American  ships,  drew  increasing  crowds  from 
the  valley  of  the  Rhine  across  France  to 
Havre.  Many  of  these  poor  people  could 
raise  only  the  sum  needful  for  the  passage, 
and  depended  upon  begging  their  way 
across  France  to  the  port.  These  crowds 
of  beggars  alarmed  the  government,  and  it 
took  measures  to  stop  them.  It  was  ordered 
that  no  one  should  be  admitted  to  cross 
France  unless  he  had  previously  paid  his 
passage  in  the  ship,  was  possessed  of  $150 
for  every  member  of  the  family  over  eigh- 
teen years  of  age,  and  had  his  passport 
signed  by  the  French  embassador  at  Frank- 
fort. The  effect  of  these  absurd  regulations 
was  to  destroy  the  trade  of  Havre,  and  turn 
the  migration  down  the  Rhine  to  Antwerp, 
Bremen,  and  Hamburg.  The  Havre  mer- 
chants made  great  efforts  to  remedy  the  evil 
by  sending  agents  to  aid  the  emigrants, 
lending  them  the  money  to  pass  the  frontier, 
and  to  be  returned  immediately  after.  A 
great  rivalry  was  thus  engendered  between 
the  northern  ports  and  Havre,  which  still 
had  great  advantages  in  respect  of  the  num- 
ber of  American  vessels  that  arrived  with 
cotton,  and  finally  the  obstacles  interposed 
by  the  government  were  removed.  The 
city  of  Bremen  was  prompt  to  take  advan- 
vantage  of  the  error  of  the  French  govern- 
ment, and  used  every  effort  to  attract  the 
emigrants  to  that  port,  by  granting  facilities 
and  protecting  them  from  imposition.  A 
law  was  passed  regulating  in  the  most  min- 
ute particular  the  accommodations  to  be 
given  to  emigrants  on  shipboard.  They  are  ; 
not  to  be  taken  on  board  until  the  moment  j 
of  departure.  To  accommodate  them  prior  ! 


to  shipment,  an  immense  building  was  con- 
structed to  hold  2,000  people  ; it  has  a front 
of  200  feet,  and  is  100  in  depth.  It  has 
public  rooms,  sleeping  apartments,  kitchens, 
baggage-rooms,  etc.,  and  is  warmed  by  steam 
throughout.  There  are  also  chapels  for  cath-. 
olic  and  protestant  worship,  and  a hospital, 
with  thirty-three  beds.  The  price  charged 
with  board  is  fourteen  cents  per  day.  By 
these  and  other  means  Bremen  has  acquired 
a large  share  of  the  emigrant  business. 
Hamburg  did  not  make  the  same  efforts ; and 
it  is  only  recently  that  societies  for  the  pro- 
tection of  emigrants  have  been  there  formed. 

The  Germans  formerly  preferred  to  em- 
bark at  Havre,  Southampton,  or  Liverpool, 
and  on  American  ships,  to  sailing  from  Ger- 
man German  ports  and  on  German  ships ; 
but  a change  has  taken  place  in  this  respect 
of  late  years.  The  German  steamers,  of 
which  there  are  now  three  or  four  lines,  are 
much  better  than  formerly,  and  having  good 
steerage  accommodations,  make  the  passage 
in  13  or  14  days.  The  French  steamships 
do  not  carry  emigrants,  and  as  a result  of  the 
late  war,  there  are  few  American  steamers 
running  regularly  to  Europe.  Emigration 
by  sailing  vessels  is  seldom  attempted  now, 
and  only  by  the  lowest  class  of  emigrants. 
There  are  numbers  who  go  from  Rotterdam, 
Ostend,  or  Hamburg,  to  England,  and  depart 
thence  to  their  final  destination.  From  Bre- 
men the  emigrant  ships  go  to  a greater  va- 
riety of  ports  than  from  Havre.  The  United 
States  is,  however,  the  ultimate  destination 
of  nearly  all. 

The  motives  that  impel  German  migration 
are  variously  understood.  The  reports  of  the 
numerous  emigration  societies  give  evidence 
of  the  highest  traits  of  character.  The  Ger- 
man is  described  as  a persevering  worker, 
seeking  to  ameliorate  his  condition.  He  is 
always  ready  to  go  where  his  services  will  be 
the  best  paid,  and  certain  professions  have 
long  been  pursued  by  him  in  all  countries. 
If  his  feeling  of  nativity  is  strong,  his  love 
of  family  is  still  stronger.  And,  moreover,  the 
Teutonic  race  may  now  be  said  to  be  at 
home  on  half  the  entire  globe.  There  are, 
however,  other  motives,  and  these  are  evi- 
dently the  desire  to  find  civil,  political,  and 
religious  liberty,  of  which  they  have  not  the 
perfect  enjoyment  at  home.  The  Germans 
liave  never  succeeded  in  founding  colonies 
I of  their  own  under  good  government,  but 
j they  are  a valuable  acquisition  where  others 
1 have  established  liberty  and  order.  They 


234 


IMMIGRATION. 


seek  exemption  from  military  service.  They 
wish  to  contribute  in  just  proportion  to  the 
public  expenses,  of  which  they  enjoy  the 
benefits,  as  equal  citizens.  They  seek  to 
escape  the  trammels  of  corporations.  They 
wish  also  freely  to  dispose  of  the  fruits  of 
their  own  industry,  and  by  so  doing  to  avoid 
the  misery  of  destitution.  All  this  that  they 
seek  is  evidently  that  which  they  have  not 
got,  or  at  least  very  imperfectly,  at  home. 

While  Germany  was  divided  into  many 
petty  states,  their  division,  which  materially 
checked  industry  and  increased  the  taxa- 
tion, was  itself  an  exceedingly  strong  incen- 
tive to  emigration  ; and  before  their  confed- 
eration into  one  government  was  fully  accom- 
plished, almost  every  family  had  its  repre- 
sentatives here,  and  the  tendency  had  become 
so  strong  for  a home  in  the  “ land  of  prom- 
ise,” that  no  political  changes  could  greatly 
affect  it. 

The  German  governments  have  all,  more 
or  less,  occupied  themselves  with  the  ques- 
tion of  migration,  and  in  some  cases  have 
sought  to  check  it.  Among  these  attempts 
was  that  by  Prussia  to  found  agricultural 
colonies.  The  king  offered  lands  in  the 
duchy  of  Posen,  and  agents  were  sent  among 
the  emigrants  from  the  valley  of  the  Rhine. 
The  conditions  were,  that  the  settlers  should 
not  leave  the  country  without  permission, 
and  never  without  having  performed  military 
service. 

These,  it  may  be  supposed,  were  without 
success.  Emigrant  agents  are,  by  some 
governments,  required  to  submit  to  regula- 
tions ; sometimes  the  number  is  limited,  and 
sometimes  they  must  give  security.  In  Ba- 
varia only  two  houses  are  authorized  to  treat 
with  emigrants  for  their  passages  across 
France,  and  the  contracts  must  be  inspected 
by  the  consul  at  Havre.  There  results  a 
large  clandestine  emigration  to  avoid  these 
restrictions,  and  at  the  frontiers  numerous 
agents  are  ready  to  assist  — a sort  of  under- 
ground railroad.  The  governments  of  Wur- 
temberg,  Baden,  and  the  two  Hesses,  are  less 
rigorous,  but  nowhere  can  passports  be  ob- 
tained until  every  effort  has  been  made  to 
dissuade  the  emigrant.  In  case  he  persists, 
he  must  renounce  all  rights  of  citizenship 
and  nationality.  On  the  other  hand,  meas- 
ures are  taken  to  aid  the  emigrant.  When 
the  cause  of  departure  is  destitution,  the 
communes  and  the  government  subscribe, 
while  stipulating  that  the  emigrant  shall 
renounce  all  right  to  ulterior  aid.  All  the 


persons  so  aided  go  from  one  canton  together. 
When  the  emigrants  pay  their  own  expenses 
and  have  a small  capital,  bands  of  numerous 
families  from  divers  points  assemble  and  de- 
part together.  Political  exiles  are  very  few, 
but  these  have  generally  considerable  means. 

It  is  melancholy,  however,  to  reflect  in 
how  great  a degree  destitution  becomes  the 
cause  of  migration.  Singularly  enough,  the 
valley  of  the  Rhine,  of  which  the  German 
poets  sing  the  beauty  and  the  fertility,  is 
precisely  the  spot,  of  all  Europe,  where  the 
misery  of  Ireland  is  most  nearly  reproduced. 
From  the  Lake  of  Constance  to  the  frontiers 
of  Holland,  that  famous  valley  has  so  long 
felt  the  oppression  of  feudalism  and  been 
the  battle-field  of  contending  powers,  as  to 
have  become  completely  impoverished.  In 
the  duchy  of  Baden  the  day’s  wages  of  a 
skilled  workman  is  twenty-eight  cents — a sum 
which  may  sustain  life  in  a year  of  good  har- 
vest, but  which  is  utterly  insufficient  in  time 
of  dearth,  as  in  1846,  when  potatoes  became 
diseased.  The  insurrection  of  1849  added 
to  the  calamities,  and  in  1852,  of  a popula- 
tion of  1,356,943  souls,  14,400  emigrated, 
or  one  per  cent  in  one  year.  The  thrift  and 
endurance  of  the  Germans  are  well  devel- 
oped in  a land  of  such  hardships,  and  on 
their  arrival  in  the  United  States  they  are 
not  slow  in  turning  their  persevering  indus- 
try to  account.  It  is  singular  that  the  dis- 
tress and  destitution  which  centuries  of 
misrule  have  produced  in  Ireland,  so  famed 
for  its  natural  advantages,  should  be  repro- 
duced in  Europe  only  in  the  Rhine  valley, 
the  garden  of  Europe.  The  two  localities 
best  endowed  by  nature  are  precisely  those 
where  man  is  most  anxious  to  escape  by  mi- 
gration from  an  accumulation  of  miseries. 
The  highest  migration  from  Germany,  by 
the  four  ports  of  Hamburg,  Havre,  Antwerp, 
and  Bremen,  rose  to  203,537  in  1854.  The 
movement  has  since  declined,  fluctuating 
with  the  harvests.  There  are,  however,  con- 
siderable numbers  who  go,  by  other  convey- 
ance from  those  ports  than  the  emigrant 
ships,  to  Liverpool,  and  embark  thence  for 
America.  This  aggregate  German  move- 
ment has  come  of  late  years  to  rival,  and  in 
gome  cases  to  exceed  the  broad  stream  of 
British  migration.  The  migration  from 
Great  Britain  has  always  been  largest  in  the 
years  of  dear  food,  and  it  has  again  subsided 
when  good  harvests  have  diminished  the 
prices  of  bread.  The  number  that  went 
abroad  in  1843  was  57,212,  audit  continued 


EUROPEAN  MIGRATION. 


235 


to  augment  year  by  year  until  it  reached 
368,764  in  the  year  1852.  Several  causes 
concurred  to  produce  this  increase.  The 
first  was  the  famine  of  1845-46-47,  and  the 
consequent  means  adopted  by  the  British 
government  for  the  relief  of  Ireland ; the 
second  was  the  gold  fever,  which  carried  off 
thousands ; and  the  third  was  the  prosperity 
of  the  emigrants  in  the  United  States,  where 
railroad  building  and  other  employments 
gave  the  means  to  send  for  friends  in  unu- 
sual numbers.  The  most  important  cause 
was,  probably,  the  condition  of  Ireland. 
The  conquest  of  that  country,  which  was 
commenced  seven  centuries  since,  is  but  now 
being  completed.  We  now  see  the  insub- 
missive Celts  quitting,  with  the  aid  of  their 
conquerors,  the  disputed  country,  to  seek 
new  homes  beyond  the  seas.  They  cannot 
assimilate  to  the  conquering  race,  and  not 
being  able  to  defend  themselves,  they  aban- 
don the  country  rather  than  submit.  Du- 
ring all  the  time  of  religious  persecution, 
from  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  to  George  III., 
the  economical  condition  of  Ireland  was  de- 
plorable, and  misery  made  incessant  prog- 
ress. The  landed  population  became  in- 
volved in  debt,  and  a fatal  subdivision  of 
the  land  was  introduced  in  the  mode  of  cul- 
ture. Farms  were  subdivided  as  fast  as  the 
people  multiplied,  which  was  fully  equal  to 
the  proverbial  fecundity  of  a state  of  ex- 
treme poverty,  and  the  potato  came  to  be  the 
sole  dependence  of  all  for  food.  The  sud- 
den destruction  of  that  dependence  by  rot 
was  an  overwhelming  calamity,  that  brought 
matters  to  a crisis.  It  was  felt  that  migra- 
tion could  not  remedy  the  evil,  but  that  a 
radical  change  in  a wrong  system  was  be- 
come indispensable.  The  system  pursued 
had  been  for  the  landlords,  mostly  in  debt, 
to  absent  themselves  altogether.  The  land 
was  then  taken  by  “ middle  men,”  at  a rate 
which  hardly  met  the  interest  on  incum- 
brances. This  land  was  then  parcelled  out  to 
the  poor  cotters  in  lots  down  to  one-fourth  acre 
or  less,  mere  patches,  at  rates  which  gave  a 
large  aggregate  rent  to  the  “ middle  man.” 
Those  patches  were  planted  with  potatoes, 
which  were  the  sole  dependence  of  the 
family  for  food  in  the  year.  They  were 
gathered,  when  ripe,  into  a pile,  and  that 
pile  diminished  by  daily  consumption  until 
an  approaching  new  crop  found  it  exhausted. 
The  supply  of  food  for  the  year  depended 
entirely  upon  the  amount  of  the  crop.  Its 
yield  was  the  sole  dependence  of  the  family 


to  sustain  life.  The  cotter  had  no  property 
or  capital  of  any  kind  to  be  made  available 
in  case  of  emergency.  His  only  means  of 
paying  rent  was  an  annual  migration  to 
England  in  harvest  time  to  earn  the  necessa- 
ry sum.  That  done,  the  balance  of  the  year 
was  idly  spent  in  watching  the  sinking  pile 
of  potatoes.  It  may  well  be  imagined  how 
great  was  the  horror  that  seized  such  a peo- 
ple when  the  sole  barrier  between  themselves 
and  starvation  was  found  rotten,  suddenly 
perishing  under  their  eyes.  The  scenes  that 
followed  were  awful  to  contemplate.  All 
that  could,  fled,  and  these  were  mostly  the 
robust  males,  leaving  the  infirm,  the  old,  and 
the  young  to  encounter  the  slow  death  that 
was  gradually  approaching,  and  which  over- 
took multitudes.  The  greatest  efforts  were 
made  by  the  British  government  to  purchase 
and  distribute  food,  and  to  employ  hands 
upon  roads.  At  one  time  over  500,000 
were  so  employed.  The  introduction  of  the 
Indian  corn  was  attempted  as  a substitute  ; 
but  it  was  nearly  impossible  amid  a people 
entirely  ignorant  of  its  use.  Hand-mills 
were  furnished  to  grind  it,  and  the  priests 
and  others  used  great  exertions  to  teach 
them  to  cook  it.  It  was  frequently  the  case, 
however,  that  the  grain  did  not  agree  with 
the  people,  but  exhibited  poisonous  effects 
on  being  eaten.  The  body  swelled,  and  se- 
vere illness  ensued.  Migration  and  famine 
did  its  work  in  spite  of  all  efforts  of  human- 
ity, and  the  census  of  1851  showed  how 
awful  had  been  the  havoc. 

The  population  of  Ireland  has  been  as 
follows,  per  official  reports : — 

1821,  6,801,827  1851,  6,623,984 

1831,  7,767,401  1861,  5,850,309 

1841,  8,222,664  1871,  5,402,759 

Decrease  from  1841 — 30  years,  2,819,905 

In  the  ten  years  ending  with  1831,  the 
increase  was  one  and  a half  per  cent,  per 
annum.  From  that  date  to  1841  it  was 
nine-tenths  of  one  per  cent,  and  that  was  a 
period  of  much  comparative  prosperity.  The 
crops  were  still  good,  and  the  failure  of  the 
English  wheat  crops  in  1837  raised  the  prices 
of  Irish  grain,  and  gave  much  employment  to 
its  agriculturists.  If  it  had  continued  the  same 
rate  up  to  1-847,  the  famine  year,  the  popula- 
tion would  then  have  been  8,616,680  souls, 
when  the  migration  took  place  in  large  num- 
bers, and  continued  the  succeeding  thirteen 
years  down  to  1859.  The  same  increase  in 
that  thirteen  years  would  have  made  tho 


236 


IMMIGRATION. 


population  9,651,678  persons,  or  as  fol- 


lows : — 

Population  in  1841 8,175,124 

Ten  years’  increase  at  9 per  cent  ......  735,761 


The  population  should  have  been  in  1851  8,910,885 
Actual  population 6,553,291 


Loss  by  famine  and  migration 2,357,594 

Number  emigrated * . . 1 ,422,000 

Population  in  1851 6,623,982 

Ten  years’  increase  at  9 per  cent 595,500 


The  population  should  have  been  in  1861  7,148,791 
Actual  population 5,850,309 


Loss  by  migration,  etc 1,298,482 

Number  emigrated 1,972,499 


In  the  famine  years,  up  to  1851,  935,594 
persons  disappeared  more  than  were  account- 
ed for  by  migration.  From  1851  to  1861, 
there  migrated  674,017  more  persons  than 
should  have  been  lost  by  the  census.  The 
numbers  who  have  returned  were  for  a time, 
it  is  known,  upwards  of  twenty  thousand 
per  annum,  and  these  carried  back  much 
larger  sums  than  they  brought  with  them. 

In  this  view  the  emigration  reacted  upon 
the  northern  states,  the  emigrants  carrying 
off  all  that  they  have  created.  The  whole 
operation  above  was  as  follows  for  fifteen 
years  :■ — 


Population  in  1847 8,616,680 

“ 1861 5,850,309 


Decreased  2,766,371 

Emigrated 3,393,499 


Excess 372,872 

Carrying  fonvard  the  estimate,  the 

population  in  1861  was 5,850,309 

Ten  years’  increase  at  9 per  cent. . . 526,527 


The  population  should  have  been  in 

1871 6,376,836 

Actual  population 5,402,759 


A loss  by  migration,  etc.,  of. 974,077 


The  first  reformatory  efforts  of  the  English 
government  were  to  throw  the  support  of  the 
Irish  poor  upon  the  parishes,  and  as  the  tax 
became  onerous  the  forced  sale  of  the  encum- 
bered estates  was  authorized.  The  two  mea- 
sures have  succeeded.  The  land  has  passed 
into  thrifty  hands  ; the  bankrupt  landlord  is 
dispossessed,  and  the  extortionate  “ middle 
man”  is  abolished ; and  the  excessively  poor 
population  has  been  purged  off’  by  migra- 
tion. The  “ clearing  of  the  lands”  was  in 
many  cases  conducted  with  much  barbarity. 
The  little  huts  of  the  peasants  were  pulled 


or  burned  down,  and  the  hapless  people 
driven  forth  to  seek  homes  beyond  the  seas 
as  they  best  could.  In  other  cases  the  land- 
lords, the  government,  or  societies  furnished 
the  means  of  shipments.  The  government 
soon  found  the  necessity  of  interposing  by 
law,  as  the  United  States  had  done,  to  pro- 
tect them  from  the  rapacity  of  shippers  and 
their  agents.  The  law  of  1849  was  passed 
with  that  object.  By  its  provisions  no  ship 
shall  carry  more  than  one  person  for  every 
two  registered  tons  ; nor  shall  there  be  more 
than  one  person  for  every  twelve  superficial 
feet  on  the  main  deck  and  below  it.  The 
size,  number,  and  construction  of  the  berths 
are  regulated,  and  the  captain  is  required  to 
issue  food  as  follows  to  each  person  twice  a 
week : — 


Bread 21  lbs. 

Wheat  Flour 1 “ 

Oatmeal. ...  5 “ 

Rice 2 “ 

Tea 2 oz. 

Sugar 1 lb. 

Molasses 1 “ 


A surgeon  must  be  carried  where  there 
are  one  hundred  or  more  passengers,  and 
many  other  regulations  that  experience  has 
pointed  out  as  necessary,  are  enforced  upon 
the  carriers.  The  food  is  to  be  furnished 
entirely  irrespective  of  the  price  of  the  pas- 
sage, which  fluctuates  almost  daily  between 
$16  and  $24  each  adult,  and  half  price  for 
children.  The  starving  and  destitute  race 
each  year  sends  forth  crowds  from  all  parts 
of  Ireland  to  embark  at  Liverpool.  The 
means  are  mostly  furnished  by  Irish  in 
America,  who  consider  it  their  duty  to 
appropriate  their  first  earnings  in  their  new 
homes  to  the  rescue  of  their  relatives,  and 
small  remittances,  aggregating  millions  in  a 
year,  find  the  way  into  every  cabin  and 
workhouse  as  messengers  of  life  to  the  des- 
pairing. Those  poor  people,  once  started 
on  their  travels,  encounter  numerous  perils 
before  reaching  their  destination.  As  soon 
as  a party  of  emigrants  arrives  in  Liverpool, 
they  are  beset  by  a tribe  of  people,  both 
male  and  female,  who  are  known  by  the 
name  of  “ man-catchers”  and  “ runners.” 
The  business  of  these  people  is,  in  common 
parlance,  to  “fleece”  the  emigrant,  and  to 
draw  from  his  pocket,  by  fair  means  or  by 
foul,  as  much  of  his  cash  as  he  can  be  per- 
suaded, inveigled,  or  bullied  into  parting 
with.  The  first  division  of  the  man-catching 
fraternity  are  those  who  trade  in  commissions 


EUROPEAN  MIGRATION. 


237 


on  the  passage  money,  and  call  themselves 
the  “ runners”  or  agents  of  the  passenger 
brokers.  The  business  of  the  passenger 
broker  is  a legitimate  and  necessary  one. 
Under  the  passenger  act  of  the  12th  and 
13th  Victoria  cap.  3,  the  licenses  of  all  the 
passenger  brokers  expired  on  the  1st  of 
February,  1850,  subject  to  renewal  after 
their  being  approved  of  by  the  government 
emigration  agent,  and  to  their  entering  into 
bonds,  with  two  sureties,  in  the  sum  of 
$1,000,  for  the  due  fulfilment  of  all  the  re- 
quirements of  the  act  of  Parliament  relating 
to  the  comfort  and  security  of  emigrants. 
The  passenger  brokers  at  Liverpool,  in  com- 
mon with  the  unwary  and  unsuspecting  emi- 
grants, have  suffered  greatly  from  the  mal- 
practices of  the  “runners,”  who  pretend  to 
be  their  agents.  These  man-catchers  pro- 
cure whatever  sums  they  can  from  emigrants 
as  passage  money — perhaps  $25  or  $30,  or 
even  more — and  pay  as  little  as  they  can  to 
the  passenger  broker,  whose  business  they 
thus  assume — often  as  little  as  £3,  or  £3  5s. 
In  addition  to  these  large  and  knavish  prof- 
its, they  demand  a commission  of  seven  and 
a half  per  cent,  from  the  passenger  broker, 
and  they  have  been  often  known  to  obtain 
and  enforce  this  commission,  although  their 
whole  concern  in  the  matter  may  have  been 
to  watch  the  number  of  emigrants  going 
into  or  coming  out  of  the  brokery  office, 
and  to  put  in  a claim  for  having  brought  or 
“ caught”  them. 

To  form  an  idea  of  the  sums  paid  in  any 
one  year  as  commission  to  the  man-catchers, 
in  the  item  of  passage  money,  we  have  but 
to  take  the  total  steerage  emigration  of  that 
year  and  multiply  it  by  £3  10s.,  or  seven- 
teen dollars — the  average  amount  of  passage 
money — and  calculate  what  a per-centage  of 
seven  and  a half  per  cent,  would  amount  to. 
The  total  steerage  emigration  of  1859  was 
one  hundred  and  forty-six  thousand  one 
hundred  and  sixty-two  souls,  which,  at  seven- 
teen dollars  a head,  would  amount  to  no 
less  than  two  million  four  hundred  and  eighty- 
four  thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty-four 
dollars,  on  which,  taking  the  commission  at 
the  low  rate  of  six  per  cent.,  they  draw  one 
hundred  and  forty-nine  thousand  and  forty 
dollars,  which  is  generally  stated  to  be  about 
the  sum  actually  paid  to  this  particular  class 
of  people,  on  the  average  of  the  last  three 
years,  by  the  passenger-brokers  of  Liverpool. 
But  these  are  not  the  only  class  of  the  man- 
catching  fraternity,  nor  do  they  confine  their 


operations  to  an  exorbitant  profit  upon  pas- 
sage  money.  The  man-catchers  keep  lodging- 
houses  for  emigrants — wretched  cellars  and 
rooms,  destitute  of  comfort  and  convenience, 
in  which  they  cram  them  as  thickly  as  the 
place  can  hold.  The  extra  profits  they  draw 
from  this  source  cannot  be  inferior  in  amount 
to  their  previously  mentioned  gains,  and  the 
cherished  hoards  of  the  poor  pay  a large  per- 
centage to  their  unscrupulous  rapacity. 

In  addition  to  this  trade,  some  of  them 
deal  in  the  various  articles  composing  the 
outfit  of  emigrants,  such  as  bedding,  clothes, 
food,  cooking  utensils,  and  the  nick-nacks 
of  all  kinds  which  they  can  persuade  them 
to  purchase.  Some  of  the  store-keepers  in 
this  line  of  business  pay  their  “ runners  ” or 
“ man-catchers  ” as  much  as  ten  per  cent,  com- 
mission on  the  purchases  effected  by  the 
emigrants,  from  which  the  reader  may  form 
some  estimate  of  the  enormous  plunder  that 
must  be  drained  from  the  poor  ignorant  peo- 
ple. As  every  emigrant  must  provide  his 
own  bedding,  the  sale  of  mattresses,  blankets, 
and  counterpanes,  enters  largely  into  this 
trade.  After  the  bedding  is  provided,  the 
man-catchers,  who  are  principally  Irishmen 
themselves,  and  know  both  the  strength  and 
weakness  of  the  Irish  character,  fasten  upon 
their  countrymen — many  of  whom,  poor  and 
miserable  as  they  look,  have  sovereigns  se- 
curely stitched  amid  the  patches  of  their 
tattered  garments — and  persuade  them  into 
the  purchase  of  various  articles,  both  useful 
and  useless.  Among  these  may  be  mentioned 
clothes  of  all  kinds — shirts,  trowsers,  waist- 
coats, shawls,  petticoats,  south-westers,  caps, 
boots  and  shoes,  slippers,  cooking  utensils, 
cans  for  the  daily  allowance  of  water,  and 
tins  to  hold  their  meal,  rice,  and  sugar.  Pro- 
visions, such  as  bacon,  herrings,  salt  beef,  and 
other  articles  not  found  them  on  board,  and 
luxuries,  in  which  whiskey  and  tobacco  are 
generally  included,  come  next  on  the  list, 
after  reiterated  assurances  from  the  man- 
catchers  that  no  emigrant  will  be  taken  on 
board  without  them.  These  being  provided, 
and  an  Irishman  being  easily  squeezeable 
when  a friend  and  a countryman  is  the  man- 
catcher  who  has  him  in  hand,  and  when  he 
fears  that  his  passage-money  will  be  lost  for 
non-compliance  with  the  regulations,  his 
attention  is  next  directed  to  such  articles  as 
pocket-mirrors,  razors,  bowie-knives,  pistols, 
telescopes,  etc. 

The  stranger  in  Liverpool,  who  takes  a 
walk  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  Water- 


238 


IMMIGRATION. 


loo  Dock,  whence  the  greater  number  of 
emigrant  vessels  take  their  departure,  will 
see  a profuse  display  of  the  various  articles 
upon  which  the  man-catcher  makes  his 
gains — articles  generally  of  the  most  inferior 
quality,  and  sold  at  the  most  extravagant  and 
ridiculous  prices.  The  man-catching  busi- 
ness, in  all  its  various  departments,  has  been 
reduced  to  a regular  system,  and  no  London 
sharper  can  be  more  sharp  than  the  Liverpool 
runners.  Perhaps  the  most  complicated  and 
ingenious  trick  is  the  following : When  a 
steam-vessel  laden  with  emigrants  leaves  an 
Irish  port  for  Liverpool,  one  of  the  Liverpool 
fraternity,  dressed  up  as  a raw  Irishman,  with 
the  usual  long-tailed,  ragged,  and  patched 
gray  frieze  coat,  the  battered  and  napless  hat, 
the  dirty  unbuttoned  knee-breeches,  the  black 
stockings,  the  shillelah,  and  the  short  pipe, 
takes  his  place  among  them,  and  pretends  to 
he  an  emigrant.  Before  the  vessel  arrives  at 
Liverpool  he  manages  to  make  acquaintance 
with  the  greater  portion  of  them,  learns  the 
parish  they  came  from  and  the  names  of  the 
relatives  whom  they  have  left  behind,  not 
forgetting  those  of  the  parish  priest  and  the 
principal  people  of  the  neighborhood.  He 
also  ascertains  the  names  of  the  friends  in 
America  whom  they  are  going  to  join.  He 
tells  them  of  the  roguery  of  Liverpool,  and 
warns  them  against  thieves  and  man-catchers, 
bidding  them  take  especial  care  of  their 
money.  On  arriving  at  the  quay,  in  Liver- 
pool, he  jumps  ashore  among  the  first,  where 
a gang  of  his  co-partners  are  waiting  to  re- 
ceive him.  He  speedily  communicates  to 
them  all  the  information  he  has  gained,  and 
the  poor  people  on  stepping  ashore  are  beset 
by  affectionate  inquiries  about  their  friends 
in  Ireland,  and  that  good  old  man  the  parish 
priest.  They  imagine  that  they  have  fortu- 
nately dropped  among  old  acquaintances, 
and  their  friend  of  the  steamboat  takes  care 
to  inform  them  that  he  is  not  going  to  be 
“ done  ” by  the  man-catchers,  but  will  lodge 
while  at  Liverpool  at  such  and  such  a place, 
which  he  recommends.  They  cannot  imagine 
that  men  who  know  all  about  the  priest  and 
their  friends  and  relatives  can  mean  them 
any  harm,  and  numbers  of  them  are  usually 
led  off  in  triumph  to  the  most  wretched  but 
most  expensive  lodging-houses.  Once  in  the 
power  of  the  man-catchers,  a regular  siege 
of  their  pockets  is  made,  and  the  poor  emi- 
grant is  victimized  in  a thousand  ways  for 
his  passage  money,  for  his  clothes  and  uten- 
sils, and  for  his  food.  Even  after  they  have 


drained  him  as  dry  as  they  can,  they  are  loth 
to  part  with  him  entirely,  and  they  write  out 
per  next  steamer  a full,  true,  and  particular 
account  of  him — his  parish,  his  relations,  his 
priest,  and  his  estimated  stock  of  money — to 
a similar  gang  in  New  York.  Paddy — simple 
fellow — arrives  in  New  York  in  due  time, 
and  is  greeted  on  landing  by  the  same  affec- 
tionate inquiries.  If  his  eyes  have  not  been 
opened  by  woeful  experience,  he  thinks  once 
more  that  he  has  fallen  among  friends,  and 
is  led  off  by  the  “ smart  ” man-catchers  of  the 
New  York  gang,  to  be  robbed  of  the  last 
farthing  that  he  can  be  persuaded  to  part 
with ; and  he  is  possibly  induced  to  spend 
the  savings  of  years  in  the  purchase  of  land, 
supposed  to  be  in  the  far  west,  but  having 
no  other  existence  but  such  as  paper  and  lies 
can  give  it. 

It  must  not  be  supposed,  from  the  state- 
ments in  reference  to  the  rogueries  practised 
by  runners  and  man-catchers  upon  the 
simple,  emigrants  themselves  do  not  occa- 
sionally endeavor  to  commit  frauds,  both 
upon  each  other  and  upon  the  owners  and 
captains  of  ships.  The  Irish  emigrant,  with 
the  passion  for  hoarding  which  is  so  common 
among  his  countrymen,  often  hides  money 
in  his  rags,  and  tells  a piteous  tale  of  utter 
destitution,  in  order  to  get  a passage  at  a 
cheaper  rate.  The  shameless  beggary,  which 
is  perhaps  the  greatest  vice  of  the  lower 
classes  of  Irish,  does  not  always  forsake  them, 
even  when  they  have  determined  to  bid  fare- 
well to  the  old  country ; and  I have  several 
times  been  accosted  by  men  and  women,  on 
board  emigrant  ships  in  dock,  and  asked  for 
contributions  to  help  them  when  they  got  to 
New  York.  “ Sure,  yer  honor,  and  may  the 
Lord  spare  you  to  a long  life ; I’ve  paid  my 
last  farden  for  my  passage,”  said  a sturdy 
Irish  woman,  with  a child  in  her  arms,  when 
accosted  on  the  quarter-deck  of  a fine  ship, 
in  the  Waterloo  Dock,  “and  when  I get  to 
New  York  I shall  have  to  beg  in  the  strates, 
unless  yer  honor  will  take  pity  on  me.”  On 
being  asked  to  show  me  her  ticket,  she  said 
her  husband  had  it;  and  her  husband — a 
wretched-looking  old  man — making  his  ap- 
pearance and  repeating  the  same  story,  was 
pressed  to  show  the  document.  He  did  so 
at  last,  when  it  was  apparent  that  he  had 
paid  upwards  of  seventeen  pounds — eighty- 
two  dollars  and  twenty-five  cents — for  tbe 
passage  of  himself  and  wife  and  his  family  of 
five  children.  “And  do  you  mean  to  say 
that  you  have  no  money  left  ?”  was  inquired 


EUROPEAN  MIGRATION. 


239 


of  him.  “ Not  one  blessed  penny,”  said  the 
man.  “ No,  nor  a fardin,”  said  the  woman, 
“ and  God  knows  what’ll  become  of  us.” 
“Do  you  know  nobody  in  New  York?”  “Not 
a living  sowle,  yer  honor.”  “ Have  you  no 
luggage  ?”  “ Not  a stick  or  a stitch,  but  the 

clothes  we  wear.”  As  the  good  ship  was 
detained  two  days  beyond  her  advertised 
time  of  sailing,  all  the  emigrants,  as  usual, 
had  liberty  to  pass  to  and  from  the  ship  to 
the  streets,  as  caprice  or  convenience  dicta- 
ted. On  the  following  day,  this  sturdy 
woman  and  her  husband  were  seen  entering 
the  Waterloo  Dock  gates  with  a donkey-cart, 
tolerably  well  piled  with  boxes,  bedding,  and 
cooking  utensils.  When  they  were  down  in 
the  steerage,  and  she  was  asked  whether  that 
was  her  luggage,  she  replied  it  was.  “ You  said 
yesterday,  however,  when  you  were  begging, 
that  you  had  no  luggage.”  “ Sure,  it’s  a hard 
world,  yer  honor,  and  we’re  poor  people — 
God  help  us.” 

An  incident  of  a kind  not  very  dissimilar 
occurred  on  board  of  another  American  liner. 
When  the  passenger  roll  was  called  over, 
it  was  found  that  one  man,  from  the  county 
of  Tipperary,  had  only  paid  an  instalment 
upon  his  passage  money,  and  that  the  sum 
of  $6  each  for  three  persons,  or  $18,  was 
still  due  from  him.  On  being  called  upon 
to  pay  the  difference,  he  asserted  vehemently 
that  he  had  been  told  in  the  broker’s  office 
that  there  was  no  more  to  pay,  and  that  to 
ask  him  for  more  was  to  attempt  a robbery. 
The  clerk  insisted  upon  the  money,  and 
showed  him  the  tickets  of  other  passengers 
to  prove  the  correctness  of  the  charge.  The 
man  then  changed  his  tone,  and  declared 
that  he  had  not  a single  farthing  left  in  the 
world,  and  that  it  was  quite  impossible  he 
could  pay  any  more.  “ Then  you  and  your 
family  will  be  put  on  shore,”  said  the  clerk, 
“ and  lose  the  money  you  have  already  paid.” 
The  intending  emigrant  swore  lustily  at  the 
injustice,  and  declared  that  if  put  on  shore 
he  would  “get  an  act  of  Parliament”  to  put 
an  end  to  such  a system  of  robbery.  The 
clerk,  however,  was  obdurate,  and  the  man 
disappeared,  muttering  as  he  went  that  he 
would  have  his  “act  of  Parliament  to  pun- 
ish the  broker,  the  clerk,  and  the  captain.” 
lie  returned  in  a few  minutes  from  below, 
and,  without  saying  a word  of  what  had 
happened,  and  looking  as  unconcerned  as  a 
stranger,  coolly  presented  a £5  note,  or 
$24  25,  and  asked  for  his  change.  Such  is 
a specimen  of  the  rogueries  attempted  by 


those  who  have  money.  Those  who  really  have 
none  at  all,  or  who  possibly  have  not  suffi- 
cient to  pay  their  passage,  resort  to  other 
schemes  for  crossing  the  Atlantic  at  a re- 
duced rate,  or  free  of  charge  altogether,  and 
“stow  away.”  This  is  a practice  which  is 
carried  on  to  a great  and  increasing  extent. 

After  encountering  these  perils  of  poverty 
and  cheating,  the  crowd  becomes  finally 
located  on  board  of  ship,  and  assigned  their 
quarters  for  the  voyage.  It  is  a strange 
place  for  the  new-comers,  and  their  admiration 
of  the  new  life  they  have  entered  upon  be- 
gins with  the  first  day’s  issue  of  regulation 
food.  The  experience  of  most  of  them  in 
the  edible  way,  has  hitherto  been  confined 
to  “murphys”  or,  at  most,  Indian  meal, 
which  they  heartily  detest  as  “ starvation 
porridge.”  They  now  come  to  the  allow- 
ances, as  above,  handed  them  by  law.  The 
meal,  the  tea,  the  rice,  the  sugar,  and  molas- 
ses prove  frequently  a puzzler — tea  in  par- 
ticular— and  it  is  not  unfrequently  the  case 
that  a brawny  Pat,  who  could  do  a good 
turn  at  Donnybrook  fair,  but  whose  knowl- 
edge of  drinkables  is  confined  to  whisky, 
will,  after  gravely  surveying  the  tea  for  a 
while,  deliberately  fill  his  pipe  with  a por- 
tion, and  smoke  it  with  much  satisfac- 
tion. Others,  with  more  expansive  ideas, 
will  at  times  mix  the  whole  in  a mass,  and 
boil  it  into  a thick  soup  or  pudding,  well 
specked  with  the  expanded  tea  leaves.  In- 
formation comes  with  experience,  however, 
and  the  first  serious  experience  is  sea-sick- 
ness, which  utterly  prostrates  them,  mind 
and  body,  aggravating  every  dirty  habit 
they  may  have  formed.  Then  is  ex- 
erted the  utmost  power  of  the  captain  to 
enforce  cleanliness ; he  usually  selects  a 
dozen  or  two  of  the  more  intelligent,  and 
investing  them  with  authority,  a general 
turn-out,  and  a thorough  cleaning  every 
morning,  and  in  all  weathers,  is  compelled. 

By  the  rigid  observance  of  this  rule,  much 
of  the  former  sickness  and  mortality  has 
been  avoided.  A voyage  of  some  thirty 
days  usually  brings  the  human  freight  with- 
in sight  of  New  York  harbor.  It  almost  in- 
variably occurs  that  in  the  first  delight  of 
arrival  every  utensil  and  article  of  bedding 
is  pitched  overboard.  No  matter  how  poor 
are  the  people,  or  how  hardly  the  things 
may  have  been  come  by,  over  they  go ; and 
cleaning  for  the  landing  takes  place.  Ilow 
full  of  anxieties  is  that  landing ! 


240 


IMMIGRATION. 


CHAPTER  III. 

LANDING  IN  NEW- YORK— FUTURE  HOMES. 

The  Castle  Garden,  at  New  York,  is  allot- 
ted for  the  reception  of  the  passengers  under 
the  Commission  of  Emigration,  which  was 
organized  by  law  in  1847,  and  which 
charges  a tax  of  two  dollars  per  head  on 
each  immigrant,  applying  the  proceeds  to 
the  support  of  the  needy  and  destitute 
among  them.  The  operations  of  this  com- 
mission have  become  very  extensive.  It  has 
charge  of  the  Quarantine.  Since  its  organ- 
ization it  has  raised  large  hospitals  on 
Ward’s  Island,  where  the  sick  are  cared  for. 
They  are  also  sent  to  the  Marine  Hospital 
and  the  New  York  Hospital,  and  they  re- 
imburse the  towns  and  counties  of  the  state 
for  the  charges  they  incur  for  support  of 
poor  aliens,  and  advance  money  to  immigrants 
on  pledge  of  baggage,  without  interest.  In 
the  year  1859  $2,180  was  so  advanced  to  162 
families,  and  $2,031  was  paid  back.  The 
operations  of  the  commission  in  1 859  were : — 


Receipts  for  commutation $159,112 

Other  receipts 23,454 


Total  receipts 182,566 

Balance  in  hand,  January,  1859  5,656 


$188,222 

Office $16,486 

Hospitals 6,380 

Counties  for  support 23,555 

Castle  Garden 34, 12  7 

Agent  at  Rochester 1,087 

“ Albany 2,160 

“ Buffalo 2,601 


Ward’s  Island 54,890 

Marine  Hospital 18,360 

Floating  “ 4,647 

Forwarding  Immigrants,  &c.,  &c.  32,130 

Incidental 721 

$197,744 


This  account  gives  a general  idea  of  the 
operations  of  the  commission.  The  whole 
amount  disbursed  by  the  commission,  May 
5,  1847,  to  Jan.  1,  1 860,  was  $834,786.  The 
proportion  who  go  into  hospital  appears  to 
be  about  six  per  cent,  of  the  arrivals. 

A large  majority  of  those  who  here  land 
have  their  friends  awaiting  them  to  guide 
them  to  their  future  homes.  Numbers  have 
to  seek  their  way  amid  numberless  perils.  But 
nearly  all  these  have  come  provided  with  in- 
structions more  or  less  minute,  derived  from 
the  numerous  agents  in  Europe  of  the  Ameri- 
can land  companies,  who  hold  out  induce- 
ments to  settlers.  The  Germans  are  mostly 
inclined  to  agriculture,  and  they  soon  find 
their  way,  by  the  emigrant  trains  of  the  great 
trunk  lines  of  railroads.  Those  lines  have  all 
exerted  themselves  to  profit  by  the  movement. 

The  following  table,  from  official  sources, 
gives  the  number  of  Germans  and  British 
under  each  head,  and  also  the  aggregate  of 
all  the  aliens  arrived  since  the  returns  have 
been  regularly  kept.  Some  of  the  passengers 
report  themselves  from  Great  Britain,  with- 
out stating  which  portion.  These  are  under 
the  head  “ Great  Britain.”  Thus,  the  total 
from  Great  Britain  to  1859,  is  2,670,059,  of 
which,  1,415,399  are  reported  from  Great 
Britain,  289,654  from  England,  918,729from 
Ireland,  46,277  from  Scotland. 

ENGLAND,  IRELAND, 


NUMBER  OF  PASSENGERS  THAT  ARRIVED  IN  EACH  YEAR  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  FROM 

SCOTLAND,  GREAT  BRITAIN,  AND  GERMANY,  WITH  THE  TOTAL  FROM  ALL  COUNTRIES. 


England. 

Ireland. 

Scotland. 

Gt.  Britain. 

Germany.  Switzerland. 

. Prussia. 

Total. 

1820, 

1,782 

1,725 

268 

2,249 

948 

31 

20 

8,385 

1821, 

1,036 

1,518 

293 

1,881 

365 

93 

18 

9,127 

1822, 

856 

1,346 

198 

1,088 

139 

110 

9 

6,911 

1823, 

851 

1,051 

180 

926 

179 

47 

4 

6,354 

1824, 

713 

1,575 

257 

1,064 

224 

253 

6 

7,912 

1825, 

1,002 

4,157 

113 

1,711 

448 

166 

2 

10,199 

1826, 

1,459 

3,333 

230 

2,705 

495 

245 

16 

10,837 

1827, 

2,521 

3,282 

460 

7,689 

435 

297 

7 

18,875 

1828, 

2,735 

5,266 

1,041 

8,798 

1,806 

1,592 

45 

27,382 

1829, 

2,149 

3,106 

111 

5,228 

582 

314 

15 

22,520 

1830, 

733 

747 

29 

2,365 

1,972 

109 

4 

23,322 

1831, 

251 

1,647 

226 

6,123 

2,395 

63 

18 

22,633 

1832, 

944 

5,120 

158 

11,545 

10,168 

129 

26 

63,179 

1833, 

2,966 

4,511 

1,921 

4,166 

6,823 

634 

155 

58,640 

1834, 

1,129 

6,772 

110 

26,953 

17,654 

1,389 

32 

65,365 

1835, 

468 

5,148 

63 

24,218 

8,245 

548 

66 

45,374 

1836, 

420 

2,152 

106 

41,006 

20,139 

445 

568 

76,242 

1837, 

896 

737 

14 

39,079 

23,036 

383 

704 

79,3*0 

1838, 

157 

1,225 

48 

16,635 

11,369 

123 

314 

38,714 

1839, 

62 

1,199 

% . 

32,973 

19,794 

607 

1,234 

68,069 

1840, 

318 

677 

21 

41,027 

88,581 

500 

1,123 

84,066 

1841, 

147 

3,291 

35 

50,487 

13,727 

751 

1,564 

80,289 

IRISH  EMIGRANTS  JUST  ARRIVED  IN  NEW  YORK. 


IRISHMEN  IN  THE  COMMON  COUNCIL,  NEW  YORK 


LANDING  IN  NEW  YORK FUTURE  HOMES. 


241 


England. 

Ireland. 

Scotland. 

Gt.  Britain. 

Germany.  Switzerland.  Prussia. 

Total. 

1842, 

1,743 

4,844 

24 

66,736 

18.287 

483 

2,083 

104,565 

1843, 

3,517 

1,173 

41 

23,369 

11,432 

553 

3,009 

52,496 

1844, 

1,357 

5,491 

23 

40,972 

19,226 

839 

1,505 

78,615 

1845, 

1,710 

8,641 

368 

53,312 

33,138 

471 

1,217 

114,371 

1846, 

2,854 

12,949 

305 

57,824 

57,010 

698 

551 

154,416 

1847, 

3,476 

29,640 

337 

95,385 

73,444 

192 

837 

234,968 

1848, 

4,445 

24,802 

659 

118,277 

58,014 

319 

451 

226,527 

1849, 

6,036 

31,321 

1,060 

175,841 

60,062 

13 

173 

297,024 

1850, 

6,797 

40,180 

860 

167,242 

78,137 

375 

759 

369,980 

1851, 

5,306 

55,874 

966 

210,594 

71,322 

427 

1,160 

379,466 

1852, 

30,007 

159,548 

8,148 

2,544 

143,575 

2,788 

2,343 

371,603 

1853, 

28,867 

162,649 

6,006 

2,703 

140,653 

2,748 

1,293 

368,645 

1854, 

48,901 

101,606 

4,605 

5,141 

206,054 

2,953 

8,955 

427,883 

1855, 

38,871 

49,627 

5,275 

1,176 

66,219 

4,433 

5,699 

200,877 

1856, 

25,904 

54,349 

3,297 

15,457 

63,807 

1,780 

7,221 

200,436 

1857, 

27,804 

54,361 

4,182 

26,493 

83,798 

2,080 

7,983 

251,306 

1858, 

14,638 

26,873 

1,946 

12,372 

42,291 

1,056 

3,019 

123,126 

1859, 

13,826 

35,216 

2,293 

10,045 

39,315 

833 

2,469 

121,282 

1860, 

13,001 

48,637 

1,613 

15,123 

50,746 

913 

3,745 

153,640 

1861, 

8,970 

23,797 

767 

9,938 

30,189 

1,007 

1,472 

91,920 

1862, 

10,947 

23,351 

657 

13,035 

24,985 

643 

2,544 

91,987 

1863, 

24,065 

55,916 

1,940 

40,878 

31,989 

690 

1,173 

176,282 

1864, 

26,096 

63,523 

3,476 

23,856 

54,379 

1,896 

2,897 

193,416 

1865, 

15,038 

29,772 

3,037 

64,390 

80,797 

2,859 

2,627 

249,061 

1866, 

2,770 

32  312 

672 

95,866 

110,440 

3,823 

5,452 

318,494 

1867, 

69,977 

55,543 

121,240 

1,168 

12,186 

298,358 

1868, 

11.107 

42,747 

1*949 

51,779 

111,503 

3 261 

11,567 

297,215 

1S69, 

55,046 

51,290 

12,415 

28,965 

124,766 

3,488 

22 

395,922 

1870, 

59,488 

56,628 

11,820 

23,153 

91,168 

2,474 

111 

376.314 

792,846 

2,288,198 

128,900  f 

1,230,880 

3,723,493 

92,609 

155,191 

7,551,383 

We  give  the  following  table,  compiled 
from  the  immigration  returns  and  the  census 
of  1 86s  because  the  census  bureau  has  not 
yet  (Jan.  1872)  tabulated  its  returns  of  this 
character  for  the  census  of  1870.  It  will  be 
understood  that  the  net  difference,  925,329, 
between  the  arrivals  for  forty  years,  and  the 
residents  represents  those  who  have  died 
and  those  who  have  returned  to  their  native 
countries.  It  is  evident  that  there  must  have 
been  a very  considerable  number  who  came 
into  the  country  across  the  lines  from  British 
America  and  Mexico  without  being  reported 
to  the  Bureau  of  Emigration,  since  the  dates 
of  emigrants  in  forty  years  should  alone 
amount  to  more  than  two-elevenths  of  the 
whole  number,  and  it  has  been  ascertained 
that  in  those  forty  years,  full  300,000  return- 
ed to  Europe.  We  may  then  with  confidence 
state  the  entire  immigration  into  this  coun- 
try from  1820  to  the  close  of  1870,  as  not 
less  than  8,000,000.  The  deficiency  column 
in  the  table  below,  is  partly  due  to  the  im- 
perfection of  the  census  returns,  and  partly 
to  the  unwillingness  of  many  emigrants  to 
reveal  on  their  first  arrival  their  native 
country.  It  is  noticeable  that  about  one 
fourth  of  the  whole  number  of  arrivals  re- 
ported in  the  table,  were  from  Great  Britain 
and  Ireland. 


STATEM7NT  OP  THE  NUMBER  OF  ALIENS  ARRIVED  IN  THE  UNITED 
FROM  1820  TO  1860,  BOTH  INCLUSIVE,  AND  THE  NUMBER  CF 
EACH  NATION  RESIDENT  IN  THE  UNION  BV  THE  CENSUS  OF  1860. 


• Countries.  1820  Jtes’t  ,1860,  Excess  of  Efficiency 

to  1860.  Census.  1860.  arrivals,  of  arrivals 

England 302,665  431,692  

Ireland 967,366  1,611,304  

Sec  land 47,990  108,518  

Wales 7,935  45,763  


(at.  Britain  & Ireland.  .1,425,018  1,802 


Total 2,750,874 

France 208.063 

Spain 16,248 

Portugal 2,614 

Belgium 9,862 

Prussia 60,432 

Germany 1,486,044 

Holland 21,579 

Denmark 5,540 

Norway  and  Sweden.. . 36,129 

Poland 1,659 

Russia 1,374 

Turkey 170 

Switzerland 37,733 

Italy 11,202 

Greece 116 

Sardinia 2,030 

Europe 526 

British  America  ......  117,142 

South  America 0,201 

Central  America 968 

Mexico 17,166 

West  Indies 4'  ,4S7 

China 41,413 

Asia 27 

Africa 289 

Azores 3,242 

Canary  Islands 286 

Sandwich  Islands 79 

Australia 109 

South  Sea  Islands 79 

1 8 nations  not  specified , 1 ,256 

taUd 180,864 


6,062,414 


2,199,079 

651,795 

109,870 

98,193 

4,244 

12.004 

4,116. 

’ 1,502 

9,072 

790 

227,661 

167,229 

1,074,475 

411,569 

28,281 

6,7(2 

9.962 

4,4'  2 

62,620 

26,491 

7,298 

6,(59 

3,160 

1.786 

128 

42 

53.327 

io’,594 

10,618 

“"684 

328 

212 

1,159 

1,669 

1,403 

877 

249,970 

132,828 

3.263 

2,938 

233 

735 

27.466 

9,700 

7,363 

33.134 

35,505 

5,878 

1,231 

1,062 

620 

194 

1.861 

2,610 

485 

"■3:9 

1,419 

1,310 

286 

218 

l ,366 

179  488 

4,138,176  1,801,419  876,090 
925,329 


15* 


Total  aliens 

Excess  of  arrivals. 


242 


IMMIGRATION. 


Let  us  next  see  where  these  emigrants 
make  their  homes  on  this  side  the  ocean. 
Here  again  we  must  take  the  census  of  1860 
.for  the  details,  as  the  Census  Bureau  is  not 
likely  to  furnish  those  of  1870  for  a year 
or  two  to  come.  The  larger  part  of  the  Irish 
it  will  be  seen,  settled  in  the  New  England 
and  Middle  States,  over  1,100,000  of  the 


1,600,000  remaining  in  these  States.  Of  the 
Germans  a large  proportion  migrated  west- 
ward and  have  established  themselves  in  the 
Mississippi  and  Missouri  valleys,  and  con- 
siderable numbers  have  gone  to  the  Pacific 
coast.  The  Scandinavians  have  settled  large- 
ly in  the  northwest.  The  “ total  ” column 
includes  emigrants  of  all  nationalities  : — 


Great  Britain 

Sweden  & Total 

States  and  Territories. 

England. 

Ireland. 

not  specified.  Germany, 

Prussia. 

Switzerland.  Norway. 

Foreign. 

Alabama 

...  1,174 

5,664 

5 

2,209 

392 

138 

206 

12,352 

Arkansas 

375 

1,312 

8 

989 

154 

42 

30 

3,741 

California 

...  12,227 

33,147 

103 

1 7,002 

4,644 

1,714 

2,120 

146,528 

Connecticut 

8,875 

55,445 

50 

7,311 

1,214 

275 

64 

80,696 

Delaware 

5,832 

.... 

997 

266 

34 

8 

9,165 

Florida 

320 

827 

3 

404 

74 

13 

42 

3,309 

Georgia 

1,122 

6.586 

• • • • 

2,017 

455 

62 

50 

11,671 

Illinois 

...  41,745 

87,573 

669 

106,257 

24,547 

5,748 

11,361 

324,643 

Indiana 

9,304 

24,495 

21 

54,638 

12.067 

3,813 

367 

118,184 

Iowa 

...  11,522 

28,072 

23 

30,758 

7,797 

2,519 

7,153 

106,081 

Kansas 

3,888 

7 

3,788 

530 

260 

345 

12,691 

Kentucky 

22,249 

2 

24,263 

2,964 

753 

53 

59,799 

Louisiana 

...  3,989 

28,207 

1 

21,875 

2,739 

878 

256 

81,029 

Maine 

...  2,677 

15,290 

37 

307 

77 

13 

101 

37,453 

Maryland 

24,872 

• • • • 

41,057 

2,827 

177 

55 

77,536 

Massachusetts 

. . . 23,848 

185,434 

294 

8,4  79 

1,482 

335 

856 

260,114 

Michigan 

...  25,743 

30,049 

11 

29,152 

9,635 

1,269 

706 

149,092 

Minnesota 

12,831 

4 

12,423 

5,977 

1,085 

11,603 

58,728 

Mississippi 

3,893 

1 

1,691 

317 

138 

36 

8,558 

Missouri 

. . . 10,009 

43,464 

114 

64,795 

23,692 

4,585 

385 

160,541 

New  Hampshire 

...  2,291 

12,737 

2 

322 

90 

12 

25 

20,938 

New  Jersey 

62,006 

1 

30,881 

2,891 

1,144 

153 

122,790 

New  York 

...  106,011 

498,072 

131 

227,226 

29,036 

6,166 

2,217 

998,640 

North  Carolina 

729 

889 

.... 

696 

69 

10 

13 

3,299 

Ohio 

. . . 32,700 

76,826 

148 

151,093 

17,117 

11,078 

136 

328,254 

Oregon 

690 

1,266 

5 

856 

222 

71 

99 

5,122 

Pennsylvania 

201,939 

14 

123,801 

14,443 

4,404 

533 

430,505 

Rhode  Island 

6,356 

25,285 

• • • • 

728 

87 

37 

71 

37,394 

South  Carolina 

757 

4,906 

1 

2,595 

352 

33 

42 

9,986 

Tennessee 

12,498 

3 

3,515 

354 

566 

46 

21,226 

Texas 

1,695 

3,480 

27 

14,318 

6,235 

453 

479 

43,422 

Vermont 

1,632 

13,480 

42 

205 

14 

4 

1 

32,743 

Virginia 

4,104 

16,501 

32 

9,561 

564 

267 

65 

35,058 

Wisconsin 

. . . 30,543 

49,961 

24 

70,896 

52,983 

4,722 

22,115 

276,927 

Colorado  Territory . . . . 

624 

1 

522 

54 

25 

39 

2,666 

Dakota  Territory 

35 

42 

• « • • 

22 

1 

129 

1,774 

District  of  Columbia. . 

7,258 

• • • • 

3,025 

229 

97 

17 

12,484 

Nebraska  Territory.. . . 

1,431 

2 

1,346 

396 

228 

173 

6,351 

Nevada  Territory 

294 

651 

• • • • 

388 

66 

19 

57 

2,064 

New  Mexico  Territory. 

145 

827 

1 

445 

124 

27 

5 

6,723 

Utah  Territory 

. . . 7,084 

278 

5 

139 

19 

78 

355 

12,754 

Washington  Territory. 

419 

1,217 

10 

483 

89 

34 

55 

3,144 

Total 

1,611,304 

1,802 

1,073,475 

227,661 

53,327 

62,620 

4,136,175 

The  census  of  1870  makes  the  whole  num- 
ber of  persons  of  foreign  birth  in  the  United 
States  in  June,  1870,  5,566,546,  being  an 
increase  of  1,427,849,  in  the  ten  years,  while 
the  actual  immigration  of  that  ten  years  was 
about  2,350,000. 

The  statement  of  the  number  of  persons 
of  foreign  birth  in  the  different  states  and 
territories  in  1870,  reveals  some  interesting 
facts.  Of  the  territories  Idaho  has  the  larg- 


est population  of  foreigners,  over  one-half, 
while  Montana  and  Utah  have  each  about 
two-fifths ; of  the  states,  Nevada  has  three- 
sevenths,  Minnesota  four-elevenths,  Califor- 
nia five-fourteenths,  Wisconsin  a little  more 
than  a third,  and  New  York  about  three- 
elevenths.  Several  other  states  range  be- 
tween one-fourth  and  one-fifth  foreigners. 
The  Southern  states,  though  increasing  their 
foreign  population,  have  not  a large  share. 


LANDING  IN  NEW  YORK— FUTURE  nOMES. 


2 >3 


The  amount  @f  money  or  capital  drawn 
from  Europe  by  the  emigrants  is  a question 
of  much  importance.  The  cost  of  prepara- 
tion for  the  voyage  in  Europe,  the  co-t  of 
the  passage,  and  the  expenses  incurred  after 
arriving  until  the  new  home  is  finally  reach- 
ed, cannot,  together,  fall  short  of  one  hundred 
dollars  each  ; and  many  have  a small  capital 
in  addition,  with  which  to  begin  the  world. 
The  sums  transported  are  often  much  larger. 
In  1854  the  migration  from  the  Palatinate, 
as  stated  in  a Bremen  report,  was  8,908,  and 
they  carried  $1,024,000.  The  reports  of  the 
New  York  commissioners  of  emigration  as 
the  result  of  their  investigation,  show  that  the 
average  of  money  brought  is  very  near  one 
hundred  dollars  per  head — an  amount  which 
becomes  formidable  when  taken  in  connec- 
tion with  the  aggregate  numbers  arriving. 
This  is  exhibited  in  the  following  summary 
of  arrivals : — 


Whole  Number  Sums  at 
No.  of  of  $100 

Arrivals.  Aliens.  per  head. 

,200 

,100 

TOO 

Dec.  31, 18.19;  3,075;900  2,814,154  281,455,400 
Eleven  y’rs  to  Dec.  31, 1870,  2,856,341  2,451,701  245,170,100 


Arrivals.  Aliens.  per  neaa 
Ten  years  to  Sept.  30, 1829,  151,636  128,502  12,850,2C 

“ “ 1839,  572,716  533,381  53, 833, 1C 

“ “ 1819  1.479,478  1,427,337  142, 733, 7C 


Total 8.136,071  7,360,475  736,047,500 

This  is  an  immense  sum,  and  poured  forth 
even  in  small  streams,  has  had  an  important 
eTect  upon  the  prosperity  of  the  country  at 
large,  independent  of  the  larger  sums  invested 
in  land,  stock,  and  utensils.  On  the  other 
hand,  very  considerable  sums  are  sent  out  of 
the  country  in  aid  of  the  emigrants,  by  their 
friends  here,  who  have  earned  the  money  at 
service  and  o herwise.  Qn  this  point,  in- 
formation has  from  time  to  time  been  gath- 
ered, of  the  houses  through  which  remittances 
are  made.  These  remittances  are  mostly 
small  drafts,  purchased  in  New  York,  for 
sums  varying  from  five  to  one  hundred  dol- 
lars. The  latter  sum  is  seldom  reached, 
however.  The  remittances  of  five  of  these 
houses,  in  one  year,  were  as  follows  : — 


House  A,  number  of  drafts, 


1,934 

6,198 

13,425 

18,175 

40,542 


$32,125 

123,290 

266,896 

363,140 

810,835 


Average 

amount. 

$16  5-8 
19  7-8 

19  7-8 
19  9-10 

20 


Total  5 houses  1 year,  80,274  $1,595,785 


These  do  not  include  the  large  banking- 
houses,  of  which  there  are  no  returns,  but  it 
is  said  the  Baring  Brothers  alone  send 


$2,500,000.  The  British  emigrant  commis- 
sioners reported  in  thirteen  years  ending 
with  1860,  $56,191,/33  sent  to  the  United 
Kingdom  alone,  and  this  increasing  amount 
continued  till  1857. 

With  the  renewal,  on  a large  scale,  of  em- 
igration after  the  war,  the  amounts  sent 
largely  increased,  and  amounted  to  more 
than  $20,000,000  per  annum.  This  is  not 
now  returned  to  this  country  as  passage 
money,  for  nearly  all  the  emigrant  ships  are 
owned  in  Great  Britain  or  in  Germany. 
The  United  States  gold  coin  exported  to 
England  and  Germany  is  bought  up  to  some 
extent  by  emigrants,  but  not  as  much  as  for- 
merly. The  aggregate  amount  of  money 
brought  here  by  immigrants  in  the  fifty -one 
years  ending  Dec.  31, 1870,  was,  as  we  have 
seen,  $736,000,000.  Deducting  at  lea^t 
$236,000,000  for  remittances  made  from 
this  side  to  the  families  of  emigrants,  there 
still  remains  the  large  sum  of  $500,000,000 
brought  here  by  immigrants,  besides  their 
productive  labor  after  their  arrival. 

The  legal  rights  of  the  emigrants,  after 
they  become  naturalized,  are  the  same  in 
all  respects  as  those  of  the  native  born  citi- 
zens, with  the  single  exception  that  they  are 
not  eligible  to  the  office  of  president  or 
vice-president  of  the  United  States.  No 
law  can  be  passed  to  abridge  the  freedom  of 
their  speech,  or  the  free  exercise  of  their  re- 
ligion, whatever  they  may  be — even  the  en- 
joyment of  Mormonism  has  been  an  attrac- 
tion to  some.  Their  right  to  hold  real  es- 
tate is  perfect,  as  is  the  security  afforded  to 
persons,  property,  and  papers,  and  they  may 
be  elected,  or  may  elect  to  any  office  except 
those  named. 

Another  very  interesting  feature  of  the 
passenger  movement,  although  not  strictly 
embraced  within  the  emigration,  is  the  num- 
ber of  United  States  citizens  who  annually 
arrive  from  abroad.  It  is  not  until  within 
a few  years  that  a record  has  been  kept  of 
the  number  of  citizens  who  go  abroad  each 
year,  but  the  arrivals  of  passengers,  not  im- 
migrants, is  an  interesting  item. 


NUMBER  OF  NATIVE  CITIZENS  AND  FOREIGN  VIS- 
ITORS (NOT  IMMIGRANTS)  ARRIVING 
FROM  ABROAD. 


1820-1830, 

1830-1840, 

1840-1850, 

1850-1860, 

1869-1871, 


Males. 

Females. 

Not  stated. 

Tcftal. 

19,542 

3,529 

62 

€3,134 

23,036 

7,288 

31 

34,345 

38,952 

12,999 

190 

52,141 

224,410 

36;924 

261,348 

99,373 

52,030 

... 

151,403 

244 


IMMIGRATION-. 


The  number  of  departures  for  Europe  is, 
however,  much  greater  than  the  arrivals  of 
passengers  not  emigrants.  For  the  year 
ending  June  30, 1870,  it  was  : Males,  60,505, 
Females,  21,408,  Total,  81,913.  This  was 
about  an  average  year — the  departures  in 

1869  being  somewhat  fewer,  and  those  of 
1871  considerably  larger.  It  would  be  a 
very  moderate  estimate  of  the  amount  ex- 
pended or  carried  with  these  outgoing  pas- 
sengers to  fix  it  at  $1,200  per  head,  and  yet 
this  would  give  $98,295,600  as  the  amount 
of  money  taken  out  of  the  country  in  a sin- 
gle year  by  European  voyagers. 

The  numbers  of  former  emigrants  who 
returned  home  with  accumulated  means,  ad- 
ded to  the  sums  expended  abroad  by  Amer- 
icans, will  probably  at  least  cancel  the 
amounts  actually  brought  into  the  country 
by  emigrants.  But  the  vast  amount  of  pro- 
ductive skill  and  labor  that  is  brought  into 
the  country,  and  applied  to  the  vast  waste  of 
land,  develops  more  capital  in  a ratio  which 
astonishes  the  observer.  The  number  of 
persons  who  arrive  in  the  United  States  in  a 
single  year,  equals  the  population  of  a whole 
state.  Thus  the  number  that  arrived  in 

1870  were  436,496  ; the  total  white  popula- 
tion of  the  state  of  Minnesota  was,  in  1870, 


439,706,  and  there  were  nine  states  which 
contained  a smaller  number  of  population. 

From  1859,  the  tide  of  immigration,  which 
for  two  or  three  years  previous  had  ebbed, 
began  to  flow  again  in  something  like  its  old 
abundance,  and,  though  checked  in  1861  and 
1862  by  the  war  and  the  presence  of  rebel 
privateers  in  the  Atlantic,  it  soon  increased 
again,  and  from  1863  to  1871  has  been  very 
large.  In  1860,  the  whole  number  of  alien 
emigrants  was  153,640.  In  1861,  it  was 
only  91,920;  in  1862,  91,987;  in  1863, 
176,282;  in  1864,  193,416;  in  1865,  249,- 
061;  in  1866,318,494;  in  1867,  298,358; 
in  1868,  297,215 ; in  1869,  395,922  ; in 
1870,  436,496;  in  1871,  386,271.  It  is  a 
noteworthy  fact  that  the  later  immigrants, 
those  of  the  last  six  or  seven  years,  are, 
socially  and'  pecuniarily,  of  a much  higher 
class  than  those  of  former  years.  A very 
large  proportion  of  them  are  well,  or  at  least 
tolerably  educated,  and  many  of  them  pos- 
sess sufficient  means  to  enable  them  to  go 
to  the  West  and  procure  farms,  or  engage 
in  other  employments.  Of  the  immigrants 
in  1871,  82,554  were  from  Germany,  57,439 
from  Ireland,  56,530  from  England,  28,925 
from  Great  Britain,  not  specified,  and  160,823 
from  other  countries. 


SOCIAL  AND  DOMESTIC  LIFE. 


INTRODUCTORY. 

Three  quarters  of  a century  ago,  there 
were  in  the  whole  United  States  only  about 
as  many  people  as  there  are  now  in  the  state 
of  New  York ; and  now  we  have  grown  from 
less  than  four  millions  to  thirty  millions — 
having  increased  nearly  eight-fold. 

These  large  numbers  will  indistinctly  rep- 
resent the  general  progress  of  the  nation  ; 
and  the  average  social  prosperity  of  each 
citizen  has  increased  in  a ratio  materially 
larger.  The  actual  amount  of  this  increase 
in  intelligence,  wealth,  and  comfort,  cannot 
be  set  down  in  figures,  but  will  be  under- 
stood as  well  as  the  case  will  permit,  from 
an  enumeration  of  details  of  improvements 
in  social  and  domestic  life. 

There  were  sufficient  reasons  for  a some- 
what uncommonly  low  average  of  comfort 
at  the  end  of  the  Revolution.  The  seven 
years’  war  had,  of  course,  almost  destroyed 
all  industry,  except  farming  and  a few  indis- 
pensable manufactures  and  trades.  It  had 
also  drained  all  the  specie  out  of  the  country, 
or  frightened  it  into  secret  hoards ; in  con- 
sequence of  which  the  currency  was  entirely 
disorganized.  Government  credit  was  at 
such  a low  ebb,  that  the  bills  of  the  Unit- 
ed States  (known  as  “ continental  money”) 
would  not  purchase  even  such  articles  of 
comfort  or  luxury  as  existed,  except  at  enor- 
mous nominal  rates;  nor  was  the  paper 
money  of  the  separate  states  in  much  better 
reputation.  Thus,  a hundred  dollars  in  these 
depreciated  bills  was  paid  for  a mug  of  ci- 
der; five  hundred  dollars  for  a bowl  of 
punch;  a thousand  dollars  for  a pair  of 
shoes  ; twenty-seven  thousand  dollars  for  an 
ordinary  horse;  and  “ part  of  an  old  shirt” 
was  set  in  an  inventory  at  fifteen  dollars. 
The  worthlessness  of  this  money  rendered 
it  necessary  to  make  payments,  to  a great 
extent,  in  barter — a mode  of  trading  which 
always  keeps  the  average  of  comfort  and 
luxury  down  at  a standard  little  above  that 
of  the  better  class  of  savages. 


But  even  if  this  paper  currency  had  been 
worth  its  face,  or  if  specie  had  been  plenty, 
it  would  have  been  possible  to  buy  only  a 
small  share  of  comforts  or  luxuries  compared 
with  those  now  attainable,  for  the  plain  rea- 
son that  they  did  not  exist. 

Beginning  at  this  low  period  of  average 
prosperity,  we  shall  now  rapidly  sketch  the 
progress  of  the  country,  up  to  the  present 
time,  under  the  general  heads  of 

1.  Domestic  Architecture. 

2.  Furniture. 

3.  Food. 

4.  Dress. 

5.  Mental  culture,  intercourse,  etc. 


CHAPTER  I. 

DOMESTIC  ARCHITECTURE. 

Eighty  years  ago,  houses  were  much  more 
evenly  distributed  over  the  country  than  is 
now  the  case.  There  has  ever  since  been  a 
continual  tendency  to  draw  together  into 
towns;  and  this  tendency  has  been  much 
assisted  by  the  increased  ease  of  travelling 
and  transportation.  At  that  time,  therefore, 
there  was  much  less  difference  between  a 
country  house  and  a city  house  than  at 
present. 

In  the  older  parts  of  the  northern  states, 
the  houses  then  built  were  often  of  the  style 
called  “lean-to,”  or  “linter;”  that  is,  with 
one  side  of  the  roof  carried  down  so  far  as 
to  cover  an  additional  tier  of  rooms  on  the 
ground  floor,  or  a wide  shed.  Another  com- 
mon style,  rather  later  in  use,  was  the  “ gam- 
bl'd roofed,”  where  the  roof  rose  at  a very 
steep  pitch  from  the  eaves,  about  half  the 
length  of  the  rafters,  and  then  fell  in  to  the 
ridge-pole  at  a much  flatter  angle.  This 
gave  a very  roomy  garret.  Dormer  win- 
dows were  very  common,  to  light  rooms  fin- 
ished off  in  the  garrets. 

Timber  was  plenty,  and  houses  were  built 


246 


SOCIAL  AND  DOMESTIC  LIFE. 


almost  exclusively  of  wood,  and  often  with 
beams  and  rafters  of  dimensions  that  would 
now  seem  truly  enormous.  Brick  was  com- 
paratively little  used,  until  lumber  grew 
scarcer  in  the  older  parts  of  the  country, 
and  “brick  machines,”  first  invented  by 
Kinsley  a little  before  1800,  had  rendered 
the  production  of  brick  more  rapid  and 
cheaper  than  could  be  afforded  by  hand  la- 
bor. Stone  was  scarcely  used  at  all,  except 
by  a very  few  wealthy  persons.  Sometimes 
the  spaces  between  the  timbers  of  a frame 
house  were  filled  in  with  brick,  so  as  to 
make  a sort  of  brick  body  to  the  house,  with 
wooden  bones,  and  with  the  clapboards  put 
on  over  these. 

A beam  was  very  often  left  running  across 
the  ceiling  of  a room,  six  or  eight  inches  be- 
low the  plaster,  and  was  a convenient  place 
for  driving  nails  or  pegs  on  which  to  hang 
dried  apples,  seed-corn,  peppers,  hams,  bas- 
kets, rope,  etc.,  etc.  In  like  manner  the 
uprights  often  projected  into  the  corner  of 
the  room,  giving  it  a kind  of  coarse  cornice. 
The  centre  of  the  house  was  usually  occu- 
pied by  the  chimney  stack — an  immense 
pile  of  brick  or  stone,  sometimes  occupying 
almost  a quarter  of  the  ground  plan.  In  the 
different  sides  of  this  huge  mass  opened  the 
great  old-fashioned  fire-places,  in  many  of 
which  one  could  sit  in  the  corner  while  the 
fire  burned,  and  see  the  sky  through  the 
chimney-top.  Half  a cord  of  wood  might 
burn  at  once  in  some  of  these  great  fire- 
places, and  yet,  in  the  bitter  cold  of  a north- 
ern winter,  water  would  freeze  at  the  other 
side  of  the  room.  This  was  by  reason  of 
the  thinness  of  the  walls,  the  imperfect  fit- 
ting of  doors  and  windows,  and  above  all, 
the  great  proportion  of  heat  that  went  off 
up  chimney,  and  of  cold  that  came  down. 
Hinged  to  staples  at  the  chimney-back  was 
a crane,  with  its  pot-hooks  and  hangers,  or 
trammels,  to  accommodate  the  machinery 
of  the  cook.  At  one  side  of  the  fire-place 
was  the  oven — a cave  in  the  masonry  of  the 
chimney-stack — and,  usually,  with  an  ash- 
hole  underneath  it.  A great  shovel,  or 
“slice,”  with  a handle  five  or  six  feet  long, 
and  a big  pair  of  tongs  to  match,  were  for 
oven  use  ; and  to  heat  this  affair  thoroughly 
enough  to  bake  bread,  usually  occupied  an 
hour  or  an  hour  and  a half,  and  consumed 
two  or  three  good  armfuls  of  dry  wood. 

Houses  were  commonly  low  “ between 
joints,”  to  economize  heat.  Roofs  were 
shingled,  with  split  shingles ; the  sawed 


shingles  being  little  used  until  a little  after 
1800,  from  which  time  many  patents  for 
shingle  sawing  were  taken  out.  A machine 
for  getting  out  shingles  was  patented,  how- 
ever, as  early  as  1797.  Slate  roofs  were  not 
much  used,  and  tiles  scarcely  at  all*  Cy- 
press wood  is  used  for  shingles  at  the  south, 
instead  of  pine ; exposure  to  the  weather 
turns  it  to  a distinct,  but  disagreeable  black. 
Sheet  tin  has  been  extensively  used  for  roof- 
ing, but  very  often  leaks  badly  from  the 
rusting,  expansion,  and  contraction  of  the 
tin.  Since  1840,  oiled  or  tarred  canvas^ 
asphalt,  asbestos,  mineral  paint,  tarred  felt 
or  paper,  heavily  coated  with  gravel,  etc., 
have  been  used  in  place  of  shingles,  or  tin, 
and  some  of  them  with  good  success.  Since 
the  introduction  of  the  Mansard  or  French 
roofs,  slate  is  more  used,  and  recently  enam- 
eled sheet  iron,  imitating  slate,  has  become 
quite  common. 

A modern  invention  in  domestic  architec- 
ture is  the  plan  of  building  what  are  called 
“ gravel  walls,”  by  moulding  gravel  and 
loose  stone  with  mortar,  into  a kind  of  con- 
crete wall  on  the  spot,  lifting  up  the  mould- 
ing cases  when  the  contents  are  firmly  set, 
and  moulding  another  section.  This  results 
in  a house  which  may  be  said  to  be  of  one 
stone,  for  if  the  materials  are  good,  and 
well  put  together,  they  harden  into  an  arti- 
ficial breccia.  This  plan  has  not,  however, 
been  sufficiently  proved ; and  a wrong  choice 
of  sand,  gravel,  or  lime  has  often  caused 
the  crumbling  and  ruin  of  the  whole  fabric. 

Walls  were  usually  finished  inside  with 
whitewash,  paper,  or  paint ; the  use  of  stucco, 
or  “ hard  finish,”  being  rare  until  within  the 
past  thirty  years.  All  house  iron-work  and 
trimmings  of  a better  kind  were  imported 
from  England,  until  within  the  present  cen- 
tury. Wrought  nails  were  u-ed;  cut  nails 
having  been  invented,  and  their  manufacture 
variously  perfected  by  several  Americans, 
from  about  1791,  when  the  earliest  patent 
on  the  subject  was  issued,  down  to  the  pres- 
ent time.  Jacob  Perkins,  of  Newburyport, 
and  Byington,  of  Connecticut,  were  two  of 
the  most  prominent  inventors  in  this  line. 
Such  latches,  hinges,  etc.,  as  were  then 
made  in  this  country,  were  wrought  iron, 
and  clumsy  and  inconvenient.  All  these 
trimmings  are,  however,  now  manufactured 
to  great  perfection  in  our  own  workshops. 
Among  the  improvements  of  the  last  forty 
years  in  house  trimmings,  a convenient  ODe 
is  the  introduction  of  weights  running  over 


XHKO.tt  MSMWdVr 


' 


' 


' 


DOMESTIC  ARCHITECTURE. 


247 


pullies,  to  facilitate  opening  and  shutting 
windows.  Before  these  were  used,  the  prac- 
tice was  to  use  various  kinds  of  catches,  all 
of  which  made  it  necessary  to  lift  the  whole 
weight  of  the  sash  ; and  instead  of  which 
were  often  found  merely  a wooden  button 
to  turn  uuder,  and  hold  the  sash  open,  or 
even  nothing  but  a stick  to  hold  it  up. 

The  invention  of  the  planing  machine, 
first  successfully  introduced  by  William 
Woodworth  in  1837,  though  many  patents 
had  preceded  his,  and  of  the  circular  saw, 
first  patented  by  Cox,  of  Georgia,  in  1795, 
were  important  improvements  in  dressing 
lumber,  and  cutting  it ; as  the  former  could 
turn  out  boards  smoothed,  tongued  and 
grooved,  and  fit  for  flooring,  and  the  latter 
could  cut  thin  work  much  more  cheaply 
than  a common  saw  movement.  Another 
machine  has  been  introduced  since  the  year 
1840,  for  boring  auger  holes,  and  others 
for  cutting  wooden  mouldings,  which  save 
much  time  and  labor  in  framing  and  in 
finishing  respectively.  During  the  last 
twenty-five  years,  also,  various  new  paints 
have  been  introduced,  none  of  which,  how- 
ever, have  entirely  superseded  the  old-fash- 
ioned oil  vehicle  and  ordinary  mineral 
colors.  Of  these,  the  principal  are  prepara- 
tions of  zinc,  to  be  used  instead  of  lead,  and 
also  for  a variety  of  browns  and  grays  ; and 
several  “mineral  paints,”  usually  finely 
pulverized  stone,  which  are  recommended  as 
good  defences  against  fire. 

The  improvement  of  the  last  twenty  years 
in  architectural  designs  has  been  great.  Up 
to  that  time,  dwelling  houses  were  built  in 
the  north  most  frequently  on  a plain  paral- 
lelogram plan  with  the  common  ridge-pole 
roof.  A style  at  that  time  quite  frequently 
adopted  for  houses  of  a somewhat  preten- 
tious character  was  that  of  a Greek  temple, 
usually  with  a row  of  pillars  across  one  end. 
This  absurd  misapplication  did  not  flourish 
long,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  Gothic 
cottage  style ; and  this  again,  and  with  ex- 
tensive and  well  deserved  success,  by  the 
various  modifications  of  the  Italian  villa  style. 
In  cities  where  land  is  very  expensive,  two 
styles  largely  prevail ; the  English  basement 
house  in  which  the  ground  floor  is  occupied 
by  a library  or  reception  room,  and  a dining 
room  ; the  kitchen,  store-room,  and  cellar,  be- 
ing in  the  basement,  and  the  parlors  and  bed 
rooms  on  the  second  and  third  floors  ; and  the 
“ high  stoop  basement,”  almost  wholly  above 
ground,  containing  the  dining  room,  kitchen, 


&c.,  with  cellar  beneath.  The  first  floor  is 
occupied  with  the  parlors  and  boudoir,  and 
the  bedrooms  are  above.  The  latter  is 
the  better  of  the  two,  but  both  require  as- 
cending and  descending  too  many  flights  of 
stairs,  unless  Bridget  is  allowed  to  reign 
supreme  in  all  parts  of  the  house.  Vesti- 
bules or  recessed  entrances  are  almost  uni- 
versal in  these  houses. 

A very  common  arrangement  of  old-fash- 
ioned houses  was  to  set  the  house  with  the 
side  toward  the  street,  with  the  front  door 
in  the  middle,  opening  into  a little  vestibule. 
From  this  the  stairs  passed  up,  often  turning 
round  three  sides  of  the  vestibule ; and  at 
each  side  a door  led  to  two  front  rooms. 
These,  often  occupying  all  the  ground  floor 
of  the  two-story  part,  were  parlors,  or  a par- 
lor and  a bed-room.  Behind  these,  under 
the  “lean-to”  roof,  was  very  probably  one 
long  room,  used  as  kitchen,  nursery,  and 
sitting-room ; for  the  parlor  was  used  only 
for  great  occasions.  The  second  floor  was 
laid  off  as  might  be  convenient. 

The  better  houses  of  the  southern  states 
were  built  to  suit  the  different  demands  of 
the  climate — more  airily,  and  usually  with 
much  piazza  room,  and  not  much  provision 
for  warmth.  Early  settlers  in  the  south  and 
west  invariably  put  up  log  houses,  whose 
chimneys  were  built  outside  against  one  end, 
of  sticks  laid  in  clay.  A mode  often  used 
was  to  build  two  separate  square  rooms  of 
logs,  and  then  to  throw  one  roof  over  both 
and  the  space  between,  thus  securing  an  out- 
door shelter.  These  log  houses  were  floored 
with  “ puncheons,”  that  is,  small  logs  split 
once  and  hewed  even.  A standing  table  of 
puncheons,  some  three-legged  stools,  a rude 
bedstead,  with  a bed  o*  leaves  or  corn- 
husks  covered  with  buffalo-hide  or  bear-skins 
instead  of  sheet,  blanket,  and  coverlet ; a 
shelf,  and  a variety  of  pegs  driven  into  the 
wall,  completed  almost  the  entire  outside 
and  inside  of  these  rugged,  but  comfort- 
able homes,  the  nurseries  of  so  many  brave 
and  great  men.  In  such  houses  were  born 
and  brought  up  Andrew  Jackson,  Henry 
Clay,  and  the  numberless  heroic  Indian 
fighters  and  mighty  hunters  of  the  west. 
And  such  houses  are  still  the  homes  of 
thousands  of  the  bold  pioneers  who  arc  ad- 
vancing westward,  carrying  forward  the 
limits  of  civilized  society  toward  the  Pacific 
ocean.  As  the  newer  states  increase  in 
population  and  wealth,  the  domestic  architec- 
ture of  the  older  ones  is  copied,  and  dwell- 


248 


SOCIAL  AND  DOMESTIC  LIFE. 


ing  houses  of  the  same  general  character  are 
now  commonly  used  in  city  and  country. 

Among  the  chief  improvements  in  domes- 
tic architecture  are  those  which  have  been 
applied  to  modes  of  warming  houses.  The 
earliest  improvement  on  the  ancient  fire- 
place was  the  Franklin  stove,  invented  by 
the  great  philosopher  whose  name  it  bears, 
and  which  was  in  use  before  the  revolution- 
ary war.  These  were  only  shallow  iron  fire- 
places, with  a draft  which  could  be  modified 
by  a sort  of  valve,  and  were  used  only  for 
wood.  Large  box-stoves,  also  for  wood, 
were  the  first  means  used  for  warming 
churches.  Even  these  were  not  introduced 
until  within  the  memory  of  many  persons 
now  living,  and,  as  is  well  known,  were  vio- 
lently resisted  by  the  conservatives,  who 
fought  hard  to  retain  the  privilege  of  morti- 
fying the  flesh  by  freezing  fingers  and  toes 
all  day  Sunday. 

The  introduction  of  anthracite  coal  was 
the  next  step  in  this  department.  This  had 
been  known  for  years  to  the  hunters  and 
trappers  of  the  wild  interior  of  Pennsylva- 
nia, as  a black  stone  sometimes  found  on  the 
mountains,  but  was  not  thought  combustible, 
any  more  than  granite. 

Some  successful  attempts  had,  however, 
been  made  to  burn  anthracite  ; one  by  Dr. 
C.  T.  James,  in  1804  ; and  one  by  Judge 
Jesse  Fell,  of  Wilkesbarre,  who  burned  it  in 
a grate,  in  1808.  This  brought  it  gradually 
into  use  in  that  vicinity.  In  1814,  White 
& Hazard,  iron-masters  in  Carbon  county, 
bituminous  coal  becoming  scarce,  resolved 
to  try  anthracite  in  their  rolling  mill.  They 
got  a cart-load,  at  a dollar  a bushel,  and 
wasted  it  all  in  vain  endeavors  to  kindle  it. 
Procuring  another  load,  they  tried  again ; 
but  after  fruitless  endeavors  for  a whole 
night,  the  hands  shut  the  furnace  door  in 
despair  and  left  the  mill.  Half  an  hour 
afterward,  one  of  them  came  back  after  his 
jacket,  and  to  his  surprise  found  the  fur- 
nace door  red-hot,  and  the  inside  at  a strong 
white  heat.  The  discovery  was  made  ; and 
with  the  use  of  a similar  let-alone  policy  in 
kindling,  anthracite  was  afterward  used  in 
furnaces  with  entire  success,  an  improve- 
ment in  quality  of  product,  and  a large 
saving  of  expense. 

Thus  introduced,  the  use  of  the  new  fuel 
gradually  spread,  although  so  slowly  that  in 
1820,  three  hundred  and  sixty-five  tons  com- 
pletely stocked  the  Philadelphia  market 
for  a year.  Many  patents  were  now  taken 


out  for  grates,  blowers,  cooking-stoves,  par- 
lor and  hall  stoves,  ranges,  and  hot-air  fur- 
naces. R.  Trexler,  of  Berks  county,  manu- 
factured stoves  for  anthracite  in  1815  ; and 
the  earliest  patent  for  furnaces  seems  to  have 
been  that  of  Thomas  Gregg,  of  Connells- 
ville,  Pa.,  in  1814.  Three  or  four  years 
now  brought  the  new  fuel  into  extensive 
use,  and  from  the  three  hundred  and  sixty- 
five  tons,  which  was  all  that  was  mined  in 
1820,  the  amount  had  risen  in  1849,  in 
thirty  years,  to  3,250,000  tons,  and  to  12,- 
211,313  tons  in  1870,  together  with  nearly 
an  equal  quantity  of  bituminous  coal. 

Nott’s  stoves  were  early  much  used  for 
warming  houses  with  anthracite  ; Olmsted’s 
stove  and  Bushnell’s  were  in  fashion  next ; 
the  first  invented  by  a college  president,  the 
second  by  a college  professor,  and  the  third 
by  an  eminent  clergyman.  These  have 
been  superseded  by  the  base-burning  stoves 
and  furnaces,  of  which  there  is  a variety. 
About  the  year  1836,  Isaac  Orr,  a man  of 
great  inventive  talent,  patented  the  air-tight 
stove  for  wood,  which  was  for  a time  so 
extensively  used  as  to  cause  a sort  of  inter- 
regnum in  the  reign  of  anthracite,  and 
which  is  yet  frequently  seen.  Grates,  long 
used  in  England  to  burn  the  bituminous 
coal  there,  were  early  adapted  to  anthracite, 
and  their  cheerful  open  appearance  has  kept 
them  to  some  extent  in  vogue.  Hot-air 
furnaces  were  also  invented,  as  early,  at 
least,  as  1813  ; but  various  faults,  from  the 
too  great  fierceness  and  dryness  of  the  heat, 
imperfect  defence  against  fire,  etc.,  rendered 
them  on  the  whole  quite  unsatisfactory,  un- 
til about  1840,  when  great  improvements 
began  to  be  made ; and  many  of  the  fur- 
naces now  employed  afford  a bountiful  sup- 
ply of  air,  almost  fresh  from  out-doors,  and 
not  too  warm  and  dry  for  health. 

Apparatuses  have  also  been  devised  for 
heating  buildings  by  systems  of  hot-water 
pipes,  and  by  systems  of  steam  pipes ; of 
which  the  latter,  especially  in  manufacturing 
establishments,  offices,  public  rooms,  etc., 
succeed  very  well,  though  the  heat  would 
sometimes  be  somewhat  too  slowly  diffused 
for  private  residences. 

Until  within  twenty  years,  scarcely  any 
care  had  been  given  to  the  ventilation  of  any 
buildings,  whether  public  or  private.  At 
earlier  periods,  an  abundant  circulation  of 
air  was  secured  by  the  open  chimney, 
through  which  a strong  current  of  warm  air 
continually  rushed  up,  taking,  as  has  been 


axniovre  okktiok  suoom 


FURNITURE FURNISHING  GOODS,  ETC. 


249 


computed,  at  least  nine-tenths  of  all  the  heat 
with  it.  With  the  introduction  of  stoves 
and  furnaces,  this  ventilator  was  closed,  and 
the  air  of  warm  rooms  became  unhealthily 
dry  and  hot,  or  vitiated  by  use,  especially  in 
schools,  ball-rooms,  court-rooms,  public  as- 
semblies, etc.  Many  disorders  were  aggra- 
vated or  made  more  common  by  this  state 
of  things  ; such  as  headaches,  nervous  affec- 
tions, and  lung  complaints.  Various  plans 
of  ventilation  have  been  adopted  to  remedy 
these  evils,  but  the  principles  of  the  science 
of  pneumatics  are  even  yet  so  imperfectly 
understood  that  no  entirely  satisfactory  sys- 
tem of  ventilation  has  yet  been  devised. 
The  modes  formerly  used  for  large  public 
buildings,  such  as  churches : an  opening  at 
the  ceiling,  with  a device  outside  for  form- 
ing an  upward  current  by  the  help  of  the 
wind  ; in  private  houses,  openings  at  the 
sides  of  rooms,  communicating  indirectly 
with  the  external  air ; and  where  hot-air 
furnaces  were  used,  a pipe  supplying  air 
from  without,  which  is  warmed  by  the 
furnace,  and  passed  on  into  the  apart- 
ments, are  now  to  a considerable  extent 
giving  place  to  a forced  and  downward  ven- 
tilation, which  more  effectually  removes  the 
foul  air,  and  avoids  a current  of  cold  air 
near  the  floor. 

The  use  of  gas  for  lighting  streets  and 
houses  was  first  invented  by  an  Englishman 
named  Murdoch,  and  tried  at  Redruth,  in 
Cornwall,  in  1792.  It  was  first  introduced 
in  the  city  of  New  York  by  the  old  New 
York  Gas  Company,  chartered  in  1823.  It 
is  now  used  in  most  of  our  cities,  and  its 
deprivation  would  be  thought  a very  serious 
misfortune. 

An  equally,  and  indeed  much  more  labor- 
saving  and  convenient  improvement  in  our 
modern  domestic  architectural  arrangements, 
is  the  introduction  of  water  from  water 
works.  Water  works  were  commenced  in 
New  York  before  the  Revolution,  in  1774  ; 
but  none  were  erected  there  until  1797, 
when  the  Manhattan  Company  put  up  a res- 
ervoir on  what  is  now  Chambers  street. 
These  small  works  were  superseded  by  the 
Croton  aqueduct,  opened  in  1842.  Phila- 
delphia was  first  supplied  by  a steam  engine 
in  1799;  and  this  was  replaced  by  the 
celebrated  Fairmount  works,  commenced  in 
1811.  Almost  all  our  larger  or  more  enter- 
prising cities  are  now  provided  with  aque- 
ducts. 

The  fountains  thus  set  flowing  in  our 


houses  save  all  water-carrying,  for  bathing 
or  cleaning  purposes,  either  up  or  down 
stairs ; for  a proper  connection  with  a sew- 
erage system  will  admit  of  a sink  as  well  as 
a water  pipe  in  every  story.  The  burden- 
some daily  details  of  housework  are  thus 
very  greatly  lightened,  and  health,  and  time, 
and  exertion  very  much  economized  by  the 
various  appliances  of  the  modern  city  bath- 
room. 

Within  fifteen  years,  there  have  been  in- 
troduced into  many  of  the  more  luxurious 
city  houses,  hoistways,  somewhat  like  those 
used  in  stores,  but  upholstered,  and,  in  fact, 
fitted  up  like  little  rooms  ; these  are  raised 
and  lo,wered  so  as  to  save  the  exertion  of 
using  the  stairs,  and  are  exceedingly  con- 
venient for  the  old  and  feeble. 

This  brief  enumeration  of  improvements 
in  domestic  architecture  could  not  properly 
include  what  may,  however,  in  conclusion, 
be  merely  mentioned ; that  is,  those  large 
and  splendidly  finished  houses  which  are 
erected  by  the  great  millionaires  of  the  pres- 
ent day.  The  costly  frescoes,  the  statues, 
the  extravagant  splendor  of  their  fitting, 
the  picture-galleries,  conservatories,  libra- 
ries, etc.,  etc.,  though  good  and  beautiful 
in  themselves,  are  exceptions,  but  have  been 
greatly  multiplied  within  the  past  fifteen  or 
twenty  years. 


CHAPTER  II. 

FURNITURE— FURNISHING  GOODS,  ETC. 

The  furniture  of  country  dwellings  during 
the  latter  part  of  the  last  century  was  scantier 
than  now,  and,  on  the  whole,  of  much 
cheaper  quality  and  poorer  make,  although 
that  of  the  wealthy  was  often  handsomely 
designed,  well  and  massively  made,  and 
heavily  and  tastefully  ornamented.  Little 
machinery  was  used  in  manufacturing  fur- 
niture, which  had,  therefore,  to  be  made 
by  hand  labor.  This  made  patterns  more 
numerous,  as  one  design  usually  served  lor  a 
single  side-board,  set  of  chairs,  etc.,  and  for 
those  made  by  one  workman  only ; while 
now,  one  pattern  may  serve  for  thousands  of 
sets.  There  was,  therefore,  greater  variety, 
and  often  remarkably  fine  workmanship,  and 
even  artistic  skill.  The  greater  cheapness 
of  wood,  and  the  little  use  made  of  veneer- 
ing, occasioned  much  furniture  to  be  made 
of  solid  wood.  Many  pieces  of  this  ancient, 


250 


SOCIAL  AND  DOMESTIC  LIFE. 


solid  furniture  now  bring  extravagant  prices 
at  auction,  or  from  a second-hand  store, 
where  chance  supplies  a buyer  with  taste 
and  means.  As  much  as  forty,  or  even  six- 
ty dollars  each  have  been  given  for  old- 
fashioned,  carved,  mahogany  chairs ; from 
twenty-five  to  fifty  dollars  for  a tall  clock, 
etc.,  etc. 

The  increase  in  the  supply  of  money,  the 
decrease  of  any  distinction  between  classes 
of  society,  and  the  general  diffusion  of 
wealth  and  comfort,  render  the  difference 
between  the  furniture  of  the  rich,  and  that 
of  the  poor,  much  less  at  the  present  day 
than  formerly.  Comparatively  few  luxuries 
of  any  kind  are  now  accessible  to  the  rich, 
which  are  not  so  to  the  farmer  and  the  me- 
chanic. This  is  not,  of  course,  to  be  under- 
stood of  the  very  poor,  nor  the  very  rich ; 
nor  of  the  most  expensive  luxuries;  for 
Gobelin  carpets  an  inch  thick,  marble  stat- 
ues, and  pictures  by  great  artists,  Johannis- 
berg  wine,  Strasburg  pies,  and  the  like,  can 
never  be  possessed  except  by  very  few. 

The  bedsteads  of  our  grandparents  and 
great-grandparents  were  very  commonly 
“four-posters;”  that  is,  they  consisted  of 
four  tall  posts,  into  which  were  framed  the 
side  and  end  pieces.  These  posts  often  sup- 
ported a wooden  frame  covered  with  cloth, 
somewhat  like  a roof,  and  called  a “tester,” 
from  whose  four  sides  hung  dowm  the  cur- 
tains. Feather  beds  were  universally  used. 
Sheets  were  of  linen  ; and  coverlets  of  patch- 
work,  marseilles,  chintz,  etc. 

Carpets  were  comparatively  little  used; 
most  people  contenting  themselves  with  a 
floor,  washed  clean,  sanded,  or,  at  most, 
painted.  The  carpets  used  eighty  years  ago 
were  mostly  English  or  Scotch  ingrain,  though 
a good  many  home-made  rag-carpets  were 
also  used ; and  the  price  per  yard  was,  per- 
haps, $1.50  to  $1.75;  not  varying  very  much 
from  the  present  price  of  a fair  article,  though 
the  same  sum  represented  more  value  then. 
There  is  a well-known  anecdote  of  an  honest 
old  fanner  who  was  one  day  introduced,  for 
the  first  time,  to  a carpeted  room.  The  car- 
pet, as  was  usual  in  those  days,  was  a sort 
of  patch  in  the  middle  of  the  room,  sur- 
rounded with  a wide  margin  of  bare  floor. 
The  visitor  skirted  cautiously  along  the  sides 
of  the  room,  and  when  invited  by  the  lady 
of  the  house  to  walk  across,  excused  himself 
with  rustic  politeness,  because,  he  said,  “ his 
boots  were  too  dirty  to  walk  on  the  “ Jcivcr- 
lid ” 


Chairs  were  of  hard  wood — maple,  oak, 
cherry,  or  mahogany — with  seats  of  wood, 
basket-work,  or  cushion,  covered  with  cloth, 
haircloth,  or  leather.  Much  skill  and  taste 
was  expended  on  many  of  the  costly  solid 
mahogany  parlor  chairs,  and  they  are  even 
now  much  more  stately  than  most  of  their 
modern  successors.  The  rocking-chair — a 
truly  American  invention — dates  back  to  a 
point  not  ascertained,  but  certainly  not  less 
than  seventy  or  eighty  years  ago.  No  rock- 
ing-chairs of  so  antique  a pattern  as  common 
chairs  can,  however,  be  found.  An  early 
improvement  upon  the  old-fashioned  wooden 
or  wicker  chair-seat  was  the  straw-seat,  of 
straw  or  rushes,  woven  together  in  four  com- 
partments, wThich  converged  to  the  middle 
of  the  seat.  The  cane-seat,  woven  like  fine 
basket-work  of  slender  strips  of  ratan,  came 
afterward,  and  is  still  much  used;  it  is 
strong,  neat,  light,  and  convenient.  Many 
business  and  study  chairs  are  now  made 
with  the  seat  pivoted  on  a stout  iron  pin — a 
very  convenient  invention,  rendering  it  very 
easy  to  turn  round  from  writing-desk  to  cus- 
tomer or  client. 

Tables  were  made  of  oak,  pine,  cher- 
ry, black  walnut,  and  mahogany.  In  old- 
fashioned  houses  may  sometimes  still  be 
seen  a small  table  hinged  to  the  wall  at  one 
side,  so  as  to  turn  up  flat  against  it,  secured, 
when  not  in  use,  by  a button.  A leg  hinged 
on  beneath  hung  flat  to  the  table  when  thus 
raised,  and  swung  to  its  right  place  when 
lowered.  Some  old  tables  were  enormously 
heavy,  framed  almost  as  strongly  as  a house, 
and  with  curiously  complicated  swinging  legs 
to  hold  up  the  leaves.  Such  tables  were  of- 
ten heirlooms,  as  was  much  household  furni- 
ture. The  substantial  strength  and  solid 
materials  used  rendered  it  much  more  fit  to 
serve  generation  after  generation  than  the 
lighter  and  cheaper  articles  now  made.  The 
present  “extension  tables,”  which  are  fre- 
quently used  in  dining-rooms,  were  first 
patented  in  1843;  they  draw  out  within 
certain  limits  to  any  length,  when  additional 
boards  supply  the  top.  Thus  the  same  ta- 
ble accommodates  either  a large  party  or  a 
small  one. 

The  sideboard  was  an  indispensable  arti- 
cle in  dining-rooms  where  it  could  be  afford- 
ed, being  used  instead  of  a closet,  to  hold 
plate,  wine,  table-linen,  cake,  etc. 

Bureaus,  or  chests  of  drawers,  were  made 
on  a larger  scale  than  now,  sometimes  tow- 
ering far  toward  the  ceiling,  containing  a 


FURNITURE FURNISHING  GOODS,  ETC. 


251 


great  number  of  drawers,  large  and  small, 
and  often  ornamented  in  a peculiar  and 
striking  manner  at  the  handles  and  keyholes, 
with  brass  escutcheons  elaborately  and  fanci- 
fully pierced  or  carved. 

1 he  movable  -wash-stands,  though  still  in 
use,  have  been  replaced  in  many  city  houses, 
where  aqueduct  water  in  pipes  is  used,  by 
fixed  stands,  usually  fitted  with  elegant  mar- 
ble tops,  having  fixed  basins  sunk  in  them, 
faucets  for  water,  and  connecting  by  waste 
water  pipes  with  sewer.  A “ water-back,” 
or  boiler,  attached  to  the  kitchen  range  or 
stove,  is  so  arranged  as  to  supply  hot  water 
through  pipes,  from  which  another  faucet 
supplies  hot  water  as  desired — a most  com- 
fortable provision  in  cold  weather. 

China  and  gla-s  ware  were  much  more 
costly  than  at  present ; pressed  glass,  now 
so  extensively  used,  having  been  introduced 
only  within  the  present  century.  Pewter 
platters  and  plates  were  frequently  the  only 
dishes  on  a country  table.  Table  crockery 
was  of  white  stoneware,  usually  blue-edged, 
or  of  the  “willow  pattern,”  though  some 
heavy  china  was  imported.  There  was  lit- 
tle silver  ware,  but  what  there  was,  was 
more  solidly  manufactured  than  that  now  in 
use.  Block  tin  was  much  used  until  finally 
superseded  by  Britannia  metal,  which  came 
into  use  about  forty  years  since ; “ albata,” 
a sort  of  white  metal,  introduced  within 
about  twenty-five  years,  and  German  silver, 
an  invention  dating  back,  in  this  country, 
about  twice  as  far.  A still  later  substitute 
for  the  precious  metals  is  “ oreide,”  a sort 
of  brass,  very  closely  resembling  gold ; and 
another,  discovered  within  the  last  fifteen 
years  by  a French  chemist,  is  aluminum,  a 
light,  strong  metal,  resembling  silver  in  ap- 
pearance, which  can  be  extracted  from  com- 
mon clay,  and  other  aluminous  earths. 
This  last  metal,  with  its  alloys,  has  already 
come  into  very  extensive  use,  for  household 
as  well  as  other  purposes. 

Silver  forks  were  first  brought  into  gen- 
eral use  about  thirty-five  or  forty  years 
since.  Those  previously  used  were  the 
common  three-pronged  steel  forks,  or  two- 
pronged ones,  either  of  them  sufficiently 
inconvenient  for  carrying  loose  food  to  the 
mouth.  Another  improvement,  about  as 
old,  in  table  furniture,  is  the  invention  of 
balanced  knife  handles,  the  weight  in  the 
handle  keeping  the  blade  off  the  table  cloth 
when  laid  down  ; a little  thing,  but  very 
promotive  of  cleanliness. 


Instead  of  the  modern  Yankee  clock,  the 
first  patent  for  which  was  taken  out  by  Eli 
Terry,  of  Plymouth,  Conn.,  in  1797,  were 
used  either  small  Dutch  clocks,  stuck  up  on 
the  wall,  like  a swallow’s  nest,  or  the  old- 
fashioned  tall  clocks,  in  cases  seven  feet 
high,  which  were  sometimes  very  hand- 
somely ornamented  with  carving,  brass  dec- 
orations, and  richly  painted  dials.  On  the 
broad  faces  of  these  old  clocks  were  some- 
times given,  besides  the  hour  and  the  min- 
ute, a whole  almanac  of  indications : the 
time  of  high  tide,  moon’s  age,  day  of  the 
week  and  month,  name  of  month,  year, 
etc.,  etc.  Occasionally,  a wooden  bird 
came  out  and  was  supposed  to  sing,  or  a 
tune  was  played  when  the  hour  struck. 
A considerable  number  of  these  old  clocks, 
most  of  the  best  of  which  were  made  during 
the  first  quarter  of  this  century,  are  still  in 
use,  and  they  are  often  excellent  time-keep- 
ers. 

These  observations  do  not  include  the 
Mississippi  valley,  which  was  just  beginning 
to  be  settled  by  Anglo-American  pioneers 
at  the  close  of  the  revolutionary  war.  In 
all  that  extensive  region,  the  rudest  substi- 
tutes for  all  the  supposed  indispensable  in- 
struments of  civilized  life  were  used.  Fur- 
niture, indeed,  scarcely  existed.  A bedstead 
and  a table,  rudely  hewn  out  by  the  sharp 
axe  of  the  master  of  the  house,  some  stools 
of  the  same  manufacture,  a shelf,  a row  of 
pegs  in  the  log  wall,  an  iron  kettle,  which 
often  served  in  its  own  proper  person  the 
various  purposes  of  wash-basin,  cooking- 
kettle,  soup-tureen,  slop-dish,  dish-pan, 
swill-pail,  and  hog-trough  ; a few  tins,  or  a 
little  crockery,  a chest  or  two,  a stump  hol- 
lowed at  the  top  for  a mortar  to  pound  corn, 
and  a stick  for  a pestle  — such  was  the 
scanty  furnishing  of  that  day  in  that  region. 
As  the  population  has  increased,  it  has 
brought  with  it  from  the  older  states  all 
their  improvements,  and  now  no  distinc- 
tion can  be  found  between  the  two  sections — 
at  least,  so  far  as  concerns  those  of  moderate 
or  liberal  means. 

Lamps,  for  oil,  or  candles  of  tallow, 
sperm,  or  wax,  were  the  only  means  of 
lighting  either  rooms  or  streets,  eighty  years 
ago.  A great  amount  of  ingenuity  has  been 
expended  on  lamps  ; a hundred  and  thirty- 
seven  patents  for  them  having  been  issued 
from  1798  to  1847,  and  quite  as  many  more 
since  that  date.  The  variety  of  these,  and 
of  the  substances  to  the  use  of  which  they 


252 


SOCIAL  AND  DOMESTIC  LIFE. 


are  adapted,  is  remarkable.  There  are  yet 
some  families  which  make  their  own  mould 
or  dip  tallow  candles;  but  only  a few. 
Those  who  still  use  candles,  mostly,  either 
indulge  in  the  costly  luxury  of  wax  or 
sperm,  or  use  some  of  the  various  lately 
invented  substitutes,  introduced  within  twen- 
ty or  thirty  years,  such  as  the  so-called 
“margarine,”  “stearine,”  etc.,  made  from 
lard,  or  the  more  recent  “ paraffine  ” can- 
dles, of  a material  extracted  from  coal  or 
petroleum.  The  first  innovation  upon  the 
old-fashioned  custom  of  using  oil  lamps — 
not,  however,  including  in  this  term  the 
Argand  and  similar  modifications  of  it — was 
the  introduction  of  lamps  for  the  use  of 
burning-fluid  and  of  camphene,  which  were 
preparations  of  oil  of  turpentine  and  alco- 
hol, and  though  neat  and  convenient  to  use, 
arid  giving  a pleasant  light,  were,  in  careless 
hands,  the  occasion  of  a terrible  number  of 
deaths  and  maimings  by  burning.  These 
fluids  were  in  general  use  during  more  than 
twenty  years.  Not  long  after  the  introduction 
of  camphene,  a large  number  of  lamps  were 
invented  for  burning  lard  oil,  then  just  be- 
ginning to  be  manufactured,  and  also  lard, 
tallow,  and  other  gross  animal  fats.  About 
thirty  patents  were  issued  for  lard  lamps 
alone,  during  1842  and  1843,  including 
lamps  of  the  common  standard  style,  argand 
and  solar  patterns,  etc.  These  lamps,  in 
some  cases,  gave  a very  good  light,  but  it 
proved  troublesome  to  light  them  during 
cold  weather,  and  they  required  much  greasy 
work  in  cleaning,  etc. 

During  the  last  twenty  years,  another 
class  of  illuminators  has  come  into  use,  and 
are  now  almost  universally  used  where  there 
is  no  gas.  These  are  the  various  oils  known 
as  coal  oil,  kerosene,  astral  oil,  etc.,  etc., 
distilled  or  purified  from  the  crude  petrole- 
um of  Western  Pennsylvania,  West  Vir- 
ginia, Ohio,  and  Canada;  the  heavy  oils 
from  these  wells,  and  from  the  shales  and 
fatty  coals  being  used  for  lubricating  pur- 
poses. They  require  a chimney  for  burn- 
ing, and  are  apt  to  smoke.  The  odor  of 
the  oil  when  exposed  to  the  air  is  unpleas- 
ant, bat  when  burning  is  not  generally  offen- 
sive ; but  many  of  them  are  explosive,  not 
being  properly  prepared,  and  thousands  of 
deaths  have  been  caused  by  their  careless 
use. 

Improvements  in  furniture  are  gradually 
introduced,  and  in  a manner  which  renders 
it  peculiarly  difficult  to  fix  precise  dates.  It 


may  be  said  in  general,  that  the  uniform 
tendency  has  been  toward  lightness  and  con- 
venience of  form.  The  artistic  beauty  of 
the  designs  has  also  of  late  years  greatly 
improved. 


CHAPTER  III. 

FOOD— COOKING,  ETC. 

The  general  character  of  the  food,  drink, 
and  cooking  of  three  quarters  of  a century 
ago,  was  not  very  different  from  that  of 
to-day.  Meats  were  the  same,  but  less  fresh 
meat  was  eaten ; salt  beef,  salt  pork,  and 
bacon  being  the  ordinary  meat,  and  the  beef 
and  pork  barrel  being  almost  as  universal 
and  necessary  in  the  household  as  the  flour 
barrel.  The  common  vegetables  were  pota- 
toes, turnips,  cabbages,  and  onions,  with  a 
few  beets  and  parsnips.  Carrots  were 
scarcely  used  at  all.  At  the  south,  sweet 
potatoes  were,  as  at  present,  used  in  place  of 
Irish  potatoes,  and  okra,  rice,  etc.,  were  also 
cultivated  as  at  present.  Tomatoes  were 
scarcely  known  at  the  north,  until  about 
1830  or  1835,  when  they  were  occasionally 
brought  from  the  south,  and  gradually  began 
to  be  cultivated,  under  the  name  of  “love- 
apples.”  The  egg-plant,  spinach,  cauliflower, 
broccoli,  and  other  kitchen-garden  plants, 
have  also  been  introduced  since  the  begin- 
ning of  the  century,  from  abroad. 

Bread  of  rye,  “ rye-and-Indian,”  or  In- 
dian meal  alone,  and  Indian  puddings, 
johnny-cake,  and  the  like,  were  more  used 
than  at  present ; for  most  grinding  was  done 
at  the  small  country  mills  ; transportation 
was  slow,  difficult,  and  costly ; neither  the 
great  wheat  fields  of  the  east,  nor  the  great- 
er ones  of  the  west,  were  yielding  their  in- 
crease ; and  the  great  flouring  mills  that  are 
supported  by  them  had  not  grown  up. 
Every  farmer’s  family,  therefore,  commonly 
used  breadstuff  of  its  own  raising ; and  but 
a very  small  share  of  that  used  in  the  towns 
was  brought  from  any  other  than  the  imme- 
diate neighborhood. 

All  the  labor  of  preparing  the  raw  mate- 
rial for  food  was  performed  in  the  family. 
All  the  coffee  had  to  be  burnt  and  ground, 
spices  pulverized,  salt  powdered,  yeast  made, 
soap  manufactured,  meat  pickled,  etc.,  etc., 
by  each  housekeeper  for  herself,  or  under 
her  immediate  supervision. 

Throughout  the  extensive  western  forest 
frontier,  a large  proportion  of  the  inhabi- 


KITCHEN  IN  1870. 


1776. 


EVENING  DRESS.  1780. 


1780. 


1785. 


EVENING  DRESS.  1795.  EVENING  DRESS.  179  i. 


1800. 


1805. 


1805. 


1812. 


1812. 


w:pm» 


1815. 


1818. 


1820. 


1825. 


1828. 


WINTER  DRESS.  1833. 


1833. 


1833. 


1850. 


1833. 


1840. 


1844. 


FASHIONS  FROM  1850  TO  1860. 


PLAIN  DRESS  OF  VARIOUS  PERIODS.  EXTREME  FASHIONS  OF  1868-9. 


DRESS. 


253 


tants  lived  in  great  part  upon  game  ; but 
this  was,  from  the  difficulty  of  transportation, 
even  less  accessible  in  the  older  settlements 
than  now,  when  it  must  be  brought  from 
the  distant  lakes,  and  streams,  and  woods  of 
Canada  or  Maine. 

The  use  of  spirituous  and  malt  liquors  was 
universal.  It  was  thought  no  impropriety 
for  distinguished  clergymen  to  own  a share 
in  a distillery  ; and  the  meetings  of  ministers 
on  religious  business  were  made  occasions  of 
jollity,  often  even  to  such  an  extent  that  the 
reverend  companions  went  home  quite  tipsy. 
Cider  was  drank  in  the  country,  and  cider, 
rum,  brandy,  or  wine  in  town,  at  every 
meal.  Spirits  were  expected  to  be  offered 
to  every  visitor,  and  if  not,  the  host  was 
thought  mean  and  stingy. 

Cooking  was  performed  over  an  open 
wood  fire ; a mode  in  many  respects  more 
laborious  and  less  convenient  than  the  pres- 
ent use  of  stoves  and  ranges ; but  which,  if 
skilfully  conducted,  gives  the  food  a flavor 
more  perfect  and  delicate  than  can  be  attain- 
ed in  any  other  manner. 

As  has  been  implied,  the  changes  in  food 
have  thus  been  more  in  the  treatment  than 
in  the  materials  of  it.  The  chief  of  these 
changes,  like  those  in  warming  houses,  have 
arisen  from  the  introduction  of  anthracite 
coal  into  use,  which  has  caused  the  employ- 
ment of  cooking-stoves  and  ranges,  instead 
of  the  open  fire.  Nearly  four  hundred 
patents  for  cooking-stoves  and  ranges  were 
issued  from  1812  to  1847,  and  a much  great- 
er number  have  been  granted  since;  the 
total  number  of  such  patents  may  safely  be 
estimated  at  more  than  twelve  hundred. 

An  early  style  of  cooking-stove,  and  quite 
a favorite  one  in  its  day,  was  the  rotary, 
whose  top  could  be  swivelled  round  by  a 
crank  and  cog-wheel  geared  to  a ratchet 
underneath  its  edge,  so  as  to  bring  any 
sauce  pan  or  kettle  forward  to  the  cook. 
This  variety  is,  however,  now  nearly  obso- 
lete, and  innumerable  later  inventions  have 
succeeded,  each  enjoying  a brief  reputation, 
usually  conferred  rather  by  diligent  adver- 
tisement than  by  any  real  peculiar  merits  in 
the  stove  itself. 

The  cooking  range  may  be  described  as  a 
modified  stove  bricked  into  a fireplace,  in- 
stead of  standing  out  in  the  room.  Its  oven, 
instead  of  being  back  of  the  fireplace,  as  in 
a stove,  is  above  it,  or  at  the  sides.  Some- 
times there  are  two,  besides  a plate  warmer, 
and  generally  they  are  much  more  capacious 


than  a stove  oven.  They  are  now,  when- 
ever there  are  water  works,  usually  con- 
structed with  a water  back  and  boiler  of 
copper,  or  galvanized  iron.  The  use  of  stoves 
and  ranges  has  rendered  cooking  more  con- 
venient, but  has,  in  a great  measure,  substi- 
tuted the  baking  of  meats  in  the  oven  for 
the  old  fashion  of  roasting.  They  are  far 
cheaper  and  easier  in  management  than  an 
open  fire;  and  in  all  the  older  portions  of 
the  country  are  necessary,  because  wood 
could  not  be  furnished  to  supply  the  kitch- 
ens. 


CHAPTER  IY. 

DRESS. 

In  discussing  the  changes  of  costume  since 
the  revolutionary  war,  it  will  be  more  con- 
venient to  divide  it  with  reference  to  female 
than  to  male  costume.  On  this  principle, 
the  period  from  1783  or  thereabouts  may  be 
divided  into  five,  thus  : — 

1.  1783  to  French  Revolution. 

2.  French  Revolution  to  1815. 

3.  1815  to  1830. 

4.  1830  to  1845. 

5.  1845  to  present  time. 

Speaking  generally,  the  changes  thus  suc- 
ceeding each  other  have  been  improvements; 
although  almost  all  of  them  have  been  suffi- 
ciently absurd  in  themselves.  These  fash- 
ions have  always  come  from  England  or 
France  ; since  about  1815,  almost  entirely 
from  France. 

1.  Period  first , 1783  to  French  Revolu- 
tion. At  the  close  of  the  Revolution  in  1783, 
the  costume  of  gentlemen  was  in  the  Eng- 
lish style  of  the  day,  viz. : a single-breasted 
low-collared  coat  of  broadcloth,  commonly 
of  some  gay  color,  often  scarlet,  bright  blue, 
claret  color,  peach-blossom,  with  full  skirts, 
and  ample  pocket-flaps,  sleeves,  and  cuffs ; 
a waistcoat,  with  long  flaps;  knee-breeches, 
often  also  of  gay  colors,  fastened  at  the  outer 
side  of  the  knee  with  a buckle ; long  stock- 
ings, black,  white,  or  colored ; shoes  with 
the  well-known  showy  buckles,  or  boots  with 
a broad  piece  of  white  or  unstained  leather 
turned  down  around  the  tops,  and  therefore 
called  top-boots;  a ruffled  shirt,  a lace  cra- 
vat, powdered  hair,  a queue,  not  unfrequent- 
ly  a wig,  and  a three-cornered  cocked  hat. 
A very  few  aged  men  still  wear  or  have  worn 
this  costume  within  the  last  ten  years,  even 
to  the  queue  and  the  shirt-frill.  The  cocked 


254 


SOCIAL  AND  DOMESTIC  LIFE. 


hat  did  not  maintain  its  place  so  long, 
though  quite  often  to  be  seen  during  the 
first  quarter  of  the  present  century. 

The  formal  stateliness  of  this  old  costume 
suited  well  the  more  careful  manners  and 
stiff  politeness  of  the  day ; for  even  in  our  re- 
publican country,  the  distinctions  of  social 
rank  and  station  prevailed  to  an  extent  which 
few  people  now  realize.  Old  persons  now 
living  can  remember  when  “ Mr.”  was  a title 
considered  exclusively  proper  for  the  “ gen- 
try when  a “gentleman’s”  son  would  have 
been  reproved  by  his  father  for  calling  a far- 
mer “ Mr.”  A farmer  or  mechanic  was  call- 
ed “goodman,”  and  his  wife  not  “Mrs.”  or 
“ mistress,”  but  “ goody.” 

Female  costume  was  on  the  whole,  per- 
haps, less  strikingly  different  from  that  now 
in  vogue,  except  in  head-dress.  Its  other 
most  distinguishing  characteristics  were 
high-heeled  shoes,  often  of  bright  red  or 
other  strong  colors  ; sleeves  to  the  elbows, 
with  heavy  lace  ruffles ; a tight,  close,  long 
waist,  and  a skirt  stiffened  out  by  hoops 
very  nearly  as  much  as  by  the  “ skeleton 
-skirts  ” recently  in  use. 

The  head-dresses,  then  fashionable,  were 
however,  most  monstrous,  and  furnished  an 
endless  theme  for  satire  and  jest.  The  hair 
was  greased,  and  powdered,  and  “craped,”  as 
it  was  called— that  is,  combed  up  over  artificial 
hair,  a mass  of  tow,  or  a cushion ; artificial 
flowers  were  worked  into  it,  broad  ribbons 
hung  around  it,  feathers  three  feet  high 
stuck  into  it,  all  sorts  of  vegetable-looking 
leaves  and  even  fruit  and  vegetables  them- 
selves (imitated)  were  piled  on,  and  a mass 
constructed  which  it  seemed  totally  impossi- 
ble for  a lady’s  neck  to  uphold  or  endure  ; 
which  was  often,  literally  and  truly,  quite  as 
large  as  a bushel  basket.  A caricature  of 
those  days  represents  a lady  sitting  in  a chair 
during  her  head-dressing,  while  one  barber, 
mounted  on  a tall  pair  of  steps,  is  frizzling  a 
curl,  and  another  stands  off  at  one  side,  tak- 
ing the  altitude  of  the  edifice  he  has  helped 
to  build,  with  a quadrant.  Calashes,  whose 
gig-top  appearance  almost  every  one  may 
remember  to  have  seen,  were  invented  long 
before  this  time,  as  early  as  1765,  as  the 
only  contrivance  in  the  nature  of  a bonnet 
which  would  cover  these  vast  machines. 
Such  head-dresses  required  great  skill  in 
preparation  and  adjustment,  and  could,  of 
course,  not  be  made  up  by  the  owner  herself. 
It  was  the  business  of  the  barber,  and  often 
occupied  two  or  three  tedious  hours.  The 


idea  of  going  through  such  an  operation 
daily  was  out  of  the  question,  and  these 
“ heads,”  as  they  were  called,  were  made  to 
last  sometimes  for  weeks  together.  Indeed, 
they  were  continually  corrupting,  even  so 
that  worms  bred  in  them,  among  the  flour 
used  for  hair-powder  and  the  pomatum  ; and 
numerous  recipes  were  in  use  for  poisons  to 
prevent  vermin  from  breeding  in  them. 
Sleeping  in  the  natural  posture  was,  of 
course,  impossible  ; ladies  slept  sitting  up  or 
with  a carefully  arranged  support  for  the 
neck  and  head,  adapted  to  the  precious  mass 
of  absurdities  that  crowned  it. 

Period  second , French  Revolution  to 
1815.  The  French  Revolution  may  be 
called  the  conclusion  of  the  era  of  those 
strange  fashions.  The  freedom  of  that  period, 
so  licentious  in  politics,  was  equally  so  in 
dress,  and  in  this  department,  as  in  the  other, 
caused  many  and  great  changes  both  at 
home  and  abroad.  In  this  country,  which 
had  before  that  time  followed  the  English 
fashions  almost  exclusively,  those  of  France 
now  began  to  take  the  lead,  and  the  ancient 
caprices  of  dress  to  be  replaced  by  others 
more  modern,  but  not  less  absurd. 

From  about  1780,  down  to  about  1800, 
women’s  skirts  grew  more  and  more  scanty 
in  circumference,  until  they  were  “ gored,” 
and  cut  so  close  as  to  almost  impede  walk- 
ing. The  waist  was  also  carried  up  some- 
times to  one  inch  below  the  arm-pit,  and  the 
neck  at  the  same  time  cut  indecently  low. 
The  skirt  was  fitted  closely  to  the  figure,  no 
wrinkles  being  admissible,  and  the  fewest 
possible  underclothes  were  worn ; a fashion 
both  abominably  ugly  and  very  unhealthy. 
These  ungainly  waists  excited  much  deserved 
ridicule.  A well-known  song  beginning — 

“ Shepherds,  I have  lost  my  love — 

Have  you  seen  my  Anna  ?” 

was  parodied  so  as  to  apply  to  them,  com- 
mencing with — 

“ Shepherds.  I have  lost  my  waist — 

Have  you  seen  my  body  ?” 

The  variations  in  bonnets  and  head- 
dresses during  this  same  period  were  many 
and  wonderful.  In  1786,  women  wore  their 
hair  frizzed  and  powdered;  and  for  riding 
costume,  a man’s  jacket  with  broad  lapels, 
and  a broad-brimmed  hat.  In  1789,  the 
hair  was  frizzled  out  into  an  enormous  bush, 
sometimes  with  a quantity  of  dangling  curls 
besides;  and  bonnets,  to  hold  this  aftair, 


DRESS. 


257 


were  made  like  an  upright  bag  stiffened  out. 
In  1794  a fashion  came  in  of  finishing  up 
the  head-dress  with  feathers  half  a yard  high. 
About  1795  these  styles  of  expansive  head- 
dress disappeared,  and  small  bonnets  came 
into  use  all  at  once,  like  a helmet  or  a straw 
cap,  with  a vizor,  very  much  like  those  now 
worn. 

From  1805  to  1810,  bare  arms  were  much 
in  fashion  with  women,  and  a singular  mode 
of  wearing  gloves  prevailed.  The  glove 
wras  worn  with  a long  armlet  attached, 
which  was  drawn  on  smoothly  up  to  the 
elbow,  and  then  pushed  down  again  so  as  to 
lie  in  irregular  wrinkles  on  the  arm,  which 
was  reckoned  remarkably  pretty.  These 
■were  termed  “ rucked  gloves.”  About  1808 
was  introduced  the  “gunboat”  style  of 
bonnet,  which  consisted  of  a moderate-sized 
crown,  and  a wide  expanse  of  brim,  spread- 
ing out  around  the  face,  in  a form  fancied  to 
resemble  the  peculiar  shape  of  a gunboat, 
which  is  very  wide  toward  the  bows. 

About  1810  appeared  the  plaid  cloaks, 
used  both  by  men  and  women,  which  may 
still  sometimes  be  found  hung  up  in  an  old 
closet ; very  wide  and  long,  and  for  women 
having  a great  clumsy  hood  hanging  at  the 
back  of  the  neck.  In  1814  the  bonnets  all 
at  once  spread  out  into  an  immense  crown, 
leaving  very  little  brim. 

Men's  costume  varied  during  this  time  no 
less.  The  reign  of  pow’der  and  pigtails  may 
be  said  to  have  ended  about  1793,  imme- 
diately after  the  French  Revolution  ; and 
about  the  same  time  the  round  hat  took  the 
place  of  the  three-cornered  cocked  hat.  A 
little  later,  perhaps  about  1800,  people  began 
to  leave  off  wearing  wigs  when  they  had 
hair  of  their  own.  It  is  hard  to  comprehend 
how  people  could  submit  so  long  to  a cus- 
tom so  disfiguring,  inconvenient,  and  cum- 
brous— for  every  wig-wearer  had  to  have  his 
whole  head  shaved  every  few  days,  and 
lived  in  constant  peril  of  making  a fantastic 
appearance  if  his  clumsy  and  unsafe  head- 
gear  should  be  knocked  off.  Yet  the  mode 
prevailed  for  two  hundred  years  ; nearly  from 
1600  to  1800. 

One  of  the  early  costumes  which  replaced 
the  ante-revolutionary  fashions  for  men,  and 
which  was  the  height  of  the  ton  in  1786, 
consisted  of  a very  broad-brimmed  hat ; a 
powdered  wig  with  a pig-tail ; a coat  with  a 
very  short  waist,  broad  lapels,  and  tremcfn- 
dous  swallow-tails ; buckskin  breeches,  and 
top-boots. 


During  this  period,  and,  indeed,  down  to 
about  1830,  gentlemen’s  necks  were  often 
swathed  with  an  enormous  thickness  of 
cravat ; a fashion  said  to  have  been  intro- 
duced by  George  IV.,  while  a leader  of 
fashion,  to  hide  the  scrofulous  swelling  of 
his  neck.  Two  or  three  handkerchiefs, 
each  a full  yard  square,  were  thus  worn ; 
giving  the  neck  an  appearance  which  now 
seems  excessively  dowdy  and  uncomfortable. 

During  the  closing  years  of  the  last  cen- 
tury, knee-breeches  began  to  yield  to  the 
pantaloon,  which  came  from  France ; and 
shoe-buckles  disappeared  to  give  place  to  a 
mere  string  or  ribbon.  The  prince-regent 
of  England,  afterward  George  IV.,  lirst  led 
this  fashion,  although  he  resumed  buckles 
at  the  petition  of  the  buckle-makers,  who 
represented  that  the  ruin  of  their  trade 
would  starve  them.  It  was  ruined,  however, 
in  spite  of  them  and  him,  and  notwithstand- 
ing that  he  was  the  inventor  of  a shoe-buckle. 

This  introduction  of  the  pantaloon  and 
the  shoe-string,  and  the  disuse  of  wigs,  marks 
the  era  of  the  modern  costume.  The  dress- 
coat,  however,  or  a garment  much  like  it, 
was  worn  at  intervals,  as  early  as  ] 750 ; 
although  it  did  not  definitely  occupy  the 
place  of  the  old-fashioned  broad  skirts  until 
about  1800.  It  should  be  observed  that 
“ pantaloon”  means,  in  its  first  strict  sense, 
a garment  fitting  quite  tightly  to  the  shape 
of  the  leg,  and  buttoning  close  around  the 
ankles,  as  if  a prolongation  of  the  knee- 
breeches.  The  present  pantaloons  are  in 
strictness  “ trowsers,”  having  been  intro- 
duced as  such,  and  by  that  name,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  after 
the  battle  of  Waterloo. 

High-heeled  shoes,  for  women,  went  out 
of  use  about  1789,  and  were  replaced  by 
something  very  like  the  present  graceful, 
low-quartered  shoe.  Round  toes,  for  men's 
shoes  and  boots,  came  in  about  the  same 
time,  and  prevailed  until  about  1804  or 
1 806,  when  the  first  beginnings  appeared  of 
square  toes. 

Period  third , 1815  to  1830.  The  last 
period  may  be  characterized  as  that  of  tight, 
scant  dresses.  The  present  one  may  be  de- 
scribed as  that  of  big  bonnets,  pulled  hair, 
and  leg-of-mutton  sleeves,  which  last,  how- 
ever, appeared  only  toward  its  end. 

Knee  breeches,  which  had  continued  to  bo 
“full  dress,”  were  now  quite  out  of  date. 
Frock-coats  had  been  introduced  by  the 
Duke  of  Wellington  and  his  officers  after  the 

o 


258 


SOCIAL  AND  DOMESTIC  LIFE. 


peninsular  war,  together  with  the  boot  called 
after  him.  In  1815  trowsers  began  to  be 
worn,  being  also  introduced  under  his  aus- 
pices ; although  the  original  pantaloon,  with 
its  tight,  close  fit  and  ankle-buttons,  main- 
tained itself  for  ten  years  or  more  before 
quite  disappearing.  In  1815,  also,  bonnets 
underwent  a great  revolution,  shrinking  to 
small  dimensions  in  the  crown,  and  spread- 
ing into  a portentous  brim. 

Not  far  from  1820  began  what  may  be 
called  the  modern  era  of  tight  lacing,  which 
was  adopted  as  the  short  waists  began  to  be 
replaced  by  longer  ones,  and  the  recent 
type  of  female  dress,  viz.,  a long  waist, 
bulging  with  a sudden  angle  into  a volumi- 
nous skirt,  became  established.  About  1825 
was  adopted  a method  of  wearing  the  hair 
in  great  puffs  at  the  sides  and  on  the  top  of 
the  head,  dressed,  also,  with  large  bows  of 
ribbon.  To  hold  this  array,  an  enormous 
bonnet  was  required,  and  was  used.  Skirts 
now  began  to  be  a very  little  fuller ; two  or 
three  plaits  at  the  waist  being  all  that  were 
at  first  admitted,  and  more  being  introduced 
from  time  to  time.  About  1828  began  the 
“ leg-of-mutton  sleeves,”  which  grew  at  once 
to  enormous  proportions.  These  ridiculous 
and  most  inconvenient  appendages  were 
stuffed  out  with  down,  or  held  out  with  reed, 
millinet,  or  whalebone ; but  they  were  con- 
tinually becoming  crushed,  and  were  very 
troublesome.  They  had  a certain  absurd 
harmony  with  the  big  bonnets  and  puffed 
hair  of  the  day,  as  well  as  with  the  broad- 
shouldered,  stiffly-cut  capes  that  were  worn 
with  them. 

Period  fourth , 1830  to  1845.  The  be- 
ginning of  this  period  is  marked  by  the 
introduction  of  the  costume  of  the  days 
of  Jackson — the  bell -crowned  hat,  long, 
swallow-tailed  coat,  with  high  collar  and 
“bishop”  sleeves,  and  loose  trowsers.  The 
bishop  sleeves  were  distinguished  by  rising 
into  a ridge  where  they  were  set  in  at 
the  shoulder,  as  do  the  sleeves  of  the 
episcopal  vestments;  this  ridge  being  in 
1830-35,  stuffed  with  cotton  to  hold  them 
up.  The  big  bonnets  and  puffed  hair, 
wide  capes  and  leg-of-muttons  still  prevailed. 
Boots  and  shoes  were  worn  with  very  broad, 
square  toes  until  about  1840,  when  narrow 
toes  took  their  place ; and  the  calash,  invent- 
ed almost  a hundred  years  before,  was  still 
employed  to  cover  the  elaborate  head-dress. 
The  decrease  in  the  size  of  women’s  sleeves 
is  the  chief  feature  of  this  period  ; the  minor 


details  of  the  successive  changes  of  style 
were  innumerable,  as  usual. 

Period  fifth,  1845  to  1872.  This  period, 
also,  may  be  dismissed  with  brief  considera- 
tion. Its  first  years  were  marked  by  the 
introduction  of  the  sack  coat,  or,  as  it  is 
oalled  in  France,  the  paletot.  This  easy, 
commodious,  and  cheap  garment  is  infinitely 
more  becoming  than  a dress-coat,  and  very 
much  more  convenient  than  either  that  or  a 
frock  coat.  Though  introduced  in  the  pres- 
ent century  later  than  either  the  dress  or 
frock  coat,  the  paletot  may  be  traced  to  a far 
greater  antiquity ; a very  similar  garment 
having  been  worn  at  the  courts  of  France 
and  England  about  the  year  1450.  At 
about  the  same  time  was  introduced  that 
most  preposterous  of  all  feminine  fashions, 
the  bustle , which  was  a sort  of  pad  tied 
on  behind  to  make  the  skirts  stand  out 
with  the  desirable  degree  of  fulness.  This 
was  made  of  various  materials  : cloth  stuffed 
with  bran,  hair,  cotton,  rags,  old  newspapers, 
etc.,  and  sometimes  of  India-rubber,  inflated 
with  air.  The  bustle  marked  the  beginning 
of  the  recent  fashion  of  expanded  skirts.  As 
this  machine  did  not  sufficiently  spread  out 
these  garments,  various  other  means  were  re- 
sorted to  ; the  use  of  an  enormous  number  of 
skirts — a habit  most  pernicious  to  health — 
and  skirts  fewer  in  number,  of  stiffly-starched 
cloth  with  cords  sown  on,  or  of  grass  cloth, 
or  hair  cloth,  or  stiffened  out  with  many 
cords  of  new  manilla  rope  or  common 
clothes-line,  or  with  whalebone  or  coils  of 
brass  wire.  All  these  having  been  tried 
and  failed,  tfie  next  invention  came  up,  of 
“skeleton-skirts,”  made  of  strips  of  iron 
somewhat  similar  to  a watch-spring.  These 
were  pronounced  quite  adequate  to  their 
purpose ; although  what  the  real  reason  of 
that  purpose  was,  it  would  be  impossible  to 
say.  Why  women’s  skirts  should  consti- 
tute a great  stiff,  hollow  cone  about  their 
lower  limbs,  within  which  they  must  wear 
an  entire  second  suit  of  clothes  for  warmth 
and  protection,  was  an  unanswerable  riddle. 
After  an  absolute  reign  of  sixteen  years,  the 
“hoop  skirt”  fell  into  disgrace,  and  scantier, 
gored  skirts,  with  pannier,  and  bouffant 
over-skirts  have  taken  its  place. 

Another  fashion  introduced  during  this 
period  was  that  of  wearing  soft  felt  hats,  in- 
stead of  the  round  hats,  which  last  are  so 
often  described  as  “ hard-shells,”  or  “ stove- 
pipe” hats;  nick-names  well  applied,  but 
which  did  not  succeed  in  driving  out  this  un- 


WHAT  OUR  GRANDMOTHERS  LEARNED  WHILE  YOUNG. 


ITERS  AND  DAUGHTERS  NOW  I, EARN. 


SOCIAL  AND  MENTAL  CULTURE — INTERCOURSE — HEALTH ART,  ETC. 


25-9 


comfortable  and  unreasonable  fashion.  The 
felt  hat  was  not  often  seen  among  us  until 
the  enthusiasm  which  attended  Kossuth’s 
visit  to  the  United  States  in  1851  and 
1852  ; after  which  it  was  brought  out,  at 
first  with  a feather,  in  close  imitation  of  the 
national  hat  of  the  Hungarian  hero,  and 
called  a “ Kossuth  hat.”  The  feather  was 
soon  left  off,  but  the  soft  hat  being  found 
both  co  nfortable  and  graceful,  was  retained. 

Tbe  most  remarkable  of  the  many  changes 
of  the  last  twenty  five  years  in  the  style  of 
woman’s  dress,  and  certainly  one  of  the 
most  unwise,  has  been  in  the  mode  of  dress- 
ing the  hair.  In  1845,  and  for  perhaps  ten 
years  later  the  natural  hair  was  worn  almost 
exclusively,  with  some  artificial  puffings,  and 
ringlets,  perhaps,  but  generally  without 
other  foreign  additions  ; but  toward  1860, 
there  came  in  first  the  fashion  of  the  “ wa- 
terfall,” a considerable  mass  of  padding, 
over  which  the  natural  back  hair  was  spread, 
the  ends  passed  up  underneath,  and  the 
whole  confined  in  a depending  and  not  wholly 
ungraceful  net.  But  this  soon  gave  place 
to  coils  and  large  masses  or  wads  of  false, 
or  artificial  hair,  attached  to  the  posterior 
portion  of  the  crown,  frequently  almost  as 
large  as  the  head  itself,  forming  a hideous 
protuberance  on  the  back  of  the  head,  and 
giving  the  lady  the  appearance  of  being 
two-headed.  This  shocking  style  has  been 
modified  so  as  to  be  a degree  less  ungrace- 
ful ; but  with  all  its  accessories  of  curls, 
love-locks,  and  pendants,  the  chignon  is  not 
only  a violation  of  all  the  laws  of  beauty 
and  good  taste,  but  exceedingly  injurious  to 
health,  having  increased  more  than  ten -fold 
diseases  of  the  brain,  spine,  and  scalp.  This 
fashion  of  wearing  the  hair  necessitated  a 
material  change  in  the  bonnet,  reducing  its 
size,  (till  it  became  almost  infinitesimal  at 
one  time)  abolishing  the  cape  and  perching 
it  on  the  top  of  the  head,  and  on  the  fore- 
head, instead  of  on  the  back  of  the  head,  as 
before.  Within  the  past  twelve  or  fifteen 
years,  the  round  hat  in  some  form  (and 
there  has  been  an  almost  infinite  variety),  has 
largely  superseded  the  bonnet,  not  oniy  with 
young  ladies,  but  with  those  of  middle  age. 

In  reviewing  the  whole  series  of  fashions 
as  thus  briefly  presented,  it  will  appear  that, 
on  the  whole,  there  has  been  a decided  im- 
provement. There  are,  doubtless,  a suffi- 
cient number  of  not  very  wise  fashions  in 
dress  now  prevailing ; but  the  preposterous, 
filthy  head  dress  of  1783,  the  indecent, 
16* 


scanty  costume  of  1800,  the  pudding-like 
cravat  of  the  same  period,  the  broad  shadow 
of  the  gunboat  bonnet,  the  balloon-like 
appendage  of  the  leg-of  mutton  sleeve,  have 
each,  in  turn,  been  superseded  by  something, 
on  the  whole,  less  foolish ; and  it  may  be 
claimed  with  safety,  that  at  this  present 
writing,  the  fashions,  both  for  men  and 
women,  are  in  general  based  upon  more 
like  common-sense  principles,  and  admit 
more  freedom  in  adaptation,  and,  therefore, 
greater  convenience  and  grace,  than  has 
ever  before  been  the  case  It  is  matter  of  con- 
gratulation, however,  that  an  American  taste 
is  being  developed,  and  our  ladies  becoming 
less  dependent  on  fashions  from  abroad; 
and  every  year  is  yielding  a larger  liberty  to 
our  female  population,  in  adopting  such 
forms  and  colors  as  suit  the  peculiarities  of 
each  individual,  and  this  is  still  more  the 
case  with  men. 


CHAPTER  V. 

SOCIAL  AND  MENTAL  CULTURE  — IN- 
TERCOURSE— HEALTH — ART,  ETC. 

Nearly  all  the  increase  in  comfort  and 
happiness  which  is  the  pride  of  modern 
civilization  is  traceable  to  scientific  discov- 
ery and  to  mechanical  invention.  These 
causes  have  supplied  the  means  of  the  labor- 
saving  machines  and  processes  of  the  last 
three-quarters  of  a century.  The  use  of 
these  machines  and  processes  has  brought 
it  to  pass  that  men  can  earn  their  living  by 
the  labor  of  a less  proportion  of  their  time 
than  formerly.  And  this  power  enables 
them  to  devote  a correspondingly  larger 
share  of  effort  to  the  task  of  gaining  knowl- 
edge, and  of  pressing  forward  in  the  path 
of  moral  and  mental  improvement.  The 
amount  of  mental  activity  which  has  been 
devoted  to  these  material  processes  is  aston- 
ishing. The  inventive  genius  of  the  Ameri- 
can people,  is  without  parallel  in  the  world. 
More  than  one  hundred  thousand  patents 
have  been  issued  during  the  present  century, 
and  every  year  now  adds  thirteen  thousand 
or  fourteen  thousand  to  the  number. 

The  readiest  way  to  sketch  the  general 
progress  of  society  at  present  sought  to  be 
described,  will  be  to  set  forth  briefly,  in 
chronological  succession,  the  periods  oi 
occurrences  which  have  marked  the  com- 
mencement or  maturity  of  any  importani 
influence  upon  the  prosperity  of  the  com- 


260 


SOCIAL  AND  DOMESTIC  LIFE. 


munity,  without  attempting  to  classify  them 
particularly. 

In  1796  was  taken  out  the  first  American 
patent  for  a pianoforte,  by  J.  S.  McLean, 
of  New  Jersey.  The  manufacture  of  these 
instruments  has  become  very  extensive ; the 
larger  manufactories  sometimes  turning  out 
thousands  a year.  So  great  and  important 
have  been  the  improvements,  both  in  these 
and  in  reed  instruments  (cabinet  organs  and 
the  like),  that  in  both,  we  have  the  highest 
reputation  in  the  world. 

In  1799  Dr.  Waterhouse,  of  Harvard  Uni- 
versity, first  introduced  Jenner’s  discovery  of 
vaccine  inoculation  ; a measure  which  has 
substantially  freed  our  community  from  the 
fear,  the  pain,  and  the  disfigurement  of  the 
small-pox.  This  single  discovery  has  had 
no  inconsiderable  influence  in  lengthening 
life,  and  increasing  its  happiness  by  dispelling 
the  apprehensions,  always  felt  before,  of  suf- 
fering and  death. 

The  importance  of  regular,  rapid,  and 
cheap  modes  of  travel  and  transportation,  to 
the  general  improvement  of  society  in  wealth 
and  intelligence,  is  exceedingly  great.  Dis- 
tance of  residence,  difficulty  of  travelling, 
difficulty  of  carrying,  has,  through  all  the 
history  of  the  world,  been  a chief  means  of 
keeping  nations  poor,  because  thus  they 
could  not  exchange  what  they  had  for  what 
they  had  not;  and  thus,  however  much  they 
possessed  of  one  thing,  they  were  poor.  For 
wealth  does  not  consist  in  mass  of  posses- 
sions. Not  mountains,  even  of  gold,  if  un- 
exchangeable, are  wealth.  Wealth  is  mass 
and  variety  of  possessions  together,  and 
must  therefore  be  produced  by  exchange, 
that  is,  travel  and  transportation.  The  sea- 
coast  nations,  commanding  water-carriage, 
have  in  the  past,  been  the  rich  ones  ; but 
the  introduction  of  steam  railways,  dating 
from  about  I860,  has  made  our  inland  States 
rich.  There  were  in  1872,  over  sixty  thous- 
and miles  of  railways  in  operation  in  the 
United  States. 

This  also  tends  to  promote  exchange  of 
mental  wealth,  by  correspondence,  visiting, 
etc. ; maintains  a sense  of  nationality,  and 
keeps  up  acquaintance  and  good  feeling. 
Were  it  not  for  ease  of  travel,  there  would 
but  slight  hopes  of  keeping  Maine  and 
Georgia  in  the  same  republic  with  Califor- 
nia and  Oregon.  As  it  is  they  will  remain. 

In  1811,  commenced  a movement  of  a 
very  different  character  from  that  of  the 
inventor  Fulton,  but  which  has  exerted  an 


influence  upon  the  health  and  morals  of  our 
nation,  even  more  important  than  the  bene- 
fits of  cheap  and  rapid  locomotion.  This 
was  the  temperance  reform. 

The  laxity  of  manners  and  morals  which 
must  attend  war,  had  greatly  increased  the 
use  of  intoxicating  liquor  during  the  Revolu- 
tion, and  it  continued  to  spread  after  the 
peace.  Dr.  Rush  had  published  his  “In- 
quiry into  the  Effects  of  Ardent  Spirits,”  in 
1 804  ; but  no  decided  movement  against 
their  use  was  made  until  1811,  when  the 
Presbyterian  General  Assembly  appointed 
a committee  on  the  subject.  That  and  other 
ecclesiastical  bodies,  at  various  times,  passed 
different  resolutions  and  recommendations 
intended  to  limit  the  use  of  liquor,  but  with 
no  very  great  success.  The  first  total  absti- 
nence society  was  formed  in  Boston  in  1826, 
and  during  the  following  ten  years,  others 
multiplied  with  great  rapidity,  liquor-selling 
became  disreputable,  and  the  common  use 
of  ardent  spirits  was  to  a very  great  extent 
broken  up.  Like  most  great  reforms,  how- 
ever, the  temperance  movement  has  had  its 
seasons  of  advance  and  retrogression,  and 
while  taking  the  half  century  together  since 
its  inauguration,  it  has  made  wonderful  pro- 
gress it  has  been  rather  by  repeated  leaps 
forward,  than  by  a steady  march.  In  1839, 
the  Washingtonian  movement,  originating 
among  intemperate  men,  was  a great  ad- 
vance; the  attempts  at  legislation  on  the 
subject  from  1842  to  the  present  time,  have 
done  some  good,  and  probably  some  evil ; 
the  absolute  necessity  for  an  enlightened 
public  opinion  to  enforce  them,  not  being 
always  understood.  The  great  prevalence 
of  beer  drinking,  and  the  appetite  for  in- 
toxicating liquors,  stimulated  by  the  late 
war,  have  been  serious  obstac'es  to  its  suc- 
cess. The  organization  of  Temperance 
orders,  and  the  Father  Matthew  and  other 
class  movements  have  done  much  to  make 
liquor  selling  obnoxious,  and  tippling  dis- 
reputable. 

In  1832  the  study  of  phrenology  was  in- 
troduced into  this  country  by  Spurzheim. 
This  system,  whatever  the  correctness  of  its 
doctrines  as  to  indications  by  the  shape  and 
size  of  the  head,  which  are  certainly  believ- 
ed by  many  intelligent  persons,  is  at  any  rate 
entitled  to  the  merit  of  having  furnished  a 
new  and  very  clear  classification  of  the  men- 
tal faculties,  which  has  become  the  means  of 
a great  improvement  in  mental  philosophy. 

Two  years  later,  viz.,  in  1834,  the  homceo- 


SOCIAL  AND  MENTAL  CULTURE INTERCOURSE HEALTH ART,  ETC. 


261 


pathic  system  of  medicine  was  introduced, 
which  has  since  become  very  extensively  be- 
lieved. As  in  regard  to  phrenology,  it  may 
be  said  of  this  system,  that  whether  all  its 
peculiar  doctrines  are  true  or  false,  it  has  at 
least  done  good  indirectly,  by  operating  to 
reduce  the  quantity  of  medicines  given  by 
the  old-fashioned  practitioners,  and  to  direct 
their  attention  more  than  before  to  the  very 
important  points  of  regimen,  ventilation, 
and  the  other  collateral  departments  of  gen- 
eral hygiene. 

About  1840  was  introduced  into  this 
country  the  greatest  improvement  in  picto- 
rial art  since  the  discovery  of  painting  in 
oils  by  John  Yan  Eyck  in  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury ; the  greatest  discovery  ever  made  in 
that  department  of  human  knowledge;  viz., 
the  art  of  taking  pictures  by  the  chemical 
action  of  light,  named,  from  its  discoverer, 
daguerreotyping ; and  various  modifications 
of  which  are  known  as  the  talbotype,  am- 
brotype,  crystalotype,  photograph,  etc.  These 
methods  render  it  both  easy  and  cheap  to 
procure  an  absolutely  and  necessarily  per- 
fect representation  of  a person  or  a thing. 
Besides  the  pleasure  of  thus  being  enabled, 
at  a trifling  cost,  to  possess  a whole  gallery 
of  perfect  portraits  of  friends,  this  art  has 
already  been  made  useful  in  securing  dia- 
grams of  lunar  and  other  astronomical  phe- 
nomena, and  in  taking  pictures  of  buildings, 
landscapes,  etc. ; it  has  been  applied  to  pur- 
poses of  scientific  and  medical  discovery  ; 
and  is  now  the  basis  of  several  processes  of 
printing,  and  is  largely  used  in  the  illustra- 
tion of  books,  etc.,  etc. 

Not  far  from  the  same  time,  other  sys- 
tems of  medical  treatment  were  introduced 
— the  “ water-cure,”  or  “ hydropathic  ” sys- 
tem, which  has  proved  very  useful  in  certain 
classes  of  diseases ; the  “ Swedish  move- 
ment ” cure ; the  use  of  electricity  and 
magnetism,  and  later  the  “ Lifting  cure,” 
and  “The  Oxygen  treatment.”  'lhe  first 
named,  besides  a very  simple  mode  of  life, 
consists  oj dy  in  the  application  of  water,  at 
various  temperatures  and  in  various  ways ; 
and  it  is  successfully  practised  in  many  es- 
tablishments devoted  to  it.  All  these  new 
systems,  though  incomplete  as  modes  of 
treatment  for  all  classes  of  diseases,  have 
exerted  a modifying  influence  upon  the 
regular  practice. 

In  1845  the  principle  of  cheap  postage 
was  established  in  this  country  by  a law  of 


Congress,  and  another  step  thus  taken-  to- 
ward the  entire  release  from  tax  or  encum- 
brance of  the  intercourse  of  one  mind  with 
another.  Cheap  postage  is  one  of  the  latest 
signs  of  a high  civilization ; it  is  one  of  the 
most  promising  indications  of  our.own 
future. 

Still  one  year  later  was  discovered  the 
medical  process,  since  termed  “ anaesthesia,” 
which  consists  in  rendering  persons  insensi- 
ble by  the  inhalation  of  certain  gases  (ni- 
trous oxide,  ether,  or  chloroform),  thus  af- 
fording an  opportunity  of  performing  surgi- 
cal operations  quite  without  the  knowledge 
of  the  patient.  The  agonies  suffered  in  the 
dentist’s  chair,  or  under  the  hands  of  the 
surgeon,  and  the  not  less  tormenting  pain 
of  many  nervous  diseases,  have  thus  been 
much  alleviated,  and  even  entirely  relieved. 

In  the  same  year  was  issued  the  first  pat- 
ent for  sewing  machines,  to  Elias  Howe,  jr. 
It  is  only  necessary  to  allude  to  the  very 
great  saving  of  time,  and  strength,  and 
health  which  these  machines  have  effected ; 
their  effects  are  before  the  eyes  of  all.  They 
are  performing  in  a day  the  work  of  weeks, 
and  doing  very  much  to  relieve  women  of  a 
species  of  labor  which  was  principally  con- 
fined to  them,  but  which  consumed,  in  the 
merest  petty  drudgery,  a wretchedly  great 
proportion  of  their  time,  and  often  ruined 
health  and  destroyed  life. 

An  important  outgrowth  of  one  of  the 
departments  of  improvement  which  have 
been  described,  is  the  modern  hotel.  The 
American  first-class  hotel  is  an  institution 
quite  peculiar  to  this  country,  and  in- 
cludes within  itself  many  of  the  various 
inventions  which  have  just  been  cata- 
logued : splendid  furniture,  elaborate  food, 
economical  and  yet  liberal  housekeeping, 
labor-saving  machinery  ; in  short,  an  unri- 
valled combination  of  the  applications  of 
human  ingenuity  to  the  improvement  of  do- 
mestic life. 

To  recapitulate  : It  has  thus  been 

shown,  though  briefly  and  with  many  im- 
perfections, that  the  course  of  our  nation 
during  the  ninety-seven  years  since  the 
Revolution,  has  been  one  of  steadfast,  es- 
sential, and  constant  improvement  in  things 
material  and  immaterial,  physical  and  men- 
tal, practical  and  ornamental ; in  business, 
travel,  dress,  homes  and  home  comforts, 
wealth,  morals,  intellect— r-in  short,  in  every 
department  of  human  activity. 


BOOKS. 


* 


CHAPTER  I. 

BOOK  TRADE  — PUBLISHING— JOBBING— 
RETAILING. 

“Yankee  curiosity”  is  frequently  a sub- 
ject of  remark  with  the  flippant  writers  and 
travellers  of  the  old  world,  and  if  not  always 
urged  as  a reproach,  it  is  not  seldom  re- 
ferred to  in  a deprecating  sense  by  those  who 
do  not  appreciate  the  immense  activity  of 
intellect  of  which  it  is  one  manifestation. 
There  is  no  doubt  either  of  the  existence  of 
the  alleged  curiosity,  or  that  it  sometimes 
exhibits  itself  in  a ludicrous  light;  but  it 
also  manifests  itself  in  the  indefatigable  in- 
vestigations to  which  nature  and  art  are  con- 
tinually subjected  by  the  ever  inquiring 
Vmerican  mind.  There  result  from  those 
investigations,  not  the  dreary  metaphysical 
theories  that  are  evolved  from  German  con- 
templation, but  those  countless  inventions, 
improvements,  and  applications  of  mechani- 
cal principles  that  are  every  year  recorded  in 
the  patent  office,  and  the  effects  of  which  are 
seen  in  every  department  of  industry.  The 
religious  and  political  assemblies  ; the  amu- 
sing, instructive,  and  scientific  addresses  of 
the  lecture-room ; and  the  marvellous  circu- 
lation of  the  public  press,  all  reflect  that  thirst 
for  knowledge  which  is  a part  of  Yankee  cu- 
riosity. This,  however,  gives  a still  stronger 
evidence  of  its  vigor  in  the  book  trade,  which, 
in  the  United  States,  shows  an  extent  of 
sales  that  no  other  country  can  hope  to  ap- 
proach. It  is  based  on  the  universal  ability 
of  the  people  to  read,  and  on  that  “ curi- 
osity,” or  thirst  for  knowledge,  which  induces 
them  to  do  so,  accompanied  by  means  to 
purchase  books.  The  word  “means”  compre- 
hends not  only  greater  wealth  on  the  part 
of  the  purchaser,  but  reduced  prices  for  the 
books.  The  existence  of  30,000,000  of 
people  who  can  all  read,  supposes  an  im- 
mense market  for  books,  that  must  be  sup- 
plied ; and  happily,  busy  intellects  have  writ- 
ten, while  the  mechanical  processes  of  -pub 
lishing  have  been  developed  in  a manrne 


to  supply  the  demand.  In  order  to  compare 
the  book  market  of  the  United  States  with 
that  of  Europe,  we  may  refer  to  the  census  re- 
turns of  1870.  That  informs  us  that  in  that 
year  there  were  33,586,989  white  persons  in 
he  country.  Of  these,  1 6,000,000  were  over 
-0  years  of  age,  and  of  these,  1,035,000  could 
leither  read  nor  write,  of  whom  425, » '00 
vere  aliens.  We  now  turn  to  France,  and 
>ve  find  that  there  were  1 9,000,000  persons 
over  20  years  of  age  ; and  of  these,  5,700,- 
>00  only  could  read  and  write,  and  the  re- 
mainder, 13,300,000,  could  not.  In  other 
words,  there  were,  in  the  United  States, 
14,650,000  readers  of  books,  against  5,700,- 
000  in  France.  But  there  were,  also,  in  the 
United  States,  6,977,993  persons  between  10 
and  20.  Of  these,  nearly  6,000,000  were  in 
school,  and,  as  a consequence,  bought  and 
read  school-books.  The  ratio  of  these  scholars 
to  the  whole  number  who  can  read  and 
write  must  be  the  same  in  France.  Hence 
there  are,  in  fact,  three  times  as  many  read- 
ers in  the  United  States  as  in  France. 

The  making  of  books  has  kept  pace  with 
the  increasing  demand  for  them.  If  we 
look  back  to  the  library  of  King  Alfred,  we 
find  that  he  gave  8 hydes  of  land  for  a book 
on  cosmography,  brought  from  Italy  by 
Bishop  Biscop.  At  such  rates,  none  but  a 
king  could  afford  to  buy  a book ; but,  on  the 
other  hand,  there  were  few,  even  among 
nobles,  who  could  read  if  they  had  them ! 
There  was  no  market,  and  no  manufacture. 
As  the  art  of  reading  became  so  far  progres- 
sive that  the  old  barons  could  sign  their 
names,  instead  of  punching  the  seals  of  in- 
struments with  their  sword  pummels,  some 
little  demand  for  books  sprung  up,  but  at 
enormous  rates.  The  state  of  the  book 
market,  when  literature  began  to  dawn  in 
those  iron  agos,  Scott  makes  old  Douglas  de- 
scribe in  terse  phrase  : — 

“ Thanks  be  to  God  ! no  son  of  mine, 

Save  G a wain,  e’er  could  pen  a line.” 

A modern  canvasser  would  not  have  gotten 


BOOK  TRADE PUBLISHING JOBBING RETAILING. 


263 


his  name  in  advance  for  numbers  to  be  left. 
Louis  XI.,  of  France,  in  1471,  was  obliged 
to  give  security  and  a responsible  endorser 
to  the  Paris  faculty  of  medicine,  in  order  to 
obtain  the  loan  of  the  works  of  an  Arabian 
physician.  The  art  of  printing,  wThich  was 
introduced  into  England  in  1474,  had  an 
important  influence  upon  the  production  of 
books,  and  this*  probably,  was  the  cause  of 
a greater  spread  of  learning,  that  reacted  upon 
the  demand.  The  Bible  was  the  most  com- 
monly used,  and  these,  in  noble  houses,  with 
heavy  covers  and  clasps,  were  chained  to 
shelves  and  reading-desks.  In  the  sixteenth 
and  seventeenth  centuries,  books  were  mostly 
folio  and  quarto.  But  the  dimensions  of 
books  decreased  as  they  became  popularized, 
and  this  was  in  proportion  to  the  spread  of 
learning  among  the  people.  This  went  on 
gradually,  until  both  the  market  and  supply 
were  considerable,  up  to  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury. With  the  colonies  of  America — 
among  whom  both  religious  and  political 
views  were  based  upon  general  education — 
schools  became  an  institution,  and  in  New 
England  the  use  of  them  an  obligation. 
From  that  time  the  market  for  books  in- 
creased with  the  numbers  of  the  people. 
The  first  bookseller  mentioned  is  Hezekiah 
Usher,  of  Boston,  in  1652  ; and  his  son, 
John  Usher,  is  mentioned  by  a writer  in 
1686,  as  very  rich,  and  as  having  “got  his 
estate  by  bookselling.”  That  books,  in  the 
early  part  of  the  century,  were  by  no  means 
abundant,  or  easy  to  be  got  at,  is  evident 
from  what  Franklin  tells  us  of  the  difficulties 
he  encountered,  and  the  great  advantage  he 
enjoyed,  in  having  access  to  the  library  of  a 
merchant.  The  most  of  them  were  imported 
at,  no  doubt,  such  expense  as  confined  their 
general  use  to  the  better  classes.  Some 
years  after,  viz.,  in  1732,  at  the  time  Franklin 
commenced  the  publication  of  “ Poor  Rich- 
ard’s Almanac,”  in  Philadelphia,  a Boston 
bookseller  advertised  as  follows : — 

“Whereas  it  has  been  the  common  method 
of  the  most  Qurious  merchants  of  Boston  to 
procure  their  books  from  London,  this  is  to 
acquaint  those  gentlemen  that  I,  the  said  Fry, 
will  sell  all  sorts  of  account  books,  done  after 
the  most  acute  manner,  for  20  per  cent, 
cheaper  than  they  can  have  them  from 
London. 

“ For  the  pleasing  entertainment  of  the 
polite  parts  of  mankind,  I have  printed  the 
most  beautiful  poems  of  Mr.  Stephen  Duck, 
the  famous  Wiltshire  poet.  It  is  a full 


demonstration  to  me  that  the  people  of  New 
England  have  a fine  taste  for  good  sense  and 
polite  learning,  having  already  sold  1,200  of 
those  poems.” 

This  was  pretty  well  for  Richard  Fry,  and 
we  hope  he  had  not  then  introduced  the  art 
of  magnifying  his  sales  on  paper.  That 
there  were  a number  of  booksellers  then 
doing  well,  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  Mr. 
John  Usher  had  made  his  fortune  at  it  50 
years  before;  and  in  1724  there  was  held  a 
convention  of  Boston  booksellers,  to  regulate 
the  trade,  and  raise  the  price  of  some  de- 
scriptions of  books.  The  publication  and 
sale  of  books  increased  slowly,  until  the 
events  of  the  war  began  to  excite  the  minds 
of  the  public,  and  works  on  those  subjects 
were  eagerly  taken  up.  The  practice  was,  to 
some  extent,  to  sell  books  in  sheets,  to  be 
bound  as  the  purchaser  might  fancy — per- 
haps to  be  uniform  with  his  library.  This 
is  now  done  only  where  the  work  is  sold  in 
numbers  by  subscription.  There  was  then 
less  capital  in  the  trade,  and  few  were  dis- 
posed to  risk  the  amount  required  to  get 
out  large  works  of  a standard  character. 
The  cost  was  then  more  than  it  now  is,  and 
the  time  required  much  longer  to  complete 
and  dispose  of  it.  There  was  then  formed, 
in  1801,  the  American  company  of  booksell- 
ers, and  these  generally  subscribed  together 
in  the  publication  of  a work,  to  guarantee 
the  outlay.  There  was  a sort  of  union,  that 
regulated  the  principles  of  publication,  and 
those  who  did  not  conform  to  these  regula- 
tions were  repudiated.  School-books  were, 
as  a matter  of  course,  as  having  the  largest 
and  steadiest  market,  the  first  that  were  ex- 
tensively published.  A type  of  this  class  of 
books  is  Webster’s  Spelling-Book,  which  has 
grown  with  the  country  in  a remarkable 
manner.  In  1783,  with  the  advent  of  the 
peace,  Mr.  Noah  Webster  published  his 
American  spelling-book.  The  work  became 
a manual  for  all  schools,  and  its  influence 
has  been  immense,  in  giving  uniformity  to 
the  language  throughout  the  whole  country. 
The  “ Yankee  schoolmaster,”  who  was  raised 
upon  that  book,  has  gone  forth  into  every 
section  of  the  Union,  spreading  the  fruits  of 
that  seed  of  knowledge,  as  writes  Fitz-Grcene 
Ilalleck : — 

“ Wandering  through  the  southern  countries,  teaching 
Tho  A,  B,  C,  from  Webster's  spelling-book.” 

When  it  was  first  published,  there  were 
3,000,000  people  in  the  United  States ; there 


264 


BOOKS. 


are  now  39,000,000,  and  there  have  been 
sold  54,000,000  copies  of  the  work,  or  five 
for  every  four  souls  in  the  Union.  The 
spelling-book  was  enlarged  into  a dictionary 
in  1806,  and  immediately  Dr.  Webster  went 
on  with  preparations  for  a still  larger  work. 
This  occupied  him  20  years  of  unremitting 
research,  during  which  the  sales  of  his  spell- 
ing-book supported  his  family ; in  1828  the 
dictionary  appeared  in  two  quarto  volumes. 
Twelve  years  after,  viz.,  in  1840,  a new  edi- 
tion made  its  appearance,  greatly  improved ; 
and  since  Dr.  Webster’s  death,  there  have 
been  two  complete  revisions  of  his  great 
dictionary,  now  known  as  Webster’s  Un- 
abridged, viz.,  in  1847  and  1864,  beside  sev- 
eral partial  revisions.  Of  this  Unabridged 
Dictionary,  now  a ponderous  quarto  of  1,840 
pages,  about  350,000  copies  have  been  sold, 
and  a vastly  greater  number  of  the  smaller 
dictionaries,  of  which  there  are  seven  of  dif- 
ferent sizes.  The  sales  of  the  spelling-book 
are  now  about  1,500,000  copies  annually. 
These  works  have  exerted  a powerful  in- 
fluence in  giving  uniformity  and  precision 
to  the  use  of  the  language  in  all  parts  of  the 
country,  and  as  a result,  there  are  fewer 
dialects  here  than  in  England. 

The  publication  of  religious  works  was 
greatly  promoted  by  the  societies  formed, 
particularly  the  American  Bible  Society, 
which  was  formed  in  1816;  the  Bible  So- 
ciety of  Philadelphia  in  1808;  one  in  Con- 
necticut in  1809  ; and  also  one  in  Massachu- 
setts. The  American  Society  in  New  York 
published,  in  its  first  year,  6,410  volumes, 
mostly  Bibles  and  Testaments.  In  1871, 
the  issues  were  1,196,797,  and  the  whole 
number  during  56  years,  was  28,601,489  vol- 
umes of  the  Bible.  A good  copy  of  the  Bi- 
ble is  sold  for  60  cents,  and  a cheaper  edition 
at  35  cents ; Testaments  as  low  as  10  cents. 
Contrast  this  with  the  Bible  copied  in  22 
years  by  Alcuin  for  Charlemagne  about  800, 
and  which  was  sold  in  modern  times  to  the 
British  Museum  for  £3,750,  and  the  prog- 
ress we  have  made  appears  great. 

The  American  Bible  Union  was  organized 
fn  1850,  and  it  has  since  issued  259,748,804 
pages  ol  matter,  including  Bibles.  The  pub- 
lications by  other  societies  have  been  con- 
siderable. 

These  societies  were  not  a portion  of  the 
regular  book  trade,  which  continued  to  be 
mostly  under  the  association,  until  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  Waverly  Novels  in  1820  to 


1830.  The  competition  to  which  the  large 
demand  for  these  works  gave  rise,  broke 
down  old  arrangements  of  the  trade.  The 
publishers  thenceforth  acted  independently. 
At  the  same  time,  the  supply  of  desirable 
books  from  abroad,  upon  which  there  was  no 
charge  for  copyright,  was  much  increased ; 
and  as  all  the  publishers  were  upon  the  same 
footing  in  respect  to  those  books,  the  com- 
petition extended  only  to  the  mechanical 
process,  reducing  its  cost  to  the  lowest  rates. 
The  capitals  of  the  publishing  houses  grad- 
ually increased,  but  there  was  still  great  diffi- 
culty in  getting  an  American  book  printed. 
Cooper  tells  us,  in  the  preface  to  his  Pilot, 
that  so  great  was  the  difficulty  he  encoun- 
tered in  getting  a printer  to  undertake  it,  that 
he  was  obliged  to  write  the  last  page  of  the 
story  first,  and  have  it  set  up  and  paged,  to 
insure  the  extent  to  which  the  matter  would 
run. 

The  publication  of  books  is  a business 
which  has  undergone  many  changes  within 
the  past  hundred  years.  There  has  at  all 
times  been  a limited  amount  of  publishing 
of  works  by  American  authors,  partly  be- 
cause it  was  so  much  more  profitable  to  re  • 
print  foreign  works  on  which  there  was  no 
copyright,  and  which  had  already  some  repu- 
tation ; and  partly  because  in  the  early 
struggle  for  national  existence  among  a new 
and  not  homogeneous  people  there  was  not 
the  opportunity  for  that  profound  culture 
and  leisurely  study  which  could  alone  make 
American  works  popular  and  successfnl  to 
the  publisher.  There  were,  of  course,  ex- 
ceptions to  this  general  rule;  but  for  a long 
period,  publishers  were  shy  of  undertaking 
a work  whose  author  had  not  already  at- 
tained a reputation  abroad.  The  great  bulk 
of  publishing  was  therefore  limited  to  the 
reprinting  of  foreign  works,  sometimes  with 
introductions,  appendices  or  notes  added  here, 
but  the  reputation  of  the  foreign  author  was 
the  inducement  to  the  publication.  Matters 
have  changed  in  this  respect,  and  American 
copyright  works  now  largely  predominate 
among  the  publishers’  issues.  The  reprints 
in  1871  were  nominally  less  than  one-fifth, 
though  really  probably  about  one-fourth  of 
the  whole  number  of  books  published  that 
year. 

For  the  first  fifty  or  sixty  years  of  our 
national  existence  very  few  important  origi- 
nal works  were  published  except  by  “ sub- 
[ scription ;”  the  author  or  publisher  issuing 


BOOKS. 


2G5 


a prospectus  describing  the  work  and  by  so- 
licitation in  person  or  by  letter,  obtaining 
a sufficient  number  of  subscribers  to  war- 
rant its  publication.  Usually  a subscription 
of  from  1,200  to  2.000  was  deemed  sufficient 
to  guaranty  the  success  of  the  work,  and  if 
a larger  number  were  printed  they  were  dis- 
posed of  at  auction  or  to  chance  purchasers. 
There  was,  during  the  period  of  which  we 
are  speaking,  no  stereotyping ; that  process 
was  then  unknown,  and  all  copies  were 
printed  direct  from  the  types,  while  in  books 
which  required  to  be  often  reprinted,  such 
as  Bibles,  Prayer  and  Psalm  books,  &c.,  the 
type  was  kept  standing,  involving  a very 
heavy  expense  for  the  publisher.  Under 
these  circumstances  there  was  little  encour- 
agement for  the  publisher  to  take  any  doubt- 
ful risk>,  and  it  is  not  surprising  that  so  late 
as  1820  the  whole  number  of  books  manu- 
factured and  published  in  a single  year 
throughout  the  whole  country  should  not 
have  exceeded  the  value  of  $2,500,000,  of 
which  school  books  formed  nearly  one-third. 
Stereotyping,  electrotyping,  and  wood  en- 
graving have  effected  great  changes  in  these 
particulars,  in  the  publishing  trade.  More 
than  $40,000,000  worth  of  books  are  now 
issued  in  a single  year.  The  large  publish- 
ing houses  employ  a “ reader  ” and  some- 
times more  than  one,  whose  business  it  is  to 
decide  upon  the  merits  of  manuscripts  of- 
fered for  publication,  as  well  as  to  examiite 
any  foreign  works  which  it  may  be  thought 
desirable  to  reprint.  These  “ readers  ” of 
course  reject  four  or  five  manuscripts,  and 
sometimes  more,  for  every  one  they  recom- 
mend ; sometimes  deciding  unwisely,  as 
when  five  or  six  of  the  ablest  of  them  de- 
clined the  manuscript  of  “ Uncle  Tom’s 
Cabin,”  in  the  belief  that  it  would  not  sell ; 
but  generally  with  a judicious  regard  to  the 
interests  of  their  employers. 

If  the  book  is  accepted,  the  terms  on 
which  it  shall  bo  published  are  next  to  be 
considered.  The  publishing  house  may  re- 
quire the  author  to  share  the  risk  with  them, 
by  furnishing  the  cost  of  stereotyping,  or 
possibly  of  manufacturing  a first  edition,  to 
be  reimbursed  in  whole  or  in  part  by  a per- 
centage on  the  sales ; — a plan  which  though 
safe  for  the  publisher,  hardly  leaves  much 
margin  of  profit  for  the  author  ; — they  may 
require  the  author  to  make  over  to  them  all 
copyright  till  the  cost  of  stereotyping  is 
made  up,  and  thereafter,  allow  them  five, 
seven  and  one-half  or  ten  per  cent,  on  the 


wholesale  or  retail  price  of  the  book,  as 
they  can  agree  ; or  if  they  are  confident  of 
the  success  of  the  work  they  may  pay  ten 
per  cent.,  or  in  the  case  of  a popular  author 
even  more  on  the  selling  price  of  all  copies 
sold.  There  is  the  greatest  possible  diver- 
sity in  these  copyright  contracts.  In  some 
instances  the  publisher  pays  a fixed  sum, 
and  then  holds  the  copyright,  taking  his 
risk  of  reimbursement  from  the  sales.  This 
is  generally  the  method  pursued  by  the  sub- 
scription-book publishers,  of  whom  we  shall 
say  more  by  and  by.  If  they  pay  copy- 
right at  all,  they  usually  pay  not  more  than 
from  three  to  five  per  cent,  on  the  retail  price, 
though  from  the  greater  extent  of  their  sales, 
this  pays  the  author  much  better  than  the 
large  percentage  of  the  “ regular  trade.” 
Sometimes,  again,  a publisher  has  a work 
prepared,  employing  several  writers  and  pay- 
ing them  so  much  a page  for  their  labor. 

Whichever  of  these  plans  may  be  adopted, 
the  manuscript  is  handed  over  to  the  printer 
to  be  set  up.  The  “ composition,”  or  setting 
up  the  types,  is  conducted  with  more  or  less 
expedition  according  to  the  character  of  the 
mattejr.  When  set  up,  proofs  are  taken — 
usually  called  “ galley  proofs,”  because  they 
are  impressions  from  the  matter  which  is 
set  up  the  width  of  the  page  or  column,  and 
of  indefinite  length,  technically  called  “ gal- 
leys.” The  proofs  are  carefully  read  by 
a professional  proof-reader,  and  usually  also 
by  the  author,  after  a first  revision,  and 
when  corrected,  the  matter  is  made  up  into 
pages  with  the  requisite  running  titles  and 
paging,  and  if  any  large  sale  is  expected,  the 
pages  are  either  stereotyped  or  electrotyped. 
The  plates,  as  these  stereotypes  or  electrotypes 
are  called,  are  next  sent  to  the  press-room, 
where  paper  of  the  proper  size  having  been 
provided  and  prepared,  the  book  is  printed 
and  goes  to  the  binder,  who,  having  folded, 
stitched,  covered,  stamped,  and  gilded  it,  de- 
livers it  at  the  publisher’s  warehouse,  ready 
for  market.  If  it  is  illustrated,  the  engra- 
vings are  generally  made  while  the  work  is 
going  through  the  press.  They  considerably 
enhance  the  cost,  but  add  also  to  the  sala- 
bleness of  the  work.  At  the  time  of  put- 
ting the  book  on  the  market  from  one  hun- 
dred to  three  hundred  and  fifty  copies  are 
•sent  to  the  members  of  the  press,  and  two 
copies  are  sent  to  the  Librarian  of  Congress, 
who  is  ex-ojjirio  the  Register  of  copyrights. 
A considerable,  often  a large,  sum  is  expen- 
ded in  advertising  the  book.  Most  of  the 


236 


BOOKS. 


larger  publishers  have  one  or  more  periodi- 
cals of  their  own,  of  large  circulation,  in 
which  a part  of  their  advertising  is  done, 
but  all  pay  heavy  tribute  to  the  great  dai- 
lies and  weeklies  also.  The  leading  publi- 
cations have  what  are  called  “ standing  or- 
ders ” from  their  correspondents  all  over  the 
Union,  for  so  many  copies  of  every  16mo 
or  12mo  book,  or  a smaller  quantity  of 
every  8vo  volume  which  they  publish,  im- 
mediately on  its  publication.  These  stand- 
ing orders  are,  in  many  cases,  sufficient  to 
insure  them  against  loss  in  whatever  they 
publish,  and  thus  make  all  further  sales 
largely  profitable.  A few  years  ago  books 
were  sent  out  on  commission,  to  be  returned 
if  not  sold,  but  this  was  attended  with  so 
much  loss,  that  it  has  now  been  given  up  ex- 
cept in  a few  instances,  in  school  books. 

The  school  book  trade,  though  sometimes 
carried  on  by  publishers  who  are  also  in  the 
general  trade,  is  becoming  more  and  more 
distinctive  in  its  character  every  year.  The 
method  of  publication  and  of  putting  the 
books  on  the  market  differs  materially  from 
that  of  miscellaneous  books.  They  are 
usually  published  in  series,  of  Readers,  Arith- 
metics, Geographies,  and  other  text-books, 
the  authors  receiving  but  a small  percentage 
on  each  book,  but  their  immense  sales  mak- 
ing this  very  profitable.  They  are  intro- 
duced into  schools,  or  approved  and  ordered 
by  Boards  of  Education,  or  School  Superin- 
tendents, on  the  urgent  solicitation  of  agents, 
and  often  after  a long  and  exciting  contest, 
and  are  furnished  usually  at  first  at  a very 
low  price  for  introduction.  The  sales  are 
enormous,  constituting  fully  one-half  the  ag- 
gregate sales  of  books  in  the  United  States. 
Another  distinct  branch  of  the  publishing 
trade  is  the  “ subscription  book  business.” 
Books  are  not  now  subscribed  for,  to  insure 
the  publisher  against  loss  in  their  manufac- 
ture, as  they  were  fifty  or  sixty  years  ago, 
but  the  business  of  publishing  books,  to  be 
sold  only  by  subscription,  has  attained  a 
great  magnitude.  A book  published  for  sale 
by  booksellers,  is  duly  announced,  advertised 
and  exposed  upon  the  counters  of  the  book- 
sellers, usually  has  its  run  of  six  months  or 
so,  sells  to  the  extent  of  2,000,  3,000,  or 
5,000  copies,  rarely  more,  and  sometimes  not 
over  1,000  or  1,500,  and  then  usually  be- 
comes an  old  book  not  often  inquired  for. 
The  subscription  book,  on  the  other  hand, 
is  not  intended  for  the  book  stores,  and  is 


not  usually  found  there.  It  is  generally  an 
octavo  volume,  largely  illustrated  and  selling 
at  from  two  and  a half  to  five  or  six  dollars, 
cheaper  books  not  proving  so  successful.  It 
is  well  known  by  those  familiar  with  the 
business,  that  this  is  the  only  way  by  which 
large  and  expensively  illustrated  books  can 
be  made  to  pay.  The  most  valuable  works 
in  this  country  and  England  are  sold  in  this 
way  ; while  the  expense  of  selling  is  greater, 
the  sales  are  so  much  larger,  that  not  more 
than  a tenth  part  as  much  for  original  out- 
lay has  to  be  added  to  the  price — the  pub- 
lisher selling  so  many  more,  receives  a much 
less  percentage.  This  explains  why  books 
can  be,  and  are  delivered  at  the  homes  of 
the  purchasers,  all  over  the  country,  cheapen 
than  over  the  counters  of  book  stores.  The 
net  profit  per  volume  to  subscription  pub- 
lishers is  very  small.  On  most  books  a sale 
of  10,000  copies  would  not  pay  for  the 
trouble  and  expense, — the  cost  of  engrav- 
ing being  enormous — one  of  50,000  even 
is  but  moderate,  while  sales  of  a hundred 
thousand  or  more,  which  are  not  uncommon, 
pay  very  handsomely.  We  might  give  many 
instances  of  enormous  sales  of  these  books. 
Goodrich’s  Universal  Traveller,  one  of  the 
earliest  of  this  class,  sold  largely.  The  Cot- 
tage Bible  in  two  volumes,  over  200,000 
sets.  Of  the  histories  of  the  late  war,  four 
considerably  exceeded  one  hundred  thousand 
copies  each — one  reaching  175,000 — Kitto’s 
History  of  the  Bible,  200,000  ; Richardson’s 
“Field,  Dungeon  and  Escape,”  80,000, 
and  his  “ Beyond  the  Mississippi,”  100,000  ; 
Stephens’  “ War  Between  the  States,  ” 
62,000  ; “ Life  and  Death  in  Rebel  Pris- 
ons,” 95,000  ; “ Smith’s  Bible  Dictionary,” 
1 vol.,  Royal  8vo,  150,000 ; Matthew  Hale 
Smith’s  “ Sunshine  and  Shadow,”  100,000; 
Raymond’s  Life  of  Lincoln,  70,000  ; Rev. 
Dr.  March’s  “ Night  Scenes  of  the  Bible,” 
over  100,000  ; one  edition  of  Fleetwood’s 
“ Life  of  Christ,”  (there  are  five  or  six  in 
the  market)  150,000  ; “ Bunyan’s  Pilgrim’s 
Progress,”  one  edition,  110,000  ; Mark 
Twain’s  “ Innocents  Abroad,”  100,000  ; 
“ Roughing  It,”  100,000. 

Subscription  book  publishers  have  been 
accused  of  foisting  worthless  books  upon 
the  market,  but  a fair  examination  will  show 
that,  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  differ- 
ent books  published,  the  percentage  of 
worthless  ones  is  far  less  than  of  those  pub- 
lished by  the  regular  trade ; and  very  many 


... 

■ 


■ 


•: 

' >■ 


BOOKS. 


267 


of  their  books  are  really  of  the  highest 
character. 

The  practice  of  selling  subscription  books 
by  numbers,  once  greatly  in  vogue,  is  now 
confined  to  a few  houses,  mostly  English. 
Some  of  these  have  been  very  successful, 
but  the  greater  part  have  abandoned  it  in 
consequence  of  the  dissatisfaction  which  it 
occasioned.  The  numbers  will  sometimes 
far  exceed  what  was  announced,  to  complete 
the  work ; they  are  delivered  at  uncertain 
times,  and  when  completed  the  cost  is  usu- 
ally much  greater  than  the  subscriber  had 
expected.  If  they  are  all  preserved  they 
have  still  to  be  bound  at  a heavy  expense.  It 
not  unfrequently  happens  that  the  subscribers 
drop  off  so  fast  from  disappointment  and 
dissatisfaction  that  the  publisher  is  compelled 
to  abandon  the  work  unfinished. 

There  are  other  subdivisions  of  the  book- 
trade,  such  as  publishers  of  Medical  books, 
Law  books,  Military  and  Scientific  books, 
Masonic  books,  and  Religious  books,  which 
are  again  divided  into  Sunday  School  books, 
and  Theological  works. 

About  Ls30,.  a system  of  semi-annual 
trade  sales  was  inaugurated,  for  the  purpose 
of  diffusing  more  widely  the  publications  of 
the  publishing  houses  and  bringing  buyers 
and  sellers  into  more  frequent  contact. 
These  sales,  though  greatly  modified  from 
their  first  plan,  are  still  maintained,  but 
with  the  abundant  facilities  for  transporta- 
tion and  transmitting  orders,  have  mostly 
outlived  their  usefulness,  and  many  of  the 
leading  publishers  do  not  now  contribute  to 
them.  The  number  of  publishers  in  the 
United  States  is  nearly  four  hundred,  but  of 
those  extensively  engaged  in  the  business 
the  number  is  less  than  one  hundred. 

The  sale  of  old  or  second-hand  books  is 
also  a very  extensive  branch  of  business  in 
the  great  cities.  It  is  obvious,  that  where 
book-buying  and  book-reading  are  so  preva- 
lent, as  is  the  case  among  almost  all  classes 
of  the  people  in  the  United  States,  there 
must  exist  a large  number  both  of  public  and 
private  libraries,  and  that  these,  through 
death,  and  the  continual  vicissitudes  that 
attend  families,  are  being  constantly  broken 
up.  If  every  family  has  a library  of  greater 
or  less  magnitude,  sooner  or  later  there  is  a j 
sale,  and  it  generally  comes  to  the  hammer  , 
in  one  or  more  of  the  largo  book  auctions  j 
tliat  are  held  almost  nightly.  These  auctions 
are  attended  by  the  public,  but  mostly  by 


the  second-hand  booksellers.  Of  these  there 
are  numbers  in  those  parts  of  the  city  fre- 
quented most  by  strangers.  They  are  the 
same  as  the  “bookstalls,”  so  familiar  a 
feature  in  the  literature  of  England  and  the 
countries  of  western  Europe,  as  they  are  in 
fact  a necessity  everywhere.  In  New  York, 
the  stall-keeper  generally  procures,  for  a 
rent  of  $50  to  $150  per  annum,  according 
to  circumstances,  the  privilege  of  putting  up 
a set  of  shelves  against  the  outside  of  some 
store  corner.  These  shelves  shut  up  at 
night,  like  a large  window,  and  the  shutters 
are  fastened  by  iron  bars  that  have  padlocks. 
These  shelves  contain  a small  stock,  from 
$300  to  $400  value,  of  the  most  saleable 
books  that  can  be  picked  up  cheap  at  the 
auctions  of  books,  or  of  household  furniture 
of  families  breaking  up,  or  purchased  of 
needy  persons  who  offer  them.  It  follows 
that  the  stalls,  or  stands,  become  the  re- 
ceptacles of  all  old  books,  and  sometimes 
very  rare  and  valuable  ones  that  have  gone 
out  of  print,  and  can  be  found  nowhere  else. 
A great  many  valuable  foreign  books  are 
found  here,  having  been  disposed  of  by 
immigrants  who  become  necessitous.  A 
large  number  of  books  are  sold  from  these 
stalls,  which  also  keep  much  of  the  current 
new  literature.  The  keepers — some  of  them 
— soon  become  possessed  of  sufficient  cap- 
ital to  open  whole  stores  ; and  there  are 
now  in  New  York,  and  most  cities  some 
very  large  stores  that  have  rare  collections 
of  old  books.  This  business  has  also  ex- 
tended across  the  water,  so  that  persons  of 
more  scholarly  tastes  have,  through  these 
agencies,  access  to  the  reservoirs  of  old 
books  to  be  found  in  the  cities  of  Europe. 

In  the  period  from  1848  to  1857,  works  of 
fiction,  both  from  known  and  unknown  au- 
thors, had  an  immense  sale.  Mrs.  II.  B. 
Stowe  led  the  way  in  this  matter,  her  “Uncle 
Tom’s  Cabin  ” selling  to  the  extent  of 
310,000  copies  here,  and  nearly  a million  and 
a half  copies  in  England  ; of  “ The  Lamp- 
lighter,” by  Miss  Cummings,  90,000  copies 
were  sold;  of  “Fern  Leaves,”  70,000; 
“Alone,”  by  “ Marion  Harland,”  over  50,000 ; 
“ Fashion  and  Famine,”  by  Mrs.  Ann  S.  Ste- 
phens, 30,000  ; “ Wide,  Wide  World,”  and 
| “ Queechy,”  by  Miss  Warner,  nearly  100,000 
each,  etc.,  etc. 

The  circulation  attained  at  times  by  ster- 
ling and  standard  works  is  very  large,  as 
follows : — 


263 


BOOKS. 


Irving’s  Works, 1,100,000  copies. 

Irving’s  Sketch  Book, 98,000  “ 

Longfellow’s  Hiawatha, 43,000  “ 

Hugh  Miller’s  Works, 50,000  “ 

Grace  Aguilar's  Works, 157,000  “ 

New  Am.  Cyclopaedia,  Dana  & Ripley,  16  vols.,  45,000  sets. 
Benton’s  Thirty  Years’  View,  2 vols.,  8vo,  98,500  copies. 

Kane’s  Arctic  Voyages,  2 vols.,  8vo 65,000  “ 

Harper’s  Pictorial  Bible,  $20, 25,000  “ 

Goodrich’s  History  of  all  Nations,  $7, 30,000  “ 

Dana’s  Household  Book  of  Poetry, 75,000  “ 


Kane’s  Voyages  paid  $65,000  copyright. 
The  sale  of  Prescott’s  Histories  was  very 
large,  giving,  it  is  said,  50  cts.  copyright. 
The  sales  of  school  books  surpasses  in  quan- 
tity those  of  all  other  books. 

We  have  referred  to  the  very  large  sales 
of  Webster’s  Spelling-Books  and  Dictiona- 
ries. The  aggregate  of  these  to  the  close 
of  1871  exceeds  sixty  millions  of  volumes. 
For  several  years  before  Messrs.  Cooledge 
& Brother  relinquished  the  business  (in 
1857),  their  sales  of  Webster’s  Speller  were 
very  nearly  one  million  copies  per  annum. 
Messrs.  Appleton  became  the  publishers  in 
1857,  and  though  for  several  reasons  their 
sales  have,  a portion  of  the  time,  been  smaller 
than  Cooledge’s,  yet  their  aggregate  sales,  to 
the  close  of  1871,  were  13,890,000  copies, 
and  their  present  rate  of  issue  is  about 
1,030,000  per  annum.  This  house  have  also 
sold  about  two  and  a half  millions  of  Cor- 
nell’s Geographies,  and  more  than  1,000,000 
copies  of  Quackenbos’  Series  of  Text  books. 
They  are  also  the  publishers  of  the  “ New 
American,”  and  the  “Annual  Cyclopaedia” 
of  which  about  1,200,000  Super  lloyal  8vo 
volumes  have  been  sold.  They  publish  fiye 
or  six  periodicals,  most  of  them  of  very  large 
circulation,  and  a Miscellaneous  list  second 
in  extent  only  to  Messrs.  Harper  & Bros. 

Messrs.  E.  II.  Butler  & Co.,  of  Phila- 
delphia, the  present  publishers  of  Mitchell’s 
Geographies,  sell  about  350,000  copies  an- 
nually, and  the  aggregate  sale  in  the  thirty- 
two  years  since  their  first  publication  has 
been  about  9,500,000  copies.  Smith’s  Gram- 
mar, also  published  by  this  house,  sells  at 
the  rate  of  100,000  copies  a year.  Over 
three  millions  of  copies  of  it  have  been  sold. 

Messrs.  Ivison,  Phinney,  Blakeman  & Co., 
one  of  the  largest  houses  in  the  school-book 
trade,  sell  annually  of  their  Sanders’  Read- 
ers and  Spellers  over  1,000,000  copies,  and 
of  their  other  text-books  about  4,000,000 
more.  The  Sanders’  Spellers  and  Readers 
had  been  sold  up  to  the  close  of  1871  to  the 
extent  of  more  than  26,000,000  of  copies  ; 
Robinson’s  Mathematics,  4,000,000  of  copies; 
Fasquelle’s  French,  and  Woodbury’s  Ger- 


man Series,  500,000  copies ; Spencerian 
Penmanship,  1,750,000  ; Swinton’s  History, 
30,000  copies  in  six  months. 

Messrs.  A.  S.  Barnes  & Co  , also  largely 
engaged  in  the  school-book  trade,  have  sold 
in  the  aggregate  of  Davies’  Mathematical 
works  about  7,000,000  volumes,  and  are  now 
selling  about  350,000  of  them  per  annum. 
Of  Mrs.  Willard’s  Histories  their  total  sale 
has  been  about  350,000 ; of  Clark’s  Gram- 
mars, 800,000 ; of  Parker  & Watson’s  .Se- 
ries of  Readers  (completed  1859)  a total  of 
about  7,500,000,  and  an  annual  sale  of  about 
700,000 ; Monteith  & McNally’s  Geogra- 
phies, total  about  4,750,000  ; annual  sales 
about  400,000.  Steele’s  Fourteen  Weeks 
Series  in  Sciences,  annual  sale  of  about 

50.000.  Of  Cleveland’s  Compendiums  and 
Wood’s  Botanies,  each  a total  sale  of  about 

150.000.  Their  Teachers  Library  has  sold 
about  100,000  volumes.  Their  total  annual 
sales  of  the  “National  Series  ” of  text-books 
are  about  4,000,000  volumes. 

Messrs.  Sargent,  Wilson  & Hinkle,  of  Cin- 
cinnati, the  publishers  of  McGuffey’s  Read- 
ers and  the  Eclectic  Educational  Series,  sell 
annually  about  3,500,000  volumes  of  these 
books. 

Messrs.  Sheldon  & Co.,  publish  Stoddard’s 
Mathematical  series  of  which  over  6,000,000 
copies  have  been  sold;  Colton’s  Geogra- 
phies, over  2,000,000 ; Comstock’s  text-books 
in  Philosophy,  Chemistry,  etc.,  2,000,000  ; 
Bullion’s  Series  of  Grammars  and  Classics, 
whose  sale  has  been  very  large,  and  Loss- 
ing’s  School  Histories,  also  very  popular. 

Messrs.  Harper  & Brothers  have  combined 
with  the  largest  list  of  Miscellaneous  pub- 
lications in  the  country  a very  extensive  issue 
of  school  text-books,  of  all  kinds,  to  which 
they  are  constantly  making  additions.  They 
also  publish  three  of  the  most  widely-circu- 
lating periodicals  in  the  United  States. 
They  employ  an  active  capital  of  about  two 
million  dollars  in  stock  and  machinery,  ex- 
pending more  than  $800,000  per  annum  for 
paper  alone.  They  run  over  fifty  power 
presses,  thirty-five  of  them  Adams’  presses, 
and  many  of  them  night  and  day.  They 
have  published  2,600  works,  in  over  thirty- 
five  hundred  volumes,  about  equally  divided 
between  original  works  and  reprints.  Their 
issues  of  bound  books  amount  to  more  than 
three  and  a half  millions  of  volumes  per  an- 
num. 

Messrs.  Lippincott  & Co.,  of  Philadelphia, 


BOOKS. 


269 


publish  a large  list  of  books,  but  their  most 
important  business  is  the  jobbing  of  books 
to  booksellers  throughout  the  country.  Their 
business  in  favorable  years  amounts  to  from 
five  to  nine  millions  of  dollars. 

Messrs.  Cowperthwait  & Co.,  and  Messrs. 
Claxton,  Remsen  & Haffelfinger  are  also 
leading  houses  in  the  school-book  and  job- 
bing trade. 

The  sale  of  music  books  is  very  large. 
Some  of  the  smaller  music  books  for  schools 
and  Sunday-Schools  have  sold  to  the  extent 
of  more  than  two  millions  of  copies,  and  the 
“ Carmina  Sacra,”  a popular  collection  of 
church  music,  has  had  a sale  of  over  500,- 
000  copies.  Messrs.  O.  Ditson  & Co.,  of 
Boston,  and  C.  H.  Ditson  & Co.,  Bigelow 
& Main,  T.  E.  Perkins,  F.  J.  Huntington 
& Co.,  Philip  Phillips,  A.  S.  Barnes  & Co., 
Horace  Waters,  and  W.  A.  Pond  & Co.,  of 
New  York,  Root  & Cady  of  Chicago,  E.  H. 
Butler  & Co.,  and  Lee  & Walker  of  Phila- 
delphia are  the  largest  music  book  publish- 
ers. 

The  publication  of  agricultural  books  has 
been  made  a specialty  by  one  or  two  houses, 
and  one  of  these,  Messrs.  Orange  Judd  & 
Co.,  who  are  also  the  publishers  of  the  agri- 


School  Books, 

Classical  Text-Books, 

Theological  and  Religious, 

Law, 

Medical 

All  others, 

1820. 

$759,000 

250,000 

1.50,090 

200,000 

150,000 

1,0  h>, 000 

1830. 

1,100,000 

350.000 

250.000 

300.000 

200.000 
1,300,000 

2,5  <0,000 

3,500,000 

A part  of  this  great  increase  from  1860 
to  1870  is  due  to  the  enhanced  price  of 
books  since  the  war,  but  the  greater  part  is 
the  result  of  the  new  impulse  given  to  edu- 
cation and  intelligence  in  the  nation.  More 
than  thirty  millions  of  our  people  are  read- 
ers and  require  books  as  regularly  as  they 
require  food.  It  is  computed  that  nearly 
two  millions  of  the  Freedmcn  have  learned 
to  read  since  1863.  The  establishment  of 
an  efficient  public  school  system  in  nearly 


cultural  paper  of  largest  circulation,  sell 
very  large  quantities. 

The  following  table  gives  the  number  of 
works  of  the  different  classes  specified,  pub- 
lished in  each  year  or  period  mentioned : 


1855. 

Jan.,  1856, 
to  Mar., 
1858. 

1865. 

1871. 

Works. 

Works. 

Works. 

Works. 

Educational, 

139 

748 

67 

288 

Natural  History,  Agricul- 
ture and  Science, 

65 

160 

189 

327 

Biography, 

124 

213 

150 

144 

Essays,  Poetry,  and  Fiction. 

, 776 

1,667 

465 

629 

Theology  and  Religion,.  . . . 

531 

842 

129 

383 

History, 

76 

231 

191 

93 

Juveniles, 

92 

117 

312 

803 

Music  and  Fine  Arts, 

42 

154 

37 

145 

Voyages  and  Travels, 

29 

157 

25 

117 

Medicine  and  Law, 

29 

133 

55 

342 

Drama, 

29 

28 

18 

Classics, 

13 

61 

io 

67 

Mechanical  Sciences, 

23 

80 

42 

48 

Miscellaneous, 

94 

290 

116 

— 

— 

' 

■ ■ ..  ■ 

2,162 

4,886 

1,802 

3,297 

Of  which  were]  Reprints,. . 

649 

1,492 

276 

622 

Mr.  S.  G.  Goodrich  (Peter  Parley),  in  his 
“ Recollections  of  a Life-time,”  gave  a table 
of  the  value  of  books  manufactured  and  sold 
at  different  periods  in  the  United  States. 
We  add  to  that  table  an  estimate  of  the 
values  of  each  class  of  books  sold  in  1870, 
based  upon  the  census  returns  for  that  year : 

1840.  1850.  1856.  1860.  1870. 

2,000,000  5,500,000  7,500,000  10,100,000  20,300,000 

550.000  1,000,000  1,600,000  2,000,000  3,400,000 

300.000  500.000  650,000  1,000,000  4,150,000 

400.000  700 ,0(’0  800,000  000,000  1,200,000 

250.000  400,o00  550,000  700,000  950,000 

2,000,000  4,400,000  4,900,000  6,500,000  10,700,000 

6,500,000  12,500,000  16,000.000  21,200,000  40,700,000 

every  State  in  the  Union,  the  organization 
of  a National  Bureau  of  education,  the  Pea- 
body Educational  F und,  the  establishment 
of  schools  of  all  grades  for  the  Freedmen 
and  their  children,  and  the  liberal  endow- 
ment of  so  many  institutions  of  higher  edu- 
cation have  all  tended  to  make  the  decade 
from  1860  to  1870  one  remarkable  for  in- 
tellectual progress,  and  hence  of  necessity 
an  era  favorable  to  the  wide  diffusion  of 
literature. 


The  use  of  some  implement  for  writing  I necessary  they  should  be,  from  the  great  va- 
was  a necessity  immediately  on  the  reduc-  riety  of  materials  on  which  the  writing  was 
tion  of  the  first  language  to  writing,  and  t,o  be  inscribed.  The  rock  inscriptions  found 
very  various  are  the  instruments  which  have  ; in  the  Caucasus,  in  Arabia,  in  Petra,  in  Egypt, 
been  used  for  this  purpose  as,  indeed,  it  was  | in  India,  Burmah,  Siam,  and  China  and  else- 


270 


PENS. 


where,  must  have  been  engraved  by  pointed 
instruments  of  the  hardest  steel ; the  inscrip- 
tions on  the  softer  limestones,  steatites  or 
talcose  slates  of  Assyria  and  Babylon  were 
obviously  made  with  a sharp  cutting  instru- 
ment, and  the  arrow-headed  writing  on  their 
bricks  was  impressed  with  a punch  or  die. 
The  tablets  of  lead,  copper,  or  soft  brass, 
required  a steel  pointed  stylus.  The  waxen 
tablets  required  a stylus  of  ivory  or  bone, 
with  a flat  blade  for  making  necessary  era- 
sures, and  when  parchment  and  paper  was 
used  for  writing  purposes,  the  sharp  pointed 
stick,  or  later  the  reed  pen  was  employed  to 
inscribe  upon  these  surfaces  the  matters 
which  needed  to  be  written.  The  Chinese 
used  and  still  use,  a Camel’s  hair  pencil 
charged  with  the  semi-liquid  paste,  known 
as  India  Ink,  for  the  same  purpose.  The 
leaves  of  various  species  of  palm  are  still 
used  in  the  East  for  writing,  and  a pointed 
stick  and  the  juice  of  some  berries  serve  for 
pen  and  ink.  With  the  introduction  of  pa- 
per into  Eastern  Europe  in  the  seventh  and 
eighth  centuries,  came  the  employment  of 
the  gray  goose  quill  which  for  a thousand 
years  and  more,  was  the  implement  for  wri- 
ters and  scribblers  of  all  sorts.  Yet  there 
were  serious  objections  to  the  quill  pen.  Its 
point  was  only  hard  before  it  had  been  long 
soaked  in  ink,  and  it  was  far  from  being 
permanent.  It  is  said,  indeed,  that  Dr.  John 
Gill,  the  famous  commentator  and  theologian, 
wrote  all  his  thirty  or  forty  ponderous  folios 
with  one  quill  pen,  and  that  an  old  one  when 
he  began  ; but  it  does  not  surprise  us  to  be 
told  by  the  same  authority,  that  the  printer 
of  his  works  complained  that  he  had  been 
made  blind  by  the  effort  to  decipher  Dr. 
Gill’s  manuscript.  It  resulted  from  this  in- 
equality and  rapid  deterioration  of  quill 
pens  that  when  the  inventive  genius  of  mod- 
ern nations  was  aroused,  one  of  the  first 
things  in  which  improvement  was  sought 
was  the  implement  of  the  ready  writer. 
The  points  required  for  a good  pen  were  a 
firm,  indestructible  point,  great  flexibility, 
non-corrosion  of  either  pen  or  point,  capacity 
to  retain  a sufficient  quantity  of  ink  to  pre- 
vent the  necessity  of  constant  replenishing, 
and  adaptability  to  the  various  tastes  of  wri- 
ters. Metals  seemed  to  possess  most  of  these 
qualities,  but  the  early  experiments  with 
them  proved  failures. 

As  early  as  1803,  attempts  were  made  in 
Great  Britain  to  make  pens  of  steel.  They 
had  but  a single  slit,  and  were  poor  affairs, 


though  quite  costly.  Silver  was  tried  with 
a little  better  success,  but  the  points  were 
too  soft  and  the  pen  bent  very  easily.  It 
was,  moreover,  too  costly  for  general  use. 
The  improvements  in  steel  pens  made  by 
Mason,  Gillott,  Perry,  Levy,  and  other  man- 
ufacturers between  1820  and  1830  and  since 
that  time,  have  rendered  these  useful  little 
articles  of  great  service  to  the  world.  By 
the  use  of  machinery  and  the  division  of 
labor,  their  production  was  so  greatly  cheap- 
ened that  they  were  put  within  the  reach  of 
all.  In  Birmingham,  England  alone,  nearly 
1,500  millions  of  steel  pens  are  annually 
made.  Large  numbers  are  also  manufactured 
on  the  continent  of  Europe.  Many  attempts 
have  been  made  to  manufacture  steel  pens 
in  the  United  States,  but  without  great  suc- 
cess. One  or  two  manufacturers  have,  how- 
ever, persevered  in  spite  of  all  opposition 
and  discouragements,  and  have  succeeded  in 
producing  by  the  aid  of  machinery,  a good 
pen  at  a fair  price.  The  Washington  Me- 
dallion pen  has  attained  such  a reputation 
as  to  be  largely  counterfeited  in  Germany 
and  England.  But  the  steel  pen,  popular 
and  cheap  as  it  has  been  and  still  is,  does 
not  answer  all  the  requirements  of  a good 
pen.  It  is  in  its  best  estate  wanting  some- 
what in  the  pliancy  of  the  quill ; it  deterior- 
ates rapidly  on  use,  so  that  the  handwriting 
can  never  be  precisely  the  same  on  two  suc- 
cessive days,  and  it  soon  corrodes  and  be- 
comes entirely  worthless.  Permanency  and 
uniformity  in  execution  are  the  indispensa- 
ble requisites  for  a perfect  pen. 

It  is  not  surprising  then  that  attention 
should  early  have  been  turned  to  gold  as 
most  likely  to  fulfil  these  requisites.  The 
first  attempts  were  like  those  in  steel,  fail- 
ures. The  first  gold  pens  were  made  by 
John  Isaac  Hawkins,  an  American  residing 
in  England,  about  1825.  Mordan,  the  Eng- 
lish pencil  case  maker,  also  attempted  to 
make  them  not  long  after,  but  his  pens  were 
inelastic  and  poorer  than  Hawkins’.  The 
use  of  iridium  and  osmium  points  to  these 
pens  is  due  to  Air.  Hawkins,  who  soldered 
them  on  to  the  points  of  the  pens  he  made. 
Rev.  Mr.  Cleveland,  an  American  clergy- 
man, visiting  England,  purchased  of  Haw- 
kins his  right  to  make  gold  pens  in  1835, 
and  on  his  return  induced  Levi  Brown,  a 
watchmaker  in  Detroit,  to  undertake  their 
manufacture.  At  first  Brown  met  with  lit- 
tle success,  but  in  1840,  he  removed  to  New 
York  and  there  the  business  grew  in  im- 


BOOK-BINDING. 


271 


portance.  The  pens  made  were,  however, 
very  unsatisfactory,  and  would  be  now  con- 
sidered worthless  except  for  old  gold.  About 
18  U,  Mr.  John  Rendell,  an  employe  of 
Brown,  commenced  making  machinery  for 
the  manufacture  of  pens,  which  up  to  that 
time  had  been  made  almost  entirely  by 
hand.  A.  G.  Bagley  a id  a Mr.  Barney,  Mr. 
Leroy  W.  Fairchild,  Mr.  Spencer  and  Mr. 
Dixon,  both  of  whom  were  subsequntly  asso- 
ciated with  M\  Randell,  engaged  in  the 
manufacture  between  this  period  and  185  >, 
and  soon  after  several  others  commenced 
operations  in  a small  way.  Very  many  in- 
ferior pens  wsi’e  thrown  upon  the  market, 
but  those  made  by  the  machinery  of  Ren- 
dell,  improved  by  Fairchild,  had  a very  good 
reputation.  One  of  Fairchild’s  improve- 
ments consisted  in  bedding  the  iridium  points 
in  the  gjld  instead  of  soldering  them  as  had 
been  done  at  first.  In  1859,  there  were  in 
the  United  States  thirteen  gold  pen  factories, 
eight  of  which  were  in  New  York,  and  one 
in  Brooklyn.  There  were  also  two  in  Con 
necticut,  one  in  Massachusetts,  and  one  in 
Cincinnati.  Five  or  six  of  these  made  pens 
of  very  fair  quality,  the  rest  produced  only 
inferior  goods,  and  most  of  them  worthless 
trash. 

In  1851,  Alexander  Morton,  who  had  pre- 
viously been  in  the  employ  of  Mr.  Bagley, 
commenced  the  manufacture  of  gold  pens 
on  his  own  account  in  New  York  City,  and 
very  soon  by  his  inventions  for  tempering 
and  finishing  them  with  perfect  uniformity, 
took  the  position  which  he  and  his  successors 
have  maintained  to  this  day.  For  the  first 
time  in  the  history  of  the  manufacture,  gold 


pen  making  was  reduced  to  an  exact  science. 
Previously  even  the  best  makers  could  not 
duplicate  a pen.  Its  exact  temper  and  elas- 
ticity, and  its  perfect  writing  qualities  were 
beyond  their  control,  and  hence  the  selection 
of  a pen  was  a matter  which  must  be  at- 
tended to  in  person.  Mr.  Morton  brought 
his  machinery  to  such  perfection,  and  was 
so  exact  and  thorough  in  every  department 
of  the  manufacture,  that  he  could  at  once 
decide  by  a glance  at  the  handwriting  of  a 
customer  what  grade  of  pen  would  best  suit 
him,  and  introduced  the  practice  of  filling 
individual  orders  by  mail,  and  in  the  ten 
years,  1860-1870,  forwarded  some  millions 
of  pens  in  that  way.  There  are  now  a very 
considerable  number  of  manufacturers  of 
gold  pens  in  this  country,  some  of  them  for- 
merly employes  of  Mr.  Morton,  but  while 
some  of  them  make  very  good  pens,  there  is 
no  uniformity  about  their  manufacture,  and 
most  of  them  lack  that  permanent  temper 
and  elasticity  which  are  the  result  of  Mr. 
Morton’s  processes.  This  peculiar  excellence 
of  Morton’s  pens  has  been  recognized  by 
English  bankers  and  clerks,  among  whom 
these  pens  have  the  highest  reputation.  We 
desire  to  be  understood  in  regard  to  this 
matter.  The  othar  pen  manufacturers  may, 
and  we  presume  do,  make  occasionally,  pens 
as  good  as  those  made  by  the  Morton  pro- 
cess, but  they  cannot  do  it  uniformly  by  any 
'other  method.  We  have  no  means  of  know- 
ing what  has  been  the  comparative  success 
of  the  different  manufacturers,  nor  is  it  a 
matter  of  any  consequence  in  this  work.  It 
is  only  the  perfection  of  the  product  which 
concerns  us. 


BOOK-BINDING. 


CHAPTER  I. 

BOOK-BINDING. 

Tpie  binding  of  books  is  an  art  probably 
older  than  the  art  of  book  printing  itself, 
since  there  existed  a necessity  for  confining 
the  mrfhuscripts  and  scrolls  that  were  the 
medium  of  preserving  thought  in  ancient 
days.  Even  that  was  a progress,  however ; 
since  the  slabs  of  stone  that  bore  the  divine 


commandments  could  not  have  needed  bind- 
ing, nor  could  the  rocks  and  bricks,  on  which 
the  Babylonians  traced  their  ideas,  have  well 
been  bound.  The  different  modes  of  con- 
veying and  preserving  ideas,  that  were  adopt- 
ed in  different  ages  and  nations,  caused  re- 
course to  be  had  to  almost  all  materials  ac- 
cording to  exigencies,  and  these  were  pre- 
served according  to  the  exigency. 

The  books  of  wood,  or  metal,  were  bound 


272 


BOOK-BINDING. 


by  fastening  the  sheets  of  which  they  Tvere 
composed  at  the  backs  by  hinges.  When 
parchment  and  paper  succeeded,  the  backs 
of  the  sheets  were  sewed  together,  and  the 
covering  varied  as  the  arts  progressed  and 
materials  were  adopted.  The  art  itself  has 
made  material  progress  only  of  recent  years. 
It  came  to  be  a separate  art  only  when  the 
discovery  of  printing,  by  multiplying  books, 
made  the  binding  of  them  too  laborious  for 
those  who  did  it  when  years  were  spent  in 
copying  one  book.  In  778,  Alcuin,  a monk, 
native  of  England,  commenced  to  copy  the 
Bible,  and  finished  it  800,  for  the  Emperor 
Charlemagne.  When  twenty-two  years  was 
required  to  make  one  copy,  there  was  not 
much  business  for  the  binder,  whose  labors 
commenced  with  those  of  the  printing  press. 
While  books  were  still  comparatively  dear, 
the  binding  bore  a small  proportion  to  the 
cost.  Of  late  years,  the  tendency  has  been 
toward  neatness  and  durability.  The  req- 
uisites of  a well-bound  book  are  solidity, 
elasticity,  and  elegance.  Among  the  nations 
of  Europe,  the  French  take  the  lead  in  ar- 
tistic taste,  but  the  English  excel  in  the  ex- 
pensive finish  of  the  more  costly  editions. 
In  the  United  States,  machinery  is  employed, 
more  than  elsewhere,  to  attain  the  desirable 
result  at  less  cost. 

Books  are  printed  upon  paper  of  various 
sizes,  which  formerly  were  three,  called  royal, 
demy,  and  crown.  The  book  took  the  size 
indicated  by  the  paper  used.  The  demy 
size  was  mostly  used,  and  the  sheets  were 
folded  a greater  or  less  number  of  times. 
Thus,  folded  once  in  the  middle,  gives  two 
leaves,  or  four  pages,  and  is  called  folio. 
When  the  sheet  is  again  folded,  it  gives  four 
leaves,  or  eight  pages,  and  is  called  quarto ; 
folded  again,  the  result  is  eight  leaves,  or 
sixteen  pages,  and  is  octavo.  By  folding 
into  twelve  leaves,  or  twenty-four  pages,  we 
make  a duodecimo ; and  if  into  eighteen 
leaves,  or  thirty-six  pages,  it  forms  octo- 
decimo. Of  a size  less  than  this,  the  books 
arc  pocket  editions.  The  sizes  of  books  thus 
formed  are  generally  designated  as  4to,  8vo, 
12mo,  18mo,  24mo,  32mo,  48mo,  etc.  The 
size  of  the  printed  page  corresponds  with  the 
size  of  this  fold.  Thus,  the  size  of  this 
volume  is  royal  octavo,  being  printed  on 
paper  a size  larger  than  demy,  or  ordinary 
octavo.  Each  sheet  of  paper  contains  eight 
leaves,  or  sixteen  pages ; and  there  are  fifty 
of  these  sheets  in  the  book.  Thus,  the  type 
is  composed  of  sixteen  pages  in  one  “form,” 


and  one  side  of  a double  sheet  receives  the 
impression  of  those  sixteen  pages  by  one 
movement  of  the  press,  and  then,  being  re- 
versed, receives  an  impression  on  the  other 
side  from  the  same  type.  As  the  sheets  leave 
the  press  they  are  hung  up  to  dry,  when  they 
are  placed  under  a hydraulic  press  of  great 
power.  They  are  then  counted  out  into 
quires  of  twenty-four  sheets  each,  and  sent  to 
the  binders.  There,  in  the  folding  room,  the 
sheets  are  folded  by  girls.  The  object  is  to 
fold  down  the  pages,  so  as  to  fall  one  upon 
the  other  with  perfect  accuracy,  since  upon 
this  the  proper  binding  of  the  book  depends. 
The  whole  edition  of  sheets  is  folded  with 
great  rapidity  by  one  girl.  Some  of  these 
will  fold  400  in  an  hour,  but  the  average 
may  be  300.  A folding  machine  has  lately 
been  introduced,  by  which,  it  is  said,  two 
girls  will  do  as  much  as  eighteen  by  hand. 
Each  sheet  folded  is  a signature,  and  gen- 
erally these  are  designated  by  some  figure 
at  the  bottom  of  the  first  page  of  each  sheet. 
The  folded  sheets  are  laid  in  piles,  in  the 
order  of  these  signatures.,  The  “ gatherer” 
then,  with  the  right  hand,  takes  them,  one 
by  one,  and  places  them  in  the  left,  until  a 
complete  set,  or  full  book,  is  collected.  This 
is  performed  so  rapidly,  that  it  is  said  an 
active  girl  will  gather  25,000  in  a day. 
After  this,  the  sheets  are  “knocked  up” 
evenly,  and  pressed  in  a hydraulic  press; 
but  recently,  a machine  has  been  introduced, 
by  which  time  is  economized.  The  en- 
graving, on  another  page,  shows  the  figure 
of  that  by  Iloe  & Company,  which  is  the 
favorite  for  embossing,  as  well  as  compress- 
ing. The  machine  runs  slower  for  smashing. 
The  size,  15  by  17,  weighs  half  a ton,  and  is 
sold  at  $400.  The  book  is  now  examined 
by  the  collector,  in  order  to  detect  any  error 
of  arrangement  in  the  signatures.  The  books 
then  go  to  the  sawing  machine,  where,  being 
properly  arranged,  fine  circular  saws  cut  fine 
indentations  in  the  books,  to  admit  as  many 
pieces  of  twine,  to  each  of  which  each  sheet 
is  sewed.  This  is  performed  by  girls,  at  a 
table  appropriated  for  that  purpose.  When 
the  sewing  is  complete,  the  “endpapers” 
are  pasted  on  the  book. 

The  books  next  are  trimmed  by  having 
the  edges  cut  by  a machine.  To  effect  this 
they  are  piled  upon  a platform,  undef  a large 
knife,  which,  being  worked  by  a crank, 
descends,  like  a guillotine,  cutting  a large 
number  at  once.  The  figure  of  the  trimming 
machine  is  given  on  another  page.  The 


PROCESS  OF  BOOK-BINDING. 


embossing  press. 


SAWING  MACHINE. 


ROOM, 


BOOK-BINDING. 


273 


knife  used  in  this  machine  is  21  inches  long, 
and  has  a short,  vibratory  movement ; thus 
combining  the  advantages  of  the  long  sta- 
tionary knife  with  those  of  the  ordinary 
plough.  The  work  to  be  trimmed  is  placed 
against  the  adjustable  guide  on  the  bed  of 
the  press,  in  front  of  the  knife,  and  is  com- 
pressed by  the  wheel  and  screw.  The  table, 
on  which  the  press  stands,  is  adjustable  in 
all  directions,  and  is  also  self-acting,  so  that, 
when  thrown  into  gear,  it  rises  to  the  re- 
quired height  and  disengages  itself — thus 
preventing  injury  to  the  knife — and  then 
drops  down  to  its  original  position.  Three 
sides  of  the  work  can  be  successively  pre- 
sented to  the  action  of  the  knife,  by  simply 
turning  the  press  to  the  quarter  and  half- 
turn stops.  The  machine  can  he  worked 
either  by  hand  or  steam  power,  and  can  he 
easily  adjusted  to  cut  any  size  from  3 to  18 
inches  long,  and  from  1 to  15  inches  wide. 
This  machine  has  been  in  operation  some 
twenty-five  years.  The  hacks  now  receive 
a coat'  of  glue,  to  impart  firmness.  They 
are  then,  by  the  “backing  machine” — which 
is  an  improvement  of  some  ten  years’  stand- 
ing— rounded  on  the  back,  and  receive  a 
groove  for  the  boards.  They  are  then  cut 
on  the  ends.  A piece  of  muslin,  nearly  as 
long  as  the  book,  and  extending  an  inch 
over  the  sides,  is  then  pasted  on,  and  the 
book  is  ready  to  receive  the  boards,  or  cases. 
These  consist  of  mill-boards  cut  a little  larger 
than  the  book,  and  cloth  cut  large  enough 
to  turn  over  all.  The  cloth  is  glued,  and 
one  board  is  placed  upon  it.  The  corners 
of  the  cloth  are  then  cut,  and  the  edges 
turned  down  and  rolled  smooth.  It  is  then 
dressed,  when  it  goes  into  the  hands  of  the 
stamper.  The  stamping,  or  embossing,  is 
done  in  a press,  from  dies  previously  pre- 
pared. When  the  sides  are  lettered,  the 
letters  are  engraved  in  metal,  and  impressed 
upon  the  cloth.  Gold  leaf  is  placed  upon 
the  cloth,  and  the  heat  of  the  stamp  causes 
it  to  adhere  in  the  desired  places.  The 
book  is  then  pasted  on  the  sides,  placed  in 
the  covers,  and  pressed,  when  it  is  a book 
bound  in  cloth.  The  stamping,  or,  as  it  is 
sometimes  called,  the  arming  press,  will  per- 
forin, almost  instantaneously,  what  formerly 
would  have  required  a week.  This  has  been 
brought  about  by  a combination  of  the  arts 
— designing,  die-sinking,  and  application  of 
machinery.  When  a particular  design  is 
required  upon  a book,  the  artist  draws  it 


upon  paper ; it  is  then  cut  in  brass,  or  steel, 
and  this  block  in  the  press  embosses  a great 
many  covers  at  a blow. 

With  books  bound  in  leather,  the  process 
is  not  so  expeditious.  In  order  to  insure 
solidity,  the  books  were  formerly  beaten 
upon  a stone  with  a broad-faced  hammer. 
They  are  now  squeezed  between  steel  rollers, 
to  effect  the  same  object.  The  engraving 
of  the  rolling  machine,  in  another  column, 
will  give  a good  idea  of  the  one  that  is  now 
used  by  bookbinders,  in  place  of  screw  and 
hydraulic  presses,  for  pressing  folded  sheets. 
The  work  is  placed  on  an  iron  table  in  front 
of  the  rollers,  between  plates  of  iron,  paste- 
board, or  leather,  and  passed  through  the 
machine  as  often  as  necessary.  The  adjust- 
ing screws  are  geared  together,  so  that  the 
rollers  are  always  parallel  to  each  other.  It 
is  strongly  geared,  and  may  be  run  by  either 
hand  or  steam  power.  The  sewing  is  done 
in  a more  substantial  manner.  The  volume, 
placed  in  the  laying  press,  has  its  back  ham- 
mered very  carefully,  so  as  to  spread  the 
sheets  on  each  side  of  the  boards  without 
wrinkling  the  inside,  and  the  work  proceeds 
until  it  leaves  the  hands  of  the  finisher  a 
perfect  model.  It  opens  easily,  and  lies  flat 
out  without  any  strain,  and  its  hinges  are 
without  crease. 

In  gilding  the  edges  of  a book,  they  are 
scraped  smooth  and  covered  with  a prepara- 
tion of  red  chalk,  as  a groundwork  for  the 
size,  which  is  formed  of  one  egg  to  half  a 
pint  of  water.  The  gold  is  laid  on  the  size, 
and  then  burnished  w ith  a bloodstone. 

The  embellishment  of  book  covers  is  called 
“ tooling,”  and,  when  plain,  blind  tooling. 
By  this  latter,  sometimes  glossy  black  in- 
dentations are  made  to  contrast  tastefully 
with  the  rich  color  of  the  morocco.  This 
is  performed  by  wetting  the  morocco,  and 
applying  the  tool  in  a heated  state. 

There  has  been  a method  invented  by 
which  the  leaves  of  a book  are  fixed  together 
with  India-rubber  instead  of  sewing.  The 
sheets  being  cut  evenly,  receive  a solution 
of  the  material ; as  each  leaf  is  held  only 
by  the  rubber,  the  book  is  made  to  lie  very 
fiat.  This  docs  not  appear  to  have  come 
into  much  favor.  The  fashion  of  imitating 
antique  styles  of  binding  has  led  to  the  use 
of  wood  instead  of  pasteboard,  in  some  fancy 
styles  of  costly  books.  It  is  only  a passing 
caprice,  since  wood  cannot  supplant  tbe 
pasteboard. 


WRITERS  OF  AMERICA. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THEOLOGIANS — STATESMEN — NOVELISTS 
— HISTORIANS. 

With  the  settlement  of  the  colonies,  there 
were  necessarily  but  few  attempts  at  literary 
productions.  The  Pilgrim  Fathers  brought 
with  them  many  books  from  their  native 
land,  but  these  were  mostly  bibles  and  theo- 
logical works.  They  were  persons  whose 
minds  bore  the  strongest  religious  impres- 
sions. In  them  the  sentiment  of  piety  ap- 
proached austerity ; and  they  were  not  un- 
frequently  charged  with  fanaticism.  The 
time  they  had  to  devote  to  literature  was 
wholly  absorbed  in  the  perusal  of  those  de- 
votional works  that  sustained  and  illustrated 
that  faith  which  they  had  made  their  rule 
of  action  under  all  circumstances,  and  which 
they  lived  up  to  with  all  the  sternness  of 
their  bold  and  decided  characters.  They 
had  encountered  the  perils  of  the  wilder- 
ness to  rear  free  homes ; and  they  were  de- 
termined, also,  to  make  them  temples  to  the 
Lord.  It  is  not  to  be  inferred  that  literature 
and  the  finer  arts  of  life  were,  even  at  that 
remote  period,  foreign  to  the  people  of  the 
country.  The  founders  of  all  the  colonies 
were  among  the  most  elegant  writers  and 
accomplished  scholars  of  the  time.  Such 
men  as  Raleigh,  Baltimore,  Penn,  Ogle- 
thorpe, Smith,  Winthrop,  and  a crowd  of 
others,  would  have  been  ornaments  to  the 
most  brilliant  circles  of  any  country : with 
them  and  their  successors,  education  and  re- 
ligion were  the  foremost  objects  of  atten- 
tion. But  among  men  so  busy  with  the 
work  in  hand,  as  to  declare  “ that  the  laws 
of  God  should  govern  until  they  had  time  to 
make  others,”  much  general  literature  could 
not  find  cultivation.  Theological  works  were 
the  staple,  and  these  were  produced  with  an 
independence  of  thought  and  a vigor  of  ar- 
gument which  enchained  their  adherents  and 
astonished  the  opponents  they  had  left  at 
home.  As  the  laws  of  God  were  the  models 


of  government,  so  were  the  inspired  writers 
the  only  guides  for  the  faith  of  that  stead- 
fast people.  Those  original  and  strong 
thinkers  were  also  powerful  and  prolific 
writers;  and  some  of  them  won  the  first 
place,  in  the  estimation  of  the  learned,  as 
theologians.  Cotton  Mather,  who  had  no 
equal  as  a scholar,  wrote  382  works,  of  one 
of  which,  “ Essays  to  do  Good,”  Dr.  Frank- 
lin remarks  : “ It  perhaps  gave  me  a tone  of 
thinking  that  had  an  influence  upon  some 
of  the  principal  future  events  of  my  life.” 
Thus  was  one  of  the  most  powerful  minds 
of  the  eighteenth,  or,  indeed,  any  century, 
impressed  with  the  vigorous  style  of  a colo- 
nial author.  The  simple  missionary,  Jona- 
than Edwards,  a large  portion  of  whose  use- 
ful life  was  spent  on  the  confines  of  civiliza- 
tion, produced  works  which,  according  to 
Dr.  Chalmers,  a century  afterward,  stamped 
him  as  “the  greatest  of  theologians,”  and 
called  from  Sir  James  Mackintosh  the  remark 
that,  “ in  powrer  of  subtle  reasoning  he  was, 
perhaps,  unmatched  among  men.”  Mr.  Ed- 
wards succeeded  to  the  presidency  of  the 
New  Jersey  College,  and  died  in  1758.  He 
was  the  type  of  the  theological  age  of  the 
country.  His  work  became  the  standard 
of  orthodoxy  for  enlightened  Protestant  Eu- 
rope. That  voice,  which  w?as  indeed  “ one 
crying  in  the  wilderness,”  became  the  text- 
book of  the  most  learned  divines  of  the  old 
world. 

As  the  colonies  advanced  in  wealth  and 
numbers,  more  diversified  views  naturally 
sprung  up,  but  the  books  of  amusement  and 
instruction  were  mostly  imported  from  Eng- 
land. There  was  little  in  the  rude  struggle 
with  the  wilderness  to  foster  an  independent 
school  of  literature,  which  flourished  much 
better  in  England,  where  existed  all  the  re- 
sources of  libraries  and  information.  That 
bold  and  strong  natural  intellects,  like  that 
of  Dr.  Franklin,  should  grow  up,  was  almost 
a necessity  of  the  vigorous  race  that  pro- 
duced him  ; and  his  works  were  at  once  ap- 


THEOLOGIANS STATESMEN NOVELISTS HISTORIANS. 


275 


predated,  because  they  reflected  tbe  genius  1 
of  the  people.  The  clear,  strong  sense  of 
“ Poor  Richard  ’’struck  a responsive  chord 
in  every  heart,  and  there  was  little  reason  to 
be  surprised  that  the  almanac  reached  a cir- 
culation of  10,000  in  1735.  The  school 
system  that  had  been  early  established  by 
the  colonists,  laid  a broad  foundation  for 
future  literature.  To  make  all  classes  of 
persons  readers,  was  to  create  a demand  for 
books  that  must  sooner  or  later  be  gratified ; 
and  writers  and  speakers  were  sure  to  find 
the  avenue  to  the  public  mind  when  the  oc- 
casion offered.  This  presented  itself  when 
the  disputes  with  the  mother  country  began 
to  take  a serious  form.  Those  events  stirred 
the  depths  of  feeling  in  all  ranks  and  classes, 
and  an  army  of  orators  rose  into  public 
view  at  once,  to  fan  the  flames  of  discontent 
into  a conflagration  that  ultimately  consumed 
the  loyalty  of  the  colonists,  and  left  their 
original  sturdy  independence  of  character  to 
assert  itself  in  political  separation.  The 
eloquence  of  Otis,  of  John  Adams,  Patrick 
Henry,  Samuel  Adams,  of  Pinckney,  of  Rut- 
ledge, and  others,  live  for  us  only  in  the  ef- 
fects they  produced,  and  of  which  our  insti- 
tutions are  the  manifestation.  Unhappily 
there  were  then  no  means  of  reporting  by 
which  those  soul-stirring  speeches  could  be 
preserved,  and  we  have  but  a few  sketches 
of  Fisher  Ames  and  Patrick  Henry.  While 
those  illustrious  men  roused  the  nation  with 
their  voices,  numbers  aided  with  their  pens ; 
among  these,  Thomas  Paine’s  pamphlet, 

“ Common  Sense,”  and  his  series  of  tracts 
entitled  “The  Crisis,”  produced  a marvellous 
effect.  The  papers  in  themselves,  at  the  pres- 
ent day,  give  no  evidence  of  great  ability,  but 
they  were  fitted  to  the  epoch  with  extraordi- 
nary aptness ; and  tradition  assures  us  that 
each,  on  its  appearance,  produced  a furore 
difficult  to  conceive.  The  epoch  was  one  of 
intense  excitement ; and  those  papers  held  up 
clearly  the  dark  side  of  kingcraft  to  a people 
in  whose  minds  republicanism  was  making 
rapid  growth.  The  pamphlets  and  papers 
that  circulated  at  that  period  were,  some  of 
them,  marked  with  great  learning  and  power. 
The  correspondence  then  carried  on  among 
public  men,  and  which  has  since  been  col- 
lected and  given  to  the  public,  surpasses  in 
learning,  political  sagacity,  grace  of  diction, 
vigor  of  thought,  and  power  of  expression, 
any  thing  of  the  kind  that  ever  before  ap- 
peared in  any  country.  We,  that  read  those 
papers  by  the  light  of  seventy  years  of  sub- 
17  * 


sequent  history,  are  better  able  to  appreciate 
the  extraordinary  ability  they  evince.  The 
letters  of  Franklin,  Jefferson,  Jay,  Adams, 
Washington,  Morris,  and  others,  will,  while 
the  nation  lasts,  be  preserved  as  models  of 
literary  excellence.  The  publication  of  the 
“ Federalist  ” was  an  era  in  political  writing ; 
the  work  was  the  joint  production  of  Alexan- 
der Hamilton,  James  Madison,  and  John  Jav. 
The  papers  were  signed  “ Publius,”  and  their 
I object  was  to  urge  the  importance  of  union 
in  the  adoption  of  the  constitution.  The 
statesmen  of  Europe  regarded  the  work  with 
admiration ; and  the  Edinburgh  Review  re- 
marked : “ It  exhibits  an  extent  and  pre- 
cision of  information,  a profundity  of  re- 
search, and  an  acuteness  of  understanding 
which  would  have  done  honor  to  the  most 
illustrious  statesmen  of  ancient  or  modern 
times.”  In  his  work  on  “ Democracy  in 
America,”  De  Tocqueville  remarks  that  “ it 
ought  to  be  familiar  to  the  statesmen  of 
gvery  nation.”  If  the  reader  of  the  present 
day  is  struck  with  the  clear-sighted  sagacity 
that  the  papers  evince,  how  much  greater 
is  our  admiration  when  we  reflect  that  those 
statesmen  were  reared  in  our  colonial  state, 
without  any  of  that  experience  which  has 
shed  its  light  upon  us.  The  wisdom  they 
displayed  was  the  result  of  their  own  pro- 
found deliberation.  The  writings  were  an 
interchange  of  views  between  a race  of  in- 
tellectual giants  who  were  giving  birth  to  a 
nation.  The  works  of  James  Madison  com- 
prise fifteen  octavo  volumes  of  600  pages 
each,  and  are  distinguished  for  sound- 
ness of  reasoning,  and  great  sagacity.  The 
report  of  Hamilton,  as  secretary  of  the 
treasury,  on  banks  and  manufactures,  was  of 
great  celebrity  ; and,  as  far  as  it  described 
the  existing  state  of  affairs,  was  valuable. 
It  is  to  be  borne  in  mind  that  he  was  one  of 
a race  of  Titans  who  were  organizing  a na- 
tion of  a kind  that  never  before  existed ; and 
if  the  views  he  advocated  have  not  been 
justified  by  the  experience  that  the  nation 
has  wrought  out  in  the  last  seventy  years,  it 
is  not  surprising ; nor  can  his  great  wisdom 
be  taxed  on  that  account  any  more  than  the 
vast  ability  of  Patrick  Henry  be  questioned 
because  he  opposed  the  new  constitution. 
The  writings  of  Jefferson,  the  statesman  and 
' patriot,  were  of  a nature  more  durable  and 
statesmanlike  than  the  effusions  of  Hamilton, 
which  were  more  the  products  of  a subor- 
dinate executive  officer  than  a directing 
head.  The  pen  which  wrote  the  Declaration 


276 


WRITERS  OF  AMERICA. 


of  Independence  and  the  state  papers,  wrote, 
also,  the  “ Notes  on  Virginia,”  the  autobiog- 
raphy, correspondence,  and  Anas,  included 
in  the  four  volumes  of  his  works  published 
after  his  death  by  Mr.  Randolph.  Of  the  same 
age  as  these  eminent  statesmen,  was  John  Mar- 
shall, the  celebrated  chief  justice  of  the  Uni- 
ted States.  Judge  Marshall  appeared  as  an 
author  in  1805,  when  he  published  his  “Life 
of  Washington.”  The  introductory  volume, 
being  a “ History  of  the  Colonies  planted  by 
the  English  on  the  Continent  of  North  Amer- 
ica,” was  published  separately  in  1824.  In 
1832  an  abridgment  of  his  “ Life  of  Wash- 
ington” appeared.  Mr.  Marshall  occupied  the 
posts  of  minister  to  France  and  secretary  of 
state,  and  his  state  papers  commanded  admi- 
ration as  of  the  very  highest  order.  His  ap- 
pointment and  career  as  chief  justice  seems  to 
have  been  one  of  those  special  providences 
that  have  so  often  manifested  themselves  on 
behalf  of  the  United  States  as  a nation.  The 
powers  of  the  Supreme  Court  are  such  as 
were  never  before,  by  any  people,  confided  to 
a judicial  tribunal.  It  determines,  without 
appeal,  its  own  jurisdiction,  and  that  of  the 
legislature  and  the  executive.  It  is  not  mere- 
ly the  highest  court  in  the  whole  country,  but 
the  constitution  of  the  country  is  in  its  hands. 
This  tribunal  was  to  decide  upon  every 
question  that  should  arise  under  the  new 
constitution,  in  relation  to  all  the  rights  and 
powers  of  each  department  of  government, 
and  also  those  of  all  the  states.  A want  of 
ability  or  of  integrity  upon  the  part  of  the 
court,  possessed  of  such  power,  might, 
by  vicious  interpretation,  have  destroyed 
the  whole  fair  fabric  that  had  been  raised 
with  so  much  care  and  wisdom.  This  im- 
mense responsibility  devolved  upon  John 
Marshall,  and  nobly  did  his  great  capacity 
and  sterling  integrity  meet  the  occasion. 
During  thirty-four  years,  that  great  man  de- 
cided every  question  that  arose ; and,  so  to 
speak,  fairly  launched  the  constitution  and 
government  upon  the  stream  of  time. 

Cotemporary  with  Judge  Marshall,  upon 
the  supreme  bench,  was  Joseph  Story,  who, 
born  in  Massachusetts  in  1779,  was  appoint- 
ed in  1811,  and  held  the  office  until  his  death 
in  1845,  a period  of  thirty-four  years,  during 
twenty-four  of  which  he  was  associated  with 
Judge  Marshall,  and  displayed  talents  worthy 
of  such  a colleague.  His  literary  writings 
were  published  in  1835,  comprising  sketches 
of  eminent  men,  and  other  papers. 

The  eminent  statesmen  who  have  adorned 


the  literature  of  their  country,  have  been 
many.  Henry  Wheaton,  Esq.,  who  was  born 
in  1 7 85,  served  the  country  in  many  capacities, 
lie  published  the  most  complete  work  on 
international  law,  in  1835.  John  Quincy 
Adams,  one  of  the  most  remarkable  men  of 
the  country,  was  born  in  Braintree,  July, 
1767,  while  his  great-grandfather,  who  was 
born  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II,  vet  lived.  Mr. 
Adams  graduated  at  Harvard  College  in 
1787,  just  100  years  after  the  birth  of  his 
great-grandfather.  He  chose  the  law  as  a 
profession,  and  began  to  write  for  publication 
over  the  signature  of  “ Publicola.”  He  re- 
plied to  some  portions  of  Paine’s  “Rights  of 
Man.”  Washington  appointed  him  minister 
to  the  Netherlands  from  1794  to  1801.  He 
had,  also,  appointed  him  to  Portugal,  but 
while  on  his  way,  his  destination  was 
changed  to  Berlin  by  the  accession  of  his 
father  to  the  presidential  chair.  While  in 
Berlin,  Mr.  Adams  became  acquainted  with 
German  literature.  A series  of  letters  at 
this  period  to  his  brother  in  Philadelphia, 
was  afterward  published.  They  were  of 
high  interest.  Subsequently,  he  was  a 
member  of  the  Massachusetts  legislature, 
and  professor  of  oratory  at  Harvard  Univer- 
sity. He  was  appointed  minister  to  Russia 
by  President  Madison.  From  thence  he  was 
transferred  to  Ghent,  to  negotiate  peace  in 
company  with  Messrs.  Bayard,  Clay,  and 
Gallatin.  Afterward,  he  was  appointed  min- 
ister to  St.  James.  He  was  eight  years  in 
the  cabinet,  and  four  years  president.  In 
1831,  he  was  sent  to  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, where  he  remained  until  his 
death,  in  1848.  He  filled  more  of  the  high 
offices  of  government,  than  any  other  man 
in  the  country.  The  largest  portion  of  his 
published  writings  consists  of  orations  and 
miscellaneous  discourses  of  a high  charac- 
ter. He  gave  to  the  world  some  essays 
upon  Shakspeare ; also,  translations  from 
the  German  of  Wieland.  In  1832  he  pub- 
lished “ Dermot  Mac  Morrogh ; A Tale  of  the 
Twelfth  Century,”  with  some  shorter  poems, 
chiefly  lyrical.  All  the  writings  of  Mr. 
Adams  display  the  most  mature  scholarship, 
but  the  statesman  seems  to  have  overshad- 
owed the  man,  since  it  is  probable  that  from 
a less  eminent  person  they  would  have  been 
more  highly  considered. 

William  Wirt  was  born  in  1772,  at  Bla- 
densburg,  Maryland,  and  became  a lawyer 
in  1792,  in  which  profession  he  was  emi- 
nently successful.  In  1802,  he  wrote  the 


THEOLOGIANS STATESMEN NOVELISTS HISTORIANS. 


277 


“British  Spy,”  which  had  a great  success.  In 
1807,  he  earned  a great  reputation  by  his 
famous  speech  in  favor  of  Blennerhasset. 
lie  produced  many  works  before  he  gave  to 
the  world  his  extraordinary  “Life  of  Patrick 
Henry”  in  1817.  That  work  has  an  endur- 
ing reputation. 

Daniel  Webster,  that  type  of  New  England 
intellect,  was  born  in  1782,  in  the  same  year 
with  Audubon,  the  great  American  naturalist. 
He  was  a New  England  farmer’s  son,  of 
Salisbury,  N.  H.,  and  pursued  learning  with 
the  indomitable  energy  of  his  race — teach- 
ing school  as  he  himself  acquired  learning — 
forcing  his  way  to  notice,  until  he  acquired 
a world-wide  reputation.  His  earliest  liter- 
ary performance  was  in  1806,  when  24  years 
of  age,  being  a Fourth  of  July  oration.  He 
was  a contributor  to  the  North  American 
Review , and  his  orations  on  different  occa- 
sions were  eagerly  read  in  every  section  of 
the  country.  No  speeches  were  more 
fraught  with  wisdom  and  eloquence,  or  had 
greater  influence  upon  the  public  mind, 
since,  being  models  of  their  kind,  many  are 
daily  read  in  the  public  schools.  He  is  so 
thoroughly  American,  and  so  in  earnest  in  his 
expositions  of  the  constitution,  that  his  name, 
to  use  his  own  expression,  must  ever  have  an 
“ odor  of  nationality.”  He  speaks  always  to 
the  understanding,  and  always  with  effect. 

In  the  same  year  in  which  Webster 
was  born,  South  Carolina  gave  birth  to  her 
great  statesman,  John  C.  Calhoun.  He  was 
born  in  Abbeville  district,  in  March,  1782. 
He  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1804, 
and  began  the  study  of  law,  in  which  he 
attained  great  success.  In  1809,  he  was 
elected  to  the  state  legislature.  In  1811, 
he  was  elected  to  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, immediately  taking  a foremost  post, 
until  1817,  when  he  became  secretary  of 
war  under  Mr.  Madison,  and  so  continued 
eight  years.  Subsequently,  he  was  twice 
elected  vice-president,  the  last  time  in 
1828.  He  soon  resigned  for  the  Senate, 
where  he  continued  until  his  death,  in  1 850. 
Mr.  Calhoun  was  one  of  the  most  extraor- 
dinary men  of  the  country,  and  one  of 
those  whose  works  will  live  far  into  poster- 
ity. Ilis  eloquence  was  of  a most  refined 
cast,  and  distinguished  for  its  compact  rea- 
soning. He  was  possessed  of  that  quick- 
ness of  perception  and  subtleness  of  argu- 
ment, which  made  Jonathan  Edwards  the 
first  of  theologians.  Ilis  works  have  been 
collected  since  his  death,  in  six  volumes. 


Cotemporary  with  Webster  and  Calhoun, 
were  the  great  orators,  Clay,  Mangum,  and 
others,  whose  speeches  belong  to  the  stand- 
ard literature  of  the  country,  but  who  have 
not  contributed  to  it  directly  by  writing. 
Thomas  II.  Benton,  the  great  Missouri  sena- 
tor, was  born  in  North  Carolina  in  1782,  and 
pursued  the  study  of  law.  In  his  “ Thirty 
Years’ View”  of  the  American  government, 
he  has  contributed  a work  of  great  value  to 
the  historical  literature  of  the  country.  That 
great  work  is  not  only  a faithful  record  of 
the  political  history  of  the  country  for  the 
thirty  years,  but  the  clear  Saxon  style  in 
which  it  is  composed,  gives  it  a charm  sel- 
dom found  in  similar  productions.  W7hen 
this  work  wTas  completed,  he  commenced  the 
task  of  condensing,  reviewing,  and  abridg- 
ing the  debates  of  Congress,  from  the  foun- 
dation of  the  government,  which  he  lived  to 
bring  down  to  the  compromise  measures  of 
1850.  With  a strong  intellect  and  bold 
character,  Col.  Benton  was  well  calculated  to 
dominate  in  the  western  states.  In  Mis- 
souri, at  one  time,  his  power  was  boundless. 

The  brothers  Everett  have  deservedly  oc- 
cupied a high  place  among  the  literary  men 
of  the  country.  The  elder,  Alexander,  was 
born  in  1790,  in  Boston.  He  graduated  at 
Harvard  in  1806,  and  pursued  the  profes- 
sion of  law,  but  filled  many  offices  of  public 
trust,  being  minister  to  China  at  the  time  of 
his  death,  in  1847.  During  his  life,  his  at- 
tention was  never  long  diverted  from  litera- 
ture, and  his  wrritings  were  numerous  in  the 
North  American  Review , of  which  his 
brother,  Edward,  was  editor,  and  elsewhere. 
Edward  Everett  was  born  in  1794,  and  grad- 
uated at  Harvard  in  1811.  He  began  the 
study  of  law,  but  adopted  theology,  and  at 
1 9 years  was  called  to  the  Brattle  street 
church,  Boston,  to  fill  the  vacancy  caused 
by  the  death  of  Mr.  Buckminster,  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  orators  of  modern 
times.  He  was  soon  after  elected  Greek 
professor  at  Harvard.  While  filling  that 
office,  he  published  some  school  books. 
In  1820,  he  became  the  editor  of  the 
North  American  Review , to  which  he  large- 
ly contributed.  He  became  member  of 
Congress,  and  afterward  governor  of  Massa- 
chusetts. lie  was  minister  to  England, 
president  of  Harvard  College,  and  United 
States  senator.  Like  his  brother  of  opposite 
politics,  he  has  enjoyed  a succession  of  offices, 
and  was,  in  1860,  the  candidate  of  a large 
party  for  the  vice-presidency.  When  Lord 


278 


WRITERS  OF  AMERICA. 


Macaulay,  from  over  occupation,  declined  to 
add  a memoir  of  Washington  to  the  many 
brilliant  biographical  papers  he  prepared  for 
the  new  edition  of  the  “Encyclopaedia Brit- 
annica,”  he  suggested  to  the  publishers  of 
that  work,  that  his  friend  Edward  Everett 
would  be  the  very  man  to  execute  the  task. 
He  prepared  the  paper,  which  was  subse- 
quently republished  here.  Mr.  Everett  died 
in  1865,  in  the  height  of  his  fame. 

John  P.  Kennedy,  was  born  in  Balti- 
more, Md.,  Oct.  25,  1795.  He  pursued  the 
law  as  a profession  ; was  a member  of  Con- 
gress 1837-9,  and  1841-5,  and  Secretary  of 
the  Navy  in  1852.  lie  was  one  of  the  most 
genial  and  popular  of  writers.  lie  was, 
perhaps,  best  known  as  the  author  of  the 
“ Memoirs  of  William  Wirt,”  published  in 
1819,  a “ Defence  of  the  Whigs”  1841, 
“ Horse  Shoe  Robinson,”  1 835,  and  “ Rob  of 
the  Bowl,”  published  in  1838,  followed  by 
“Annals  of  Quodlibet,”  in  1810.  His  de- 
lineations of  nature  were  truthful,  and  his 
character-drawing  marked  with  great  del- 
icacy and  freedom.  lie  died  in  1870. 

Hugh  S.  Legare  was  born  in  South  Cor- 
olina,  in  1797,  and  graduated  at  the  South 
Carolina  College,  following  the  law  as  a pro- 
fession. He  died  in  1843.  In  1820,  he  was 
sent  to  the  state  legislature,  and  subsequently 
was  appointed  attorney-general  of  the  state, 
was  made  charge  d’affaires  at  Brussels,  and 
chosen  to  Congress  in  1836.  His  contribu- 
tions to  the  New  York  Review  gave  him  a 
high  literary  reputation.  In  1846,  a collec- 
tion of  his  writings  was  published  in 
Charleston,  establishing  his  high  reputation 
as  of  the  first  class  of  intellects. 

There  are  a number  of  others  of  our  states- 
men and  political  men,  who  have  contribu- 
ted by  their  writings  to  the  literary  capital 
of  the  country,  but  we  have  here  selected 
only  the  most  prominent  of  them. 

Of  those  who  have  made  literature  a pro- 
fession, Charles  B.  Brown  seems  to  have 
been  the  first.  He  was  born  in  1771,  in 
Philadelphia,  and  was  of  very  early  promise. 
In  New  York,  in  1793,  he  was  introduced  to 
a literary  society,  which  numbered  among  its 
members  James  Kent,  afterward  chancellor, 
Dr.  Mitchill,  Dunlap,  Bleecker,  and  others. 
In  1797,  he  published  a work  on  the  rights 
of  women,  which  then  found  less  favor  than 
some  writers  on  the  same  subject  have  more 
recently  experienced.  He  published,  subse- 
quently, a number  of  works  that  met  with 
no  very  great  success. 


A year  younger  than  Daniel  Webster 
was  Washington  Irving,  born  in  N.  Y.  City, 
April  3, 1783,  died  in  1 859.  Mr.  Irving,  “ the 
prince  of  story  tellers,”  is  the  admitted  leader 
of  American  literature.  I lis  first  publications 
were  in  1802,  over  the  signature  of  Jona- 
than Oldstyle,  Gent.,  in  the  Morn/ nr 7 Chroni- 
cle, of  which  his  brother  was  editor.  In 
1806,  in  connection  with  James  K.  Paul- 
ding, he  began  writing  “Salmagundi.”  This 
created  a great  sensation.  It  attacked,  with 
amusing  ridicule,  the  ignorance,  presumption, 
and  vulgarity  of  the  British  tourists,  and  sat- 
irized pretenders  at  home  and  abroad  in  a 
most  effective  manner.  He  soon  after  com- 
menced the  “History  of  New  York,  by  Died- 
rich  Knickerbocker,”  which  must  ever  remain 
the  finest  monument  of  his  genius.  He 
was  connected  in  business  with  his  brothers, 
and  upon  the  failure  of  the  firm,  he  was, 
happily  for  the  public,  forced  to  depend  up- 
on literature  for  support.  His  next  produc- 
tion was  the  “ Sketch  Book,”  published  in 
New  York  and  in  London,  in  1819-20.  Its 
success  was  great  at  home  and  abroad,  fully 
establishing  the  fame  of  the  author.  From 
that  date,  his  works  appeared  at  pretty  reg- 
ular intervals,  although  he  was  absent  from 
the  country  seventeen  years,  up  to  1832. 
Soon  after,  he  purchased  the  old  mansion  of 
the  Van  Tassels,  on  the  Hudson,  near 
“Sleepy  Hollow.”  He  then  resumed  his  lit- 
erary labors  until  his  appointment  as  minis- 
ter to  Spain,  in  1841.  He  returned,  in 
1846,  to  his  residence,  and  remained  there 
until  his  death,  still  continuing,  at  times,  to 
add  to  the  list  of  his  productions,  the  last 
of  which  was  the  “Life  of  Washington,” 
which  has  had  a sale  probably  as  extensive 
as  all  the  rest  of  his  works,  and  the  aggre- 
gate of  which  will  exceed  half  a million  vol- 
umes. It  may  be  said  that  he  has  been  one 
of  the  most  successful  of  authors. 

James  K.  Paulding,  the  colleague  of  Ir- 
ving in  “ Salmagundi,”  was  four  years  his  sen- 
ior, having  been  born  in  1779,  in  the  town 
of  Pawling,  on  the  Hudson.  Notwith- 
standing the  great  success  of  “ Salmagundi,” 
the  publisher  refused  to  remunerate  the 
writers,  and  it  was  brought  suddenly  to  a 
close.  In  1813,  Mr.  Paulding  published  a 
satirical  poem,  called  “ The  Lay  of  a Scotch 
Fiddle,”  and  in  1816  the  most  humorous  of 
his  satires,  “The  Diverting  History  of  John 
Bull  and  Brother  Jonathan,”  was  published. 
Ills  works  were  numerous  up  to  1831,  when 
the  “Dutchman’s  Fireside”  appeared,  meeting 


THEOLOGIANS STATESMEN NOVELISTS HISTORIANS. 


279 


with  great  success.  It  is  called  the  best  of 
his  novels.  This  was  followed  by  “West- 
ward, IIo!”  in  which  his  characters  are 
drawn  with  great  truth  and  vigor.  Ilis 
sketch  of  the  Kentucky  hunter  in  his  com- 
edy of  “Nimrod  Wildfire,”  has  met  with  great 
popularity.  In  1837,  Mr.  Paulding  became 
secretary  of  the  navy  under  Mr.  Van  Bu- 
ren.  On  his  retirement  he  resumed  his  pen, 
and  some  of  his  later  productions  were  con- 
tributions to  the  Democratic  Review.  All 
the  works  of  Mr.  Paulding  would  probably 
reach  some  thirty  volumes.  His  works 
evince  great  descriptive  power,  skill  in  char- 
acter drawing,  with  much  humor  and  a 
strong  natural  feeling  running  through  them 
all.  Mr.  Paulding  died  in  1860. 

James  Fcnimore  Cooper,  the  most  widely 
known  of  American  novelists,  as  well  as  the 
most  distinguished,  was  born  in  1789,  at 
Burlington,  New  Jersey.  He  became  a stu- 
dent in  Yale  College  in  1802,  in  the  same 
year  with  John  C.  Calhoun.  On  quitting 
college,  in  1805,  he  entered  the  navy  as  a 
midshipman,  for  which  position  his  daring 
and  open-hearted  nature  seemed  to  fit  him. 
He  was  very  popular  in  the  sendee,  and  a 
most  promising  officer,  when,  after  six  years 
of  sea  service — more  than  many  old  officers 
see  in  a whole  life-time — he  resigned,  mar- 
ried, and  finally  retired  to  Cooperstown,  N.  Y. 
His  first  work  was  “ Precaution,”  which  had 
success,  but  not  that  eminent  success  that 
attended  his  subsequent  wrorks.  His  next 
work  was  the  “ Spy.”  This  was  decidedly 
the  best  historical  romance  ever  written  by 
an  American,  and  its  success  was  immense. 
Notwithstanding  many  attempts  of  the  press 
to  speak  slightly  of  it,  it  created  a furore  in 
the  public  mind,  and  imparted  an  immense 
impulse  to  literature.  The  work  was  imme- 
diately republished  in  all  parts  of  Europe, 
and  it  demonstrated  the  fact  that  everybody 
read  “ an  American  book,”  since  even  in 
England  it  rivalled  the  Waverley  Novels  in 
popularity.  A few  years  before  his  death, 
Mr.  Cooper  received  information  that  it  had 
been  translated  into  the  Persian,  Arabic, 
and  some  other  oriental  languages.  When 
it  is  remembered  that  this  story  was  a life 
picture  of  the  struggle  for  independence,  the 
effect  of  such  a wide-spread  . circulation 
among  readers  under  every  form  of  govern- 
ment, may  be  estimated. 

In  1823,  the  “Pioneers”  made  its  appear- 
ance, commencing  that  series  of  Leather- 
stocking tales  that  will  last  while  the  coun- 


try stands.  The  next  work  of  Mr.  Coop- 
er’s opened  the  series  of  his  sea  tales,  in 
which  he  stands  confessedly  without  a 
rival.  Those  two  lines  of  romance,  the 
American  forest  and  the  domain  of  Nep- 
tune, Mr.  Cooper  made  peculiarly  his  own, 
and  they  both  illustrate  scenes  peculiarly 
American.  The  “Pilot,”  it  is  said,  originated 
in  the  fact  that  the  “Pirate”  of  Sir  Walter 
Scott  having  recently  appeared,  the  conver- 
sation turned  upon  the  faultiness  of  the  sea 
delineation,  and  Cooper  undertook  to  write 
a sea  story  in  which  the  seamanship  could 
not  be  criticised,  and  the  “ Pilot”  resulted. 
Its  success  was  unbounded.  The  next  work 
was  “Lionel  Lincoln,”  a story  of  the  war  dur- 
ing the  British  occupation  of  Boston,  and 
although  it  was  quite  equal  to  the  “Spy,”  yet 
for  some  reason  did  not  take  with  the  public 
in  so  great  a degree.  In  1826,  the  “Last  of 
the  Mohicans”  was  produced,  and  it  had  a 
success  from  the  first,  greater  than  any  novel 
had  ever  before  had.  It  was  purely  orig- 
inal, introducing  for  the  first  time  upon  the 
field  of  literature,  that  race  of  men  of  whom 
but  a few  years  will  leave  only  the  tradi- 
tion. In  the  “ Pilot, ”a  real  seaman  for  the 
first  time  came  upon  the  stage,  in  the  person 
of  Paul  Jones;  and  in  the  “Mohicans,”  the 
red  man  made  his  debut  in  the  person  of 
Uncas.  Mr.  Cooper  immediately  took  rank 
in  England  as  one  of  the  first  romance  writ- 
ers of  this,  or  any  other  age.  Like  the 
“Spy,”  it  was  reproduced  in  every  language  of 
Europe.  The  “Prairie”  appeared  next,  while 
Mr.  Cooper  was  in  Europe,  and  it  carried 
the  reputation  of  the  writer  to  a still  higher 
point.  That  work  was  succeeded  by  the 
“ Red  Rover,”  which  was  followed  by  the 
“ W ater  Witch.”  The  labors  of  Mr.  Coop- 
er continued  up  to  1839,  when  his  “ History 
of  the  American  Navy”  appeared.  It  had  a 
great  and  deserved  success.  It  is  a noble 
monument  to  the  gallant  service  which, 
springing  from  the  bosom  of  a newly  formed 
country,  successfully  grappled  with  the  ty- 
rant of  the  seas,  and  demonstrated  to  the 
world  that  a new  power  had  arisen  to  re- 
dress the  balance  of  the  old  upon  the  ocean. 
There  followed  this  work  a continuation  of 
the  Leather-stocking  talcs,  in  the  “Pathfinder” 
and  the  “Deerslaycr,”  both  of  which  sustained 
the  high  reputation  of  the  series.  The  com- 
plete works  of  Mr.  Cooper  embrace  a great 
number  of  volumes.  Not  all  of  them  are 
of  the  high  grade  of  those  which  have  given 
him  a world-wide  character.  There  is  not 


280 


WRIT!  RS  OF  AMERICA. 


a language  in  Europe  into  which  they  were 
not  all  translated  as  soon  as  they  appeared 
in  London.  The  readers  of  books  in  South 
America,  in  India,  throughout  England,  and 
in  Russia,  are  familiar  with  the  name  of 
Cooper,  even  where  America  is  only  known 
as  his  home. 

James  Hall,  born  in  Philadelphia  in  1793, 
died  in  1868,  made  many  contributions  to 
our  literature.  He  was  the  author  of  “ Le- 
gends of  the  West,”  “A  History  of  the  In- 
dian Tribes  of  North  America,”  “The  Wil- 
derness and  the  War  Path.” 

The  years  1804  to  1810  were  prolific  in 
the  production  of  authors.  Not  less  than  ten 
distinguished  writers  were  born  in  those 
years  : Theodore  S.  Fay,  Geo.  B.  Cheever, 
Chas.  F.  Hoffman,  C.  M.  Kirkland,  Nathan- 
iel Hawthorne,  N.  P.  Willis,  II.  W.  Long- 
fellow, W.  G.  Simms,  Joseph  C.  Neal,  S.  M. 
Fuller.  Mr.  Fay  was  educated  for  the 
New  York  bar,  and  published  first,  in  1832, 
u Dreams  and  Reveries  of  a Quiet  Man,” 
and  essays  written  for  the  New  York  Mirror , 
in  which  he  was  associated  with  Willis,  Gen. 
Morris,  Rufus  Dawes,  etc.  His  novel  of 
“Norman  Leslie”  is  better  known.  In  1837 
he  produced  the  “ Countess  Ida  ;”  subse- 
quently, “ Hoboken  ; a Tale  of  New  York.” 
He  has  spent  most  of  his  life  abroad,  under 
government  appointments. 

Rev.  Dr.  Cheever  was  born  in  Maine,  in 
1807,  educated  at  Bowdoin  College  and  An- 
dover Seminary.  He  preached  first  at  Sa- 
lem and  afterwards  in  N.  Y.  City,  but  has 
for  some  time  past  been  without  a charge. 
He  travelled  extensively  in  Europe  and  has 
written  several  interesting  volumes  of  trav- 
els, and  a number  of  religious  and  controver- 
sial works.  He  now  resides  in  New  Jersey. 

Charles  F.  Hoffman  was  born  in  New 
York  in  1806,  graduated  at  Columbia  Col- 
lege, and  commenced  the  study  of  the  law. 
He  began  his  literary  career  as  editor  of  the 
New  York  American , associated  with  Charles 
King,  Esq.,  since  president  of  Columbia 
College  ; and  in  1835  published  “ A Win 
ter  in  the  West,”  which  met  with  great  suc- 
cess both  in  London  and  in  New  York.  This 
was  followed  by  “Wild  Scenes  in  the  For- 
est and  the  Prairie,”  and  subsequently  by 
“ Greyslaer.”  Mr.  Hoffman  established  the 
Knickerbocker  Magazine  in  1838.  In  1843 
he  published  “ The  Vigil  of  Faith ;”  and 
later  several  songs  and  essays.  Since  1850 
he  has  been  hopelessly  insane. 


Nathaniel  Hawthorne  was  born  in  Salem 
in  1804,  and  graduated  from  Bowdoin  Col- 
lege, in  Maine,  in  1825.  In  1837  he  pub- 
lished “ Twice  Told  Tales,”  that  had  previ- 
ously appeared  in  periodicals,  in  book  form. 
In  1846  a new  collection  of  his  magazine 
papers  was  published,  under  the  name  of 
“ Mosses  from  an  Old  Manse.”  He  had  a 
custom-house  appointment  in  Boston,  under 
Collector  Bancroft,  and  subsequently  joined 
the  Fourierite  community  at  “ Brook  Farm,” 
Roxbury.  Afterward  appeared  “ The  Scar- 
let Letter,”  and  “The  House  of  Seven  Ga- 
bles,” which  confirmed  his  rank  as  one  of 
the  great  masters  of  romance.  He  was  one 
of  the  most  distinguished  of  American  wri- 
ters ; and  was  appointed  consul  to  Liverpool 
by  President  Pierce.  In  1851  he  published 
“ True  Stories  from  History  and  Biography ;” 
in  1852,  “The  Snow  Image;”  in  1853, 
“The  Wonder  Book;”  in  1859,  “The  Mar- 
ble Faun.”  Mr.  Hawthorne  died  in  1864. 

N.  P.  Willis  was  a native  of  Portland,  but 
went  early  to  Boston  ; whence  he  entered 
Yale  College,  where  he  graduated  in  1827. 
He  was  then  engaged  by  S.  G.  Goodrich, 
since  known  as  “ Peter  Parley,”  to  edit 
“The  Token.”  About  the  year  1830  he 
was  appointed  attache  of  the  American  le- 
gation at  Paris  ; in  which  capacity  he  col- 
lected the  materials  for  “ Pencillings  by  the 
Way,”  which  was  first  published  in  the  New 
York  Mirror.  In  1839.  he  was  one  of  the 
editors  of  the  Corsair , which  was  short- 
lived. In  1840  an  illustrated  edition  of  his 
poems  was  published,  and  his  “ Letters  from 
under  a Bridge.”  In  1843,  in  connection 
with  Geo.  P.  Morris,  he  revived  the  Mirror , 
which  lived  but  a few  months.  In  1846,  the 
two  authors  commenced  the  Home  Journal , 
which  continues  to  flourish.  Mr.  Willis  had 
a wide  reputation  at  home  and  abroad. 
While  he  won  the  admiration  of  the  most 
refined  taste,  he  enjoyed  a wide  popularity 
as  a writer  of  light  literature.  Mr.  Willis 
died  in  1867  at  Idlewild  on  the  Hudson. 

Henry  W.  Longfellow  was  born  in  Port- 
land, Me.,  in  1807.  He  graduated  at  Bow- 
doin College,  and  commenced  the  study  of  the 
law ; but  abandoned  it  for  a professorship  of 
modern  languages  in  Bowdoin  College, 
which  office  he  assumed  in  1829.  He 
speedily  won  the  reputation  of  a most  grace- 
ful poet,  as  well  as  of  an  accomplished 
scholar.  In  1836  he  was  called  to  the  pro- 
fessorship of  modern  languages  at  Harvard 


THEOLOGIANS STATESMEN NOVELISTS HISTORIANS. 


281 


College,  which  he  has  since  retained.  In 
1833  he  published  his  translation  from  the 
Spanish  of  the  Coplas  of  Don  Jorge  Man- 
rique.  In  1835  he  published  “ Outre-Mer,” 
and  in  1838  “Hyperion;  a Romance,”  fol- 
lowed by  other  poems.  The  merits  of  Mr. 
Longfellow  as  a poet  are  of  the  highest  order. 
Some  of  his  poems  have  had  an  unusual  suc- 
cess. “ Hiawatha  ” circulated  to  the  extent 
of  45,000  copies,  and  the  “Courtship  of 
Miles  Standish  ” acquired  great  popularity. 

W.  Gilmore  Simms  was  a native  of 
Charleston,  South  Carolina,  and  became  a 
lawyer  in  that  city.  When  only  eighteen 
years  of  age,  he  published  his  first  poems, 
lyrical  and  others.  These  were  followed, 
successively,  by  “ Early  Lays,”  “ The  Vision 
of  Cortes,”  and,  in  1 830,  by  the  “ Tri  color.” 
In  1832,  while  traveling  at  the  north,  he 
wrote,  at  Hingham,  Mass.,  his  chief  poem — 
“Atalantis  ; a Story  of  the  Sea.”  This  was 
followed  by  the  stories  of  “Martin  Faber;” 
“ Guy  Rivers  : A Tale  of  Georgia  ;”  “ The 
Yemassee  : A Tale  of  South  Carolina;  ” and 
these  by  a great  number  of  poems,  historical 
romances,  revolutionary  stories,  histories  and 
biographies,  essays,  and  reviews — making  in 
all  fifty  volumes.  Mr.  Simms  died  in  1870. 

John  Greenleaf  Whittier  was  born  in 
Haverhill,  Mass.,  in  1807.  Ilis  parents  were 
members  of  the  Society  of  Friends.  Re- 
ceiving a very  thorough  English  education, 
at  the  age  of  twenty-two  he  became  editor 
of  the  American  Manufacturer  at  Boston, 
and  in  1830  succeeded  George  D.  Prentice 
in  the  New  England  Weekly  Review  at 
Hartford.  In  1831  he  published  “ Legends 
of  New  England,”  and  in  1833  returned  to 
his  early  home,  where  he  published  an  essay 
entitled  “Justice  and  Expediency;  or,  Sla- 
very Considered  with  a View  to  its  Aboli- 
tion.” In  1836,  lie  became  secretary  of  the 
American  Anti-Slavery  Society,  and  soon 
after  removed  to  Philadelphia,  where  he 
edited  for  some  years  the  Pennsylvania 
Freeman.  Meantime  he  had  been  writing 
some  stirring  poems,  afterward  collected 
under  the  title  of  “ Voices  of  Freedom.”  In 
1840  he  settled  at  Amesbury,  Mass.,  and 
since  that  time  has  been  a prolific  writer 
of  both  prose  and  poetry.  His  poems  have 
been  collected  in  several  forms,  and  entitle 
him  to  rank  among  the  foremost  of  American 
poets. 

Joseph  C.  Neal,  born  in  Greenland,  N.  II., 
in  1807,  became  editor  of  the  Philadelphia 
Pennsylvanian  in  1831,  and,  after  ten  years’ 


collection  with  it,  started  the  Saturday  Ga- 
zette. He  is  best  known  by  a humorous  vol- 
ume— “ Charcoal  Sketches.”  He  died  in 
1848. 

Fitz-Greene  Halleck  (born  1785)  be- 
longed rather  to  the  period  of  Cooper  and 
Irving  than  to  the  more  recent  class  of  po- 
etical writers.  He  wrote  sparingly,  but  his 
“Marco  Bozzaris”  and  “Alnwick  Castle” 
will  live.  He  died  in  1867. 

Edgar  A.  Poe  (born  1811 — died  1849) 
was  both  a poet  and  prose  writer,  a man  of 
extraordinary  genius. 

James  Russell  Lowell  (born  1819),  editor 
of  Atlantic  Monthly,  and  later  of  the  North 
American  Review , is,  perhaps,  the  ablest  of 
our  younger  poets,  possessing  both  humor 
and  pathos.  Ilis  “ Biglow  Papers”  and  his 
more  serious  poems  have  great  merit.  His 
prose  writings  are  admirable. 

Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  (born  1809)  has 
distinguished  himself  both  in  prose  and  po- 
etry. Ilis  humor  is  both  delicate  and  pun- 
gent, and  his  pathetic  pieces  full  of  feeling. 
J.  G.  Saxe  (born  1816)  has  a high  reputa- 
tion as  a humorous  poet.  Alfred  B.  Street 
(born  1811)  is  a poet  of  great  descriptive 
power.  Of  the  younger  literary  men,  Bay- 
ard Taylor,  as  traveler,  poet,  and  novelist, 
occupies  a very  high  rank.  Ii.  II.  Stoddard, 
T.  B.  Aldrich,  J.  R.  Thompson,  G.  IT.  Boker, 
T.  B.  Reed,  W.  Allen  Butler,  and  E.  C. 
Stedman,  have  all  won  a high  reputation. 

Among  the  clerical  contributors  to  general 
literature,  Rev.  Timothy  Dwight,  D.  D.  (born 
1753 — died  1817),  deserves  the  first  place. 
In  1774  he  published  an  epic  poem,  “The 
Conquest  of  Canaan,”  which  was  followed  by 
numerous  lyric  pieces.  After  his  accession 
to  the  presidency  of  Yale  College  in  1795, 
he  published  “ Travels  in  New  England  and 
New  York  ” in  four  volumes,  the  best  picture 
of  the  life  and  manners  of  those  times  now 
extant. 

Timothy  Flint  was  born  in  Reading,  Mass., 
in  1780,  and  graduated  at  Harvard  College, 
after  which  he  was  settled  as  a minister,  but 
soon  departed  for  the  west,  where  he  col- 
lected the  materials  for  his  “ Recollections 
of  Ten  Years  in  the  Valley  of  the  Missis- 
sippi,” which  were  published  in  1826.  The 
success  of  this  work  was  so  great  as  to  in- 
duce him  to  make  literature  his  profession. 
Ilis  next  work  was  “ Francis  Bcrrian  ; or,  The 
Mexican  Patriot,”  followed  by  the  “ Geo- 
graphy and  History  of  the  Mississippi,”  in 
1827.  These  works  were  followed  by  many 


282 


writers  of  America. 


others,  and,  in  1833,  Mr.  Flint  had  charge  of 
the  Knickerbocker  Magazine  for  some  time, 
after  which  he  removed  to  Cincinnati,  and 
continued  there  until  his  death. 

William  E.  Channing  was  horn  at  New- 
port in  1780.  He  graduated  at  Harvard  in 
1798,  Judge  Story  being  his  classmate. 
On  leaving  college,  he  became  a tutor  in  a 
family  of  Virginia.  He  was  ordained  pastor 
of  the  Federal  street  church  in  Boston  in 
1803,  and  he  continued  there  until  his  death 
in  1842.  His  earliest  publications  were 
theological,  particularly  one  on  ^“Uni- 
tarian Belief,”  in  1819,  which  excited  great 
attention.  In  1823,  he  published  an  essay 
upon  “ National  Literature.”  This  was  fol- 
lowed by  “ Remarks  on  the  Life  and  Charac- 
ter of  Napoleon  Bonaparte.”  The  address  de- 
livered in  Boston,  on  “Self-Culture,”  in  1838, 
was  regarded  as  one  of  his  best  efforts.  His 
later  works  were  religious  and  reformatory. 

Joseph  S.  Buckminster  was  born  at  Ports- 
mouth In  1 784,  graduated  from  Harvard  Col- 
lege in  1800,  became  pastor  of  Brattle  street 
church  in  1805,  and  died  in  1812,  with  a 
great  reputation  for  eloquence  and  literary 
genius,  though  he  had  published  but  little. 

Andrews  Norton  was  born  in  Hingham  in 
1786,  graduated  from  Harvard  in  1804,  and 
was  prof  ssor  of  sacred  literature,  &c.  there 
from  1813  to  1830.  He  wrote  many  valu- 
able works,  chiefly  controversial,  and  some 
poems  of  great  beauty. 

Horace  Bushnell  w’as  born  in  Connecticut 
in  1802,  and  graduated  at  Yale  College  in 
1824.  At  one  time,  he  was  literary  editor 
of  the  N.  T.  Journal  of  Commerce ; from 
1833  to  1856  he  was  pastor  of  a Congrega- 
tional church  in  Hartford.  His  first  theologi- 
cal work  was  published  in  1847,  and  he  has 
since  written  largely  on  various  topics. 

Orville  Dewey  was  born  in  1791,  in  Shef- 
field, Mass,  lie  graduated  at  Williams  Col- 
lege in  1814.  He  supplied  the  pulpit  of  Dr. 
Channing  when  that  gentleman  went  to  Eng 
land.  After  being  settled  ten  years  in  New 
Bedford,  lie  became  pastor  of  the  Church  of 
the  Messiah  in  New  York,  but  from  1858  to 
1862  was  again  pastor  in  Holton.  He  has 
published  many  volumes  at  different  times  on 
various  subjects ; among  others,  in  1836, 
“The  Old  World  and  the  New;”  in  1838, 
“ Moral  Views  of  Commerce,  Society,  and 
Politics.”  He  has  been  one  of  the  most 
popular  pulpit  orators  that  the  country  has 
produced. 

Among  the  other  clergymen  who  have  at- 


tained a high  reputation  for  scholarship  and 
literary  ability,  we  should  name  George 
Bush,  a critical  Hebrew  scholar,  Moses  Stu- 
art, Thomas  J.  Conant,  Horatio  B.  Ilackett, 
all  eminent  Hebraists;  Bennet  Tyler,  Na- 
thaniel W.  Taylor,  Lyman  Beecher,  Edward 
Beecher,  Mark  Hopkins,  Leonard  Woods, 
George  P.  Fisher,  theological  writers ; T.  C. 
Upham,  J.  Torrey,  W.  G.  T.  Shedd,  Leonard 
Bacon,  Henry  B.  Smith,  Bishop  C.  P. 
Mcllvaine,  W.  B.  Sprague,  J.  W.  and  J.  A. 
Alexander,  G.  W.  Bethune,  S.  H.  Tyng,  Francis 
Wayland  and  Barnas  Sears  as  religious 
and  ecclesiastical  writers ; and  Nehemiah 
and  Wm.  Adams,  Richard  S.  Storrs,  Jr, 
Geo.  B.  Cheever,  Joseph  P.  Thompson,  R. 
D.  Hitchco ‘k,  H.  W.  Beecher,  A.  L.  Stone, 
Bishops  Potter,  Burgess,  Coxe,  Doane,  and 
Kip,  Richard  Fuller,  William  R.  Williams, 
William  Hague,  Robert  Turnbull,  Abel 
Stevens,  J.  P.  Durbin.  W.  P.  Strickland, 
Daniel  Curry,  Stephen  Olin,  and  James  Floy, 
as  eloquent  preachers  and  writers.  The  two 
Roman  Catholic  Archbishops  Kenrick,  Arch- 
bishop Hughes,  Archbishop  Spalding,  and 
Bishops  Fitzpatrick  and  Rosecians,  have  all 
acquired  distinction  as  preachers  and  authors, 
mostly  on  controversial  topics. 

Francis  Wayland  was  born  in  -the  city  of 
New  York  in  1796,  and  graduated  at  Union 
College.  He  was  first  settled  over  a Baptist 
church  in  Boston,  but  ultimately  succeeded 
to  the  presidency  of  Brown  University,  in 
1827.  His  publications  have  been  numerous 
on  moral  and  scientific  subjects,  and  he  has 
contributed  largely  to  the  periodical  press. 
The  editions  of  sojne  of  his  works  have  been 
very  large  : 12,000  were  sold  of  his  “ Politi- 
cal Economy,”  and  nearly  30,000  of  his 
“ Moral  Science.” 

William  Ware  was  born  in  1797,  at  Hing- 
ham, Mass.,  and  graduated  at  Harvard  in 
1816.  He  was  soon  after  settled  in  a Uni- 
tarian church  in  New  York.  lie  commenced, 
in  the  Knickerbocker  Magazine , in  1836,  a 
series  of  papers,  which  were  subsequently 
published  together,  as  “Zenobia;  or,  The 
Fall  of  Palmyra : an  historical  romance.” 
Then  followed  “ Probus ; or,  Rome  in  the 
Third  Century;”  “Julian;  or,  Scenes  in 
Judea,”  appeared  in  1841.  The  writings  of 
Mr.  Ware  are  graceful,  pure,  and  brilliant  m 
style. 

Herman  Hooker  was  born  in  Poultney,  Vt., 
in  1807.  Graduating  at  Middlebury  College, 
lie  took  orders  in  the  Episcopal  church,  but, 
h aving  the  pulpit  soon,  removed  to  Phila* 


GENTLEMEN  AUTHORS. 


LADY  AUTHORS. 


THEOLOGIANS STATESMEN NOVELISTS HISTORIANS. 


283 


phia,  where  he  died  in  186  ).  His  books  which 1 
were  all  religious,  possessed  great  merit. 

Orestes  A.  Brownson  was  born  in  Ver- 
mont in  1802.  The  early  life  of  Mr.  Brown- 
son  was  obscure.  He  seems,  however,  to 
have  been  very  erratic,  but  published  several 
works,  until,  in  1838,  he  began  the  Boston 
Quarterly , and  in  1 840  published  a meta- 
physical novel  called  “ Charles  Ellwood.” 
He  continued  to  write  for  many  reviews, 
until,  in  1844,  he  beg  in  Brownson' s Quarterly 
Review , after  having  united  with  the  Roman 
Catholic  church.  Since  then  he  has  achieved 
a high  reputation  as  a controversialist. 

John  James  Audubon,  the  great  ornitholo- 
gist, was  born  in  Louisiana  in  1782.  He 
was  educated  in  Paris.  On  his  return  he 
immediately  commenced  the  series  of  draw- 
ings, which,  with  the  lapse  of  time,  grew 
into  “ The  Birds  of  America” — of  which 
work  Baron  Cuvier  remarked : “ If  ever  it  be 
completed  it  will  have  to  be  confessed  that,  in 
magnificence  of  execution,  the  old  world  is 
surpassed  by  the  new.”  After  encountering 
many  vexations  and  disappointments,  he  suc- 
ceeded in  publishing,  in  1830,  his  first  vol- 
ume, containing  one  hundred  plates,  repre- 
senting ninety-nine  species  of  birds ; every 
figure  of  the  size  and  color  of  life.  The 
kings  of  France  and  England  headed  the 
subscription  list ; he  was'  made  a member  of 
the  Royal  Societies  of  London,  Edinburgh, 
and  Paris,  and  the  scientific  world  were  en- 
thusiastic in  his  praise.  The  second  volume 
was  published  in  1834;  in  1840  the  fourth 
and  last  volume  was  completed.  The  whole 
comprises  435  plates,  containing  1065  figures, 
from  the  bird  of  Washington  to  the  hum- 
ming-bird, of  the  size  of  life,  and.  a great  va- 
riety of  land  and  marine  views,  carefully 
drawn  and  colored  from  nature.  He  had 
spent  half  a century  in  completing  this  mar- 
vellous work,  and  well  might  he  say : “ I 
look  up  with  gratitude  to  the  Supreme 
Being,  and  feel  that  I am  happy.” 

After  the  completion  of  this  work,  he  be- 
gan the  “Quadrupeds  of  America,”  which 
was  also  a marvellous  production.  His  draw- 
ings exhibit  a perfection  never  before  at- 
tempted, and  his  pen  is  scarcely  inferior  to 
his  pencil.  When  Buffon  had  completed 
the  ornithological  portion  of  his-  history,  he 
supposed  that  he  had  described  all  the  birds  in 
the  world,  and  remarked  that  the  list  “would 
admit  of  no  material  augmentation  !”  Yet  his 
list  comprised  but  one-sixteenth  of  those  now 
known  to  exist.  Mr.  Audubon  died  in  1851. 


1 Gulian  C.  Verplanck  was  born  in  1785,  in 
New  York — a true  representative  of  the 
Knickerbocker  race.  lie  graduated  at  Co- 
lumbia College,  and  soon  after  obtained  ad- 
mission to  the  bar.  In  1818  he  came  before 
the  public  in  a literary  character,  in  an  ad- 
dress before  the  New  York  Historical  So- 
ciety. He  became  professor  of  the  evi- 
dences of  Christianity  in  the  theological 
seminary  of  the  Episcopal  church,  in  1820. 
Subsequently  Mr.  Verplanck,  in  connection 
with  Mr.  Bryant  and  others,  formed  a liter- 
ary confederacy,  contributing  to  the  literary 
magazines  and  daily  journals.  At  this  time 
was  published  “The  Talisman,”  mostly  by 
Mr.  Verplanck.  He  was  a member  of  Con- 
gress 1825—1833.  In  1844-46,  he  edited 
a fine  edition  of  Shakspeare,  which  has  a 
high  reputation.  Mr.  Verplanck  died  in  1870. 

Henry  R.  Schoolcraft  was  born  in  1793, 
near  Albany,  and  was  early  distinguished  for 
his  literary  and  scientific  acquirements.  He 
contributed  largely  to  the  preservation  of 
the  history  of  the  red  races  of  the  continent, 
and  was  a high  authority  on  all  that  concerns 
their  customs.  He  died  in  1864. 

In  the  range  of  history,  American  writers 
have  won  the  foremost  position  among  his- 
torians of  the  present  century  ; and  Euro- 
pean critics  admit  the  high  reputation  of 
American  histories. 

Jared  Sparks  (1789-1866)  was  born  in 
Willington,  Conn.,  graduated  from  Harvard 
University  in  1815,  was  a tutor  there  and 
subsequently  pastor  of  a Unitarian  Church 
in  Baltimore,  editor  and  proprietor  of  the 
North  American  Review,,  1823  to  1830, 
and  already  distinguished  for  his  historical 
researches.  He  published  a life  of  “John 
Ledyard,  the  American  Traveler,”  “ Diplo- 
matic Correspondence  of  the  American  Rev- 
olution” in  12  volumes,  “Life  of  Gouverneur 
Morris,”  “ Life  and  Writings  of  Washington” 
in  twelve  8vo  volumes,  the  “ Conq  lete  Works 
of  Franklin  ” in  ten  volumes,  two  series  of 
Historical  Biographies,  one  in  ten,  the  other 
in  fifteen  volumes,  and  “ Correspondence  of 
the  American  Revolution  ” in  four  volumes, 
lie  was  very  careful,  painstaking,  and  accu- 
rate as  a historian.  He  was  President  of 
Harvard  University  from  1849  to  1853. 

John  Gorham  Palfrey,  born  in  Boston  in 
1790  a classmate  of  Sparks,  graduating  from 
Harvard  University  in  1815,  whs  a Unita- 
rian minister  in  Boston  from  1818  to  1830. 
professor  of  sacred  literature  in  Harvard, 
from  1831  to  1839  ; editor  North  American 


284 


WRITERS  OF  AMERICA. 


Review  1835  to  1843  ; Secretary  of  State 
of  Massachusetts  1844  to  1848  ; member  of 
Congress  1847  to  1849;  lecturer  at  the 
Lowell  Institute  1839  and  1842  ; and  be- 
side numerous  theological  and  reformatory 
works  published  “ Progress  of  the  Slave 
Power,”  “ History  of  Brattle  St.  Church,” 
“ Life  of  Col.  William  Palfrey,”  “ Review 
of  Lord  Mahon’s  History  of  England,”  and 
a “ History  of  New  England  to  1688,”  in 
three  volumes,  a work  of  great  research. 

William  H.  Prescott  was  born  in  1796,  at 
Salem.  He  was  grand -on  of  Gen.  Prescott 
who  command  d at  Bunker  Hill.  In  1814, 
he  graduated  at  Harvard  College,  and  entered 
upon  the  study  of  the  law.  At  college,  by 
an  accident,  one  of  his  eyes  was  destroyed, 
and  the  sight  of  the  other  much  injured. 
He  possessed  a handsome  income,  $12,000 
per  annum,  and  devoted  himself  to  the 
study  of  the  languages  and  literature  of 
Europe,  and  contributed  largely  to  the 
North  American  Review.  Ten  years  thus 
passed  in  a kind  of  preparation  for  historical 
studies ; ten  years  more  were  occupied  with 
investigation,  and  then  his  “ Ferdinand  and 
Isabella  ” was  published.  The  materials  for 
this  had  been  sent  him  by  Alexander  Everett, 
when  minister  to  Spain.  The  work  of  acquir- 
ing the  contents  of  books  and  writing  with 
out  the  use  of  eyes  was  a severe  labor,  but 
was  overcome  by  ingenuity  and  patience. 
The  work  was  everywhere  hailed  with  enthu- 
siasm. Mr.  Prescott  was  made  a member  of 
the  Royal  Academy  of  Madrid,  and  its  rich 
collections,  wish  those  of  the  archives  of 
Seville,  placed  at  his  disposal,  and  every  res- 
ervoir of  Spanish  history  laid  open  to  him. 
The  “ History  of  the  Conquest  of  Mexico  ” 
followed,  and  was  succeeded  by  the  “ Con- 
quest of  Peru,”  and  the  “ History  of  Philip 
the  Second,”  which  added  to  the  fame  of  Mr. 
Prescott.  He  died  in  1859. 

George  Bancroft  was  born  in  Worcester  in 
1800,  and  graduated  at  Harvard  in  1817. 
He  commenced  the  study  of  divinity,  but 
adopted  literature  as  a profession.  In  1834, 
he  published  the  first  volume  of  the  “ History 
of  Colonization  in  the  United  States.  He 
was  subsequently  appointed  (Collector  of  Bos- 
ton, and  in  1844  secretary  of  the  navy, 
which  post  he  resigned  to  represent  this 
country  at  the  Court  of  St.  James.  During 
more  than  thirty  years  his  great  “ History 
of  the  United  States”  has  been  in  progress, 
reaching  its  tenth  volume  in  1867.  He  has 
been  U.  S.  Minister  at  Berlin  since  1869. 


William  C.  Bryant  was  born  in  Massa- 
chusetts in  1794.  He  contributed  lines  to 
the  county  Gaznt‘e  when  ten  years  old,  and 
four  years  later  published  two  poems  ; at  19 
he  wrote  his  “ 1 hanatopsis.  He  was  for 
two  years  in  Williams  College, and  afterwards 
studied  law.  In  1825  he  edited  the  New 
York  Review , and  in  1826  became  editor  of 
the  Evening  Post , with  which  he  is  still  con- 
nected. He  has  written  much  both  in  poetry 
and  prose.  I i is  prose  is  remarkable  for  its 
purity  and  elegance. 

John  Lothrop  Motley,  who  at  once  took 
rank  with  Prescott  and  Bancroft  as  a histo- 
rian, was  born  in  Dorchester,  Mass.,  in  1814, 
educated  at  Harvard  University,  and  subse- 
quently at  Gottingen  and  Berlin,  studied 
law,  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar  in  1836, 
but  did  not  practice.  He  wrote  two  histori- 
cal novels,  published  in  1839  and  1849,  was 
secretary  of  legation  to  Russia  in  1840,  be- 
came interested  in  the  history  of  Holland  in 
1845,  and  after  collecting  material  for  a his- 
tory here,  went  to  Europe  in  1851,  and  spent 
five  years  at  Berlin,  Dresden,  and  the  Hague 
in  the  composit’on  of  his  “ Rise  of  the  Dutch 
Republic,”  published  in  1856.  This  was  fol- 
lowed, in  I860,  by  three  volumes  of  a history 
of  “The  United  Netherlands,”  and  in  1866, 
he  published  two  more  volumes  of  this  his- 
tory ; minister  to  Austria  in  1861,  recalled 
1867  ; minister  to  England  1869,  1870. 

Richard  Hildreth  (1807-1865)  was  an 
able  political  writer,  novelist  and  historian. 
He  will  be  longest  remembered  for  his  val- 
uable “ History  of  the  United  States,”  in 
six  volumes,  lie  was  also  author  of  a work 
on  Japan.  He  was,  at  the  time  of  his  death, 
U.  S.  Consul  at  Trieste. 

Benson  J.  Lossing  ( born  in  Beekman,  N. 
Y.,  in  1813)  has  attained  a high  reputation 
as  a historian  and  historical  biographer.  His 
“ Pictorial  Field  Book  of  the  Revolution,” 
his  works  on  Washington  and  Mount  Ver- 
non, Life  of  “ Philip  Schuyler,”  “Histories 
of  the  United  States,”  “ War  of  1812,”  and 
“ Pictorial  History  of  the  Rebellion,”  are  all 
works  of  interest  and  value,  and  their  illus- 
trations are  from  his  own  skillful  pencil. 

James  T.  Headley,  Jacob  and  John  S.  C. 
Abbott,  John  Foster  Kirk,  Francis  Parkman, 
J.  Romeyn  Broadhead,  E.  B.  O’Callaghan, 
Parke  Godwin,  Charles  Gayarre,  Francis  L. 
Hawks,  and  Amos  Dean  have  all  published 
historical  works  of  some  reputation. 

Many  of  the  female  writers  of  America 
have  achieved  distinction.  Mrs.  Emma  Wil- 


THEOLOGIANS STATESMEN NOVELISTS — HISTORIANS. 


285 


lard  wrote  extensively  on  history  and  educa- 
tional topics,  and  her  sister,  Mrs.  Almira  H. 
Phelps,  has  not  only  contributed  several 
text-books  to  physical  science,  but  has  a fair 
reputation,  as  a novelist.  Hannah  Adams, 
the  pioneer  of  female  writers  in  America, 
born  1756,  wrote  a “ History  of  New  Eng- 
land,” “ Vienna,”  &c.  Mrs.  Eliza  Leslie 
(1787-1857)  wrote  several  excellent  novels, 
and  some  works  of  great  value,  in  the  do- 
main of  the  culinary,  a t.  Mrs.  Lydia  II 
Sigourney  (1791-1865)  was  alike  remark 
ble  for  her  poetical  and  her  prose  works  ; 
many  of  the  latter  were  prepared  for  the 
young.  Miss  Catharine  M.  Sedgwick  (1789- 
1867)  was  the  author  of  “The  Linwoods,” 
“ Redwood,”  “ Hope  Leslie,”  &c.,  novels  of 
great  merit.  Mrs.  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe 
(born  in  1812)  has  been  the  most  successful 
of  novelists.  Her  “ Uncle  Tom’s  Cabin  ” 
sold  to  the  extent  of  about  350,000  copies 
in  the  United  States,  and  over  1,500,000 
in  Great  Britain,  and  her  subsequent  nov- 
els, “ Dred,”  “ The  Minister’s  Wooing,” 
“Agnes  of  Sorrento,”  “ The  Pearl  of  Orr’s 
Island,”  “ Old  Town  Folks,”  “ Old  Town 
Stories,”  “ Pink  and  White  Tyrany,” 
“ Harry  Henderson’s  History,”  etc.,  etc., 
have  had  a large  sale.  She  has  also  written 
descriptive,  biographical,  and  other  works, 
and  occasional  poems  of  great  merit.  Her 
sifter,  Miss  Catharine  E.  Beecher,  has  written 
numerous  works,  educational  and  controver- 
sial. Miss  Susan  Warner  has  achieved  a 
high  reputation  ( under  her  nom  de  plume 
of  Elizabeth  Wetherell)  by  her  novels, 
“ The  Wide,  Wide  World,”  “ Queechy,” 
“ The  Hills  of  the  Shatemuc,”  and  “ Say 
and  Seal,”  etc.  Mrs.  S.  P.  W.  Parton 
(Fanny  Fern)  has  been  very  successful,  not 
only  as  a novelist,  in  her  “ Ruth  Hall,”  but 
as  a light  essayist,  in  her  “ Fern  Leaves,” 
&c.  Miss  M.  J.  Mackintosh,  the  author  of 
“ Charms  and  Counter-Charms,”  and  numer- 
ous other  novels,  has  a high  reputation. 
Mrs.  E.  D.  E.  N.  Southworth  (born  in  181 H) 
commenced  her  career  as  an  author  in  1843, 
and  since  that  time  has  published  over  one 
hundred  novels,  all  of  them  of  considerable 
merit.  Mrs.  Ann  S.  Stephens  (born  in  1813) 
has  attained  distinction  as  a novelist,  as  a 
writer  of  historical  and  practical  works,  and 
as  editor  of  a ladies’  magazine.  Mrs.  E. 
Oakes  Smith  has  written  largely  and  well 
on  the  most  diverse  subjects — metaphysics, 
literature,  household  matters,  criticism,  the 
drama,  poetry,  and  fiction. 


Mrs.  Lydia  Maria  Child  (born  1802)  has 
been  a very  popular  writer,  Her  “ Ilobo- 
mok  ” and  “ The  Rebels  ” were  her  earlier 
efforts,  and  brought  her  reputation  which 
was  increased  by  her  subsequent  works. 
Mrs.  Caroline  M.  Kirkland  (1801-1864) 
was  a graceful  and  elegant  writer.  Her 
“ New  Home — Who’ll  Follow  ?”  first  intro- 
duced her  to  the  public,  and  her  subsequent 
works  enhanced  her  reputation.  Mrs  Alice 
B.  (Neal)  Haven  (1828-1863)  edited  the 
Saturday  Gazette  after  the  dea:h  of  her  hus- 
band, (Joseph  C.  Neal)  and  subsequently 
published  a volume  of  poems  and  a number 
of  admirable  juvenile  books. 

Mrs.  Mary  J.  Holmes,  Mrs.  M.  Virginia 
Terhune  (Marion  Ilarland),  Mrs.  Anna  C. 
(Mowatt)  Ritchie,  MBs  A.  J.  Evans,  Misses 
Alice  and  Phoebe  Cary,  Mrs.  E.  F.  Ellet, 
Mrs.  E.  C.  Embury,  Miss  Maria  Cummins, 
Miss  Caroline  Chesebro,  Mrs.  II.  Prescott 
Spofford,  Mrs.  E.  Robinson  (Talvi),  Mrs. 
Catharine  A.  Warfield,  Mrs.  Harriet  Stuart 
Phelps,  and  her  daughter,  Miss  E.  Stuart 
Phelps,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Stoddard,  Mrs.  Mary 
A.  Denison,  Mrs.  M.  A.  Sadlier,  Mrs.  Mar- 
garet C.  Lawrence,  Mrs.  Madeline  Leslie, 
Miss  Caroline  Kelly,  Mrs.  M.  E.  Hewitt, 
Miss  Virginia  F.  Townsend,  Mrs.  L.  C. 
Tuthill,  Mrs.  Emily  C.  Juilson  (Fanny  For- 
rester, 1817-1854),  Mrs.  Helen  C.  Knight, 
Mrs.  G.  Prentiss,  Mrs.  A.  D.  T.  Whitney, 
Miss  Helen  C.  Weeks,  Mrs.  J.  D.  Chaplin, 
Mrs.  Mary  D.  Chellis,  have  all  written  popu- 
lar works  of  fiction,  or  light  literature,  which 
have  had  a very  large  sale. 

Mrs.  S.  Margaret  F uller,  afterwards  Coun- 
tess D’Ossoli,  one  of  the  most  vigorous  and 
thoughtful  writers  of  any  age,  (1810-1850) 
was  for  some  years  in  charge  of  the  literary 
department  of  the  N.  Y.  Tribune , and  pub- 
lished beside  some  translations  and  many 
essays,  and  a work  entitled  “ Woman  in  the 
Nineteenth  Century.” 

Several  of  the  ladies  named  above  have 
distinguished  themselves  as  poets,  particu- 
larly Mrs.  Sigourney,  whose  religious  and 
elegiac  poems  have  given  her  a high  repu- 
tation ; Mrs.  Stowe,  Mrs.  E.  Oakes  Smith, 

, Mrs.  Alice  B.  Haven,  Mrs.  Emily  C.  Judson, 
Miss  Alice  Cary,  and  her  sister,  Miss  Phoebe 
Cary.  But  there  are  other  American  female 
writers,  whose  poetry  alone  has  won  them 
I high  distinction.  Among  these  we  may 
j name  Mrs.  Maria  Brooks  (Maria  del  Occi- 
| dent,  1795-1845),  whose  principal  poem, 
j “ Zophiel,”  attracted  attention  in  Europe 


286 


PRITING-PRESS. 


from  its  remarkable  curative  power;  the 
Davidson  sisters,  remarkable  instances  of 
precocious  talent ; Mrs.  Frances  Sargent  Os- 
good (1812-1850),  remarkable  for  her  play- 
fulness of  fancy  and  felicity  of  expression  ; 
Miss  Hannah  F.  Gould,  (1789-1865)  a poet 
of  rare  ability  and  vigor;  Mrs.  Julia  Ward 
Howe,  perhaps  the  most  gifted  of  our  living 
female  poets;  Mrs.  Frances  Anne  Kemble 
(1811-1871)  ; Mrs.  Caroline  Gilman  ; Mrs. 
Sarah  J.  Lippincott,  (Grace  Greenwood), 
whose  “Ariadne  a Naxos  ” attracted  great 


attention  from  its  intensity  of  passion  ; Mrs. 
Amelia  B.  Welby,  remarkable  for  the  exquis- 
ite rhythm  of  her  poetry  ; Mrs.  Sarah  Helen 
Whitman,  Mrs.  Anne  C.  (Lynch)  Botta,Mrs. 
Estelle  Anna  Lewis,  Mrs.  Sarah  J.  Hale, 
Miss  Caroline  May,  Mrs.  Maria  Lowell,  Mrs. 
Mary  H.  C.  Booth,  Miss  Edna  Dean  Proctor, 
Mrs.  Rosa  V.  Johnson,  Miss  Rose  Terry,  Mrs. 
M.  S.  B.  Dana,  and  Miss  Anna  Di  inker 
(Edith  May).  There  are  others  perhaps  who 
deserve  a place  in  this  record,  but  these  have 
all  gained  a prominent  position  as  poets. 


PRINTING-PRESS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PRINTING  PRESS— HANDPOWER— 
LIGHTNING. 

If  a middle-aged  man  now  visits  the  press- 
room of  a “ crack  ” daily,  and  observes  a 
huge  machine,  some  twenty  feet  high,  driven 
by  a steam  engine,  delivering  seven  large 
newspapers,  nicely  printed,  at  every  tick  of  a 
clock,  and  watches  the  piles  of  paper  grow- 
ing at  the  rate  of  420  per  minute,  or  at 
that  of  25,200  per  hour,  weighing  over  one 
ton,  and  reflects  that  the  utmost  power  of 
the  best  machines  of  his  youth  would  require 
an  active  man  and  a boy  two  long  hours 
to  do  what  this  whizzing  monster  does  in 

o 

a minute,  he  will  form  some  idea  of  the  pro- 
gress made  in  paper  printing,  and  also  of 
what  is  required  to  meet  a daily  demand. 
In  the  days  of  Franklin,  the  press-work  of  a 
paper  was  a very  laborious  affair.  The  ma- 
chines of  that  day  were  very  imperfect,  and, 
if  reference  is  had  to  the  illustration  on  an- 
other page,  contrasting  the  actual  machine 
which  Franklin  used,  and  which  is  still  pre- 
served in  the  patent  office  at  Washington, 
with  the  fast  press  now  in  use,  a good  idea 
will  be  formed  of  the  progress  in  press- 
building. In  that  press,  it  will  be  observed, 
the  bed  is  a platform  about  three  feet  high, 
between  two  uprights.  In  the  cross-piece  at 
the  top  is  a female  screw  in  which  works 
the  screw  attached  t6  the  wooden  platen. 
This  screw  being  turned  by  the  pressman, 
causes  the  platen  to  ascend  and  descend. 


There  is,  in  front,  a table,  which  slides  over 
the  platform  at  the  will  of  the  operator,  who, 
to  effect  this,  turns  a crank.  On  this  table 
was  laid  the  type.  Over  the  type  was  a 
frame,  which  encircled  the  type,  or  form,  and 
crossed  it  in  those  places  where  the  white 
margin  appears  in  a printed  paper.  On  this 
frame  the  paper  of  proper  size  was  laid,  after 
being  “ wet  down another  fold  of  the 
frame  confined  the  paper ; the  whole  was 
then  slid  on  to  the  platform.  The  screw 
being  turned,  caused  the  platen  to  descend, 
and  the  Impression  was  made.  The  screw 
was  then  raised,  the  form  slid  back,  the  frame 
raised,  and  the  paper  lifted  and  examined  by 
the  pressman  to  see  if  his  impression  was 
“good.”  If  it  satisfied  him,  he  proceeded 
to  ink  his  types  for  a new  impression.  The 
ink  employed  in  printing  is  very  different 
from  that  employed  for  writing,  and  much 
skill  is  required  in  the  manufacture.  It 
must  be  soft,  adhesive,  and  easily  trans- 
ferred ; it  must  dry  quickly,  and  be  durable, 
and  not  liable  to  spread.  The  usual  mate- 
rials are  linseed  oil,  rosin,  and  coloring  mat- 
ters, lamp-black  being  used  for  black  ink. 
The  peculiar  mode  of  the  best  makers  is 
somewhat  of  a secret.  The  old  mode  of  ap- 
plying it  was  by  two  ink  balls,  about  the 
size  of  a man’s  hat,  made  of  soft  leather,  and 
stuffed  with  cotton,  the  leather  being  nailed 
round  a wooden  handle.  The  pressman, 
taking  one  in  each  hand,  daubed  them  with 
ink,  and  worked  them  together  until  he  had 
spread  the  ink.  He  then  applied  them  to 


PRINTING-PRESS HAND  POWER LIGHTNING. 


287 


the  types  as  evenly  as  possible ; then,  laying 
them  aside,  he  proceeded,  as  before,  to  lay 
his  paper  evenly  upon  the  frames,  slide  it 
up,  work  the  screw,  etc.  By  this  process, 
an  active  man  could  work  fifty  sheets  in  an 
hour ; by  ten  hours  steady  industry,  he 
could  get  off  an  edition  of  500  copies  for 
the  carriers  in  the  morning.  There  was  lit- 
tle room  for  much  expansion  under  such  a 
state  of  printing.  The  first  great  advance  in 
the  direction  of  speed,  was  when  the  lever 
was  substituted  for  the  screw  in  making  the 
impression.  This  was  introduced  by  Mr.  John 
Clymer,  and  called  the  Columbian,  or  Clymer 
press,  in  which  there  was  no  screw,  but  the 
head  itself  was  a large  and  powerful  lever, 
acted  on  by  proportionate  levers,  thus  bring- 
ing to  perfection,  for  presses  of  a large  size, 
certain  principles  of  leverage  which  had  pre- 
viously been  patented  in  England,  and  used 
in  presses  of  a small  size,  such  as  foolscap. 
The  platen  was,  in  fact,  a fulcrum  for  the 
head,  or  great  lever.  Thus  the  fulcrum  and 
lever  superseded  the  inclined  plane,  or  screw. 
Mr.  Clymer  went  to  England  in  1817,  and, 
at  that  time,  the  famous  “ Cobbett’s  Regis- 
ter” was  printed  on  an  “ American  press,”  a 
circumstance  that  was  regarded  as  a great 
joke  at  the  time.  By  this  invention,  two 
levers,  one  affixed  at  the  cross-piece  above, 
and  one  to  the  platen,  were  brought  together 
by  a joint,  like  the  bent  knee  of  a man’s 
leg.  At  this  joint  was  applied  a lever,  by 
which  the  pressman,  with  one  pull,  brought 
the  joint  into  a perpendicular  line,  by  so  do- 
ing giving  an  instantaneous  and  powerful 
impression.  The  platen  being  suspended 
by  spiral  springs,  instantly  rose  when  the 
lever  was  released.  The  saving  in  time  was 
immense,  one  pull  of  the  workman  being 
sufficient  for  all  the  old  screwing  and  un- 
screwing. Improvements  in  the  Clymer 
press  were  made  by  Peter  Smith  and  Sam- 
uel Rust,  and  these  improvements  are  com- 
bined in  Iloe’s  Washington  press,  of  which 
a cut  will  be  found  on  another  page.  Inven- 
tions of  a similar  character  were  made  by 
Mr.  John  Wells,  of  Connecticut.  The  prin- 
ciple of  the  lever  has  been  applied  in  various 
ways,  and  contains  the  chief  feature  in  press 
power.  The  form  of  lever  now  generally 
used,  will  be  seen  in  the  engraving  of  Hoc 
and  Smith’s  printing  press,  which  is  the  fa- 
vorite for  all  work  where  power  presses  arc 
not  required.  Next  to  the  introduction  of 
the  lever,  was  the  substitution  of  the  inking 
machine  for  the  old  ink  balls.  This  was  { 


constructed  of  a cylinder  which  revolved,  by 
hand,  against  an  ink  trough,  and,  by  so  do- 
ing, received  evenly  over  its  surface  the  ink. 
The  smaller  rollers  were  constructed  on  a 
light  frame,  to  which  a handle  was  attached. 
These,  laid  upon  the  ink  roller,  received  from 
it  the  ink,  and  then  being  pushed  forward 
over  the  type,  imparted  it  to  them  with  one 
movement  of  the  hand.  This,  worked  by  a 
boy,  is  seen  in  the  engraving.  The  pressman 
was  now  relieved  of  the  inking,  and,  work- 
ing with  a lever,  he  could  print,  with  active 
industry,  250  sheets  in  an  hour.  The  next 
movement  was  to  make  this  inking  machine 
self-acting,  by  attaching  it  to  the  press  in 
such  a manner  that  lifting  the  paper  frame 
would  cause  it  to  act. 

The  Ruggles  Job  press,  introduced  in  1839, 
and  the  Combination  press  patented  in  1841, 
both  enjoyed  a large  measure  of  popularity, 
but  have  been  of  late  superceded  by  other 
styles,  especially  those  manufactured  by 
R.  Hoe  & Co.,  who  have  been  instrumental 
in  making  most  of  the  early  improvements 
of  late  years  upon  the  printing  press. 

The  next  important  improvement  in  the 
machines,  was  the  introduction  of  the  cylin- 
der, or  Napier  press.  In  this  machine,  of 
which  an  engraving  is  presented  in  another 
column,  the  form  of  type  is  locked  upon  a 
strong  iron  table,  which  moves  forward  and 
backward,  passing  in  its  course  under  a cyl- 
inder, wliiclq  made  of  iron,  is  covered  with 
a soft  blanket,  and  provided  with  a set  of 
fingers  to  seize  the  sheet  as  it  is  presented. 
Against  this  is  inclined  the  feeding  bench,  on 
which  is  laid  the  paper.  On  the  bench  is  a 
small  brass  peg,  or  pointer,  against  which 
the  feeder  brings  the  paper  accurately,  in  or- 
der that  the  sheets  may  “ register” — that  is, 
each  receive  the  type  at  the  same  distance 
from  the  margin.  When  the  cylinder  re- 
volves, it  raises  with  its  fingers  the  edge 
of  the  paper,  draws  it  round  itself,  and 
presses  it  against  the  type,  which,  at  the 
same  instant,  passes  under  it.  The  paper 
then  released  by  the  cylinder,  is  carried  by 
ribbons  to  the  rear,  while  the  type  vibrates 
back,  to  return  as  soon  as  the  cylinder  has 
again  drawn  forward  a sheet  of  paper.  At 
first,  a boy  was  required  to  fly  the  papers,  or 
catch  them  as  they  were  thrown  back  from 
the  cylinder,  and  pile  them  up.  This,  by  the 
self-acting  flyer,  as  seen  in  the  engraving,  is 
now  dispensed  with.  This  machine  raised 
the  number*  that  might  be  printed  to  be- 
) tween  2,000  and  3,000  per  hour.  The  bed 


288 


PRINTING  PRESS. 


is  made  of  a size  to  take  a paper  from  25x33 
inches,  to  one  40xG0  inches,  Very  soon  an 
improvement  suggested  itself  to  the  ingenious 
and  thoughtful  inventor.  As  at  first  con- 
structed, the  type,  in  moving  forward  and 
backward,  made  only  one  impression.  It 
was  easy  to  introduce  another  cylinder,  in 
order  to  take  an  impression  from  the  type 
on  its  return.  This  was  the  double  cylinder, 
which  delivers  a paper  at  each  end.  The 
cost  of  these  i<,  for  the  large  size,  $6,850 ; 
increased  capacity,  3,500  to  6,400  impressions 
per  hour.  In  this  operation,  the  vibration 
of  the  type  bed  was  the  great  difficulty. 
The  type  and  bed  will  weigh  over  1,000  lbs. 
This  mass,  moving  backward  and  forward 
with  great  momentum,  produced  a great 
concussion,  although  it  was  met  by  strong 
springs  which  stopped  its  progress  and  aided 
its  return.  Many  improvements  were  made 
in  these  springs.  The  noise  and  annoyance 
occasioned  by  the  concussion  of  the  bed 
against  the  springs,  which  are  placed  at  each 
end  of  the  machine  to  overcome  the  momen- 
tum of  the  bed,  was  removed  by  means  of 
adjustable  India-rubber  buffers  placed  at  the 
points  of  contact,  which  in  no  way  interfere 
with  the  lively  and  certain  action  of  the  spi- 
ral springs.  The  same  object  is  also  effected 
by  air  springs,  by  which  the  head  of  the 
bed,  plunging  into  a receiver,  condenses  the 
air,  causing  it  to  act  as  a spring. 

It  was  obvious,  however,  that  the  weight 
and  concussion  of  this  bed  were  a bar  to 
further  progress  in  this  direction,  and  it  was 
felt  that  greater  speed  could  be  attained  only 
by  causing  the  type  itself  to  revolve.  This 
was  no  new  idea.  It  had  been  patented  in 
England  in  1790,  but  the  inventor  could 
not  succeed  in  holding  the  types,  since  the 
rapid  revolution  of  such  a weight  gives  a 
powerful  centrifugal  motion.  What  they 
could  not  do  in  England,  Richard  M.  Hoe 
did  in  New  York,  in  1847,  after  many  at- 
tempts had  been  made  to  accomplish  the  de- 
sired result.  In  this  machine,  as  will  be 
seen  in  the  illustration,  the  form  of  type  is 
placed  on  the  surface  of  a horizontal  revolv- 
ing cylinder  of  about  four  and  a half  feet  in 
diameter.  The  form  occupies  a segment  of 
only  about  one-fourth  of  the  surface  of  the 
cylinder,  and  the  remainder  is  used  as  an 
ink-distributing  surface.  Around  this  main 
cylinder,  and  parallel  with  it,  are  placed 
smaller  impression  cylinders,  varying  in  num- 
ber from  four  to  ten,  according  to  the  size 
of  the  machine.  The  engraving  represents 


three.  The  large  cylinder  being  put  in  mo- 
tion, the  form  of  types  is  carried  successively 
to  all  the  impression  cylinders,  at  each  of 
which  a sheet  is  introduced,  and  receives  the 
impression  of  the  types  as  the  form  passes. 
Thus,  as  many  sheets  are  printed  at  each  rev- 
olution of  the  main  cylinder,  as  there  are 
impression  cylinders  around  it.  One  person 
is  required  at  each  impression  cylinder  to 
supply  the  sheets  of  paper,  which  are  taken 
at  the  proper  moment  by  fingers  or  grippers, 
and,  after  being  printed,  are  conveyed  out  by 
tapes  and  laid  in  heaps  by  means  of  self-act- 
ing flyers,  thereby  dispensing  with  the 
hands  required  in  ordinary  machines  to  re- 
ceive and  pile  the  sheets^  The  grippers 
hold  the  sheet  securely,  so  that  the  thinnest 
newspaper  may  be  printed  without  waste. 

The  ink  is  contained  in  a fountain  placed 
beneath  the  main  cylinder,  and  is  conveyed 
by  means  of  distributing  rollers  to  the  dis- 
tributing surface  on  the  main  cylinder.  This 
surface  being  lower,  or  less  in  diameter  than 
the  form  of  types,  passes  by  the  impression 
cylinder  without  touching.  For  each  im- 
pression, there  are  two  inking  rollers,  which 
receive  their  supply  of  ink  from  the  distrib- 
uting surface  of  the  main  cylinder,  which 
rise  and  ink  the  form  as  it  passes  under 
them,  after  which,  they  again  fall  to  the  dis- 
tributing surface. 

Each  page  of  the  paper  is  locked  up  on  a 
detached  segment  of  the  large  cylinder  which 
constitutes  its  bed  and  chase.  The  column 
rules  run  parallel  with  the  shaft  of  the  cylin- 
der, and  are,  consequently,  straight,  while 
the  head,  advertising,  and  dasli  rules, 
are  in  the  form  of  segments  of  a circle. 
The  column  rules  are  in  the  form  of  a 
wedge,  with  the  thin  part  directed  toward 
the  axis  of  the  cylinder,  so  as  to  bind  the 
types  securely.  These  wedge-shaped  column 
rules  are  held  down  to  the  bed  by  tongues 
projecting  at  intervals  along  their  length, 
which  slide  in  rebated  grooves  cut  crosswise 
in  the  face  of  the  bed.  The  spaces  in  the 
grooves  between  the  column  rules  are  accu- 
rately fitted  with  sliding  blocks  of  metal 
even  with  the  surface  of  the  bed,  the  ends 
of  which  blocks  are  cut  away  underneath  to 
receive  a projection  on  the  sides  of  the 
tongues  of  the  column  rules.  The  form  of 
type  is  locked  up  in  the  bed  by  means  of 
screws  at  the  foot  and  sides,  by  which  the 
type  is  held  as  securely  as  in  the  ordinary 
manner  upon  a flat  bed — if  not  even  more 
so.  The  speed  of  these  machines  is  limited 


PRINTING-PRESS HAND  POWER LIGHTNING. 


297 


only  by  the  ability  of  the  feeders  to  supply 
the  sheets.  The  four-cylinder  machine  is 
run  at  a speed  of  over  10,000  per  hour;  the 
six-cylinder  machine,  15,000  an  hour;  the 
eight-cylinder  machine,  20,000  ; and  the  ten- 
cylinder  machine,  25,000.  This  system  com- 
bines the  greatest  speed  in  printing,  durabil- 
ity of  the  machinery,  and  economy  of  labor. 
As  we  have  said,  this  great  machine  deliv- 
ers seven  sheets  per  second,  or  420  per  min- 
ute. It  does  in  one  minute  what  Franklin 
required  ten  hours  to  do,  and  the  papers 
contain  ten  times  as  much  matter,  and  are 
eight  times  as  large.  Thus,  to  print  as  much 
reading  would  have  required  100  hours  in 
the  last  century,  against  one  minute  now. 
In  other  words,  6,000  men  with  6,000  press- 
es, would  have  done  very  badly  what  this 
machine  does  very  well. 

The  next  attempted  improvement  in  the 
speed  of  machines  has  been,  to  do  for  the  re- 
volving cylinder  what  was  done  before  with 
the  Napier  press.  In  the  case  of  the  latter, 
another  cylinder  was  introduced  to  take  the 
type  on  its  return  vibration,  thus  getting  two 
impressions  from  one  movement.  In  the 
case  of  the  revolving  type,  something  simi- 
lar has  been  attempted.  It  has  been  stated 
that  the  form  of  type  occupies  but  a seg- 
ment of  the  cylinder.  It  was  conceived 
that  by  placing  the  other  form  on  the  va- 
cant space  of  the  cylinder,  that  both  would 
be  printed  with  one  revolution,  thus  doub- 
ling the  amount  of  work  done  by  the  same 
number  of  revolutions.  The  mechanical 
part  the  Messrs.  Hoe  succeeded  in  perfecting, 
but  the  difficulty  encountered  was  in  the  pa- 
per. It  will  be  conceived  that  when  the  pa- 
per is  printed  with  such  inconceivable  rapid- 
ity, that  the  ink  has  no  time  to  “ set,”  and 
to  impress  it  on  the  other  side  in  almost  the 
same  instant  of  time  is  more  than  the  nature 
of  the  operation  will  permit,  and  the  type 
“takes  off,”  so  to  speak,  or  will  not  pro- 
duce a perfect  impression.  Some  other  per- 
sons made  the  same  attempt,  with  similar  re- 
sults. Progress  in  that  direction  has,  there- 
fore, been  suspended,  fit  the  < Ports  of  gen- 
ius are  being  directed  anew,  and  the  expe- 
rience of  the  past  has  warned  us  not  to  be 
surprised  at  what  may  yet  be  done.  There 
have  been  attempts  made  to  simplify  the 
process  by  fitting  stereotype  plates  to  cylin- 
ders, and  with  some  success;  but  under  the 
old  plaster  process  too  long  a time  was  re- 
quired for  drying  and  finishing  to  permit  their 
use  by  the  daily  press.  The  introduction  of 


the  paper  process,  (making  the  dies  or  mat- 
rices in  which  the  stereotype  plates  are  cast, 
of  paper  pulp)  has  effected  a complete  revo- 
lution, and  all  the  dailies  of  large  circulation 
stereotype  their  forms. 

The  weeklies  of  large  circulation,  are  usu- 
ally printed  on  Hoe’s  large  single  cylinder 
press.  In  these  cases,  where  time  is  not  so 
much  an  object,  the  forms  are  multiplied  by 
the  electrotypes  and  worked  on  a large  num- 
ber of  presses.  In  some  cases,  the  circula- 
tion running  up  to  400,000  weekly,  a press 
running  1.500  per  hour,  or  20.000  in  a day, 
will  require  ten  presses  four  days  to  perfect 
the  edition  on  both  sides,  and  for  this  pur- 
pose, ten  separate  forms  will  be  required. 
These  maclnnes  will  take  a form  19x23^ 
inches,  and  up  to  40x57  inches.  The  cost 
of  the  former  is  1,800,  and  of  the  latter 
size,  $3,900. 

The  press  most  uced  for  book  work  differs 
in  principle  from  either  the  Napier  or  the 
revolving  type.  It  was  the  invention  of 
Isaac  Adams,  of  Massachusetts,  and  it  bears 
his  name.  The  type  in  the  press  has  no 
movement  except  slightly  up  and  down.  It 
receives  the  ink  from  a self-acting  machine, 
and  the  paper  is  fed  to  it  from  an  inclined 
plane,  when,  the  impression  being  made,  it 
is  lifted  off*  by  the  fly  and  deposited  in  the 
rear.  It  is  one  of  the  most  perfect  of  presses. 
The  prices  of  these  vary  from  $1,050  to  $6,- 
250  according  to  size.  The  engraving  on 
another  page  will  give  a good  idea  of  this 
machine,  of  which  the  patent  is  secured  by 
the  Messrs.  Iloe. 

For  the  best  qualities  of  book,  wood-cut, 
and  color  printing,  where  the  wood  cuts  are 
printed  in  the  same  page  with  letter-press, 
the  Messrs.  Iloe  (to  whom  all  the  most  im- 
portant of  i he  late  improvements  in  printing 
presses  are  due)  have  produced  a “ stop-cyl- 
inder wood-cut.  press,”  which  by  its  numer- 
ous rollers  and  its  perfect  adjustment,  secures 
the  finest  possible  impressions  of  the  best 
wood  engravings.  It  lias  from  two  to  ten 
form  rollers,  and  from  three  to  twelve  dis- 
ributors,  according  to  size,  and  by  an  at- 
tachm  nt  the  rollers  may  be  made  to  pass 
over  the  form  two  or  four  times  between 
each  impression.  There  is  no  jarring  of  the 
bed,  and  by  an  ingenious  device  a perfect 
register  is  obtained.  A “ Type  Revolving 
Book  Perfecting  Press  ” of  their  construc- 
tion is  also  an  admirable  machine  lor  the 
finest  book  work,  but  is  very  expensive. 
Among  other  book  and  newspaper  presses  of 


298 


TYPES. 


considerable  merit,  introduced  within  the 
past  ten  years,  are  the  Cottrell  and  Babcock, 
the  A.  B.  Taylor,  the  A.  Campbell,  and  the 
* C.  Potter,  Jr.  & Co.  presses.  Messrs.  Van- 
deburgh  & Wells,  dealers  in  printing  presses 


and  printers’  materials,  express  a preference 
for  the  first  two,  but  all  have  their  good  qual- 
ities. There  are  also  several  new  jobbing 
presses,  including  two  of  Hoe’s,  Gordon’s, 
the  Universal,  and  the  Globe. 


TYPES. 


CHAPTER  I. 

TYPE  FOUNDING— ST E R EOT YPING — ELEC- 
TROTYPING. 

There  has  been  little  change  in  the  gene- 
ral form  of  metal  types  used  in  printing,  but 
much  improvement  in  the  quality  of  the 
metal  used,  in  the  style  of  the  letters,  and  in 
the  process  of  casting.  There  are  many 
sizes  of  type  used,  but  the  ten  following  are 
those  most  used  in  books  and  newspapers. 
They  are  mentioned  in  the  order  of  the  sizes, 
the  smallest  being  first : — Diamond ; Pearl ; 
Agate;  Nonpareil;  Minion;  Brevier;  Bour- 
geois ; Long  Primer ; Small  Pica ; Pica. 
The  size  of  the  type  employed  in  this  page 
is  Long  Primer. 

There  are  some  combinations  of  these 
sizes ; but  these  are  the  leading  ones  most 
in  use.  These  have  not  varied  much  for  a 
long  period  of  time,  although  the  compe- 
tition among  the  type  founders  has  led  to 
the  introduction  of  many  styles. 

In  1812,  on  the  publication  of  “The  Co- 
lumbiad,”  by  Joel  Barlow,  a size  of  type, 
known  as  Columbian,  was  cut  for  the  work, 
which  was  designed  to  be  very  perfect.  It 
was  embellished  by  Robert  Fulton ; and  it 
was  the  first  ever  printed  upon  Clymer’s 
newly  invented  press,  which  press  took  the 
nam  3 of  the  Columbian  in  consequence. 

The  casting  of  the  type  was,  until  within 
fifteen  years,  done  by  hand  for  each  separate 
letter.  The  matrix  of  the  type  is  of  cop- 
per, 1^-  inches  long,  £ of  an  inch  deep,  and 
of  the  breadth  of  the  type  to  be  cast.  The 
form  of  the  letter  is  made  in  the  end  of  the 
copper  matrix  by  a steel  die.  The  copper 
matrix  is  then  inclosed  in  a wooden  box, 
which  has  a hopper  to  admit  the  melted 
metal.  There  is  a spring  attached,  by  which 
the  matrix  may  be  opened  to  release  the  let- 
ter when  cast.  The  caster,  holding  this  in 
his  left  hand,  takes  from  the  furnace,  with  a 
very  small  iron  ladle  or  spoon,  about  as 


much  of  the  metal  as  will  form  one  letter. 
This  he  pours  in,  and  at  the  same  time  gives 
the  matrix  a smart  upward  jerk,  which  set- 
tles the  metal  into  the  finest  cuts  of  the  let- 
ter. He  then  presses  the  spring,  hooks  out 
the  letter,  closes  the  matrix,  and  proceeds  as 
before.  A skilful  man  will  in  this  way  cast 
500  types  in  an  hour.  In  1811,  Mr.  David 
Bruce  received  a patent  for  an  improvement 
in  the  mould,  by  which  25  per  cent,  more 
work  was  done.  This  system  has  changed 
since  the  introduction  of  machinery. 

About  15  years  since,  Mr.  Geo.  Bruce,  Jr., 
of  New  York,  invented  a very  beautiful  ma- 
chine for  casting  type,  and  it  is  the  best  in 
the  world.  The  patent  has  been  renewed  at 
the  last  session  of  Congress  for  seven  years, 
and  the  right,  title,  and  interest,  have  been 
purchased  by  Messrs.  J.  Conner  & Sons.  By 
this  machine  a man  can  cast  three  times  as 
much  in  a day  as  by  the  old  plan.  The 
wages  are  less  than  half,  per  thousand,  what 
they  wrere  before,  but  the  caster,  neverthe- 
less, earns  more.  In  these  machines  the 
type  metal — which  is  a mixture  of  lead,  tin, 
and  antimony — is  contained  in  a state  of 
fusion  in  a small  iron  reservoir,  about  5 
inches  square,  and  into  which  it  is  forced 
with  great  power.  This  is  tapped  by  a 
nipple,  which  holds  as  much  melted  metal 
as  will  cast  a type.  The  mould  is  of  steel,  in 
a small  machine  which  is  worked  by  a crank. 
It  is  simply  for  the  body  of  the  type,  and  is 
so  placed  that  the  lower  end,  by  a move- 
ment of  the  machine,  will  fit  exactly  over  the 
orifice  of  the  nipple.  Against  the  other  end 
is  applied  a copper  matrix  of  the  letter,  and 
firmly  held  by  a spring.  The  operator  then 
causes  the  metal  to  jet  into  the  mould.  Then, 
as  soon  as  it  is  “ set,”  he  releases  it,  opens 
the  mould,  and  allows  the  type  to  drop  into 
a box.  In  this  process,  the  matrix  of  the 
letter  is  separated  from  the  body  of  the 
type.  It  is  formed  on  a steel  die,  and  im- 
j pressed  into  the  copper  previously  prepared, 


PATENT  WASHINGTON  PRINTING  PRESS. 


PATENT  HAND-PRESS  STEAM  INKING  MACHINE. 


IMPROVED  INKING  APPARATUS  FOR  THE  nAND-PRESS 


PATENT  SINGLE  SMALL  CYLINDER  PRINTING  MACHINE. 


* 


SINGLE  LARGE  PRINTING  MACHINE 


TEN  CYLINDER  TYPE-REVOLVING  PRINTING  MACHINE. 


FOUE  COLOE  FEINTING  MACHINE. 


BED  AND  PLATEN  POWER  PRINTING  MACHINE. 


In  this  machine  the  forms  are  placed  on  a cylinder  which  enables  it  to  run  with  a continuous  rotary 
movement.  The  tickets  are  worked  from  a roll  of  paper,  and  are  printed,  numbered,  cut,  and  deposited 
in  a receptacle  in  numerical  order  in  a single  operation.  The  numbering  apparatus  prints  the  number  m 
a different  color  from  the  body  of  the  ticket,  and  can  bo  set  at  0 or  any  required  number  with  great 
facility.  The  machine  will  print  from  10,000  to  12,000  tickets  per  hour,  and  occupies  a space  of  about 
two  feet  square. 


TYPE-FOUNDING STEREOTYPING ELECTROTYPING. 


299 


with,  great  force.  The  adjustment  of  this 
matrix  to  the  mould  is  a work  of  great  care 
and  nicety.  After  the  type  is  cast,  by 
whatever  process — whether  by  machinery  or 
the  ancient  spoon  method — it  has  to  under- 
go a smoothing  operation.  This  is  performed 
by  young  people,  principally  girls;  three 
or  four  sitting  around  tables  surmounted 
with  properly  prepared  stone  slabs,  and 
by  the  fingers  rubbing  the  roughness  off 
each  individual  type.  At  this  work  they 
earn  from  65  to  67  per  week.  The  type 
goes  then  into  the  hands  of  the  dresser.  He 
cuts  out  what  is  called  the  jet  end,  by  which 
process  all  the  types  are  made  of  the  exact 
height.  On  the  nicety  of  this  operation  de- 
pends the  ability  to  use  the  type.  It  may 
be  here  remarked  that  American  type  comes 
nearly  always  perfect  into  the  hands  of  the 
dresser,  while  in  England  nearly  one-fourtli 
is  rejected  as  imperfect. 

The  types  have  upon  one  side  a “ nick.” 
As  the  types  are  perfected,  a boy  sets  them 
on  a “ galley,”  with  all  the  nicks  out.  They 
are  then  assorted  into  small  “fonts,”  and 
are  then  ready  for  the  printer.  The  propor- 
tions in  'which  the  different  letters  are  cast 
to  a font  of  type,  and  in  which  they  occur 
in  print,  are  as  follows:  Letter  e,  1500; 
t,  900 ; a,  850 ; n,  o,  s,  i,  800 ; h,  640 ; r,  620 ; 
d,  440  ; 1,  400  ; u,  340  ; c,  m,  300  ; f,  250  ; 
w,  y,  200 ; g,  p,  170 ; b,  160  ; v,  120  ; k,  80 ; 
q,  50 ; j,  x,  40 ; z,  20.  Besides  these,  are 
the  combined  letters : fi,  50 ; ff,  40  ; fl,  20  ; 
ffi,  15;  ffl,  10;  a?,  10;  ce,  5.  The  propor- 
tion for  capitals  and  small  capitals  differs 
from  the  small  letters.  In  those,  I takes  the 
first  place,  then  T,  then  A and  E,  etc.  The 
“ cases”  in  which  the  types  arc  put  for  use,  are 
arranged  in  the  manner  seen  in  the  engraving 
on  another  page.  The  little  square  boxes 
in  which  the  type  is  laid  are  not  arranged  in 
the  regular  order  of  the  alphabet,  but  in  the 
order  which  experience  has  shown  is  the 
most  convenient  for  the  compositor.  Those 
letters  which  occur  the  oftenest — as  e,  for 
instance — occupy  the  largest  squares  nearest 
his  hand,  and  the  others  in  the  order  of  their 


ems  when  working  by  the  piece.  An  em  is 
about  the  space  of  a letter  M,  and  2,200 
ems  go  to  one  of  the  pages  of  this  book.  A 
good  workman  will  set  5,000  to  6,000  ems 
in  a day.  Sometimes  they  are  paid  by  the 
week,  $12  per  week,  which  is  about  the 
amount  that  an  expert  workman  will  earn 
by  the  thousand.  The  type  he  places  in  a 
small  iron  frame,  held  in  his  left  hand,  and 
called  a “ stick,”  which  is  adjusted  to  the 
breadth  of  the  column  or  page.  When  this 
is  full,  it  is  deposited  on  a “ galley,”  in  a 
long  column.  From  this  galley  a proof  im- 
pression is  taken  to  be  read  by  the  author 
and  proof-reader.  The  inaccuracies  are' 
marked  on  this,  and  when  corrected  in  the 
type,  the  foreman  “ makes  up  his  form.”  If 
for  a daily  paper,  this  is  done  by  screwing 
the  columns  into  the  “ turtle,”  which  is  fas- 
tened upon  the  revolving  cylinder  of  the 
press.  When  the  type  has  been  printed 
from  or  worked  oft’,  it  is  immediately  washed 
in  a strong  alkali,  to  clear  it  from  the  ink. 
If  this  is  not  done  thoroughly,  it  will  not 
print  clear.  Formerly  this  washing  was 
done  with  urine,,  but  of  late  an  alkali  is 
substituted.  The  clean  type  has  now  to  be 
“ distributed,”  or  put  back  into  the  cases. 
For  this  purpose  the  compositor  takes  the 
“ matter”  in  his  left  hand,  reads  a line,  and 
drops  each  letter  into  its  appropriate  place. 
This  occupies  a good  deal  of  time. 

Most  of  this  type  setting  and  distributing 
is  still  done  by  hand  up  to  the  present  time, 
although  the  greatest  efforts  have  been 
made  to  introduce  machinery.  A number  of 
type-setting  machines  have  been  invented, 
and  many  of  them  work  well  in  the  setting  of 
the  type — the  operator  working  upon  keys, 
like  those  of  a piano,  with  the  copy  before 
him.  The  arrangement  is  such  that,  by 
touching  the  proper  key,  the  appropriate 
letter  falls  into  line,  and  the  work  goes  on 
rapidly  and  well,  even  to  the  punctuation. 
The  difficulty  not  yet  overcome,  and  which 
is  an  obstacle  to  its  usefulness,  is  that  no 
means  of  “justifying”  have  been  discov- 


relativc importance ; the  capitals,  small 
capitals,  and  marks,  each  in  its  proper  place, 
in  the  upper  case.  The  workman  does  not 
look  at  the  type.  lie  reads  his  -copy  only, 
and  that  frequently  tasks  his  ingenuity  to 
make  out.  lie  knows  the  types  from  the 
boxes  they  occupy,  and  the  “ nick”  enables 
him  to  place  them  right  side  up  by  sense  of 
feeling  only.  He  is  paid  by  the  thousand 
18  * 


ered — that  is,  of  breaking  the  lines  into 
the  suitable  length,  and  “ spacing”  them  out 
so  that  each  line  shall  have  the  exact  length 
of  all  the  rest.  This  is  done  by  the  hand 
compositor,  with  great  nicety,  in  his  iron 
stick,  as  his  work  progresses.  As  this  must 
still  be  done  by  hand,  after  the  machine  has 
set  up  the  type,  no  great  advantage  is  de- 
rived from  its  action.  In  type  distributing 
more  success  has  been  obtained.  The  ina- 


300 


TYPES. 


chine  is  so  constructed  that  it  will  distribute 
12,000  ems  per  hour  with  unerring  accuracy, 
and  one  man  may  tend  three  machines ; 
hence  he  will  distribute,  by  its  aid,  36,000 
ems  per  hour,  while  a good  workman  by 
hand  will  only  distribute  3,000  ems.  This 
seems  very  desirable,  but  a new  difficulty 
presents  itself.  The  machine  cannot  read, 
so  as  to  distinguish  one  letter  from  another, 
and  it  is  guided  in  its  selection  by  the 
“ nicks.”  It  follows,  that  no  two  of  the 
twenty-four  letters  of  the  alphabet  should 
have  the  same  “nicks;”  consequently,  a 
special  kind  of  type  must  be  cast  for  the 
machine.  They  are  then  put  into  it  in 
a mass,  and  present  themselves  alternately 
until  the  proper  “ nick”  goes  through.  The 
advantages  of  the  machine  do  not  overcome 
its  disadvantages. 

In  book  work  the  type  is  not  hurried  from 
the  compositor  to  the  pressman,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  daily  papers.  There  is  more  time, 
and  the  type  itself  is,  therefore,  not  usually 
printed  from,  but  it  is  stereotyped.  This 
was  introduced  in  America  about  the  year 
1817,  by  Mr.  G.  Bruce,  the  father  of  the  in- 
ventor of  the  type-casting  machine. 

In  this  process,  the  type  being  locked 
up  in  the  form,  which  usually  contains  2 to  6 
pages,  and  carefully  revised  and  corrected,  is 
sent  to  the  stereotyper. 

Stereotyping  is  the  mode  of  casting  per- 
fect fac-similes,  in  metal,  of  the  face  of 
movable  types.  The  plan  is  simple.  After 
arranging  the  type  in  pages,  and  getting  it 
perfectly  smooth  and  clean,  it  is  placed  in  a 
frame,  the  surface  being  thoroughly  oiled, 
to  prevent  the  mould  from  adhering,  when 
liquid  gypsum,  or  plaster-of-Paris,  is  poured 
over  the  page.  The  mould,  thus  taken,  if 
found  perfect,  is  dressed  with  a sharp  in- 
strument, and  is  then  ready  to  receive  the 
metal.  It  is  then  put  into  an  iron  cast- 
ing-box, and  the  whole  immersed  in  liquid 
type  metal.  Twenty  to  thirty  minutes  usu- 
ally suffice  for  casting.  The  box  is  then 
swung  out  of  the  molten  mass  into  a cool- 
ing-trough, in  which  the  under  side  is  ex- 
posed to  the  water.  When  hard,  the  caster 
breaks  off  the  superfluous  metal,  and  sepa- 
rates the  plaster  mould  from  the  plate.  It  is 
then  picked,  the  edges  trimmed,  the  back 
shaved  to  a proper  thickness,  and  made 
ready  for  the  press. 

The  process  of  electrotyping  has,  of  late, 
become  an  important  element,  and  is  in  many 
cases  preferred  to  the  old  system  of  stereo- 


typing. It  results  from  the  disposition  of 
copper,  held  in  solution,  to  deposit  itself  on 
a metal  surface,  when  under  the  influence  of 
magnetism. 

Stereotyping  by  the  Electrotype  process 
is  conducted  as  follows  : An  impression  is 
taken  from  the  corrected  forms  or  engraved 
block  upon  a plate  of  wax,  and  finely  pul- 
verized plumbago  is  then  dusted  thinly  over 
the  surface  of  the  wax.  The  excess  is  blown 
away  in  a machine  contrived  for  this  pur- 
pose, and  the  fine  dust  remains  uniformly  in 
contact  with  the  wax  in  every  little  depres- 
sion and  line,  without  filling  these  up.  The 
object  of  the  plumbago  is  to  act  as  the  con- 
ducting medium  for  the  galvanic  current, 
until  a film  of  copper  is  deposited.  But  by 
a recent  modification  of  the  process,  this 
film  is  also  produced  before  the  article  is 
put  into  the  trough,  by  the  application  of 
a wash  of  sulphate  of  copper,  (solution  of 
blue  vitriol,)  and  dusting  over  it  fine  iron 
filings.  The  solution  is  decomposed  by  the 
iron,  and  metallic  copper  is  immediately 
precipitated,. forming  a delicate  film  which 
uniformly  covers  the  whole  surface.  The 
wax  plate  retaining  this  film  is  well  washed, 
and  is  then  ready  for  the  galvanic  trough. 
In  this  it  is  left  over  night  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  electric  current,  and  in  the 
morning  when  taken  out,  the  coating  of  cop- 
per is  found  to  be  sufficiently  thick  for  hand- 
ling. The  wax  is  removed,  and  the  copper 
sheet,  first  tinned  on  the  back,  is  placed  face 
down  in  an  apparatus  in  which  it  is  covered 
with  melted  type  metal.  Thus  backed  a 
plate  is  obtained,  which,  after  being  dressed 
by  planing  and  squaring,  is  screwed  down 
upon  a mahogany  block,  the  height  of  the 
whole  being  the  same  as  that  of  type. 

Plates  for  use  upon  the  cylinders  of  print- 
ing machines  are  made  with  the  curve  of  the 
cylinders,  the  forms  themselves  in  which  the 
type  are  paged  having  a convex  surface, 
which  gives  them  the  name  of  “ turtles.” 

In  making  copper  faced  type,  ordinary 
types  are  set  in  a frame  so  arranged  as  to 
let  only  the  letter  end  in  the  copper  solution 
of  the  battery.  The  deposit  of  copper  ad- 
heres to  this  end,  which  it  completely  covers. 
Such  type  are  now  extensively  used  in  large 
establishment*,  and  are  very  durable. 

Within  the  past  twelve  years,  several  pro- 
cesses have  been  invented,  for  copying  print- 
ed books,  steel  and  wood  engravings,  maps, 
etc.,  by  photography  upon  stone  or  hardened 
wax  or  metallic  surfaces  and  by  etching,  or 


NEWSPAPERS DAILIES — WEEKLIES PERIODICALS. 


301 


the  use  of  acids,  transforming  these  copies 
into  matrices  from  which  plates  could  be 
cast  analogous  to  stereotype  or  electrotype 
plates.  These  processes,  of  which  Osborne’s 
Photolithographic,  the  Heliotype,  the  Alber- 
type,  and  Jewett’s  and  Morse’s  Cerographie 
processes  are  those  best  known,  have  reached 
various  stages  of  perfection,  but  are  undoubt- 


edly destined  to  be  of  great  service  in  some 
departments  of  the  printing  art.  One  of 
the  finest  specimens  of  this"  kind  of  work, 
was  the  fac-simile  edition  of  Albert  Durer’s 
“ Little  Passion,”  copied  from  William  C. 
Prime,  Esq.,  by  Mr.  Julius  Bien,  a New 
York  Artist.” 


NEWSPAPERS 


t 


CHAPTER  L 

NEWSPAPERS — DAILIES — WEEKLIES — PE- 
RIODICALS. 

The  power  and  circulation  of  the  daily 
press  are  among  the  marvels  of  the  present 
day,  and  they  are  features  peculiarly  Ameri- 
can. No  country  presents  such  a number 
of  news  publications,  and  none  such  a uni- 
versal popular  demand  for  them.  This  re- 
sult has  been  obtained  mostly  in  the  last 
twenty-five  years,  by  a combination  of 
causes.  The  two  leading  ones,  are  the  intro- 
duction of  the  cheap  press  and  the  inven- 
tion of  the  means  of  so  multiplying  num- 
bers, that  much  interesting  matter  can  be 
sold  for  a little  money.  Take  a leading- 
morning  daily.  This  is  equal  to  a book  of 
more  than  100  solid  octavo  pages,  sold  to 
the  retailer  for  one  and  a half  cents  every 
morning,  no  profit  being  derived  from  the 
sale.  This  has  become  possible  only  through 
the  ability  to  produce  a vast  number  on 
one  hand,  and  through  the  immense  re- 
ceipts for  advertising  on  the  other.  By  the 
introduction  of  a cheap  press,  is  not  to  be 
understood  the  mere  printing  of  a mass  of 
matter  for  a small  price,  but  the  introduction 
of  such  matter  as  attracts  the  attention  of 
persons  not  previously  habitual  readers,  and 
exciting  in  them  so  strong  an  interest  as  to 
make  papers  for  the  future  a necessity.  It  is 
this  which  has  been  done  by  the  cheap  press. 

The  first  newspapers  of  the  country  were 
hardly  worth  the  name.  In  the  colonics 
there  was  little  of  interest  to  draw  public 
attention,  and  such  papers  as  the  Spectator 
and  Tattler  came  across  the  water  to  meet 
the  literary  taste  of  the  more  wealthy,  while 
the  jealous  care  of  the  mother  country 
watched  over  the  colonial  papers,  lest  they  ! 


should  breed  sedition.  Dr.  Franklin  informs 
us  that  the  first  start  he  got  in  life  was 
through  the  misfortune  of  his  brother,  who 
owned  the  paper  on  which  he  was  an  appren- 
tice, in  incurring  the  displeasure  of  the  gov- 
ernment for  disrespectful  remarks.  The  pa- 
per was  suspended,  as  Paris  papers  are  at  the 
present  day,  and  Benjamin’s  indentures  were 
cancelled  in  order  that  he  might  become  the 
nominal  owner.  JThe  editor  of  the  Boston 
Courant , in  1732,  made  his  valedictory  to 
the  public,  because  he  found  it  too  vexatious 
to  be  running  with  his  proof  in  his  pocket 
to  the  government  house,  and  the  new  editor 
promised  to  do  the  best  he  could  under  the 
circumstances.  There  were  few  subjects 
then  to  interest  the  general  reader,  and  the 
restricted  state  of  industry  allowed  but  little 
range  for  advertising.  The  paper  was  poor, 
and  mostly  imported  at  a high  price  from 
England,  while  the  laborious  work  of  a man 
through  the  live-long  night  on  the  presses  of 
the  day,  gave  but  a few  hundred  to  circulate 
in  the  morning,  and  these  few  were  to  be 
sold  at  a rate  that  must  cover  all  the  expen- 
ses— that  is  to  say,  for  more  than  they  were 
wortft. 

The  first  daily  paper  published  in  the 
United  States,  was  the  Pennsylvania  Packet 
or  General  Advertiser , started  as  a weeklv,  by 
John  Dunlap,  in  1771,  and  merged  into  a 
daily  in  1784,  at  the  peace.  To  one  of  the 
conductors  of  the  paper,  Washington  gave 
the  manuscript  of  his  “ Farewell  Address,” 
and  which,  at  a sale  made  in  18JJ,  was  pur- 
chased by  Mr.  Lennox,  of  New  York,  f>r 
§2,000.  The  first  form  in  which  printed 
news  appeared  in  England  was  that  of  dog- 
gerel ballads,  which  were  issued  as  early  as 
the  reign  of  Queen  Mary.  These  were  fol- 
lowed by  occasional  sheets,  or  pamphlets,  of 


302 


NEWSPAPERS. 


news ; but  the  first  approach  to  a regular 
newspaper  was  the  Weekly  Newes from  Italy, 
Germanie , c i'c.,  May  23,  1622,  which  was  con- 
tinued, with  some  variations  of  title  and  oc- 
casional intermissions,  until  1640.  The  ear- 
liest specimen  of  parliamentary  reporting  is 
entitled,  The  Diurnal  Occurrences  or  Daily 
Proceedings  of  Both  Houses  in  this  Great 
and  Happy  Parliament,  from  3 d November, 
1640,  to  3 d November,  1641.  More  than 
one  hundred  newspapers,  with  different 
titles,  appear  to  have  been  published  between 
this  date  and  the  death  of  Charles  I.,  and  up- 
ward of  eighty  others  between  that  event 
and  the  Restoration.  Occasional  papers 
were  issued  after  the  civil  war  began,  limited 
to  local  or  special  occurrences,  as  News  from 
Hull,  Truths  from  York , Tidings  from  Ire- 
land. The  more  regular  newspapers  were 
published  weekly  at  first,  then  twice  or  thrice 
in  a week.  The  impatience  of  the  people 
soon  led  to  the  publication  of  daily  papers ; 
and  Spalding,  the  Aberdeen  annalist,  men- 
tions that  in  December,  1642,  daily  papers 
came  from  London,  called  Diurnal  Occur- 
rences, declaring  what  was  done  in  Parliament. 
In  the  Scottish  campaign  of  1650,  the  army 
of  Charles  and  that  of  Oliver  Cromwell  each 
carried  its  printer  along  with  it  to  report 
progress,  and,  of  course,  to  exaggerate  suc- 
cesses. It  is  from  this  circumstance  that  the 
first  introduction  of  newspapers  into  Scotland 
has  been  attributed  to  Oliver  Cromwell. 

The  stirring  events  of  the  American  Revo- 
lution in  like  manner  gave  a great  impulse  to 
printing ; but  that  took  the  form  of  pamph- 
lets and  circulars  more  than  that  of  the  peri- 
odical press.  The  event  made  the  press  free, 
and  it  began  a new  career ; but  the  habits  of 
the  people  had  not  been  overcome,  nor  were 
the  means  of  popularizing  the  press  yet  in 
existence.  Nevertheless,  politics  became  the 
staple  of  newspapers,  which  were  started  in 
most  sections  as  the  organs  of  parties  and  to 
support  candidates  for  office ; as  a matter  of 
course  these  were  read  mostly  by  those  who 
were  of  the  same  way  of  thinking.  The  cir- 
culation could  never  reach  a point  that  would 
make  it  profitable  of  itself,  because  the  limit 
was  the  power  of  the  press  to  work  the  papers. 
In  the  great  cities  the  chief  support  of  the 
press  was  the  advertising  patronage,  bestow- 
ed in  some  degree  in  the  light  of  political 
support.  The  foreign  news  and  domestic 
items  of  intelligence  made  up  the  general 
interests,  with  ship  news,  that  began  after  the 
war  of  1812  to  have  a more  extended  char- 


acter. These  papers,  published  at  $10  per 
annum,  did  not  much  interest  the  mass  of 
people,  beyond  whose  reach  the  price  for  the 
most  part  placed  them  ; advertising  patron- 
age and  government  “pap”  were  therefore 
the  sources  looked  to  for  profit.  These  pa- 
pers were  seldom  left  in  families,  but  were 
carried  home  by  those  who  took  them  at 
their  places  of  business.  The  papers  of  the 
early  part  of  the  century  were  very  meagre 
The  oldest  existing  papers  of  New  York  are 
the  Commercial  Advertiser,  founded  in  1797, 
and  th % Evening  Post , in  1801.  The  rival- 
ry among  the  papers  of  the  day  was  not  so 
much  to  interest  the  general  reading  public, 
as  to  conciliate  those  commercial  interests  on 
the  patronage  of  which  the  means  of  the  paper 
mostly  depended.  The  Commercial  Gazette, 
of  New  York,  became  a leading  journal 
through  the  enterprise  of  its  editor  in  col- 
lecting ship  news.  He  himself  rowed  a boat, 
boarding  vessels  coming  up  the  bay,  to  col- 
lect reports  with  which  he  enriched  his  col- 
umns. Other  papers  soon  followed  his  ex- 
ample. In  1827,  the  New  York  Journal  of 
Commerce  was  started,  chiefly  by  Arthur 
Tappan,  Esq.,  of  Boston,  and  David  Ilale, 
then  an  auctioneer  in  Boston,  was  made  joint 
editor  with  Mr.  Hallock,  of  New  Haven. 
About  the  same  time,  two  papers  were  uni- 
ted in  the  New  York  Courier  and  Enquirer , 
under  James  Watson  Webb.  These  two 
papers  employed  news  schooners  to  furnish 
ship  news  at  great  expense.  This  enterprise 
was  promoted  by  the  introduction  of  a Na- 
pier press,  which  allowed  of  an  increased  cir- 
culation of  larger  sized  papers,  and  these 
became  filled  with  advertising  as  the  specu- 
lative years  that  exploded  with  1837  came 
on.  The  success  of  these  two  rival  papers, 
was  fatal  to  the  oiher  old  papers.  The  Mer- 
cantile Advertiser , by  Butler  ; the  Daily  Ad- 
vertiser, by  Dwight  and  Townsend,  and  the 
Commercial  Gazette,  by  Lang,  which  had  long 
flourished,  died  out.  Several  other  papers 
followed,  among  which  was  the  New  York 
American,  an  evening  paper,  edited  by  Chas. 
King,  Esq.  At  that  period  cheap  news- 
papers, fast  presses,  telegraph  and  express 
companies  made  their  appearance  all  to- 
gether, to  work  out  by  mutual  aid  the  mar- 
vels that  we  have  since  witnessed.  The 
first  penny  paper  was  published  by  Benja- 
min II.  Day,  in  1833.  It  was  about  ten 
inches  square,  and  sold  for  one  cent,  or  to 
newsboys  for  sixty-two  and  a half  cents  per 
hundred.  It  was  without  editorials,  but  was 


NEWSPAPERS DAILIES WEEKLIES PERIODICALS. 


303 


filled  with  news  items.  It  grew  rapidly  to 
a large  circulation,  and  acquiring  advertise- 
ments, swelled  into  a larger  sheet,  which  got 
into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Beach.  Mr.  M.  Y. 
Beach  and  his  son,  Mr.  M.  S.  Beach,  con- 
ducted it  almost  entirely  as  a local  paper, 
with  no  particular  political  character,  but 
with  a very  large  circulation  (60,000  to 
70,000)  up  to  1867.  Mr.  M.  Y.  Beach  was 
famous  for  having  “ many  irons  in  the  fire  ” 
at  the  same  time,  and  besides  the  Sun,  had 
a manufactory,  two  banks,  and  sundry  other 
enterprises  on  foot.  During  and  after  the 
war,  the  circulation  of  the  Sun  had  decreased, 
(its  price  being  advanced  to  two  cents  as 
that  of  the  other  morning  papers  had  been 
to  four)  and  in  1867  it  had  only  about  48,000 
purchasers.  A company  of  capitalists  and 
literary  men,  among  whom  were  Mr.  Chas. 
A.  Dana,  previously  of  the  New  York  Tri- 
bune and  the  Chicago  Republican,  Mr.  M. 
S.  Beach,  Mr.  Hitchcock,  formerly  of  the 
New  Jerusalem  Messenger,  Mr.  I.  W.  Eng- 
land, and  others,  in  1867  purchased  the  Sun 
and  the  old  Tammany  Hotel,  and  fitting  up 
the  latter  in  fine  s yle,  removed  the  paper 
to  its  new  quarter-;,  and  very  greatly  chang- 
ed its  character.  Its  circulation  fell  off  to  35,- 
000,  and  then  began  to  rise  till  it  exceeded 
one  hundred  thou  and,  and  his  maintained 
itself  at  about  that  point  for  more  than  a 
year  past.  It  has  now  a large  editorial 
corps,  and  in  all  its  appointments  is  perhaps 
the  most  complete  newspaper  office  in  the  | 
world.  In  our  illustrations  we  have  pre-  j 
sented  some  of  the  appliances  by  means  of 
which  the  edition  of  a hundred  thousand 
copies,  admirably  printed,  are  flung  off,  in 
the  space  of  a little  more  than  three  hours 
each  morning. 

But  to  return  to  our  history  of  newspapers. 
In  1835,  James  Gordon  Bennett,  previously 
one  of  the  editorial  staff  of  the  Courier  and 
Enquirer,  started  the  New  York  Herald,  on 
a capital  of  $500,  but  with  a most  indom- 
itable energy.  His  first  week’s  expenses 
were  $56.  At  the  end  of  thirty -seven  years 
they  are  from  $20,000  to  $30,000  per  week. 
The  price  of  the  paper  at  first  was  one  cent 
per  copy.  It  was  advanced  soon  to  two 
cents,  and  during  the  war  to  four,  at  which 
price  it  has  since  remained.  The  circulation 
of  the  paper  increased  rapidly  but  steadily, 
till  it  reached  70,000  to  80,000  copies,  oc- 
casionally going  even  higher  than  this.  The 
sheet  has  been  repeatedly  enlarged,  and  is 


now  a very  large  double  sheet  with  frequent 
supplements,  making  it  triple  or  quadruple. 
It  has  never  had  any  great  political  influ- 
ence, its  aim  being  to  keep  on  the  popular 
side,  whichever  that  might  be,  and  its  edito- 
rial columns  have  not  indicated  any  remarka- 
ble ability  ; but  it  has  been  very  enterpris- 
ing its  market  and  financial  reports,  its  vast 
and  varied  correspondence  from  all  parts  of 
the  world,  and  its  very  full  and  generally 
accurate  reports  of  public  meetings  of  all 
sorts,  speeches,  lectures,  addresses,  and  ser- 
mons, have  been  features  which  have  ensured 
it  a great  circulation.  It  would  have  been 
impossible,  however,  for  it  to  have  attained 
this,  had  not  the  improvements  in  printing 
machines  made  it  possible  to  multiply  copies 
at  the  rate  of  25,000  to  30,000  per  hour. 
Soon  after  the  war  commenced,  the  Herald, 
followed  speedily  by  the  other  morning  pa- 
pers, resorted  to  the  plan  of  stereotyping  the 
pages  of  its  daily  issue,  in  order  to  multiply 
them  more  easi  y.  This  could  not  have  been 
done  by  the  old  stereotyping  process  with 
sufficient  rapidity  to  be  of  any  service,  but 
a method  of  stereotyping  by  means  of  papier 
mache,  or  a material  analagous  to  it,  then 
just  invented,  was  rapid  enough  to  answer 
all  purposes,  and  with  this  and  Hoe’s  ten 
cylinder  printing  machine,  the  proprietor  of 
the  Herald  could  print  fast  enough  for  his 
daily  edition.  Mr.  Bennett  died  June  1,1872. 

The  New  York  Tribune  was  issued  for 
the  first  time  in  1841.  Horace  Greeley,  its 
editor  and  first  proprietor  had  come  to  New 
Yrork  in  1831  as  a printer,  and  had  developed 
remarkable  talent  as  an  editor,  and  political 
writer  He  had  projected  several  papers, 
some  of  them  campaign  papers  of  very  large 
circulation  ; for  three  or  four  years  previous 
he  had  been  editing  the  New  Yorker,  a very 
good  but  not  a proli table  paper.  He  started 
the  Tribune  with  $1,000,  mostly  borrowed 
money.  In  the  thirty-one  years  since  that 
time,  the  paper  has  become  a great  power 
in  the  nation.  It  has  always  been  edited 
with  ability,  and  has  been  for  about  half 
that  time  owned  by  a joint  stock  association, 
but  Mr.  Greeley  has  been  its  chief  editor 
and  master  spirit.  Always  an  active  politi- 
cian, first  a Whig  and  afterwards  a Republi- 
can, he  has  made  it  from  first  to  last  a po- 
litical paper ; and  though  at  times  differing 
decidedly  in  opinion  from  his  associates  in 
the  party,  its  editor  has  always  been  rec* 
ognized  as  one  of  its  most  valued  leaders. 


304  NEWSPAPERS DAILIES — WEEKLIES PERIODICALS. 


He  has  recently  (in  May,  1872)  been  nom- 
inated for  the  Presidency  by  a convention 
held  at  Cincinnati,  and  the  nomination  ad- 
vocated  by  prominent  men  of  both  political 
parties,  and  has  in  consequence  withdrawn 
for  the  present  from  the  editorial  manage- 
ment of  his  paper.  The  circulation  of  the 
Daily  Tribune  is  not  so  large  as  that  of  the 
Sun  or  the  Herald,  though  greater  than  that 
of  any  other  morning  paper  ; but  the  cir- 
culation of  the  Weekly  Tribune  is  vastly 
greater  than  that  of  any  other  political 
weekly  in  the  United  States — reaching  in 
some  years  225,000  copies  weekly.  A semi- 
weekly edition  is  also  printed. 

The  New  York  Times  was  founded  in 
1850,  by  Henry  J.  Raymond,  who  had  pre- 
viously been  a writer  on  the  staff  of  the 
Tribune  and  the  Courier  and  Enquirer.  It 
was  some  time  in  attaining  to  a profitable 
success,  but  for  eighteen  or  nineteen  years 
past  has  been  one  of  the  leading  dailies  of  I 
New  York  City.  During  Mr.  Raymond’s  ! 
life  time  it  was  edited  with  marked  ability, 
but  since  his  death  in  1869,  has  hardly  main- 
tained its  old  reputation. 

The  World,  founded  in  1860,  by  an  Asso- 
ciation with  a large  capital,  as  a Republican 
and  religious  daily  paper,  met  with  several 
changes  in  the  course  of  the  next  two  years,  | 
and  in  1862  became  a Democratic  paper,  in  I 
which  faith  it  has  since  continued.  It  is 
very  ably  edited  and  has  a circulation  nearly  j 
as  large  as  that  of  the  Times — about  35,000  , 
of  its  daily  edition. 

Of  the  later  ventures  in  the  way  of  morn-  ! 
ing  papers,  in  New  York  City,  only  the  ; 
Star  has  achieved  any  considerable  success. 
It  has  taken  rank  with  the  older  dailies, 
though  it  would  be  diliiculi  to  say  why  it  I 
should  have  done  so. 

Several  of  the  low  priced  evening  papers 
have  been  successful.  Tie  Telegram , owned 
and  controlled  by  the  son  of  the  proprietor 
of  the  Herald;  the  News , the  Witness,  a daily  | 
religious  paper  of  decided  ability,  the  Express , 
and  the  Evening  Mail  have  each  a circu- 
lation ranging  from  10,60*)  to  25,000. 

Of  course  none  of  these  papers  are  sup-  | 
ported  by  their  subscription  lists  or  their  [ 
circulation.  In  the  case  of  the  larger  sheets 
this  would  hardly  sulliee  to  pay  for  the  pa-  j 
per  on  which  th'*y  are  printed,  but  these 
extended  circulations  make  them  very  valu- 
able as  advertising  mediums,  and  they  de- 
rive so  princely  a revenue  from  their  adver- 


tisements, that  in  favorable  years  the  net 
income  from  the  Herald  and  the  Tribune  has 
reached  $200,000  or  $250,000  per  annum, 
and  that  of  the  Times  and  the  World  has 
exceeded  $100,000  each.  The  Staats  Zei- 
tung,  ( State  Gazette ) a German  daily  paper, 
has  a circulation  inferior  probably  only  to 
those  of  the  Herald  and  Sun.  The  Evening 
Post,  Commercial  Advertiser , etc  , though 
printed  as  folios,  and  not  as  quarto  sheets, 
have  a very  large  advertising  patronage, 
mostly  from  the  shipping  and  wholesale  mer- 
chants, book  publishers,  etc.  The  adver- 
tisements in  the  morning  papers  are,  to  a 
large  extent,  fresh  advertisements  daily,  re- 
ceived and  paid  for  the  previous  day.  Those 
of  the  evening  papers  are,  many  of  them, 
less  frequency  changed.  The  advertisements 
of  the  morning  papers  belong  to  the  day  on 
which  they  appear,  and  compose  a part  of 
the  life  and  the  news  . thereof,  like  any 
other  matter  in  the  paper — to  many  people 
more  interesting  and  more  impor.ant.  No 
portion  of  a great  metropolitan  journal,  then, 
is  dead  matter;  even  the  advertising  col- 
umns, which  many  suppose  to  be  dull  and 
tedious,  are  full  of  life  and  interest,  and  fresh 
every  day.  It  is  amusing  to  contrast  such 
a paper  with  the  Philadelphia  Gazette  of 
1750,  then  conducted  by  Benjamin  Frank- 
lin. Its  dimensions  are  about  eight  by  ten. 
The  news  an  1 reading  matter  which  it  con- 
tains, could  all  be  put  into  one  of  the  pages 
of  this  book.  It  has  not  a single  line  of  edi- 
torial. Its  latest  foreign  news  wras  about 
three  or  four  months  old.  Its  domestic  news 
principally  related  to  the  Indians.  Among 
its  advertisements  were  several  notices  of 
the  sale  of  negroes  in  Pennsylvania.  The 
progress  of  the  newspaper  art  is  well  illus- 
trated by  comparing  this  sheet  with  those 
issued  in  our  large  cities  at  the  present  day. 

At  first  the  extension  of  this  circulation 
of  the  city  newspapers  was  greatly  facilita- 
ted by  the  expresses  which  received  the 
packages  as  they  came  from  the  press  for 
the  larger  towns  and  cities,  and  hurried  iliem 
out  to  the  dealers.  But  very  soon  there  was 
found  a necessity  of  an  intermediate  agency 
which  could  make  for  itself  a vast  business 
while  at  the  same  time  it  saved  expense  to 
the  dealers  in  other  cities,  towns  and  villages, 
and  the  news  companies  came  into  existence. 
There  had  been  several  houses  each  with  its 
considerable  circle  of  customers,  which  dis- 
patched to  their  several  customers  a daily, 


NEWSPAPERS DAILIES WEEKLIES PERIODICALS. 


805 


tri-weekly,  or  semi-weekly  package  of  the 
literary  papers  and  periodicals,  together  with 
such  looks  and  stationery  as  might  be  sent 
in  to  them  to  pack.  Most  of  these  dealers 
in  New  York  City  united  and  formed  the 
American  News  Company,  which  soon  sup- 
plied its  customers  with  all  that  they  required 
from  its  own  vast  stock,  and  giving  its  or- 
ders daily  for  such  quantities  of  the  daily 
papers  as  it  required  for  its  customers,  hur- 
ried these  to  its  broad  shelves,  packed  them 
with  the  other  goods  ordered,  and  sent  them 
in  quantities  of.en  of  many  tons  by  the  morn- 
ing trains  and  expresses,  with  all  of  which 
it  had  arrangements,  to  its  thousands  of  cus- 
tomers in  all  directions.  Its  business  grew 
till  it  took  from  250,000  to  3 (J 0,000  copies 
of  Bonner’s  Ledger  and  half  as  many  of 
some  of  the  other  popular  literary  and  illus- 
trated papers,  30,000  or  40,000  copies  of 
the  Independent , and  enormous  quantities  of 
the  Sunday  papers,  whole  editions  of  popu- 
lar books  and  pamphlets,  90, <>00  or  100,000 
of  Harper's  Monthly , etc.,  etc.  In  process 
of  time,  other  news  companies  were  organ- 
ized in  New  York,  and  a gigantic  one  at 
Chicago,  and  the  business  was  divided  to 
some  extent,  but  the  American  News  Co. 
has  still  a vast  business.  An  attempt  was 
made  a few  years  ago  to  furnish  the  New 
York  morning  papers  at  the  breakfast  hour 
to  all  customers  on  railroad  routes  within  a 
radius  of  two  hundred  miles  or  more  around 
the  city.  This  was  accomplished  by  arrang- 
ing a special  express  train  to  start  out  on 
each  road  at  about  two  o’clock  each  morn- 
ing, taking  all  the  papers  which  were  printed 
up  to  that  time,  driving  with  all  speed  to 
the  radroad,  throwing  them  on  the  train  and 
making  up  the  packages  on  board,  throwing 
them  out  at  each  point  to  an  agent  as  the 
train  shot  by,  till  the  farthest  limit  of  morn- 
ing distribution  was  reached.  The  plan 
proved  practicable,  but  too  expensive  to  pay 
at  first,  and  it  was  dropped. 

The  sale  of  papers  at  the  steamboats  and 
in  the  cars  has  become  a large  business,  and 
the  privilege  of  doing  so  is  now  farmed  out 
by  the  companies.  The  privilege  is  paid 
for  at  rates  sometimes  as  high  as  $5,000  per 
annum  on  good  routes,  say  some  of  the  best 
traveled  in  New  York.  The  dealer  employs 
boys  who  start  with  the  out  trains  in  the 
morning,  supplying  all  who  go.  These  trains 
meet  others,  in  an  hour’s  ride,  coming  in, 
filled  not  only  with  passengers  from  a dis- 


tance, but  with  persons  who,  doing  business 
in  the  city,  commute  on  the  road,  and  come 
in  every  day ; all  of  them  are  anxious  for  the 
papers,  and  they  are  sold  at  a large  advance 
on  the  cost ; the  four  cent  papers  usually  at 
from  five  to  ten  cents ; the  seven  cent  pa- 
pers at  ten  or  twelve,  and  the  two  cent  pa- 
pers at  three  to  five  cents,  thus  yielding  the 
vendor  a handsome  profit. 

The  Sunday  press  has  become  a feature  in 
New  York  within  twenty  years.  The  first 
Sunday  paper  was  the  Sunday  Morning 
News,  published  in  1835,  by  Samuel  Jenks 
Smith.  It  had  a considerable  success,  but 
stopped  on  the  death  of  Mr.  Smith.  In 
1840,  the  Atlas  was  started  by  Herrick, 
Ropes  & West.  The  last-named  had  been  a 
reporter  on  the  Herald.  The  paper  had  a 
great  success,  and  is  still  flourishing.  The 
Sunday  Mercury  was  next  started,  and  re- 
ceived a great  impulse  from  the  “ Patent 
Sermons  ” of  Dow,  jr.  Then  followed  the 
Sunday  Times,  the  Dispatch,  and  others, 
which  have  attained  much  success. 

The  circulation  of  the  New  York  dailies 
is  now  (1872 ) more  than  500,000  copies, 
against  10,000  in  1835.  In  1865,  there 
were  307  newspapers  and  periodicals  pub- 
lished in  the  city  of  New  York  (673  in  the 
state)  of  which  21  were  dailies,  with  an  ag- 
gregate circulation  of  425,000  copies  daily, 
8 semi-weekly  with  a reported  circulation  of 
about  75,000;  223  weekly  of  which  42  had 
an  aggregate  circulation  of  1,587,500;  11 
semi-monthly  and  118  monthly;  11  of  the 
monthlies  reported  a circulation  in  the  ag- 
gregate of  337,000.  These  returns  are  so 
incomplete  as  to  be  of  very  little  value,  and 
those  of  the  census  of  1870  which  give  the 
aggregate  of  the  newspapers  published  in 
the  state  at  492,770,868  for  the  year  are 
very  far  below  the  truth.  It  is  certain  that 
more  than  375,000,000  newspapers  are 
printed  in  New  York  City  every  year,  aside 
from  magazines,  reviews,  and  quarterly  pe- 
riodicals. 

The  weekly  papers  are  of  several  classes. 
Those  devoted  to  light  literature  have  the 
largest  circulation.  Bonner’s  New  York 
Ledger  leads  in  this  class,  maintaining  a 
weekly  circulation  (mainly  through  the 
American  News  Co.,  and  a large  subscription 
list)  of  about  400,000  copies.  Street  fy 
Smith's  Weekly  boasts  of  a circulation  of 
about  300,000  ; Harpers'  Illustrated  Weekly 
from  130,000  to  150,000,  and  Harper i 


306 


NEWSPAPERS DAILIES WEEKLIES PERIODICALS. 


Bazar  nearly  100,000  ; the  Mercury , Frank 
Leslie's  Illustrated  Paper , the  Fireside  Com- 
panion, the  Chimney  Corner,  and  Moore's 
Rural  New  Yorker , range  from  75,000  to 

100.000,  and  the  number  of  papers  of  this 
class,  ranging  from  40,000  to  70,000  is  large. 

The  religious  papers  have  also  attained  a 
large  circulation  within  a few  years  past. 
The  Christian  Union  now  takes  the  lead 
with  a circulation  of  about  100,000  ; the 
Independent  comes  next  with  nearly  75,000  ; 
while  the  Observer , Examiner  and  Chronicle, 
Evangelist,  Advocate,  Metropolitan  Record, 
and  Methodist,  range  between  25,000  and 

50.000  each. 

/There  are  also  several  scientific  and  mis- 
cellaneous journals,  such  as  the  Scientific 
American,  Hearth  and  Home,  Railroad  Jour- 
nal, etc.,  etc.,  which  have  a large  clientage 
ranging  from  25,000  to  50,000. 

In  other  cities  there  are  also  some  in- 
stances of  great  success.  The  Ledger  of 
Philadelphia  has  a daily  circulat:on  as  large 
or  larger  than  that  of  the  Sun , but  no  other 
daily  in  that  city  exceeds  30,000.  The  Sat- 
urday Night , a weekly  literary  paper,  has  a 
circulation  of  over  2u0,000,  but  none  of  the 
other  literary  papers  of  that  city  exceed 

100.000. 

Of  daily  papers  in  other  cities,  the  Tri- 
bune and  the  Times , both  of  Chicago,  the 
Journal,  the  Traveller  and  the  Transcript  of 
Boston,  the  Commercial,  the  Gazette , the 
Chronicle,  and  the  Enquirer  of  Cincinnati, 
the  Republican  and  the  Democrat  of  St. 
Louis,  the  American  and  the  Gazette  of  Bal- 
timore, the  Courier- Journal  of  Louisville, 
and  the  Republican  of  Springfield,  Mass., 
are  those  of  largest  circulation.  Some  of 
the  political  weeklies  of  other  cities  have  a 
very  large  circulation.  The  Toledo  Blade, 
Toledo,  Ohio,  has  a circulation  ranging  from 

80.000  to  100,000,  and  Pomroy's  Democrat, 
before  its  removal  to  New  York,  had  about 
100,000.  All  the  papers  of  large  circulation 
which  depend  to  any  extent  upon  their  sub- 
scription lists,  use  folding  machines  and  di- 
recting machines  which  save  a vast  amount 
of  hand  labor. 

The  following  statistics  of  American  Jour- 
nalism, drawn  from  the  census  of  1870,  will 
interest  all  our  readers.  The  whole  number 
of  newspapers  and  periodicals  in  the  United 
States,  is  5,8  to,  to  which  are  to  be  added 
73  for  the  Territories,  353  more  are  printed 
.in  the  Dominion  of  Canada,  and  29  in  the 


other  British  Colonies,  making  a total  for 
the  United  States  and  British  America  of 
6,300  periodicals.  Of  those  published  in 
the  United  States,  there  are  : 


Daily, 

Semi-monthly, 

96 

Tri-weekly, 

Monthly,.  

621 

Semi-weekly, 

115 

Bi-monthly, 

13 

Weekly, 

Quarterly, 

49 

Total, 

...  5,845 

Of  this  immense  aggregate,  79  papers, 
ranging  from  weekly  to  quarterly,  are  pub- 
lished only  for  advertising  purposes.  Sub- 
tracting these  as  not  fairly  to  be  counted 
among  the  publications  which  illustrate  the 
journalistic  enterprise  of  the  nation,  we  have 
5,766  newspapers  and  periodicals  in  the 
country — an  average  of  one  to  about  6,500 
of  the  population.  The  whole  number  is 
distributed  among  various  interests  as  fol- 
lows : 


Political, 4,328 

Agriculture  and  Horticulture, 93 

Benevolent  and  Secret  Societies, 81 

Commercial  and  Financial, 122 

Illustrated,  Literary,  and  Miscellaneous, 502 

Specially  devoted  to  Nationality, 30 

Technical  and  Professional, 207 

Religious, 407 

Sporting, 6 


The  political  papers  are  divided  into 
3,560  weekly,  552  daily,  101  tri- weekly,  100 
semi-weekly,  8 semi-monthly,  and  6 monthly. 
The  religious  papers  are  divided  as  follows  : 
Weekly,  208  ; semi-monthly,  40  ; monthly, 
141  ; bi-monthly,  1 ; quarterly,  17.  There 
are  three  daily  scientific  or  professional 
newspapers  ; the  remainder,  204,  range  from 
weekly  to  quarterly,  there  being  130  month- 
ly. The  literary  and  illustrated  papers  run 
the  entire  gamut,  from  8 daily  to  7 quarterly, 
with  303  weekly  and  157  monthly.  There 
are  8 daily  commercial  or  financial  papers, 
56  weekly  and  40  monthly.  Agricultural 
papers  : weekly,  35  ; semi-monthly,  2 ; 
monthly,  56.  Of  the  “sporting”  papers,  5 
are  weekly  and  1 monthly. 

Turning  to  the  vital  question  of  circulation, 
we  find  the  facts  of  special  interest,  and  can 
best  exhibit  them,  perhaps,  by  the  following 
table,  in  which  we  give  the  number  of  each 
class  with  the  aggregate  and  average  circula- 
tion : 


Political, 

No. 

. 4,328 

Circulation. 

8,778.320 

Average. 

2,028 

Agricultural, 

93 

710,752 

8,072 

Societies, 

. 81 

257,080 

3,173 

Financial, 

122 

09OJOO 

5,657 

Literary, 

. 502 

4,421,935 

8,808 

National, 

. 20 

45,150 

2,257 

Scientific  or  Professional, 

207 

744,531 

3,596 

Religious 

Sporting, 

. 407 

4,764,358 

11,706 

6 

1 3,500 

12,25© 

!Hl 


till 


INTERIOR  VIEW  OF  THE  N.  Y.  SUN  PRINTING  ESTABLISHMENT. 


EDITORIAL  ROOM. 


STEREOTYPING  ROOM. 


NEWSPAPERS — DAILIES WEEKLIES PERIODICALS. 


307 


The  aggregate  circulation  of  daily  pa- 
"United  States  is  2,606,547 ; 
4.541.  The 


circulation 

'O 

pers  m the 
average  circulation,  4,541.  The  weekly 
papers  circulate  10,591,743  copies,  with  an 
average  of  2,1 80. 

The  total  annual  circulation  of  newspapers 
printed  in  the  State  of  New  York  is  492,- 
770,868  copies,  being  more  than  twice  the 
number  issued  in  any  other  State.  The  next 
greatest  number  of  issues  is  in  Pennsylva- 
nia. where  233,380,532  copies  are  annually 
printed.  Massachusetts  prints  107,601,952 
copies,  Illinois  102,686,204,  Ohio,  93,592,- 


448.  Next  comes  California,  with  45,869,- 
408  newspaper  sheets  per  annum. 

The  following  table  shows  the  average 
circulation  of  newspapers  and  periodicals  in 
each  State  and  Territory,  and  the  Colonies 
of  British  America ; the  total  annual  circula- 
tion, and  the  average  number  of  copies 
printed  yearly  for  each  inhabitant.  This 
is  not  a sure  indication  of  the.  relative  num- 
ber of  readers  in  each  State,  as  the  leading 
papers  in  large  cities  are  largely  circulated 
outside  the  State  wrhere  printed : 


States,  Territories,  &c. 


Arkansas, 


New  Jersey, 


Ohio,. 


Territories 

New  Brunswick,  Dominion  of  Canada,, 
Nova  Scotia,  Dominion  of  Canada,. . . , 


British 


Total  Annual 

'Average  No. 
copies  printed  ye 

Average  Circulation. 

Circulation. 

for  each  Inhabil 

1,070 

8,891,432 

9 

....  650 

2,438,716 

5 

1,846 

45,869,408 

82 

3,000 

15,697,320 

29 

1,247 

1,596.480 

13 

4,323 

11,637,400 

89 

616 

841,880 

5 

14,447,388 

12 

102,686,204 

41 

28,515,862 

17 

1,013 

19,344,636 

16 

12,465,768 

35 

17,392,044 

13 

1,220 

14,628,028 

20 

2,257 

9,082,596 

14 

19,461,660 

25 

5,709 

107,691,952 

74 

17,513,120 

15 

2,811,120 

7 

4,403,460 

5 

37,737,564 

22 

913 

3,147,120 

27 

1,714,960 

40 

2,194 

5,711,720 

18 

19,766,104 

22 

492,770,868 

113 

4,220,676 

4 

3,154 

93,592,448 

35 

3,658.304 

40 

3,704 

233,380,532 

67 

10,048,048 

46 

1,354 

5,804,136 

8 

15,712,236 

13 

5,813,432 

7 

4,486.9  14 

14 

13,790,788 

12 

3,372,668 

8 

20,577,396 

20 

3,829,121 

13 

3,961,808 

12 

3,838,784 

10 

33,757,528 

17 

21,812,560 

16 

1,499,922,219 

35 

TELEGRAPHS-THEffi  ORIGIN  AND  PROGRESS 


CHAPTER  I. 

TELEGRAPHS— THEIR  ORIGIN  AND  PROGRESS. 

“ Canst  thou  send  lightnings  that  they  may  go,  and  say 
unto  thee,  ‘ Here  we  are  ’?  ” — Job. 

The  invention  and  use  of  electric  tele- 
graphs are  among  the  most  important  of 
modern  improvements ; and  it  is  somewhat 
remarkable  that  the  invention  justifies  the 
trite  observation,  that  great  inventions  are 
made  always  at  the  moment  they  are  wanted. 
Telegraphs  have  been  used  from  the  re- 
motest antiquity,  by  signals  of  various  kinds  ; 
and  one  by  flags,  to  signal  the  arrival  of 
vessels  below,  has  been  used  during  the  pres- 
ent century  in  Boston ; and,  in  New  York, 
one  operating  by  arms  has  been  used  for 
the  same  purpose  from  the  Narrows  to  the 
roof  of  the  Merchants’  Exchange  in  New 
York.  The  electric  telegraph  applied  light- 
ning to  intelligence  as  steam  was  applied  to 
motion,  and  came  into  being  to  exceed,  by 
its  rapidity  of  intelligence,  the  means  just 
invented  to  convey  more  rapidly  by  rail. 
Indeed  its  action  is  necessary  to  the  latter, 
since  it  would  be  very  difficult  to  operate 
long  lines  of  railroad,  like  the  New  York 
Erie,  and  Central,  without  the  aid  of  the 
electric  telegraph.  The  patent  of  Morse, 
who  invented  the  first  practical  recording 
telegraph,  was  taken  out  in  the  year  1840  ; 
since  then,  numerous  modes  of  recording  have 
been  invented,  and  improvements  adopted, 
and  there  are  now  many  systems  in  use, 
although  the  Morse  telegraph  in  its  various 
modifications,  is  generally  employed  in  all 
parts  of  the  world  for  the  general  business 
of  telegraphing. 

It  is  curious  that  just  ninety  years  after 
Dr.  Franklin  identified  lightning  with  elec- 
tricity, by  means  of  his  kite,  Morse  should 
have  schooled  electricity  to  send  messages 
instantaneously  over  wire  at  great  distances. 
We  say  instantaneously,  because  the  ascer- 
tained speed  of  electricity  over  wires  with- 
out resistance  is  288,000  miles  per  second, 
which  is  scarcely  perceptible,  although  at  that 


rate  it  would  take  six  minutes  to  send  a 
despatch  to  the  sun. 

This  all-pervading  element  manifests  it- 
self in  countless  ways — in  the  sparkling  of 
animal  hair ; in  the  rustling  of  silk,  which 
“betrays  your  poor  heart  to  woman;”  in 
the  aurora  that  illumines  the  North ; in  the 
meteor  that  startles  the  astonished  observer ; 
it  flashes  in  the  lightning  bolt  that  rives  the 
oak,  without,  while  it  gently  penetrates  into 
the  lady’s  parlor  and  fills  her  form,  as  she 
glides  over  her  warm,  thick  carpet,  until  the 
metal  tube  of  the  gas  burner  will  attract 
enough  from  her  fingers  to  ignite  the  gas,  or 
from  her  lips  to  startle  a newly-entered 
friend.  It  will  also  convey  to  her  the  thoughts 
of  distant  minds  with  more  than  the  assiduity 
of  Puck,  by  means  of  the  invention  of 
Morse. 

Professor  Morse  was  not  the  discoverer  of 
the  analogy  between  magnetism  and  elec- 
tricity, but  he  was  the  first  who  made  prac- 
ticable all  former  discoveries  and  improve- 
ments in  the  production  of  a recording 
telegraph.  The  three  leading  properties  of 
electricity  that  make  telegraphs  possible,  are, 
first,  its  constant  desire  to  seek  an  equilib- 
rium, always  going  where  there  is  less ; 
second,  that  the  production  of  electricity  is 
always  in  two  fluids,  called  positive  and 
negative,  which  possess  a mutual  attraction 
for  each  other ; third,  that  different  substan- 
ces have  very  different  conducting  powers — 
over  some  it  passes  with  the  utmost  freedom, 
while  over  others  it  will  scarcely  pass  at  all. 
On  this  depends  the  possibility  of  telegraph- 
ing, since  by  it  the  current  of  electricity  may 
be  arrested  or  conveyed  at  the  will  of  the 
operator.  Mr.  William  Sturgeon  of  Lon- 
don, discovered  in  1825  that  when  a bar 
of  soft  iron  was  placed  within  a coil  of  con- 
ducting wires  it  was  rendered  magnetic,  and 
and  would  so  remain  as  long  as  the  current 
of  electricity  passed  through  the  wires.  The 
telegraph  consists  in  connecting  two  of  these 
magnets  by  a wire  of  any  number  of  miles 


TELEGRAPHS  THEIR  ORIGIN  AND  PROGRESS. 


309 


in  length,  and  directing  through  it  a current 
from  an  electric  battery.  By  cutting  off 
the  current,  the  iron  becomes  alternately 
charged  and  at  rest  with  great  rapidity.  To 
form  the  current,  it  is  necessary  that  the 
wire  should  form  a circuit,  or  that  each  end 
of  the  wire  should  communicate  with  the 
ground.  The  interruption  is  caused  by 

stopping  this  communication.  The  first 
telegraph  invented  by  Professor  Morse  con- 
sisted of  an  electro-magnet,  formed  by  bend- 
ing a small  rod  of  iron  in  the  form  of  a 
horse-shoe,  upon  which  was  wound  a few 
yards  of  copper  wire  insulated  with  cotton 
thread.  This  magnet  was  then  placed  upon 
the  middle  of  a painter’s  s' retching  frame 
for  canvass,  the  bottom  of  which  was  nailed 
to  the  edge  of  a common  table.  Across  the 
lower  part  of  the  frame  was  constructed  a 
narrow  trough  to  hold  three  narrow  cylin- 
der of  wood.  A wooden  clock  was  placed 
at  one  end  of  this  trough.  The  cylinder 
next  to  the  clock  had  a small  pulley -wheel 
fixed  upon  its  prolonged  axis,  outside  the 
trough;  a similar  pulley-wheel  was  fixed 
upon  the  prolonged  axis  of  one  of  the  slower 
wheels  of  the  train  of  wheels  outside  the 
clock ; these  two  pulleywheels  were  con- 
nected by  an  endless  cord  or  band.  Upon 
the  cylinder  farthest  from  the  clock  was 
wound  a ribbon  of  paper,  which,  when  the 
clock  train  was  put  in  motion  was  gradually 
unrolled  and  passing  over  the  middle  cylin- 
der was  rolled  up  upon  the  cylinder  nearest 
the  clock  by  means  of  the  cord  and  pulleys. 

An  A shaped  pendulum  wras  suspended 
by  its  apex  from  the  centre  of  the  top  of 
the  frame,  directly  above  the  centre  of  the 
middle  cylinder  in  the  trough  below.  This 
lever  was  made  of  two  thin  rules  of  wood 
meeting  at  the  top  but  opening  downwards 
about  one  inch  apart  and  joined  at  the  bot- 
tom by  a transverse  bar  (which  was  close  to 
the  paper  as  it  moved  over  the  middle  cylin- 
der,) and  another  about  one  inch  above  it. 
Through  the  centre  of  these  two  bars  a 
small  tube  was  fixed  through  which  a pencil 
loosely  played.  The  pencil  had  a small 
weight  upon  its  top  to  keep  the  point  in  con- 
stant contact  with  the  paper  ribbon.  Upon 
the  lever  directly  opposite  to  the  poles  of 
the  electro-magnet  was  fastened  the  arma- 
ture of  the  magnet  or  a small  bar  of  soft 
iron.  The  movement  of  the  lever  was 
guided  by  stops  on  the  frame  at  the  sides 
of  the  lever,  permitting  it  only  a movement 


pencil  at  the  bottom  of  the  lever  was  thus 
allowed  to  advance  when  the  magnet  was 
charged  and  to  re  real  when  discharged, 
about  one  eighth  of  an  inch.  The  lever  ad- 
vanced by  the  attraction  of  the  magnet  and 
was  retracted  by  a weight  or  spring. 

The  voltaic  battery  or  generator  of  elec- 
tricity was  connected  by  one  of  its  poles  to 
one  of  the  helices  of  the  magnet  while  the 
other  pole  was  connected  with  a mercury 
cup;  and  a conjunctive  wire  connected  a 
second  mercury  cup  to  the  other  helix  of 
the  magnet.  The  circuit  was  closed  by  dip- 
ping a forked  wire  into  the  two  cups  of  mer- 
cury, when  the  magnet  became  charged,  the 
armature  was  attracted,  and  the  lever  drawn 
toward  the  magnet.  When  the  forked  wire 
was  removed  the  magnet  was  discharged 
and  the  spring  brought  back  the  lever  to  its 
normal  position.  When  the  clock  work 
was  put  in  motion  the  ribbon  of  paper  was 
drawn  over  the  middle  cylinder  and  the 
pencil  attached  to  the  lever  being  in  con- 
stant contact  with  the  ribbon  of  paper  traced 
a continuous  line  lengthwise  with  the  ribbon. 

The  pathway  of  the  pencil  point,  when 
the  lever  was  attracted  towards  and  held  by 
the  magnet  for  a longer  or  shorter  time, 
contains  the  three  elements  of  points,  spaces 
and  lines,  forming  by  their  various  combi- 
nations, the  various  conventional  characters 
for  numerals  and  letters. 

Professor  Morse  subsequently  modified 
the  form  of  his  telegraph,  although  the  prin- 
ciple upon  which  its  action  depended  re- 
mained substantially  the  same.  In  place  of 
the  wooden  cylinders  operated  by  a wooden 
clock  for  carrying  the  paper  band  at  a regu- 
lar rate,  he  employed  small  brass  rollers 
moved  by  means  of  mechanism  analagous  to 
clock-work ; and  instead  of  the  armature 
being  attached  to  a wooden  pendulum 
which  vibrated  over  the  paper,  he  attached 
it  to  one  end  of  a brass  lever  sustained  in  a 
horizontal  position  by  two  pivots,  the  other 
end  of  the  lever  being  armed  with  a 
steel  point.  Under  the  soft  iron  armature 
at  one  end  of  the  lever  was  placed  an 
electro-magnet,  while  the  steel  point  at 
the  other  end  of  the  lever,  was  beneath  the 
roller  which  carried  the  band  of  paper. 
Now  when  the  circuit  is  closed — that  is 
completed — the  armature  of  the  electro- 
magnet is  attracted  through  the  magnetism 
created  in  the  helix  by  the  passage  of  the 
electric  current,  and  this  attraction  causes 


310 


TELEGRAPHS — THEIR  ORIGIN  AND  PROGRESS. 


to  trace  upon  it  a line  the  length  of  which 
depends  upon  the  duration  of  time  in  which 
the  circuit  remains  whole.  If  the  circuit  is 
opened  the  current  ceases  to  How,  the  mag- 
netism disappears  instantly  and  a spring  at- 
tached to  the  lever  draws  it  away  from  the 
paper  and  the  line  ceases.  By  opening  and 
closing  the  circuit  rapidly  dots  are  produced 
upon  the  paper  the  number  of  which  de- 
pends upon  the  number  of  times  that  the 
circuit  is  broken  and  closed.  If  the  circuit 
is  closed  for  a longer  time  a dash  or  a short 
line  is  made  upon  the  paper.  We  have  thus 
the  combinations  of  an  alphabet  of  dots  and 
lines.  Thus  a is  a dot  and  a dash,  b a dash 
and  three  dots,  &c.  The  alphabet  is  so  ar- 
ranged that  those  letters  occurring  most  fre- 
quently are  more  easily  transmitted ; thus  e 
is  one  dot ; t one  dash.  An  expert  operator 
can  transmit  from  thirty  to  forty  words  a 
minute  by  this  instrument  on  a land  line  of 
200  or  300  miles  in  length. 

The  transmitting  apparatus  is  very  simple, 
being  designed  only  for  the  opening  and 
closing  of  the  circuit  in  a manner  more  easy 
than  by  holding  the  ends  of  the  wire  in  the 
hands,  as  is  done  where  there  is  no  appara- 
tus. The  two  ends  of  wire  are  separated 
by  two  pieces  of  metal,  one  of  which  is  a 
brass  lever  surmounted  by  an  ivory  button, 
and  the  other  is  a brass  anvil  tipped  with 
platinum.  The  brass  lever  is  mounted  upon 
pivots,  in  front  of  the  axis  of  which  is  sol- 
dered a nipple  of  platinum,  which  by  the 
depression  of  the  lever  comes  in  contact 
with  the  platinum  tipped  anvil,  and  thus 
closes  the  circuit. 

To  the  Morse  system  at  a later  period, 
was  added  the  “ sounder,”  a simple  contri- 
vance, by  which  signals  are  conveyed  by 
sound.  Up  to  1850  the  operator  read  the  dis- 
patch from  slips  of  paper  to  the  copyist,  who 
wrote  it  down.  It  was  soon  found,  however, 
that  the  despatch  could  be  read  by  the 
“ click  ” of  the  instruments,  and  the  opera- 
tor now  copies,  himself,  from  sound. 

Several  modifications  of  the  Morse  tele- 
graph have  been  made,  the  principal  of 
which  is  to  substitute  ink  marking  for  em- 
bossing. The  Morse  telegraph  in  its  various 
modifications  is  now  used  almost  exclusively 
throughout  the  world. 

The  number  of  inventions  connected  with 
the  electric  telegraph  is  almost  endless,  and 
would  engross  a long  series  of  volumes  for 
their  description ; but  the  only  system  at 
present  in  use  for  general  telegraphic  com- 


munication in  the  United  States,  besides  the 
Morse,  is  the  letter  printing  telegraph,  in- 
vented by  Mr.  G.  M.  Phelps,  and  this  in- 
strument is  only  used  in  four  out  of  the  six 
thousand  telegraphic  stations  in  the  United 
States. 

Professor  Morse  had  no  sooner  shown 
that  a telegraph  could  be  constructed  through 
the  aid  of  electricity  than  his  attention  was 
turned  to  the  discovery  of  some  insulating 
substance  by  means  of  which  the  wires 
could  be  enveloped  and  buried  in  the  earth, 
it  not  being  deemed  practicable  to  place 
them  in  the  open  air.  Tarred  yarn  satu- 
rated with  a preparation  of  asphaltum,  was 
among  the  first  insulating  materials  used  for 
this  purpose,  and  the  lines  constructed  in 
1843  were  covered  with  this  substance,  and 
buried  in  the  earth.  This  insulation  proved 
so  faulty,  however,  that  it  was  at  once  aban- 
doned, and  the  wires  were  insulated  with 
glass  upon  poles  in  the  open  air.  Still  if 
it  was  decided  to  relinquish  the  idea  of 
building  subterranean  lines,  the  fact  was 
apparent  that  some  good  insulating  material 
must  be  found  which  would  permit  the  sub- 
mergence of  the  wires  across  straits  or  navi- 
gable rivers.  V arious  substances  were  tried 
to  accomplish  this  result,  but  nothing  satis- 
factory was  obtained  until  the  discovery  of 
gutta  percha,  which  proved  to  be  one  of  the 
most  perfect  insulators  known,  and  admirably 
adapted  by  its  plastic  and  flexible  qualities 
for  the  insulation  of  submarine  wires. 

In  1850  the  first  electric  cable  was  laid 
in  the  open  sea  between  England  and  France. 
This  cable  consisted  of  a solid  copper  wire, 
covered  with  gutta  percha.  The  landing 
place  in  F ranee  was  Cape  Grissiez,  from  which 
place  a few  messages  passed  sufficient  to  test 
the  accuracy  of  the  principle.  The  commu- 
nication thus  established  between  the  conti- 
nent and  England  was,  after  a few  hours, 
abruptly  stopped.  A diligent  fisherman,  ply- 
ing his  vocation,  took  up  part  of  the  cable  in 
his  trawl  and  cutoff  apiece  which  he  brought 
in  triumph  to  Boulogne,  where  he  exhibited 
it  as  a specimen  of  rare  sea-weed,  with  its 
centre  filled  with  gold.  It  is  believed  that 
this  piscator  ignobilis  returned  again  and 
again  to  search  for  further  specimens  of  this 
treasure  of  the  deep.  It  is,  at  all  events^ 
perfectly  certain  that  he  succeeded  in  de- 
stroying the  submarine  cable. 

This  accident  caused  the  attention  of 
scientific  men  to  be  directed  to  the  discovery 
of  some  mode  of  preserving  submarine  cables 


TELEGRAPHS — THEIR  ORIGIN  AND  PROGRESS. 


311 


from  similar  casualties,  and  it  was  decided, 
that  the  wire  insulated  by  gutta  percha 
should  form  a core  or  centre  to*  a wire  rope, 
so  as  to  give  protection  to  it  during  the  pro- 
cess of  paying  out  and  laying  down,  as  well 
as  to  guard  it  from  rocks  and  the  anchors 
of  vessels. 

In  1851  a cable  protected  in  this  manner 
was  laid  between  Dover  and  Calais,  where 


Amongst  the  most  important  submarine 
lines  are  those  which  were  laid  across  the 
Atlantic  Ocean  in  1865  and  1866. 

The  conductor  of  these  cables  consists  of 
a copper  strand  of  seven  wires,  six  laid  round 
one,  and  weighing  300  lbs.  per  mile. 

The  insulation  consists  of  four  layers  of 
gutta  percha  laid  in  alternately  with  four 
thin  layers  of  Chatterton’s  compound. 


g.  1 is  a side  elevation  of  the  instrument,  showing  a section  through  the  galvanometer  coils,  and 
Fig.  2 a cross  section  showing  the  magnetic  needle.  The  same  letters  refer  to  like  parts  in  both  fig- 
ures. A is  the  magnetic  needle  attached  to  the-circular  mirror  of  silvered  glass  a,  which  is  suspended 
by  a thread  of  cocoon  silk  in  the  brass  frame  B } and  adjusted  by  the  screw  6.  The  frame  slides  into 
a vertical  groove  in  the  center  of  the  coil  which  divides  it  into  two  parts.  The  coil  and  mirror  are 
enclosed  in  a glass  case  D,  in  order  to  prevent  the  disturbance  of  the  needle  by  currents  of  air.  The 
rays  from  the  lamp  E pass  through  the  opening  F,  which  is  adjustable  by  the  slide  G,  and  passing 
through  the  lens  M in  the  tube  N are  reflected  by  the  mirror  back  through  the  lens  upon  an  ivory 
scale  at  / as  shown  by  the  dotted  lines.  The  scale  is  horizontal,  extending  to  the  right  and  left  of 
the  center  of  the  instrument,  the  zero  point  being  exactly  opposite  the  lens.  The  luminous  rays  of 
light  are  brought  to  a sharp  focus  upon  the  scale  by  a sliding  adjustment  of  the  lens. 

The  operator  reads  the  signals  from  a point  just  in  the  rear  of  the  magnet  and  coils,  the  light  of 
the  lamp  being  cut  off  by  the  screen  Y so  that  he  only  sees  the  small  luminous  slit  through  which 
the  light  enters  the  instrument,  and  a brilliantly  defined  image  of  the  slit  upon  the  white  ivory  scale 
iust  above,  which  is  kept  in  deep  shadow  by  the  screen  Y.  A very  minute  displacement  of  the  magnet 
gives  a very  large  movement  of  the  ray  of  light  on  the  scale  /,  the  angular  displacement  of  the 
ray  of  light  being  double  that  of  the  needle. 


it  has  ever  since  remained  in  perfect  order, 
constituting  the  great  channel  of  electrical 
communication  between  England  and  the 
continent.  The  success  of  that  form  of 
cable  having  been  thus  completely  estab- 
lished, lines  of  a similar  character  were  sub- 
sequently laid  in  all  quarters  of  the  world. 


The  external  protection  consists  of  ten 
steel  wires,  each  wire  surrounded  separately 
with  live  strands  of  tarred  Manilla  hemp 
and  the  whole  laid  spirally  round  the  core, 
which  latter  is  padded  with  tanned  jute 
yarn.  Each  cable  would  bear  eleven  knots 
of  itself  in  water  without  breaking. 


312 


TELEGRAPHS THEIR  ORIGIN  AND  PROGRESS. 


The  deepest  water  encountered  was  2,400 
fathoms,  and  the  distance  between  Valen- 
tia  and  Hearts  Content  1G70  knots.  The 
length  of  the  cables  of  1865 — 1896  knots; 
1866  — 1858  knots. 

The  battery  employed  upon  the  Atlantic 
cables  is  a modification  of  Daniell’s.  12 
cells  are  sufficient  for  signaling.  The  re- 
ceiving instrument  is  Thomson’s  Reflecting 
Galvanometer.  This  consists  of  a needle 
formed  of  a piece  of  watch  spring  three- 
eighths  of  an  inch  in  length.  The  needle  is 
suspended  by  a thread  of  cocoon-silk  without 
torsion.  The  needle  lies  in  the  centre  of 
an  exceedingly  delicate  galvanometer  coil. 
A circular  mirror  of  silvered  glass  is  fixed 
to  the  needle,  and  reflects  at  right  angles  to 
it  in  the  plane  of  its  motion.  It  is  so  curved 
that  when  the  light  of  a lamp  is  thrown 
through  a fine  slit  on  it,  the  image  of  the 
slit  is  reflected  on  a scale  about  three  feet 
off,  placed  a little  above  the  front  of  the 
flame.  Deflections  to  the  extent  of  half  an 
inch  along  any  part  of  the  scale  are  sufficient 
for  one  signal.  In  so  delicate  an  instru- 
ment, the  sluggish  swing  of  the  needle  in 
finally  settling  into  any  position  would  de- 
stroy it  susefulness.  To  rectify  this,  a strong 
magnet,  about  eight  inches  long,  and  bent 
concave  to  the  instrument,  is  made  to  slide 
up  and  down  a rod  placed  in  the  line  of  the 
suspending  thread  above  the  instrument. 
This  magnet  can  be  easily  shifted  as  neces- 
sity may  require.  The  oscillations  of  the 
needle  due  to  itself  are,  by  the  aid  of  the 
strong  magnet,  made  so  sudden  and  short  as 
only  to  broaden  the  spot  of  light.  The 
delicacy  of  even  this  exceedingly  delicate 
galvanometer  can  be  immensely  increased 
by  using  an  astatic  needle. 

The  alphabet  is  made  by  opposite  move- 
ments produced  by  one  or  other  of  two 
Morse  keys.  The  signals  need  not  be  made 
from  zero  as  a starting  point.  The  eye 
can  easily  distinguish,  at  any  point  in  the 
scale  to  which  the  spot  of  light  may  be  de- 
flected, the  beginning  and  the  end  of  a sig- 
nal, and  when  its  motion  is  caused  by  the 
proper  action  of  the  needle  or  by  currents. 
It  is  thus  that  the  mirror  galvanometer  is 
adapted  to  cable  signaling,  not  only  by  its 
extreme  delicacy,  but  also  by  its  quickness. 
The  deflections  of  the  spot  of  light  have 
been  aptly  compared  to  a handwriting  no 
one  letter  of  which  is  distinctly  formed,  but 
yet  is  quite  intelligible  to  the  practised  eye. 
Signals  in  this  way  follow  each  other  with 


wonderful  rapidity.  A low  speed — some 
eight  words  a minute — is  adopted  for  public 
messages  ; but  when  the  clerks  communicate 
with  each  other,  as  high  a speed  as  eighteen 
or  twenty  words  is  attained.  In  fact,  it  is 
said,  that  the  only  limit  is  the  power  of 
reading,  not  transmitting  signals.  As  it  is 
the  speed  of  signaling  is  equal  to,  if  not 
greater  than,  that  attained  on  any  land  line 
of  the  same  length,  an  achievement  indica- 
tive of  the  skill  and  genius  that  have  been 
directed  to  Atlantic  telegraphy. 

Telegraphic  stations  must  be  united  by 
one  insulated  wire,  either  carried  overland, 
or  under  the  sea.  The  insulation  of  land 
lines  is  insured  by  attaching  the  wires  to  in- 
sulators fixed  on  posts  some  twenty  feet 
high.  The  posts  are  placed  at  distances  of 
about  sixty  yards  apart.  Insulators  are  of 
all  shapes  and  many  materials.  The  insu- 
lator most  generally  used  in  the  United 
States  is  made  of  glass,  and  is  supported  by 
a wooden  pin.  The  leakage  in  a long  line, 
notwithstanding  the  best  insulation,  is  con- 
siderable. The  loss  at  each  post  is  insignifi- 
cant, but  when  hundreds  or  thousands  are 
taken  into  account  it  becomes  decided ; so 
that  in  extremely  wet  weather  in  some  cases 
merely  a fraction  of  the  total  current  that 
sets  out  reaches  the  earth  at  the  distant 
station. 

The  wire  most  employed  for  land  lines  in 
the  United  States  is  No.  9 galvanized  iron 
wire,  although  there  is  considerable  of  No. 
8,  and  a few  thousand  miles  of  No.  7 and 
6 in  use. 

But  a little  more  than  a quarter  of  a cen- 
tury has  elapsed  since  the  electric  telegraph 
was  introduced  to  the  public  as  a practical 
means  of  communicating  intelligence.  The 
first  line  constructed  in  the  United  States 
was  put  in  operation  in  the  month  of  June, 
1844,  between  Washington  and  Baltimore. 
Up  to  this  time  the  electric  telegraph  had 
been  regarded  only  as  a curious  theoretical 
science  without  practical  application. 

As  far  back  as  1834,  Messrs.  Gauss  and 
Weber  constructed  a line  of  telegraph  over 
the  houses  and  steeples  of  Gottingen,  using 
galvanic  electricity  and  the  phenomenon  of 
magnetic  induction  as  a motor.  The  slow 
oscillations  of  magnetic  bars,  caused  by  the 
passage  of  electric  currents,  and  observed 
through  a telescope  furnished  the  signals  for 
corresponding,  but  the  operation  was  com- 
plicated, slow  and  inefficient.  In  1837,  M. 
Steinheil  established  a line  of  telegraph  be- 


TELEGRAPHS — THEIR  ORIGIN  AND  PROGRESS. 


313 


tween  Munich  and  Bogenhausen,  a distance 
of  twelve  miles;  and  in  1838,  Professor 
Wheatstone  constructed  a line  between 
London  and  Birmingham,  but  the  apparatus 
employed  by  each  was  crude  and  unsatisfac- 
tory, and  it  was  not  until  Professor  Morse 
perfected  his  simple  and  reliable  system, 
that  the  electric  telegraph  became  of  practi- 
cal utility. 


make  them  a present  of  a hundred  dollars, 
but  that  he  would  not  have  his  name  asso- 
ciated as  a stockholder  in  so  wild  and  chime- 
rical a scheme.  After  the  line  was  com- 
pleted, this  incorrigible  skeptic  was  amongst 
the  first  and  best  patrons  of  the  company. 

As  a natural  consequence  of  the  distrust 
of  capitalists,  and  the  great  difficulty  of  rais- 
ing funds  for  properly  building  the  lines, 


STOCK  REPORTING  AND  PRIVATE  LINE  TELEGRAPH 


During  the  first  few  years  after  the  intro-  I they  were  constructed  in  a very  unreliable 
duction  of  the  electric  telegraph  its  progress  manner  and  breaks  and  interruptions  was 
was  very  slow.  Capitalists  were  afraid  to  rather  the  normal  condition  of  the  wires 

invest  in  an  undertaking  so  novel  and  pre-  than  the  exception. 

carious.  When  one  of  the  most  distin-  j At  the  commencement  of  1818,  the  length 
guished  financiers  of  New  York  was  asked  i of  telegraph  wire  in  operation  in  this  coun- 
ty the  projectors  to  subscribe  towards  the  try  was  about  3,000  miles.  At  the  present 
construction  of  the  first  line  from  Baltimore  time  there  are  not  less  than  1 ">0,000  miles 

to  New  ^ ork,  he  replied  that  he  would  in  successful  operation  within  the  limits  of 


314 


TELEGRAPHS THEIR  ORIGIN  AND  PROGRESS. 


the  United  States,  having  over  5,000  sta- 
tions and  employing  upwards  of  10,000 
operators  and  clerks.  The  gross  receipts 
of  the  various  telegraph  companies  in  this 
country  amounts  to  upwards  of  $9,000,000 
per  annum,  while  the  aggregate  capital  em- 
ployed is  more  than  $60,000,000. 

The  various  uses  to  which  the  telegraph 
has  been  applied  is  almost  innumerable. 
Amongst  the  most  important  of  them  may 
be  mentioned  its  application  to  the  running 
of  trains  on  railroads  ; the  giving  of  alarms 
of  fire  in  our  principal  cities ; its  employ- 
ment in  scientific  and  astronomical  observa- 
tions, and  the  transmission  of  weather  re- 
ports. Within  the  past  few  years  a new 
field  of  usefulness  has  been  opened  and  par- 
tially developed  in  the  application  of  the 
telegraph  to  stock  reporting  and  private  line 
purposes,  and  in  which  it  has  already  achieved 
a marked  success,  with  promise  of  becoming 
in  the  future  a still  more  important  branch 
of  the  business.  The  instruments  used  for 
this  purpose  print  the  dispatches  in  plain 
Roman  letters  without  the  aid  of  an  operator 
at  the  receiving  station.  Through  the  aid 
of  this  apparatus  stock  and  market  quota- 
tions are  received  at  the  Exchanges,  Bank- 
ing-houses and  other  places  of  public  resort 
in  the  chief  commercial  cities  of  the  United 
States  at  all  hours  of  the  day.  This  new 
enterprise,  which  was  inaugurated  in  1868, 
has  become  one  of  the  most  important  fea- 
tures of  the  telegraphic  business. 

In  December,  1870,  a general  system  of 
telegraphic  money  orders  or  transfers  was 
put  into  operation  in  the  Pacific  States. 
The  public  demand  for  the  use  of  facilities 
for  telegraphic  exchange  had  long  been  ap- 
parent, and  had  induced  the  authorization 
of  a limited  amount  of  business  which  was 
conducted  with  success  and  profit ; but  the 
need  was  felt  of  a system  which  could  be 
adopted  generally,  without  bringing  in  at 
the  same  time  new  and  serious  risks.  This 
object  has  now  been  attained,  and  arrange- 
ments have  been  made  for  opening  money- 
order  offices  in  all  parts  of  the  country. 

Congress  having,  by  joint  resolution,  au- 
thorized the  Secretary  of  War  to  provide 
for  taking  Meteorological  observations  at 
various  points  in  the  United  States  and  Ter- 
ritories, and  for  their  transmission  by  tele- 
graph to  stations  on  the  Northern  Lakes 
and  Eastern  Seaboard,  arrangements  were 
made  with  the  Western  Union  Telegraph 
Company  for  the  performance  of  the  tele- 


graphic service  commencing  on  the  first  of 
November,  1870.  Sixteen  circuits  are  oc- 
cupied, embracing  fifty-five  stations,  from 
which  three  daily  reports  are  transmitted  to 
Washington,  copies  being  also  dropped  at 
intermediate  stations  on  each  circuit,  mak- 
ing an  aggregate  daily  transmission  of  20,000 
words. 

The  synchronous  transmission,  three  times 
per  day,  of  meteorological  observations  from 
fifty -five  stations  embracing  a territory  cover- 
ing 25  degrees  of  Latitude  and  55  degrees 
of  Longitude  is  unparalleled  in  the  history 
of  the  telegraph;  and  the  eminently  suc- 
cessful manner  in  which  this  great  under- 
taking has  been  performed,  affords  good 
evidence  of  the  superior  condition  and  opera- 
tion of  the  telegraph  lines  in  this  country. 

On  the  first  of  October,  1869,  the  West- 
ern Union  Telegraph  Company,  which 
operates  lines  in  every  State  and  Territory 
in  the  Union,  adopted  a new  Air  Line 
Tariff  for  the  transmission  of  messages,  caus- 
ing an  average  reduction  of  about  15  per 
cent,  and  on  the  first  of  January,  1870,  in- 
augurated a new  feature  in  telegraphy 
whereby  messages  could  be  received  at  and 
for  all  stations  in  the  United  States  for 
transmission  during  the  night  and  delivery 
the  next  day  at  one  half  the  usual  tariff 
rates. 

In  Europe  the  telegraphs,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  submarine  lines,  are  nearly  all 
owned  and  controlled  by  the  Governments, 
and  in  England,  Belgium,  and  Switzerland, 
they  are  connected  with  the  postal  service. 
In  continental  Europe  the  annual  expendi- 
tures for  the  telegraphic  service  exceed  the 
receipts  by  about . two  millions  of  dollars. 
In  England  the  telegraphs  were  purchased 
by  the  Government  in  January,  1870. 
Since  then  the  Government  has  expended 
about  three  million  of  dollars  in  excess  of  the 
receipts,  but,  as  a portion  of  this  expenditure 
is  for  new  construction,  it  is  uncertain  how 
great  the  annual  discrepancy  will  be. 

The  progress  of  the  electric  telegraph 
within  the  past  six  years  has  been  very  great 
in  every  quarter  of  the  globe.  U pon  this  con 
tinent  the  electric  wire  extends  from  the  Gulf 
of  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico, 
and  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  Ocean. 
Three  cables  span  the  Atlantic  Ocear,  con- 
necting America  with  Europe,  and  another 
submerged  in  the  Gulf  Stream,  unites  us 
i with  the  queen  of  the  Antilles.  Unbroken 
I telegraphic  communication  exists  between  all 


TELEGRAPIIS THEIE  ORIGIN  AND  PROGRESS. 


315 


places  in  America  and  all  parts  of  Europe ; 
with  Tripoli  and  Algeirs  in  Africa ; Cairo 
in  Egypt ; Teheran  in  Persia ; Jerusalem 
in  Syria;  Bagdad  and  Nineveh,  in  Asiatic 
Turkey ; Bombay,  Calcutta,  and  other  im- 
portant cities  in  India ; Hong- Kong  and 
Shanghai  in  China;  Irkoutsk,  the  capital 
of  Eastern  Siberia ; Kiakhta  on  the  borders 
of  China ; Nagasaki  in  Japan ; Havana  and 
all  important  towns  in  Cuba,  and  to  New 
Westminster  in  British  Columbia.  But, 
however  rapid  the  extension  of  the  tele- 
graph has  been  in  the  past,  it  is  destined  to 
show  still  greater  advancement  in  the  fu- 
ture. Neither  the  American  nor  the  Euro- 
pean system  has  yet  attained  to  its  ultimate 
development.  Submarine  cables  will  shortly 
be  laid  connecting  the  United  States  with 
all  the  West  India  Islands  and  with  Mexico 
and  South  America.  The  telegraph  is  al- 
ready established  in  various  parts  of  the  lat- 
ter country,  and  in  Brazil  and  Peru  arrange- 
ments are  now  making  for  largely  extending 
them.  The  project  of  connecting  Vera  Cruz 
and  New  Orleans  by  a submarine  cable  is 
likely  to  be  soon  realized,  while  a line  is 
now  completed  between  New  Orleans  and 
the  city  of  Mexico. 

A direct  line  of  telegraph  under  one  con- 
trol and  management  has  recently  been  es- 
tablished between  London  and  India  with 
extensions  to  Singapore  and  China,  which 
will  soon  be  continued  to  Australia. 

Europe  possesses  450,000  miles  of  tele- 
graphic wire  and  1 3,000  stations ; America 

180.000  miles  of  wire  and  6,000  stations  ; 
India  14,000  miles  of  wire  and  200  stations  ; 
and  Australia  10,000  miles  of  wire  and  270 
stations ; and  the  extension  throughout  the 
world  is  now  at  the  rate  of  100,000  miles  of 
wire  per  annum.  There  are  in  addition 

30.000  miles  of  submarine  telegraph  wire 


now  in  successful  operation,  extending  be- 
neath the  Atlantic  and  German  Oceans; 
the  Baltic,  North,  Mediterranean,  Red, 
Arabian,  Japan  and  China  Seas ; the  Per- 
sian Gulf ; the  Bay  of  Biscay,  the  Strait  of 
Gibralter,  and  the  Gulfs  of  Mexico  and  St. 
Lawrence. 

More  than  twenty  thousand  cities  and 
villages  are  now  linked  in  one  continuous 
chain  of  telegraphic  stations.  The  mysteri- 
ous wire  with  its  subtle  and  invisible  influ- 
ence traverses  all  civilized  lands,  and  passes 
beneath  oceans,  seas,  and  rivers,  bearing 
messages  of  business,  friendship,  and  love, 
and  constantly,  silently,  but  powerfully  con- 
tributing to  the  peace,  happiness,  and  pros- 
perity of  all  mankind. 

Professor  Morse,  who  was  already  past 
middle  age  when  he  conceived  the  idea  of 
the  electric  telegraph  on  board  of  the  packet 
ship  Sully  on  her  ever  memorable  passage 
from  Havre  to  New  York,  in  1832,  and 
who  was  nearly  three-score  years  of  age 
when  his  first  line  was  built,  is  still  living 
with  mind  and  body  unimpaired,  and  enjoy- 
ing at  the  age  of  four  score  the  rich  fruits  of 
a harvest  more  abundant  than  than  has  ever 
fallen  to  the  lot  of  any  other  man.  The  in- 
vention of  Professor  Morse,  which  although 
yet  in  its  infancy,  has  already  conferred  in- 
estimable benefits  upon  the  people  of  more 
than  half  the  globe  without  having  occa- 
sioned a pang  of  sorrow  to  a single  human 
being.  If  he  is  to  be  entitled  to  be  esteemed 
a benefactor  who  makes  two  blades  of  grass 
to  grow  where  but  one  grew  before,  with 
what  honors  should  we  regard  him  through 
whom  wars  have  been  postponed  and  short- 
ened, peace  promoted  and  extended,  time 
annihilated  and  distance  abolished,  and  all 
the  highest  and  noblest  faculties  of  man 
multiplied,  extended,  and  enlarged. 


19* 


WEATHER  SIGNALS. 


THE  WEATHER  RECORD  AND  PROGNOSTICA- 
TIONS BY  THE  SIGNAL  SERVICE  OFFICE. 

In  all  ages  and  countries,  and  alike  among 
civilized  and  savage  nations,  there  has  ex- 
isted a strong  desire  to  know  and  to  predict 
with  certainty,  the  condition  of  the  weather 
for  hours,  days,  weeks,  or  months  in  the  fu- 
ture ; and  in  all  countries  there  have  been 
those  who,  from  greater  shrewdness  in  ob- 
servation, or  from  experience  and  observa- 
tion combined  have  been  able  to  foretell 
with  considerable  certainty  the  near  approach 
of  a storm,  or  the  probability  of  fair  weath- 
er. In  many  civilized  countries,  the  results 
of  these  observations  have  been  put  into  the 
form  of  weather  proverbs.  Among  savage 
nations  the  office  of  the  rain-maker  or  weath- 
er prophet  is  one  of  great  profit  and  influ- 
ence, but  also  one  of  considerable  danger, 
as  if  his  predictions  prove  false,  his  indig- 
nant countrymen  are  very  apt  to  manifest 
their  displeasure  by  putting  him  to  death. 

The  foretelling  of  the  weather  by  the 
almanac-makers  was  an  attempt  to  supply 
by  the  boldest  empiricism  this  craving  for 
knowledge  of  the  future  in  a matter  so  com- 
paratively unimportant  as  the  weather. 
These  predictions  were  based  on  no  laws, 
and  followed  no  rule.  They  were  only  in- 
serted to  fill  up  the  vacant  space,  and  when 
as  sometimes,  though  rarely  happened,  they 
blundered  into  a prediction  which  was  re- 
markably verified,  they  commanded  an  im- 
mense sale  in  consequence. 

All  these  observations  and  hap-hazard 
predictions,  however,  had  evolved  no  laws 
or  general  principles,  on  which  the  approach 
or  retreat  of  a storm  could  be  predicated. 
They  covered  only  small  local  areas,  and 
often  what  was  true  of  one  town  or  limited 
district,  would  be  false  concerning  the  next. 
Careful  scientific  observers  have  been  en- 
gaged since  the  latter  part  of  the  last  cen- 
tury in  the  endeavor  to  work  out  from  their 
manifold  recorded  observations  of  the  course 
of  the  winds,  of  the  rising  and  falling  of 


the  barometer,  the  changes  in  the  sun’s  sur- 
face, and  the  temperature,  some  laws  which 
could  be  relied  upon  as  governing  the  weath- 
er and  which  could  enable  men  to  foresee 
approaching  storms  in  time  to  prevent  great 
injury  from  them.  For  many  years  their 
search  seemed  be  in  vain.  No  sooner  had 
they  deduced  the  existence  of  a cycle  of  re- 
curring storms,  than  their  philosophy  was 
put  to  the  shame,  by  a succession  of  delight- 
ful days  just  when,  according  to  their  predic- 
tions, Old  Boreas  should  have  raged  most 
pitilessly.  It  is  not  yet  fifty  years  since 
Arago,  the  great  French  physicist  declared 
in  his  vexation  and  disappointment,  that  “ no 
scientific  man  could  ever  venture  his  repu- 
tation upon  such  a thing  as  weather  prog- 
nostics.” 

The  failure  of  these  eminent  scientists  to 
discover  the  laws  which  governed  the  changes 
of  the  weather  was  not  due  to  any  want  of 
diligence  or  any  lack  of  care  in  their  ob- 
servations, but  solely  to  their  having  over- 
looked the  course  of  the  wind  in  the  storms 
and  its  importance  as  a prime  factor  in  these 
changes.  It  was  reserved  for  an  able,  though 
self-taught  observer  of  our  own  country,  Mr. 
William  C.  Redfield,  a native  of  Middletown, 
Connecticut,  but  for  many  years  a resident 
and  active  business  man  of  New  York  City, 
to  deduce  the  law  of  storms,  and  with  it  the 
other  laws  affecting  weather  changes,  from 
an  immense  series  of  observations,  gathered 
from  numerous  and  widely  separated  sta- 
tions. Mr.  Redfield’s  attention  was  first 
called  to  this  subject  after  the  destructive 
gale  of  September,  1821,  but  he  did  not 
make  public  his  conclusions  until  he  had  veri- 
fied them  by  extensive  correspondence  and 
examination  of  the  logs  of  hundreds  of  ships 
which  had  been  caught  in  cyclones  or  hurri- 
canes, or  had  passed  through  the  outer  edge 
of  those  destructive  agencies.  His  first  pub- 
lication of  his  observations  was  made  in 
1831,  in  the  American  Journal  of  Science , 
and  for  many  years  thereafter  he  gave  great 
[316] 


WEATHER  SIGNALS. 


317 


attention  to  the  subject,  and  yearly  or  often- 
er,  published  the  results  of  his  more  ex- 
tended inquiries.  In  these  he  was  greatly 
assisted  by  Lieut.  Colonel,  afterward  Gen. 
Sir  William  Reid,  Governor  of  Bermuda 
and  afterward  of  Malta,  whose  careful  and 
extended  inquiries  and  valuable  assistance 
entitle  his  name  to  be  associated  with  Mr. 
Redfield  in  this  great  and  beneficent  work. 

Mr.  Redfield’s  theory  of  storms,  every 
particular  of  which  was,  during  his  lifetime, 
fully  established  by  facts  which  he  had  gath- 
ered, was  the  following:  That  all  violent 
gales  or  hurricanes  are  great  whirlwinds , in 
which  the  wind  blows  in  circuits  around  an 
axis  either  vertical  or  inclined;  that  the 
winds  do  not  move  in  horizontal  circles,  but 
rather  in  spirals  towards  the  axis,  a descend- 
ing spiral  movement  externally,  an  ascend- 
ing internally. 

That  the  direction  of  revolution  is  always 
uniform,  being  from  right  to  left,  or  against 
the  sun,  on  the  north  side  of  the  equator, 
and  from  left  to  right,  or  with  the  sun,  on 
the  south  side. 

That  the  velocity  of  rotation  increases 
from  the  margin  towards  the  center  of  the 
storm. 

That  the  whole  body  of  air  subjected  to 
this  spiral  rotation,  is  at  the  same  time  mov- 
ing forward  in  a path  at  a variable  rate,  but 
always  with  a velocity  much  less  than  its 
velocity  of  rotation,  being  at  the  minimum, 
hitherto  observed  as  low  as  four  miles,  and 
at  the  maximum  forty-three  miles,  but  more 
commonly  about  thirty  miles  per  hour,  while 
the  motion  of  rotation  may  be  not  less  than 
from  one  hundred  to  three  hundred  miles 
per  hour. 

That  in  storms  of  a particular  region,  as 
the  gales  of  the  Atlantic,  or  the  typhoons  of 
the  China  Seas,  great  uniformity  exists  in 
regard  to  the  path  pursued , those  of  the  At- 
lantic, for  example,  usually  issuing  from  the 
equatorial  regions  eastward  of  the  West  In- 
dia Islands,  pursuing,  at  first,  a course  to- 
ward the  northwest,  as  far  as  the  latitude  of 
30°  and  then  gradually  wheeling  to  (he 
northeast,  and  following  a path  nearly  paral- 
lel to  the  American  coast,  to  the  east  of 
Newfoundland,  until  they  are  lost  in  mid- 
ocean ; the  entire  path  when  delineated,  re- 
sembling a parabolic  curve,  whose  apex  is 
near  the  latitude  of  30°. 

That  their  dimensions  are  sometimes  very 
great,  being  not  less  than  one  thousand  miles 


in  diameter,  while  their  path  over  the  ocean 
can  sometimes  be  traced  for  three  thousand 
miles. 

That  the  barometer  at  any  given  place, 
falls  with  increasing  rapidity  as  the  center 
of  the  whirlwind  approaches,  but  rises  at  a 
corresponding  rate  after  the  center  has  pas- 
sed by ; and  finally, 

That  the  phenomena  are  more  uniform  in 
large  than  in  small  storms,  and  more  uni- 
form on  the  ocean  than  on  the  land. 

The  application  of  these  principles  to  the 
ordinary  changes  of  the  weather  was  not 
arrived  at  for  several  years ; but  when  the 
electric  telegraph  was  put  in  operation,  Mr. 
Redfield  was  prompt  to  see  the  advantages 
it  offered  for  extending  the  benefits  of  this 
discovery  to  the  preservation  of  life  and 
property,  and  early  in  1846,  he  began  to 
urge  upon  the  attention  of  the  scientists  of 
the  nation  the  possibility  of  using  the  elec- 
tric telegraph  in  connection  with  the  daily 
study  of  the  weather,  for  the  purpose  of 
forewarning  endangered  parts  of  the  ap- 
proach and  force  of  storms. 

In  his  memorable  paper  published  that 
year  in  the  “ American  Journal  of  Science ,” 
he  said  : In  the  Atlantic  parts  of  the  United 
States,  the  approach  of  a gale,  when  the 
storm  is  yet  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  or  in  the 
Southern  and  Western  States,  may  be  made 
known  by  means  of  the  electric  telegraph, 
which,  probably,  will  soon  extend  from  Maine 
to  the  Mississippi.”  11  e significantly  added : 
“ This  will  enable  the  merchant  to  avoid  ex- 
posing his  vessel  to  a furious  gale  soon  after 
leaving  her  port.  By  awaiting  the  arrival 
of  a storm,  and  promptly  putting  to  sea 
with  its  closing  winds,  a good  offing  and 
rapid  progress  will  be  secured  by  the  voyag- 
er.” It  is  now  about  twelve  years  since  the 
late  gifted  and  lamented  Admiral  Fitzroy 
put  this  original  suggestion  of  Mr.  Redfield 
into  execution,  and  by  the  sagacious  applica- 
tion of  the  laws  of  storms  which  we  have 
already  detailed,  placed  his  country  under 
such  perfect  meteorological  surveillance,  that 
after  a single  year’s  experiment  it  was  offici- 
ally stated  at  a meeting  of  the  shareholders 
of  the  Great  Western  Docks  at  Stonehouse, 
Plymouth,  that  “ the  deficiency  (in  revenue) 
was  to  be  attributed  chiefly  to  the  absence 
of  vessels  requiring  the  use  of  the  graving 
docks,  for  the  purpose  of  repairing  the  dam- 
ages occasioned  by  storms  and  casualties  at 
sea.”  In  that  movement  England  was  fol- 


318 


SIGNAL  ERVICE. 


lowed  by  France,  Prussia,  Austria,  Holland, 
Sweden,  and  Norway,  Italy,  and  Russia. 

Meanwhile,  observations  on  the  hurricanes 
of  the  Atlantic  had  been  prosecuted  in  this 
country  with  great  care  and  thoroughness, 
since  the  death  of  Mr.  Redfield  in  1857,  by 
his  son,  Mr.  John  II.  Redfield  of  Philadel- 
phia, himself  an  experienced  and  skilful  me- 
teorologist, and  had  resulted  in  important 
additions  to  our  knowledge  of  the  laws  gov- 
erning Cyclones.  In  1870,  Congress,  on  the 
earnest  recommendation  of  Gen.  W.  W.  Bel- 
knap, Secretary  of  War,  passed  an  act  au- 
thorizing the  establishment  of  a system  of 
daily  weather  signals.  The  organization  and 
management  of  this  service  was  entrusted  to 
Gen.  A.  J.  Myer,  Chief  Signal  Officer  U.  S.  A., 
to  whose  skilful  and  well  directed  labors,  its 
success  is  largely  due.  It  now  forms  a sepa- 
rate division  of  the  Signal  Bureau,  called  the 
“ Division  of  Telegrams  and  Reports  for  the 
benefit  of  Commerce  and  Agriculture.” 

We  are,  as  yet,  in  the  infancy  of  this 
great  discovery,  and  are  no  more  prepared 
to  appreciate  fully  what  will  be  its  benefi- 
cial results  to  all  nations  and  in  all  direc- 
tions, than  was  Morse  to  foresee  the  grand 
impulse  which  the  electric  telegraph  would 
give  to  all  communication  between  the  fam- 
ilies of  man,  when  in  1844,  he  rejoiced  in 
the  opening  of  the  first  telegraphic  line  be- 
tween Baltimore  and  Washington,  or  than 
Daguerre  was  when  he  made  his  first  sun 
pictures.  But  an  experience  of  less  than 
three  years  has  shown  us  that  not  only  will 
it  prove  of  great  benefit  in  the  protection  of 
our  commerce  from  severe  storms  and  gales, 
as  well  as  ships  at  sea  from  the  destructive 
cyclones,  but  that  in  all  matters  of  business 
or  pleasure,  it  will  come  to  be  as  much  a 
matter  of  course  to  consult  the  weather  re- 
port as  the  time-piece ; that  both  our  inland 
navigation  by  river  and  lake,  and  our  rail- 
way travel  will  be  protected  and  to  some 
extent  influenced  by  it ; and  the  farmer, 
the  contractor,  the  brickmaker,  the  lime 
burner,  the  builder,  and  indeed  all  trades 
which  are  plied  in  the  open  air,  as  well  as 
persons  who  are  intending  to  journey  for  busi- 
ness or  pleasure,  or  to  receive  visitors,  will 
apply  to  the  weather  record  to  ascertain 
what  is  to  be  on  the  morrow.  These  bene- 
fits we  are  already  entitled  to  expect  from  it,  | 
for  they  have  already  been  realized.  What 
more  is  to  come  when  observations  are  taken 
simultaneously  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  we 
know  not  yet,  but  we  shall  by  and  bye. 


Let  us  now  give  our  readers  an  account 
of  the  processes  by  which  these  weather  pre- 
dictions, whose  accuracy  has  already  aston- 
ished the  world,  are  worked  out. 

In  pursuance  of  the  duty  imposed  upon 
the  Secretary  of  War  by  the  law  of  Con- 
gress requiring  of  him  the  announcement, 
by  telegraph  and  signal  of  the  approach  and 
force  of  storms  the  office  of  the  Chief  Signal 
Office  at  the  War  Department  causes  mete- 
orological observations  and  telegraphic  re-» 
ports  to  be  made  three  times  in  each  twenty- 
four  hours  at  about  eighty  stations.*  These 
observations,  which  are  of  the  most  exact 
kind,  are  taken  by  trained  observer  ser- 
geants of  the  Signal  Service  at  the  identical 
moments,  7.35,  A.  M.,  4.35,  p.  m.,  and 
11.35,  p.  m.,  Washington  time,  in  each  sta- 
tion, and  immediately  transmitted  over  the 
wires  in  cypher  to  the  office  of  the  Chief 
Signal  Officer  at  Washington.  By  a care- 
fully arranged  system  of  telegraphic  circuits, 
copies  of  the  full  reports  of  all  stations  are 
sent  at  the  same  time  to  the  signal  service 
stations  in  most  of  the  principal  cities  and 
towns,  and  at  each  station  so  receiving,  a 
tabular  report  or  bulletin  is  immediately  dis- 
played for  general  use  and  information.  In 
most  of  these  offices,  there  is  a small  printing 
press  and  the  type  for  the  report  is  kept 
standing  except  the  moderate  amount  of  al- 
teration necessary.  The  corrections  are  put 
in  instantly  on  the  reception  of  the  report 
from  Washington,  and  copies  struck  off  and 
sent  to  the  Newspapers,  Exchanges,  Cham- 
bers of  Commerce,  and  other  important  pub- 
lic places,  where  they  are  posted  for  general 
information.  This  is  generally  accomplished 
between  9 and  11a.  m.,  6 and  8 p.  m.,  and 
1 and  3 A.  m.  These  bulletins  are  known 
as  the  “ morning  report,”  “ afternoon  report,” 
and  “ midnight  report,”  and  give,  in  the  offi- 
cial signal  service  report,  beside  the  general 
synopsis  of  the  weather  at  the  time,  and  the 
probabilities  for  the  coming  twenty-four 
hours,  the  following  particulars : the  height 
of  the  barometer  and  its  oscillations  since 
the  last  report,  in  the  principal  stations 
throughout  the  country,  the  thermometric 
range  and  variation  at  the  same  points  dur- 
ing the  previous  twenty-four  hours,  the 
relative  humidity  of  the  air,  the  direction  of 
' the  wind,  the  velocity  of  the  wind  in  miles 

I • On  the  first  of  October,  1S72,  there  were  76  stations,  the 
I names  of  which  are  jjiven  in  this  article,  but  new  stations  are 
I constantly  called  for  and  established  as  fast  as  suitable  ob- 
servers and  places  can  be  found.  1‘robably  not  less  than  a 
| hundred  will  be  in  operation  by  the  close  of  1873. 


SIGNAL  SERVICE. 


319 


per  hour,  the  pressure  of  the  wind  in  pounds 
per  square  foot,  the  force  of  the  wind  re- 
duced to  the  Beaufort  or  Marine  scale,  the 
amount  and  character  of  the  clouds,  the 
rain  fall  since  the  last  report  in  inches  and 
hundredths,  and  the  general  state  of  the 
weather,  with  any  noteworthy  particulars. 
If  a storm  is  approaching  and  it  is  found 
necessary  to  order  cautionary  signals  hoisted 
at  any  given  point  or  points,  that  fact  is 
clearly  stated  at  the  close  of  the  report.  At 
first  the  newspapers,  to  which  all  these  re- 
ports are  furnished  without  cost,  printed 
them  nearly  or  quite  complete ; but  for  the 


past  year  those  in  the  larger  cities  have  con- 
tented themselves  with  printing  the  general 
synopsis  of  the  weather,  the  probabilities, 
and  the  cautionary  signals  when  these  were 
required. 

The  following  is  a list  of  the  stations  oc- 
cupied by  observer  sergeants  on  the  1st  of 
October,  1872.  It  is  to  be  observed  that  the 
stations  in  the  Dominion  of  Canada  though 
working  isochronously  and  in  harmony  with 
those  of  our  Signal  Service  Bureau,  are 
under  the  control  of  the  Dominion  Meteor- 
ological Bureau,  and  are  supported  by  the 
Dominion  Government: 


Plaister  Cove,  Nova  Scotia. 
St.  John,  New  Brunswick. 
Portland,  Me. 

Boston,  Mass. 

New  London,  Conn. 

New  York  City,  N.  Y. 
Albany,  N.  Y. 
Philadelphia,  Penn. 
Baltimore,  Md. 
Washington,  D.  C. 
Wilmington,  N C. 
Charleston,  8.  C. 
Savannah,  Ga. 

Augusta,  Ga. 

Lake  City,  Florida. 

Key  West,  Florida. 
Montgomery,  Ala. 

Mobile,  Ala. 

New  Orleans,  La. 


San  Francisco,  Cal. 
Norfolk,  Va. 

Oswego,  N.  Y. 
Rochester,  N.  Y. 
Buffalo,  N.  Y. 
Cleveland,  Ohio. 
Toledo,  Ohio. 

Detroit,  Mich. 

Chicago,  111. 
Milwaukee,  Wis. 

Saint  Paul,  Min. 
Duluth,  Min. 
Pittsburgh,  Penn. 
Knoxville,  Tenn. 
Indianapolis,  Ind. 
Lynchburg,  Va. 
Burlington,  Vt. 

Mt.  Washington,  N.  H. 
Keokuk,  Iowa. 


Grand  Haven,  Mich. 
Escanaba,  Mich. 
Marquette,  Mich. 
Davenport,  Iowa. 
Leavenworth,  Kansas. 
Cairo,  111. 

Cape  May,  N.  J. 
Galveston,  Texas. 
Montreal,  Canada. 
Quebec,  Canada. 
Toronto,  Canada. 
Punta  Itassa,  Florida. 
Vicksburg,  Miss. 
Memphis,  Tenn. 
Nashville,  Tenn. 
Louisville,  Ky. 
Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Omaha,  Nebraska. 


Cheyenne,  Wyoming  Ter. 
Santa  Fe,  New  Mexico. 
Corinne,  Utah. 

Fort  Benton,  Montana  Ter. 
Shreveport,  La. 

Jacksonville,  Florida. 
Portland,  Oregon. 

San  Diego,  Cal. 

Denver,  Colorado. 

Virginia  City,  Montana  Ter. 
Port  Stanley,  Canada. 

Port  Dover,  Canada. 
Kingston,  Canada. 

Saugeen,  Canada. 
Breckenridge,  Min. 

Fort  Sully,  Dakota  Ter. 
Indianola,  Texas. 

Alpena,  Mich. 

La  Crosse,  Wis. 


Two  observer  sergeants  were  also  sent 
out,  one  with  the  North  Polar  Expedition 
under  command  of  Captain  C.  F.  Hall,  the 
other  to  the  Island  of  St.  Paul,  Alaska, 
where  a station  is  to  be  established.  More 
than  one  hundred  other  applications  were 
made  for  the  establishment  of  stations  in 
every  part  ot  the  country,  which  were  ne- 
cessarily declined  for  the  time  from  the  want 
of  both  means  and  men.  The  different  parts 
of  the  country  are  designated  as  follows  in 
the  Synopsis  and  Probabilites  ” of  the  Sig- 
nal Service  office  : 

The  six  New  England  States  are  alluded 
to  as  New  England,  the  Northeast,  or  the 
Eastern  States.  New  York,  New  Jersey, 
Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  District  of  Colum- 
bia, and  Virginia,  as  the  Middle  States,  or 
sometimes  as  the  Middle  Atlantic  States. 
Nortii  Carolina,  Soutli  Carolina,  Georgia, 
and  Northern  and  Eastern  Florida,  as  the 
South  Atlantic  States.  Western  Florida, 
Alabama,  Mississippi,  Louisiana,  and  Texas, 
as  the  Gulf  States.  Sometimes  the  Gulf 
States,  the  South  Atlantic,  West  Virginia, 
Tennessee,  Kentucky,  and  Arkansas,  are 
grouped  together  as  the  Southern  States. 
The  Lower  or  Eastern  Lakes,  whim  used, 
mean  Lakes  Erie  and  Ontario.  The  Up- 


per or  Western  Lakes,  are  Lakes  Superior, 
Huron,  and  Michigan.  The  Northwest, 
popularly  means  the  country  lying  between 
the  Mississippi  and  Missouri  Rivers.  The 
Southwest  means  Texas,  the  Indian  Ter- 
ritory, and  New  Mexico.  The  Pacific  Coast 
or  Pacific  States,  includes  California,  Ore- 
gon, and  Washington  Territory.  The  Ohio 
Valley  includes  the  belt  of  country  about 
two  hundred  miles  broad,  between  Pittsburg 
and  Cairo.  The  Mississippi  Valley  includes 
a belt  of  somewhat  greater  width  from  be- 
low Vicksburg  to  Davenport,  Iowa.  The 
“ Extensions  ” from  one  State  to  another, 
refers  to  areas  reaching  to  the  central  por- 
tion of  the  State  mentioned.  In  Coast  is 
included  the  land  between  the  water  edge 
and  the  Coast  hills  or  mountains  which  skirt 
them. 

Winds  are  said  to  blow  from  the  North- 
east when  they  are  included  within  the  quad- 
rant from  north  to  east,  and  similarly  for 
other  directions.  There  are  certain  princi- 
ples or  laws  deduced  from  observation  in  re- 
gard to  the  direction  which  the  wind  will 
take  in  an  approaching  storm,  the  relative 
amount  of  humidity  found  in  advance  of  a 
storm  and  in  its  rear,  the  path  which  the 
central  area  of  low  pressure  will  pursue,  and 


320 


SIGNAL  SERVICE. 


the  velocity  which  the  storm  will  acquire  in 
its  progress,  which  very  much  aid  the  me- 
teorologists in  predicting  the  character  of  a 
given  storm,  but  the  main  points  can  be 
learned  by  looking  at  the  map  on  the  oppo- 
site page. 

We  have  said  that  the  observer  sergeants, 
and  we  might  add,  their  assistants  also,  were 
trained  men.  Their  training  is  very  thorough, 
and  requires  a considerable  time  and  prac- 
tice to  make  them  perfect.  The  cost  of  fit- 
ting up  each  station  is  considerable,  requiring 
a room  near  and  readily  accessible  to  the 
telegraph  office  from  which  the  reports  are 
to  be  sent,  and  if  practicable  also  a table  or 
desk  at  that  office  for  the  preparation  of  the 
reports  and  the  translation  and  transcription 
of  those  received  from  the  principal  office,  a 
roof  strong  enough  for  the  erection  of  the 
apparatus  for  determining  the  velocity,  di- 
rection, and  force  of  the  wind,  and  if  practi- 
cable the  transmission  of  these  particulars 
to  a self-registering  apparatus  in  his  room. 
The  instruments  supplied  to  each  station  are, 
one  standard  barometer  (Green’s,  Signal 
Service,  U.  S.  A.)  ; one  standard  thermom- 
eter (Green’s,  Signal  Service,  U.  S.  A.)  ; 
one  standard  hygrometer  (Glaisher’s  Model); 
one  maximum  thermometer  (Signal  Service 
U.  S.  A.)  ; one  minimum  thermometer  (Sig- 
nal Service,  U.  S.  A.) ; one  anemometer 
(Robinson’s)  ; one  large  wind  vane  (Signal 
Service,  U.  S.  A.),  and  one  smaller  wind  vane 
(Signal  Service,  U.  S.  A.);  one  rain  gauge  ; 
one  clock  of  excellent  quality  and  carefully 
adjusted  to  the  local  time.  The  observers  are 
required  to  correct  each  of  the  barometrical 
observations  for  instrumental  error,  for  tem- 
perature, and  for  elevation,  before  sending 
them  to  Washington.  They  are  required 
to  follow  their  instructions,  which  are  very 
carefully  prepared,  in  regard  to  the  place 
and  circumstances,  and  the  reading  of  the 
thermometers  and  the  hygrometer,  and  to  see 
that  the  self-registering  apparatus  of  the 
anemometer  is  in  perfect  order.  They  are 
also  instructed  in  regard  to  the  observations 
of  the  wind  vane,  and  the  rain  gauge.  They 
are  further  supplied  with  the  necessary  tools 
for  cleaning  and  repairing  their  instruments 
and  at  the  river  stations  with  water  gauges, 
or  instructions  how  to  make  them,  and  at 
points  where  cautionary  signals  are  to  be 
displayed,  with  these,  which  we  shall  describe 
further  on.  They  have  also  a full  supply 
of  the  different  forms,  thirteen  in  number, 


required  in  their  duties,  and  with  seven  blank 
books  in  which  they  are  required  to  make 
their  entries  daily  or  weekly.  They  are 
furnished  with  ten  or  twelve  books  of  refer- 
ence, needed  for  the  better  understanding  of 
their  duties.  The  reports  to  the  Signal  Ser- 
vice Bureau  are  made  in  a prescribed  cypher, 
very  carefully  and  ingeniously  arranged  to 
give  the  maximum  of  information  in  the 
minimum  of  words.  The  table  of  cyphers 
have  their  separate  word  for  each  variation 
of  a tenth  or  hundredth  of  a degree  in  ther- 
mometer or  barometer,  in  the  velocity  of  the 
wind,  the  character  of  the  clouds,  the  rain- 
fall, etc.,  etc.  This  will  be  best  illustrated 
by  an  example.  The  report  from  the  Mount 
Washington,  N.  H.  station  at  a given  date, 
is  as  follows : 


Mount 

Cake 

Florid 

Throng 

Beast 

Caspian 

Relic 

Hidden 

Three 

Abase 

Turning  to  the  Key  to  the  cyphers  we 
find  the  translation  to  be,  reading  from  left 
to  right,  horizontally  : 

Station,  Mount  Washington,  N.  H.,  date 
2d  October.  Time,  Morning  Report,  Bar- 
ometer 30.07  ; Thermometer  19°  ; Humidity 
35;  Weather,  Cloudy;  Direction  of  Wind, 
Northwest ; Velocity  of  Wind,  47  miles  per 
hour ; Upper  Clouds,  Hidden ; Lower 
Clouds,  Foggy;  Rainfall,  .01.  The  date 
and  time  in  the  upper  line,  and  the  weather 
and  direction  of  the  wind  in  the  lower, 
being  each  expressed  by  a single  word.  If 
the  station  is  a river  port  the  afternoon 
report  consists  of  twelve  words  arranged  in 
two  lines  of  six  words  each,  the  last  word 
in  the  first  line  being  River,  and  the  last 
word  in  the  second  line  indicating  the  change 
in  the  depth  of  water  which  has  taken  place 
in  the  previous  twenty-four  hours.  These 
reports  of  the  depth  of  water  have  proved 
of  great  value  to  the  navigation  of  the  West- 
ern rivers,  often  shortening  the  upward  pas- 
sage twelve  or  twenty-four  hours.  The  fol- 
lowing is  an  example  of  a River  report : 


Orleans 

Gay 

Folks 

Trial 

By 

Ilivcr 

Burns 

Ranchc 

Hidden 

Ten 

Append 

Hang 

Translation. — Station,  New  Orleans  ; 
j Date,  12th  ; Time,  Afternoon  Report;  Bar- 
ometer, 30.19;  Thermometer,  74°  ; Humid- 


SIGNAL  SERVICE. 


321 


ity,  100  ; Weather,  Heavy  Rain  ; Direction 
of  Wind,  Southeast ; Velocity  of  Wind,  8 
miles ; Upper  Clouds,  Hidden ; Lower 
Clouds,  Sky  Covered  ; Rainfall,  83  ; River, 
9 inches  rise. 

The  seventy  or  eighty  reports  having 
come  into  the  Signal  Service  Office  at 
Washington  by  8 a.  m.,  5 p.  m.,  and  1 2 p.  m., 
let  us  next  see  how  the  weather  map  is  filled 
up,  and  the  “ synopsis  and  probabilities”  de- 
duced from  it. 

As  the  reports  come  in  every  particular  is 
accurately  and  neatly  entered,  first  in  the 
blank  map  for  the  particular  district  to  which 
the  station  belongs,  as  Eastern  States,  Mid- 
dle States,  Lower  Lake  Region,  etc.,  and 
then  in  a blank  map  of  the  United  States 
like  the  one  we  have  inserted.  It  will  be 
noticed  that  certain  simple  characters  are 
employed  to  express  the  character  of  the 
clouds,  the  presence  of  rain,  snow,  or  fair 
weather,  and  arrows  to  denote  the  direction 
of  the  wind,  while  the  height  of  the  ther- 
mometer and  barometer,  and  the  velocity  of 
the  wind  are  expressed  in  figures,  in  the  or- 
der here  stated.  When  these  particulars 
have  been  entered,  either  for  the  whole  coun- ! 
try  or  a particular  section,  the  meteorologists 
proceed  to  connect  by  lines  made  by  a soft 
blunt  red  lead  pencil,  all  places  in  which  the 
barometer  stands  at  30.00  (its  average  height  | 
at  the  level  of  the  sea,  though  on  the  West- 
ern plains  the  average  is  about  30.20).  These 
will  always  be  continuous  lines,  curved  in- 1 
deed,  and  sometimes  forming  a part  of  an  ! 
ellipse ; next  they  proceed  to  connect  the 
other  points  in  which  the  height  of  barom- 
eter is  the  same,  whether  above  or  below 
30.00,  and  these  too  always  form  continuous  I 
lines,  those  above  3<  >.00  being  on  one  side  j 
of  the  line  of  30.00  and  those  below  it  on  j 
the  opposite  side.  Where  there  is  a dif- 
ference of  ten-hundredths  between  two  places 
not  very  distant,  as  for  instance,  where  at ' 
one  the  barometer  stands  at  29.85  and  at  the 
other  at  29.95,  the  line  is  run  midway  between  ; 
the  two  places,  and  that  line  is  noted  as 
the  line  of  the  mean  or  29.90,  or  simply  90 
as  on  the  map.  Where  there  is  exeessive 
heat  or  excessive  depression  of  the  mercury 
in  the  barometer,  there  is  almost  uniformly 
a tendency  in  these  lines  to  enclose  in  an  ; 
elliptical  form  a considerable  area,  and  this 
area  thus  enclosed,  is  one  where  a storm 
with  high  winds,  a hurricane,  or  cyclone  pre- 
vails. These  are  called  areas  of  high  or 


i low  barometer.  The  connecting  lines  drawn 
I between  places  where  the  height  of  the 
| barometer  is  the  same  are  called  iso-baro- 
! metrical  lines,  i.  e.,  lines  of  equal  barometer, 
or  for  convenience,  isobars.  These  isobars 
; having  been  drawn,  the  existence  of  a storm 
| in  any  part  of  the  United  States  is  readilv 
I made  manifest,  and  the  prevailing  direction 
of  the  wind,  its  velocity,  the  rainfall,  and 
the  relative  humidity  of  the  atmosphere,  the 
character  and  course  of  the  clouds,  and  the 
temperature  being  taken  into  the  account,  it 
! is  not  difficult  to  predict  with  reasonable 
j certainty  the  weather  for  the  coming  twenty- 
four  hours.  If  a cyclone  is  on  its  way  north- 
ward along  the  coast,  or  in  the  region  of  the 
great  lakes,  cautionary  signals  are  ordered 
at  the  ports  most  exposed  to  danger  from 
the  storm  and  the  prudent  navigator  will 
delay  his  voyage,  or  if  he  braves  the  tem- 
pest, take  ample  precautions  against  its 
fury.  These  cautionary  signals,  a red  flag 
with  black  square  in  the  center  by  day,  and 
a red  light  from  a lantern  liffisted  on  a lofty 
pole  by  night,  when  displayed  at  the  signal 
office,  and  other  prominent  places  through- 
out any  city,  signify,  according  to  the  official 
statement  from  the  Signal  Service  Office,  as 
follows : 

1.  That  from  the  information  had  at  the 
central  office  in  Washington,  a probability  of 
stormy  or  dangerous  weather  lias  been  de- 
duced for  the  port  or  place  at  which  the 
cautionary  signal  is  displayed  or  in  that  vi- 
cinity. 

2.  That  the  danger  appears  to  be  so  great  as 
to  demand  precaution  on  the  part  of  navi- 
gators and  others  interested,  such  as  an  ex- 
amination of  vessels  or  other  structures  liable 
to  be  endangered  by  a storm,  the  inspection 
of  crews,  rigging,  etc.,  and  general  prepara- 
tion for  rough  weather. 

3.  It  calls  for  frequent  examination  of 
local  barometers  and  other  instruments  by 
ship  captains  or  others  interested,  and  the 
study  of  local  signs  of  the  weather,  as  cloud-*, 
etc.  By  this  means  those  who  are  expert 
may  often  be  confirmed  as  to  the  need  of  the 
precaution  to  which  the  cautionary  signal 
calls  attention,  or  may  determine  that  the 
danger  is  overestimated  or  past. 

These  cautionary,  signals  have  within  the 
past  three  years,  saved  from  shipwreck  and 
destruction  many  scores  of  vessels,  and  are 
regarded  by  all  navigators  both  on  the  ocean 
and  on  our  inland  seas,  as  of  very  great  itn- 


322 


SIGNAL  SERVICE, 


portance  and  value.  While  discussing  this 
subject  of  cyclones  and  hurricanes,  it  is  im- 
portant to  notice  that  they  come  in  most 
cases  from  the  ocean  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
tropics.  They  are  probably  due  to  the  con- 
flict of  the  trade  winds  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  equator.  So  far  as  our  country  east 
of  the  Alleghany  Mountains  is  concerned, 
they  originate  in  the  West  Indies,  and  in  early 
summer,  describing  a parabolic  curve,  follow 
the  course  of  the  Gulf  stream  and  the  sea 
of  Sargasso,  and  very  seldom  touch  our 
coasts.  In  August  and  September,  the  re- 
gion where  they  commence  is  farther  South 
and  the  sweep  of  the  cyclone  brings  it  upon 
the  coasts  of  Florida,  Georgia,  and  the 
Carolinas.  In  October  they  are  generated 


still  nearer  the  equator,  and  moving  West- 
wardly  over  the  warm  waters  of  the  great 
equatorial  currents,  they  enter  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  and  invade  the  Mississippi  valley, 
which  is  a natural  highway  for  storms.  The 
New  York  Herald  Almanac  for  1873,  pub- 
lished a “ Hurricane  and  Cyclone  Chart  for 
the  Northern  and  Southern  Hemispheres, 
compiled  from  the  Signal  Service  Reports 
and  the  observations  of  the  Coast  Survey.’* 
Believing  this  may  be  of  service  to  our  ship 
captains  and  other  officers  of  the  Mercantile 
Marine,  we  give  its  directions  and  instruc- 
tions. It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that 
they  are  but  a very  slight  amplification  of 
Mr.  Redfield’s  instructions  as  adopted  by 
Admiral  Fitzroy : 


NORTHERN  HEMISPHERE. 


E 

Direction  of 
Wind  at  Com- 
mencement of 
Cyclone. 

Bearing  of  Cen- 
tre of  Cyclone 
from  Ship. 

Change  of  Wind  from 

Course  to  be 
Steered. 

Change  of  Wind  from 

Course 
to  be 
Adopted. 

1.. 

N W 

N E 

N W towards  W 

S E 

N W towards  N 

2. . 

N W by  N 

N E by  E 

N W by  N towards  W. . . . 

8 E by  S 

N W by  N towards  N. . . . 

3. . 

N N W 

E N E 

N N W towards  W 

S S E. . . 

NNff  towards  N 

4. . 

N by  W 

E by  N 

N by  W towards  W 

S by  E 

o 

N by  W towards  N 

5.. 

N 

E 

N towards  VV 

N towards  E 

GO 

CT 

6. . 

N by  E 

E by  S 

N bv  E towards  N 

S by  W 

t? 

N by  E towards  E 

7. . 

N N E 

E S E 

N N E towards  N.  . . 

s s w. 

p 

< 

N N E towards  E 

8. . 

N E by  N 

S E by  E 

N E by  N towards  N..  . . 

S W by  S 

o 

N E by  N towards  E 

o 

9. . 

N E 

S E 

N E towa.rds  N 

s W 

o 

N E towards  E 

of 

10. . 

N E by  E 

S E by  S 

N E by  E towards  N. . . . 

8 IV  by  W 

p 

N E by  E towards  E 

p- 

11. . 

E N E 

s S E 

E N E towards  N 

w s w 

GO 

E N E towards  E 

§ 

12. . 

E by  N 

S by  E 

E by  N towards  N 

VV  by  S 

ET. 

E by  N towards  E 

«*■ 

13. . 

E 

S 

E towards  N 

w 

rt- 

E towards  S 

o 

14. . 

E by  S 

S by  W 

E by  S towards  E 

•\V  by  N 

o 

E by  S towards  S 

§ 

15.. 

ESE 

S S W 

ESE  towards  E 

W N W 

o 

p 

ESE  towards  S 

16.. 

S E by  E 

s W by  S 

S E by  E towards  E. . . . 

N W by  W 

“ 

S E by  E towards  S 

CD 

17. . 

S E 

S W 

S E towards  E 

N W 

S E towards  S 

QO 

18. . 

S E by  S 

S W by  W. . . 

S P hy  S towards  P 

N W by  N. . . 

8 E by  S towards  S 

i 

19. . 

S S E 

W S W 

8 S E towards  E 

N N W 

0 

S S E towards  S. 

o- 

o 

20. . 

S by  E 

W by  S 

S by  S towards  E 

V by  W 

r*- 

8 by  E towards  S 

§ 

21. 

S 

w 

S towards  E 

N 

§ 

S towards  W 

22. . 

S by  W 

W by  N 

S bv  W towards  S 

N by  E 

pr 

S by  W towards  W 

1 

23. . 

s s W 

W N W 

S S W towards  S 

N N E 

S S W towards  W 

Jr 

24 

S W by  S 

N VV  by  W 

S W by  S towards  S 

N E by  N 

S W by  S towards  W 

25. . 

S W 

N W 

S W towards  S 

N E 

S W towards  VV 

SOUTHERN  HEMISPHERE. 


Direction  of 
Wind  at  Com- 
mencement of 
Cyclone. 

Bearing  of  Cen- 
tre of  Cyclone 
from  Ship. 

Change  of  Wind  from 

Course  to  be 
Steered. 

Change  of  Wind  from 

Course 
to  be 
Adopted. 

1 

S towards  W 

N 

o 

S towards  P.T 

2. . 

S by  E 

E by  N 

S by  K towards  8 

N by  W 

8 hy  E towards  E 

3. . 

S S E ! 

E N E 

S 8 E towards  S . . 

N N W 

p- 

8 8 E towards  E 

GO 

p- 

4 

S E by  S 

N E by  E 

S E by  8 towards  S 

N W by  N 

p 

S E by  S towards  E 

hd* 

5. . 

S E 

N E 

S E towards  S 

N W 

f c 

S E towards  E 

£■ 

6. . 

S E by  E 

N E by  N 

S E by  E towards  S 

N W by  W ... 

c 

8 E by  E towards  E 

O 

7. . 

ESE 

N N E. . . 

E S E towards  S 

VV  N W 

p 

ESE  towards  E 

flf 

8. . 

E by  S 

N by  E 

E by  S towards  S 

W by  N 

GO 

E by  8 towards  E 

g- 

9 

E 

N 

E towards  8 

w 

cr 

K towards  N 

◄ 

10. . 

E by  N 

! N by  W 

E by  N towards  E ..... . 

VV  by  8 

•o 

E by  N towards  N 

11. . 

E N E 

E N E towards  E 

vv  a w 

o 

E N E towards  N 

6 

12. . 

N E by  E 

In  W by  N 

N E by  E tnwflpls  E 

8 VV  by  W. . . . 

o 

D 

N E by  E towards  N 

P 

13. . 

X E 

N W 

N E towards  E 

s w 

N E towards  N 

14. ! 

N E by  N 

In  W by  w 

N E by  N towards  E 

S VV  by  S 

nr 

l <d 

N E by  N towards  N 

<d 

15. . 

N N E . . 

1 \v  N W 

N N P inward*  E 

S S W 

1 00 

r* 

NNK  towards  N 

*8 

16. . 

N hy  K 

1 w by  N 

i N by  P towards  E 

Shy  VV 

P 

N by  E towards  N 

-i 

17. . 

N 

In  by  s 

N towards  E 

S 

cr 

Q 

jN  towards  W 

S' 

18. . 

N by  W 

W 8 W 

, \ by  W town  n|<  V 

S hy  E 

P 

N by  VV  towards  VV 

1 

19 

N N W 

W 

N N W towards  N 

S 8 E 

i a 

N N W towards  VV 

w 

20 

N W by  N.  . . 

8 \V  by  W 

i N W by  N towards  V 

S E by  S 

i ? 

N VV  by  N towards  W.  . . . 

21.. 

N W 

;S  W 

jN  W towards  N.  

S.  E.t 

** 

N W towards  W 

SIGNAL  SERVICE. 


323 


How  to  Ascertain  when  a Hurricane  or  Cyclone  is  at 
Hand  and  How  to  Avoid  it. — The  indications  of  a hurricane 
or  cyclone  are  four  fold,  and  they  are  all  easy  of  recognition. 
They  consist  of 

1.  A rapidly  falliDg  bffi'ometer. 

2.  Threatening  aspect  of  the  weather  and  the  appearance 
of  the  heavens. 

3.  A heavy  swell  of  the  sea,  far  heavier  thau  could  be  ac- 
counted for  by  the  existing  wind  or  by  that  which  has  even 
recently  existed  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  ship. 

4.  A wiud  increasing  in  violence. 

Whenever  or  wherever  all  these  indications  are  found  to 
occur  simultaneously  one  may  well  take  it  for  granted  that  a 
storm  of  this  sort — a cyclone — is  impending,  and  that,  in  fact, 
the  ship  is  already  in  contact  with  its  outer  margin,  and  that 
it  is  time  for  the  captain  to  immediately  prepare  and  direct 
his  vessel  accordingly.,. 

Kin  the  Northern  Hemisphere,  the  first  thing  to  be  done  is 
to  bring  the  ship  by  the  wind  on  the  starboard  tack,  to  short- 
en sail  and  deaden  her  way  as  much  as  possible  ; then  deter- 
mine carefully  by  the  compass  how  the  wind  veers,  or  wheth- 
er it  veers  at  all.  The  wind  of  a hurricane  being  always  gyrat- 
ing, an  hour  or  so  at  the  most  will  in  all  probability  be  quite 
long  enough  to  indicate  its  course  and  the  change  of  wind. 

If  the  wind  be  found  to  veer  by  compass,  from  left  to  right, 
or  to  haul,  then  keep  the  ship  by  the  wind,  or  a little  free,  on 
the  starboard  tack,  and  under  as  much  canvas  as  would  or- 
dinarily be  carried  at  any  other  time  with  the  same  force  of 
wind,  and  continue  to  keep  her  bjr  the  wind,  or  a little  free, 
however  much  the  wind  may  change  to  the  right,  until  the 
barometer  begins  to  rise  and  the  wind  itself  cease  in  violence. 
There  need  be  no  apprehension  of  the  wind  shifting  in  any 
other  direction  than  to  the  right,  with  the  ship  situated  and 
acting  like  the  one  in  point. 

If  the  wind  be  found  by  compass  to  veer  from  right  to  left 
or  to  back,  then  run  the  ship  off  at  once,  with  the  wind  on 
the  starboard  quarter  ; note  immediately  the  course  that  has 
to  be  steered  to  do  so,  and  stick  to  that  course,  no  matter  how 
much  the  winds  may  change  to  the  left,  as  long  as  needs  be 
or  as  long  as  you  can  safely,  owing  to  the  vicinity  of  the  land, 
or  until  the  barometer  begins  to  rise  and  the  wind  cease  in 
violence.  A ship  situated  and  acting  upon  these  directions 
will  always  find  the  wind  to  back. 

If  the  wind  be  found  by  compass  not  to  veer  at  all,  but  to 
remain  steady  atone  particular  quarter,  then  run  the  ship  off  at 
once  (vicinity  of  land  permitting),  with  the  wind  well  aft,  on 
the  starboard  quarter,  say  so  as  to  bring  the  wind  within  be- 
ing two  points  dead  aft.  Note  immediately  a course  to  be 
steered  to  do  so,  and  stick  to  that  course,  no  matter  how 
much  the  wind  may  change  to  the  left,  until  the  barometer 
begins  to  rise  and  the  wind  to  cease  in  violence.  A ship  situ- 
ated and  acting  like  this  will  always  find  the  wind  to  back, 
and  may,  like  the  one  alluded  to  in  the  preceding  paragraph, 
by  doing  as  directed,  readily  run  herself  into  a gloriously  fair 
wind,  and  thus  turn  the  storm  to  a great  advantage. 

In  each  of  the  before  mentioned  (three)  cases  the  ship,  after 
following  out  the  directions  prescribed,  on  finding  the  barom- 
eter to  rise  and  the  wind  to  cease  in  violence,  may  then  be 
kept  with  the  wind  abeam  on  the  starboard  tack  for  the 
Northern  Hemisphere  and  the  port  tack  for  the  Southern 
Hemisphere,  irrespective  of  the  direction  from  which  it  may 
blow.  No  great  while  will  now  elapse  before  the  center  or 
vortex  will  have  passed  entirely  by  you,  and  at  a comparatively 
harmless  distance,  and  thus  all  danger  of  any  moment  will 
have  completely  ended  ; and  in  each  of  these  cases,  too,  by 
adhering  closely  to  these  directions,  a fair  wind  and  fine  weather 
may  be  confidently  expected  in  a large  majority  of  cases. 

Always  adhere  to  the  rules  so  distinctly  laid  down. 

In  the  Southern  Hemisphere  the  port  tack  is  the  preferable 
one,  and  bearing  up  with  the  wind  on  the  port  quarter  or 
beam  should  be  resorted  to. 

Remember  the  wind  of  a cyclone  in  the  Southern  Ilemis 
phere  whirls  exactly  in  the  opposite  direction  to  those  winds 
of  the  cyclone  on  the  Northern  Hemisphere. 

Now,  keep  in  mind  this  opposite  whirliug  motion,  and  man- 
age your  ship  accordingly. 

Remember  also,  in  the  Northern  Hemisphere  the  right  hand 
seinii  ircle  contains  the  heaviest  winds,  while  in  the  Southern 
Hemisphere  the  heaviest  winds  are  in  the  left  hand  semicircle. 

Two  laws,  deduced  from  long  and  careful 
observation  and  mathematical  demonstration, 
have  been  proved  to  govern  the  course  of 
the  winds,  and  thus  afford  to  meteorologists 
some  of  the  data  for  determining  the  probable  J 
weather  of  the  following  twenty-four  hours.  , 


The  first,  known  as  Ferrel’s  Law  from  its 
discoverer,  Mr.  William  Ferrel  of  Cam- 
bridge, Mass.,  though  adopted  as  a general- 
ization by  Mr.  Redfield  from  the  first,  is : 
that  in  any  area  of  high  pressure,  the  winds 
in  the  Northern  Hemisphere  move  from  the 
centre  outward,  but  are  constantly  deflected 
toward  the  right  hand  in  an  angle  of  from 
30  to  60  degrees  as  they  move  forward ; 
that  in  areas  of  low  pressure,  the  winds  blow 
toward  the  centre  (inward)  of  the  area,  but 
are  constantly  deflected  in  an  angle  of  from 
30  to  60  degrees  toward  the  right ; and  that 
in  the  Southern  Hemisphere  this  motion  is 
reversed,  the  currents  being  deflected  in 
both  cases  toward  the  left.  This  is  due  to 
the  influence  of  the  earth’s  diurnal  rotation. 

The  second  law,  first  enunciated  by  Prof. 
Buys-Ballot,  Director  of  the  Meteorological 
Observatory  at  Utrecht  in  Holland,  in  1860, 
is  as  follows : “ If  any  morning  there  be  a 
difference  between  the  barometrical  readings 
at  any  two  stations,  a wind  will  blow  on  that 
day  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  line  joining 
those  stations,  which  will  be  inclined  to  that 
line  at  an  angle  of  90  degrees  or  thereabouts, 
and  will  have  the  station  where  the  reading 
is  lowest  on  its  left  hand  side. 

The  time  cannot  be  far  distant  when  the 
observations  thus  daily  recorded,  as  well  as 
those  which  accumulate  from  the  weekly  and 
monthly  reports,  from  the  occupancy  of  sta- 
tions in  Alaska,  in  the  Arctic  regions  and 
from  the  logs  of  our  merchant  and  passen- 
ger ships,  shall  be  utilized  in  the  construc- 
tion of  an  Isomefeoric  Atlas  of  our  own  coun- 
try, and  eventually  of  such  an  Atlas  which 
would  cover  in  its  deductions  the  whole  sur- 
face of  the  globe.  The  discovery  of  atmos- 
pheric waves  of  cold,  sweeping  over  vast 
areas,  and  of  magnetic  waves  accompanied 
by  magnificent  auroral  displays,  both  defi- 
nitely ascertained  during  the  autumn  of 
1872,  give  great  encouragement  to  the  hope 
that  such  an  Atlas  would  be  of  inconceivable 
advantage  not  only  to  physical  geography 
but  to  agriculture,  sanitary  science,  the  route 
of  epidemics,  and  the  vast  and  varied  inter- 
ests of  commerce.  In  Solomon’s  time  it  was 
| a proverb,  that  “ he  that  observeth  the  wind 
shall  not  sow ; and  ho  that  regardeth  the 
clouds  shall  not  reap  but  the  time  has  al- 
ready come  when  the  prudent  agriculturist 
will  observe  both  the  winds  and  the  clouds, 
or  the  weather  estimates  deduced  from  them, 
alike  in  his  sowing  and  reaping. 


THE  ARTS  OF  DESIGN  IN  AMERICA, 

FROM  1780  TO  THE  PRESENT  TIME. 


CHAPTER  I. 

PAINTING,  SCULPTURE,  AND  ENGRAVING. 

Horace  Walpole  says,  in  his  “Anec- 
dotes of  Painting  in  England”  (writing  in 
1762):  “ As  our  disputes  and  politics  have 
travelled  to  America,  is  it  not  probable  that 
poetry  and  painting,  too,  will  revive  amidst 
those  extensive  tracts,  as  they  increase  in 
opulence  and  empire,  and  where  the  stores 
of  nature  are  so  various,  so  magnificent,  and 
so  new?” 

These  lines  were  penned,  perchance,  in 
grave  prophetic  faith,  but  it  may  be  that 
they  were  only  idle  speculations — a play  of 
fancy,  meaning  nothing.  Certain  it  is,  that 
were  the  critic  ever  so  much  in  earnest,  very 
little  could  he  have  expected  the  full  and 
noble  response  which  so  short  a period  would 
make  to  his  query. 

Little  could  he  or  any  one  have  foreseen 
the  rapid  growth  of  these  u extensive  tracts” 
in  population  and  in  every  phase  of  material 
life ; still  less  the  wonderful  strides  which 
they  have  made  in  all  branches  of  mechani- 
cal and  industrial  art ; and  least  of  all,  their 
achievements  in  the  higher  and  aesthetic  arts 
of  design.  Little  could  he  have  dreamed 
that  within  a period  seemingly  insufficient 
for  the  construction  even  of  the  rude  foun- 
dations of  empire,  our  country  would  have 
reached  that  point  of  refinement  and  intellect- 
ual development  which  gives  it,  in  ample  store, 
its  own  literature  and  its  own  arts — both 
with  a strong  and  peculiar  individuality  of 
character  and  life. 

The  only  artists  in  America  in  Walpole’s 
time  were  a few  strangers — Englishmen  for 
the  most  part — who  had  wandered  hither  in 
quest  of  a fortune  which  their  very  humble 
talents  had  failed  to  win  at  home.  They  did 
little  or  nothing  toward  the  development  of 
the  public  taste,  and  left  no  works  to  honor 
the  future ; though  they  may,  perhaps,  have 
served,  in  some  measure,  to  open  the  path 
for  the  distinguished  group  of  native  paint- 


ers who,  quickly  succeeding  them,  fairly  and 
surely  lighted  the  lamp  of  art  which  now 
burns  with  such  pure  and  ever-growing 
brightness. 

The  earliest  of  these  pioneers,  whose  name 
has  been  preserved,  was  John  Watson,  a 
native  of  Scotland.  He  crossed  the  seas 
and  set  up  his  easel  in  Perth  Amboy,  in  New 
Jersey,  in  the  year  1715.  In  this  little  port, 
which  was  then  thought  destined  to  be  what 
the  city  of  New  York  is  now — the  commer- 
cial emporium  of  the  country  — Watson 
painted  portraits,  such  as  they  were,  through 
a long  life.  He  appears  to  have  had  plenty 
of  “ sitters,”  and  to  have  growm  rich  upon 
the  fruits  of  well-employed  industry;  but 
we  can  gather  no  intimations  of  the  state  of 
the  popular  taste  at  that  time  through  the 
medium  of  his  works,  inasmuch  as  none  of 
them  now  remain  for  our  inspection.  Wat- 
son was  buried  about  the  22d  of  August, 
1768,  in  the  old  church-yard  of  his  adopted 
village,  at  the  venerable  age  of  eighty-three 
years. 

Our  next  pioneer  was  John  Smybert,  a 
stronger  man,  much,  than  Watson,  and  one 
who,  though  he  painted  no  pictures  to  be 
treasured  in  our  galleries,  yet  left  foot- 
prints of  good  incentive  and  example, 
which  we  may  clearly  trace  beneath  the  sub- 
sequent march  of  greater  gifts.  Copley, 
though  but  thirteen  years  of  age  at  the 
time  of  Smybert’s  death,  confesses  indebted- 
ness to  him  and  his  wrorks.  So  also  does 
Trumbull,  who  at  one  time  painted  in  the 
apartments  he  had  occupied,  and  in  which 
many  of  his  pictures  still  remained ; while 
Allston  is  thankful  for  the  advantage  he  en- 
joyed in  the  permission  to  copy  a head 
which  Smybert  had  executed  after  Vandyke. 
Smybert  accompanied  Bishop  Berkeley  to 
America  in  the  year  1728,  at  the  age  of 
forty -two.  Like  Watson,  he  was  a Scotch- 
man, and  like  him,  again,  he  pursued  his 
craft  in  the  colonies  with  gratifying  financial 
success.  lie  lived  in  Boston  in  high  public 


PAINTING,  SCULPTURE,  AND  ENGRAVING. 


325 


favor  until  1751,  leaving  behind  him  many 
portraits  of  the  distinguished  characters  of 
his  time. 

Nathaniel  Smybert,  a son  of  John  Smybert, 
followed  his  father’s  profession  worthily  in 
Boston  for  a short  time,  and,  according  to 
the  opinion  of  cotemporary  critics,  gave 
promise  of  more  than  ordinary  talents.  No 
record  of  him  remains  beyond  the  meagre 
facts  here  mentioned,  and  the  additional  one 
that  he  died  early. 

While  the  Smyberts  were  planting  the 
seeds  of  art  in  Boston,  there  was  in  Phila- 
delphia a Mr.  Williams,  an  Englishman,  re- 
membered gratefully  by  West  as  the  man 
who  awakened  his  love  of  pictures  by  lend- 
ing him  books  and  by  showing  him  the  first 
works  in  oil  which  he  had  ever  looked  upon. 
During  the  same  period,  Woolaston  and 
Taylor  were  also  in  Philadelphia ; a Mr. 
Hesselius  was  at  Annapolis  in  Maryland  ; a 
Mr.  Theus  in  Charleston,  and  other  laborers 
w^ere  in  Virginia. 

Besides  the  foreign  adventurers  here 
spoken  of,  there  were  a few  native  artists 
scattered  over  the  country  during  the  ante- 
revolutionary  period  of  our  history.  It  is 
hardly  desirable  to  recall  even  their  names, 
or  to  add  to  our  list  of  the  yet  earlier 
strangers ; since,  despite  the  service  their 
little  light  may  have  done,  in  the  then  deep 
darkness,  not  one  of  them  all  possessed 
more  than  the  most  moderate  talent,  and 
not  one  will  be  remembered  excepting  in  the 
way  in  which  they  are  now  so  briefly  re- 
ferred to — that  is,  in  consideration  of  the 
initial  times  in  which  they  chanced  to  live. 

The  birth  of  American  art  was  not  in  any 
portion  of  our  colonial  epoch,  but  singularly 
and  felicitously  enough,  was  in  that  day  of 
happy  augury  when  our  country  itself  sprang 
into  life,  and  started  upon  its  conquering 
course  of  national  development  and  power ; 
and  with  equal  strangeness  and  equal  felicity, 
the  very  beginning  of  our  individual  exis- 
tence as  a people  produced,  on  a sudden,  full- 
grown  artists  of  first-rate  genius,  as  it  did 
Minerva-born  statesmen,  soldiers,  and  phil- 
osophers. 

During  the  progress  of  our  great  revo- 
lutionary struggle  with  the  mother  land,  and 
at  the  time  of  our  successful  emergence  from 
that  trial,  Benjamin  West,  born  in  the  forests 
of  Pennsylvania,  was  reaching  the  highest 
honors  in  the  art  world  of  London,  sur- 
passing all  native  competitors,  becoming  the 
successor  of  Reynolds  in  the  prcsidcntal 


chair  of  the  English  Academy,  and  enjoy- 
ing the  most  distinguished  consideration, 
the  patronage,  and  the  personal  friendship  of 
the  very  monarch  against  whom  his  country- 
men were  waging  angry  war. 

It  is,  then,  with  Benjamin  West,  and  with 
the  birth  of  our  country  as  an  independent 
nation — about  a hundred  years  since,  in 
! 1772 — that  our  story  of  American  art  prop- 
erly and  prosperously  begins.  We  shall, 
however,  say  but  little  of  West,  since  the 
space  that  has  been  allotted  to  this  subject 
does  not  afford  room  for  an  extended  notice 
of  any  one.  Though  we  may  rightfully  honor 
him  as  the  father  of  American  painters,  and 
may  write  his  name  first  on  the  long  cata- 
logue of  eminent  laborers  in  the  noble  field 
of  art  which  we  now  possess,  yet,  the  fact 
that  the  greater  part  of  his  professional  life 
was  spent  in  England,  and  that  his  chief 
success  was  won  there,  places  him,  in  one 
sense,  among  the  painters  of  that  country, 
rather  than  of  this  ; just  as  the  life-long 
residence  among  us  of  a foreign-born  artist 
may  make  him  ours,  instead  of  his  own 
countrymen’s. 

West  was  born  in  1738,  in  Pennsylvania, 
as  we  have  already  said,  near  Springfield, 
Chester  county.  II  is  parents  were  Quakers, 
and  their  habits  of  life,  together  with  all 
surrounding  circumstances,  were  such  as  to 
discourage  rather  than  foster  a predisposi- 
tion toward  the  study  of  art.  The  bent  of 
the  boy’s  mind  was,  nevertheless,  early  and 
powerfully  manifested.  The  sight  of  Wil- 
liams’ pictures  inflamed  his  youthful  pre- 
dilections to  such  a degree  that,  in  want  of 
better  pencils,  he  manufactured  a supply 
from  the  stolen  fur  of  his  mother’s  favorite 
cat ; in  want  of  subjects,  he,  while  yet  a 
child,  seized  upon  his  infant  sister  sleeping, 
all  unconscious,  in  her  cradle  ; and  in  want 
of  pigments,  he  borrowed  ochres  of  the  Del- 
aware and  Mohawk  Indians,  and  indigo 
from  the  maternal  laundry  ! lie  studied 
after  a while  in  Philadelphia,  and  subse- 
j quently  painted  portraits  in  New  York.  At 
I the  age  of  twenty-one  he  went  abroad,  and 
| after  a tour  through  the  art  cities  of  the 
j continent,  he  established  himself  in  London, 
where  he  afterward  chiefly  resided,  rising 
j rapidly  into  popular  favor,  until,  upon  the 
death  of  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  the  first 
president  of  the  Royal  Academy,  his  posi- 
tion as  the  head  of  the  English  school  was 
affirmed  by  the  high  honor  of  his  election  to 
the  vacant  chair.  This  distinguished  position 


326 


THE  ARTS  OF  DESIGN  IN  AMERICA. 


he  filled  with  great  dignity  until  his  death, 
on  the  11th  of  March,  1820,  at  the  advanced 
age  of  nearly  eighty-two  years. 

West’s  fame  was  won  chiefly  in  the  noble 
field  of  historical  painting — a department 
which  his  brother  artists  of  America  have 
not  continued  fittingly  to  cultivate  ; though 
one  in  which  they  cannot,  in  due  time,  yet 
fail  to  distinguish  themselves  no  less  honor- 
ably than  they  have  already  done  in  land- 
scape and  portraiture ; so  rich  and  bound- 
less are  the  themes  at  their  command,  and 
growing  with  every  passing  year  yet  more 
beautiful  and  noble  in  aspect. 

Among  the  chief  productions  of  his  skil- 
ful and  most  industrious  pencil,  wre  may  men- 
tion the  Battles  of  the  Hague  and  the 
Boyne ; the  Death  of  General  Wolfe ; the 
Return,  of  Regulus  to  Carthage ; Agrippina 
Bearing  the  Ashes  of  Germanicus;  the  Young 
Hannibal  Swearing  Eternal  Enmity  to  the 
Romans ; the  Death  of  Epaminondas ; the 
Death  of  Chevalier  Bayard ; Penn’s  Treaty 
with  the  Indians ; Death  on  the  Pale  Horse ; 
and  Christ  Healing  the  Sick.  Many  of  his 
works  are  now  in  America ; among  others, 
Death  on  the  Pale  Horse,  which  is  in  the 
galleries  of  the  Pennsylvania  Academy  of 
Fine  Arts  in  Philadelphia;  and  Christ  Heal- 
ing the  Sick,  also  in  Philadelphia,  in  the 
Pennsylvania  Hospital,  to  which  it  was  given 
with  noble  generosity  by  the  artist  himself. 

In  the  same  year  in  which  West  was  born 
in  Pennsylvania,  John  Singleton  Copley,  an- 
other distinguished  man  in  the  earlier  days 
of  American  art,  appeared  in  the  city  of 
Boston.  The  one,  like  the  other,  after  follow- 
ing his  profession  at  home  for  some  time, 
went  to  London,  and  there  continued  to  live 
and  labor  for  the  rest  of  his  days.  The  simul- 
taneous appearance  of  these  two  gifted  men, 
at  this  early  period  of  our  country’s  progress, 
and  in  sections  of  the  Union  then  so  far  sep- 
arated, was,  as  Cunningham  says,  when  al- 
luding to  the  circumstance — most  “note- 
worthy.” Copley  was  occupied  for  the  most 
part  with  portraits,  though  he  made  success- 
ful incursions  at  intervals  into  the  domains 
of  history.  One  of  his  best  works  in  this 
department  of  the  art,  and  that  to  which  he 
first  owed  his  fame,  was  the  large  canvas 
representing  the  Death  of  the  Earl  of  Chat- 
ham. Copley  died  in  1815,  five  years  earlier 
than  his  confrere , Benjamin  West.  Many 
of  his  pictures  are  now  treasured  in  the  gal- 
leries and  in  the  private  collections  of  Boston, 
and  in  other  parts  of  the  Union.  Lord 


Lyndhurst,  of  England,  was  a son  of  this 
artist. 

In  1754,  just  sixteen  years  after  the  birth 
of  West  and  Copley,  Gilbert  Stuart,  of 
Rhode  Island,  came  upon  the  stage,  the  ear- 
liest of  that  gifted  line  of  portrait  painters 
whose  works  have  placed  this  branch  of  the 
art  as  high  in  America  as  in  any  part  of  the 
old  world.  Stuart,  with  Trumbull  as  a 
companion,  studied  under  West  in  London, 
where  he  afterward  painted  successfully,  and 
in  due  time  rose  to  great  eminence.  Unlike 
his  distinguished  predecessors,  West  and 
Copley,  he  returned  after  a time,  to  his  na- 
tive land,  and  after  some  years  practice  of 
his  art  in  Philadelphia,  Washington,  and 
Boston,  he  died  in  the  latter  city  in  July, 
1828,  in  his  seventy-fifth  year.  Ilis  name  is 
familiar  to  the  public  at  large,  through  his 
great  picture  of  Washington,  which  he  re- 
peated for  various  societies  and  state  legisla- 
tures, and  which  is  spread  over  our  land  in 
every  style  of  the  graver’s  art.  He  painted 
noble  portraits  of  many  other  of  the  distin- 
guished people  of  his  time — from  presidents 
to  private  gentlemen.  His  works  are  cher- 
ished among  us  as  master-pieces  and  models, 
exerting  still,  as  they  have  ever  done,  a mark- 
ed influence  upon  the  character  of  American 
portraiture.  The  especial  characteristics  of 
his  style  were  a marvellous  freedom  and  bold- 
ness of  touch,  a wonderful  freshness  and  ful- 
ness of  color,  and  a truth  of  character  which 
placed  the  very  soul  of  his  sitter  before  you 
in  the  most  striking  individuality.  “ lie 
seemed,”  says  a cotemporary  writer,  “to 
dive  into  the  thoughts  of  men — for  they  are 
made  to  rise  and  speak  on  the  surface 
and  Sully  is  reported  to  have  remarked  of 
one  of  his  portraits : “ It  is  a living  man 
looking  directly  at  you  /” 

Stuart  was  a man  of  eminent  social  dis- 
position and  abilities,  a famous  wag  and  hu- 
morist, fond  of  a jest,  and  overflowing  with 
anecdote.  Innumerable  amusing  illustra- 
tions of  this  trait  in  his  character,  sprinkle 
and  enliven  the  recorded  and  remembered 
records  of  his  life. 

Another  pupil  of  West’s,  at  this  period, 
was  Robert  Fulton,  who  was  born  in  Little 
Britain,  in  the  county  of  Lancaster,  Pa.,  in 
1765.  Fulton  commenced  the  practice  of 
art  in  1782,  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  but 
continued  it  only  a few  years,  being  more 
powerfully  led  toward  those  scientific  studies 
[ to  which  his  genius  was,  as  the  end  proved, 

; better  adapted  ; and  from  which  sprang  that 


PAINTING,  SCULPTURE,  AND  ENGRAVING. 


327 


glory  of  our  time,  the  practical  and  perma- 
nent application  of  steam  to  navigation. 
Fulton's  short  career  as  an  artist  left  no 
legible  mark;  what  might  have  been  his 
achievements  had  he  continued  in  the  guild, 
we  cannot  say,  and  are,  indeed,  careless 
to  inquire,  in  view  of  his  immortal  labors 
otherwise.  American  art  is  willing  to  spare 
him,  as  it  has  since  spared  the  illustrious 
Morse,  to  its  graver  sister,  Science ; and  is 
no  less  proud  of  the  practical  blessings  he 
has  bestowed  upon  his  country,  than  it 
would  be  of  the  highest  aesthetic  success. 
Fulton  died  upon  the  24th  of  February, 
1815. 

N ext  among  the  men  of  service  and  influence 
in  the  cause  of  art  in  America  was  William 
Dunlap,  who  was  born  in  Perth  Amboy,  N.  J., 
February  19th,  1766,  and  who  commenced 
the  profession  of  portrait  painter  about  1782. 
Dunlap  will  be  remembered  as  an  artist  more 
for  his  long  life  of  reverent  and  persistent  de- 
votion to  the  craft,  and  for  the  respect  and 
estimation  which  his  character  gained  for  it, 
than  for  his  success  at  the  easel ; though  he 
both  attempted  and  achieved  works  which 
were  commended  at  a less  brilliant  period 
than  the  present.  He  was  also  an  author  of 
considerable  ability.  Among  his  works  is  a 
“History  of  the  American  Theatre,”  publish- 
ed in  1832,  and  another  of  the  New  Nether- 
lands, which  appeared  in  1840  ; a memoir 
of  Charles  Brockden  Brown,  and  various 
plays  of  considerable  interest.  But  the 
most  important  of  his  literary  labors  is  the 
only  record  we  possess  of  the  early  story  of 
American  art,  an  invaluable  work  under  the 
circumstances,  and  one  for  which  he  will  be 
ever  remembered,  although  clumsily  con- 
structed and  injured  by  a most  wearisome 
medley  of  irrelevant  matter.  In  this  “ His- 
tory of  the  Arts  of  Design,”  Dunlap  gives  us 
his  own  biography  with  great  discursiveness 
and  fulness,  though  with  humble  and  char- 
acteristic reverence,  exhibiting  his  own  career 
as  one  to  be  shunned  rather  than  followed. 

‘ I look  back,”  he  says  in  mournful  reflec- 
tion, “ upon  a long  life,  with  the  persuasion 
that  what  is  called  misfortune  in  common 
parlance  is  caused  generally  by  our  own 


were  generally  of  a very  ambitious  character, 
scriptural  themes  on  canvas  twenty  feet  long. 
Among  these  productions  of  high  art  were 
Christ  Rejected ; Bearing  the  Cross ; Cal- 
vary ; and  Death  on  the  Pale  Horse ; the 
first  of  which  was  made  up  in  part,  and  the 
last  wholly,  from  West’s  pictures  of  the  same 
names. 

Besides  thus  remembering  Dunlap  for  the 
art  records  which  he  has  preserved  with  so 
much  honesty  and  industry,  and  for  what  he 
would  have  done,  and  sought  to  lead  others 
to  do  at  the  easel,  he  must  be  honored  as 
one  of  the  founders  and  the  first  vice-presi- 
dent of  our  leading  art  society,  the  National 
Academy  of  Design  in  New  York.  Dunlap 
died  on  the  28th  of  September,  1839. 

To  the  life  and  works  of  Colonel  John 
Trumbull  our  early  art  owes  great  obliga- 
tions, though  it  is  much  the  fashion  at  this 
day  to  disparage  and  deny  his  genius.  Trum- 
bull’s name  is  familiar  to  the  people  through 
his  grand  pictures  of  revolutionary  story 
which  decorate  the  walls  of  the  national 
capitol.  He  was  the  son  of  the  first  gov- 
ernor Trumbull  of  Connecticut,  and  was 
born  at  Lebanon  on  the  6th  of  June,  1756. 
To  high  birth  he  added,  through  life,  high 
character  and  learning,  and  great  culture 
and  dignity  of  manners.  Ilis  early  studies 
were,  as  was  the  case  with  all  the  artists 
of  his  time,  pursued  abroad  and  under  Ben- 
jamin West.  He  entered  the  American 
army  at  the  commencement  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, and  was  an  eye-witness  of,  and  partici- 
pant in,  some  of  its  most  stirring  scenes,  of 
which  the  subsequent  delineation  won  for 
him  his  fame  as  a painter.  The  four  large 
works  executed  for  the  government,  are : 
the  Declaration  of  Independence ; the  Sur- 
render of  Cornwallis;  the  Surrender  of 
Burgoyne;  and  Washington’s  Resignation. 
An  appropriation  of  thirty-two  thousand 
dollars  was  made  for  these  pictures,  be- 
sides which,  the  artist  received  considerable 
emolument  from  their  public  exhibition 
through  the  country.  Among  his  other  his- 
torical works  may  be  mentioned  the  Battle 


of  Bunker  Hill ; the  Death  of  General  Mont- 
gomery ; Capture  of  the  Hessians  at  Trenton ; 
folly,  ignorance,  mistakes,  or  vices.”  To  read  j and  the  Death  of  General  Mercer  at  the 
his  story  as  recorded  in  his  “History  of  the  Battle  of  Princeton.  In  addition,  he  cxe- 
Arts  of  Design,”  is  to  read  a sad  record  of  I c.uted  various  scriptural  subjects,  and  many 
untoward  circumstances,  varied  effort,  and  1 portraits,  among  which  was  a full-length  of 
ever-following  failure;  but,  withal,  a praise- j Washington,  painted  in  1792,  in  the  artist’s 
worthy  and  even  exalted  longing  to  be  of  use  best  days.  A few  years  before  his  death, 
to  his  fellows  and  his  country.  Ilis  pictures ! lie  presented  his  collected  works  to  Yalo 


328 


THE  ARTS  OF  DESIGN  IN  AMERICA. 


College,  upon  tlie  condition  that  they  should 
be  suitably  housed,  and  that  he  should  re- 
ceive an  annuity  of  one  thousand  dollars. 
The  college  erected  a gallery  on  its  grounds 
in  New  Haven,  where  the  pictures  were 
placed,  and  where  they  now  may  be  seen. 

Colonel  Trumbull  was  president  of  the 
American  Academy  of  Fine  Arts,  in  New 
York,  until  that  effete  organization  was  su- 
perseded in  1826  by  the  establishment  of 
the  National  Academy  of  Design.  Trum- 
bull did  not,  at  any  period  of  his  life,  pos- 
sess much  of  that  genial  fellowship  and  social 
habit  so  characteristic  of  artists,  and  so  es- 
sential to  personal  popularity  in  the  profes- 
sion. He  died  in  1843,  at  the  venerable  age 
of  eighty-seven  years,  leaving  behind  him  a 
name  unspotted,  and  a claim  to  distinguished 
remembrance  in  the  history  of  art  in  America, 
despite  all  the  faults  of  his  works,  and  how- 
ever much  they  have  since  been  or  yet  may 
be  surpassed. 

Charles  W.  Peale,  born  at  Chesterton,  on  the 
eastern  shore  of  Maryland,  April  16th,  1741, 
was  an  active  colaborer  with  Trumbull  and 
his  fellows,  but  was  not  eminently  successful 
at  the  easel.  He  Avas  a man  of  versatile 
gifts,  and  at  various  times  dabbled  in  all 
sorts  of  crafts.  He  made  his  brothers,  sis- 
ters, sons,  and  daughters  all  artists.  He  died 
in  1827,  at  the  age  of  eighty-five  years. 

John  Vanderlyn  was  born  in  Kingston,  in 
the  state  of  New  York,  in  October,  1776, 
where  he  died  at  the  age  of  seventy-six 
years,  in  1852.  Aaron  Burr  was  struck 
with  his  boyish  performances  in  art  Avhile 
he  was  a blacksmith’s  apprentice  in  his  na- 
tive village,  and  befriended  him  at  the  com- 
mencement of  his  career.  At  the  age  of 
twenty  he  made  the  foreign  tour,  so  custom- 
ary at  the  time,  studying  in  Paris  and  other 
cities  of  the  continent  of  Europe.  In  the 
year  1817,  the  corporation  of  NeAv  York 
having  given  him  the  lease  of  the  ground, 
he  erected  the  building  in  the  north-east  cor- 
ner of  the  City  Hall  park  in  New  York, 
afterward  used  as  the  Post  Office,  and  always 
known  as  the  Rotunda.  Here  he  exhibited 
in  succession  a series  of  panoramas,  the  first 
seen  in  this  country,  of  Paris,  Athens,  Mex- 
ico, and  Versailles,  with  his  own  pictures — 
Marius,  Ariadne,  and  other  subjects.  The 
unexpected  cost  of  the  building,  and  the 
resumption  of  the  lease  by  the  city  before 
the  artist  had  fairly  tried  his  speculation, 
made  it  a matter  of  serious  pecuniary  loss 
to  him.  Among  his  chief  pictures  are  the 


Landing  of  Columbus,  which  fills  one  of  the 
panels  of  the  rotunda  of  the  Capitol  in 
Washington — one  of  the  pendants  of  those 
already  mentioned  by  Trumbull;  his  fine 
picture  of  Marius  Musing  over  the  Ruins  of 
Carthage,  painted  in  1808;  and  his  superb 
full-length  figure  of  Ariadne,  so  beautifully 
engraved  by  Durand ; portraits  of  Presidents 
Madison,  Monroe,  and  Jackson ; of  Calhoun, 
De  Witt  Clinton,  and  other  distinguished 
men.  He  exerted  a most  healthy  influence 
upon  his  fellow  artists,  and  his  works  remain 
as  models  for  future  study. 

Edward  G.  Malbone  Avas  born  in  New- 
port, Rhode  Island,  in  1777,  and  died  in 
Savannah,  in  May,  1807,  in  his  thirty-second 
year.  During  his  short  life  he  won  high 
reputation  as  a miniature  painter ; and  his 
works  in  this  department  are  still  preserved 
in  various  parts  of  the  country  as  master- 
pieces of  art.  One  of  his  most  successful 
productions — a picture  of  three  half-length  fe- 
male figures,  called  The  Hours — is  now  in  the 
possession  of  the  Athenaeum  in  Providence. 

Rembrandt  Peale,  whose  history  belongs 
to  this  period,  though  more  recently  deceased, 
was  born  of  a family  of  artists  in  Penn- 
sylvania, on  the  22d  of  February,  1778. 
He  was  an  active,  earnest  man  in  his  time, 
and  did  much  in  the  service  of  art,  by  his 
OAvn  works,  and  the  incentive  which  his  ex- 
ample gave  to  others.  His  picture  of  Wash- 
ington, painted  in  the  artist’s  boyhood,  and 
afterward  often  repeated  by  him,  is  Avell 
knoAvn ; as  also  his  grand  work  called  the  Court 
of  Death.  His  long  and  honored  career, 
Avhicli  embraced  nearly  the  whole  period  of 
our  art  history,  Avas  closed  on  the  3d  of  Oc- 
tober, 1860. 

John  Wesley  Jarvis,  one  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished portrait  painters  of  this  era,  was 
born  in  England  in  1780,  and  brought  to 
America  at  the  age  of  five  years.  He 
painted  innumerable  pictures,  many  of  them 
of  great  merit ; and  did  good  service  as  the 
instructor  of  Henry  Inman,  and  other  dis- 
tinguished artists.  lie  was  a man  of  emi- 
nently social  disposition,  Avith  a great  turn 
for  humor — traits  of  character  pleasant 
enough  when  Avell  employed,  but  Avhich  he 
unhappily  permitted  to  lead  him  into  low  and 
ruinous  dissipation,  Avhich  impaired  his  ar- 
tistic powers,  and  brought  a life  begun  under 
the  happiest  promise  to  the  dreariest  end. 

Charles  B.  King,  born  in  NcAvport,  Rhode 
Island,  1785;  Alvan  Fisher,  born  in  Need- 
ham, Massachusetts,  1792  ; William  E.  West, 


PAINTING,  SCULPTURE,  AND  ENGRAVING. 


329 


and  William  James  Bennet,  born  in  London, 
1787,  may  be  mentioned  in  this  part  of  our 
story  as  men  of  mark  and  influence  in  their 
day  though  they  left  no  works  behind  them 
of  great  excellence.  Mr.  King,  passed  away, 
March  18, 1862,  in  Washington,  the  National 
Capital,  where  he  for  many  years  virtually 
filled  the  fashionable  position  of  court  paint- 
er, preserving  to  posterity  the  likenesses  of 
presidents,  ministers,  statesmen,  and  the 
chiefs  of  the  Indian  deputations  who  came  to 
see  their  great  white  father  at  the  capital. 

The  life  of  Thomas  Sully  fills  a delightful 
page  in  the  history  of  American  art.  Born 
in  England  in  June,  1783,  he  came  hither 
at  the  age  of  nine  years,  struggled  bravely 
through  an  indigent  youth  and  a laborious 
manhood  to  a position  of  high  honor  and 
usefulness.  He  is  still  pursuing,  at  the  age 
of  89,  in  Philadelphia,  the  profession  which 
he  has  through  many  years  so  effectually 
contributed  to  advance.  His  pictures  are 
characterized  by  grace  and  beauty  of  feeling, 
and  a daintiness  and  freshness  of  color  well 
deserving  of  most  careful  study.  He  has 
painted  many  full-length  pictures  of  dis- 
tinguished personages,  among  them  one  of 
Queen  Victoria,  which  was  exhibited  with 
great  success  in  all  the  Atlantic  cities,  and 
numerous  fancy  heads  of  great  poetic  beauty. 

Charles  Fraser,  born  in  Charleston,  South 
Carolina,  Aug.  20, 1782,  and  died  there  Oct. 
5,  1860,  was  an  esteemed  associate  of  the 
best  men  of  the  days  of  which  we  write. 
His  works  have  materially  advanced  the 
standard  of  public  taste  in  his  native  state. 
After  obtaining  a competency  by  the  indus- 
trious pursuit  of  legal  studies,  he  began  the 
profession  of  artist  in  earnest  at  the  age  of 
thirty-six.  Following  the  successful  lead  of 
his  friend  Malbone,  he  turned  his  attention 
especially  to  miniature  painting,  in  which 
style  he  executed  a picture  of  Lafayette, 
and  of  nearly  all  of  the  prominent  men  of 
his  region.  An  exhibition  of  his  collected 
works  in  1857,  included  313  miniatures,  139 
landscapes,  and  other  works  in  oil. 

Chester  Harding,  who  passed  away,  April 
1,  1866,  was  born  in  Conway,  Mass.,  Sept. 
1st,  1792.  Ills  humble  parentage  sent 
him  at  first  to  farm  work  and  chair-making. 
After  the  war  of  1812,  in  which  he  served, 
he  engaged  in  cabinet-making  in  Caledonia, 
New  York.  He  subsequently  went  to  the 
head  waters  of  the  Alleghany,  and  thence 
on  a raft  to  Pittsburg,  where  he  worked  at 
house-painting;  he  returned  home  through 


the  forest,  two  hundred  miles,  on  foot,  with 
no  guide  but  blazed  trees.  Again  visiting 
the  west  with  his  family,  he  worked  from 
sign  painting  into  portraiture;  thenceforth 
gradually  rising  in  his  profession,  until  he 
numbered  among  his  sitters  such  men  as 
Madison,  Monroe,  Marshall,  Wirt,  Clay, 
Webster,  Calhoun,  and  Allston,  in  America; 
and  the  dukes  of  Norfolk,  Hamilton,  and 
Sussex,  Lord  Aberdeen,  and  Samuel  Rogers, 
in  England. 

Washington  Allston,  one  of  the  most  il- 
lustrious of  our  artists,  was  a native  of  South 
Carolina,  having  been  born  on  his  father’s 
plantation  at  W accamaw,  in  that  state,  on  the 
5th  of  November,  1779.  He  was  a high- 
toned  man,  of  poetic  temperament  and  schol- 
arly tastes,  and  was  eminent  as  a poet  as 
well  as  an  artist.  He  was  a student  of  the 
Royal  Academy  in  London  in  1801,  and  an 
exhibitor  on  the  walls  of  that  institution  the 
following  year.  At  this  early  period  of  his 
life  he  became  an  intimate  friend  of  Cole- 
ridge and  Thorwaldsen,  West  and  Fuseli, 
and  other  distinguished  men.  In  a second 
visit  to  Europe,  about  1810,  he  exhibited 
his  famous  picture  of  the  Dead  Man  Re- 
vived, which  is  now  in  the  Pennsylvania 
Academy  at  Philadelphia.  For  this  work  a 
prize  of  200  guineas  was  awarded  to  him  by 
the  British  Institution.  His  next  consider- 
able works  were:  St.  Peter  Liberated  by 

the  Angel ; Uriel  in  the  Sun,  which  wTas 
painted  for  the  duke  of  Sutherland;  and 
Jacob’s  Dream.  In  1818  he  returned 
home,  with  his  picture  of  Elijah  in  the 
Wilderness,  which  afterward  w ent  back  to 
England.  Within  the  next  twelve  years  he 
produced  his  Prophet  Jeremiah,  recently  pre- 
sented by  Prof.  Morse  to  the  Art  Museum  of 
Yale  College  ; Saul  and  the  Witch  of  Endor ; 
Miriam  Singing  the  Song  of  Triumph,  and 
other  justly  celebrated  works.  Among  his 
smaller  pictures,  the  Valentine  and  Be- 
atrice, female  ideal  heads,  are  remarkable 
for  their  power  of  expression  and  strength 
of  color.  In  the  studio  in  which  he  finally 
settled  himself  at  Cambridge,  he  painted 
Spalatro’s  Vision  of  the  Bloody  Hand; 
Rosalie;  and  his  grand  unfinished  subject, 
Belshazzar’s  Feast.  In  his  early  life  he  was 
an  intimate  friend  of  Washington  Irving, 
whom  he  almost  won  over  to  his  own  studies, 
as  the  author’s  profession  may  have  attracted 
him,  for  during  his  life  he  made  frequent  in- 
cursions into  the  literary  arena,  publishing 
in  London,  in  1813,  a poem  entitled  “The 


330 


THE  ARTS  OF  DESIGN  IN  AMERICA. 


Sylphs  of  the  Season,”  and  afterward  the 
metrical  satire  entitled,  “ The  Two  Painters,” 
the  weird  story  of  the  “ Paint  King,”  “ Mo- 
naldi,  a Tale  of  Passion  in  Italy,”  followed 
after  his  death  hy  a volume  of  “ Lectures  on 
Art.”  He  was  twice  married,  first  in  1809 
to  a sister  of  Dr.  Channing,  and  again  in 
1830.  He  died  at  Cambridge  on  the  9th  of 
July,  1843. 

Thomas  Birch,  a marine  painter,  born  in 
London  1779,  died  in  Philadelphia  Jan.  1851, 
and  Joshua  Shaw,  a landscape  painter,  born 

in  England  in  1776,  died  . Both 

became  residents  of  the  United  States  in 
childhood,  and  gained  a reputation  in  their 
respective  departments. 

Among  the  popular  painters  of  this  time 
were  Samuel  L.  Waldo  (1783-1861),  and 
William  Jewett,  1795.  Mr.  Jewett  was  a 
pupil  and  afterwards  a partner  of  Mr.  Waldo, 
and  the  two  painted  many  portraits  together, 
of  great  merit. 

Our  narrative  now  passes  the  line,  as  nearly 
as  such  a line  may  be  drawn,  between  the 
artists  of  the  revolutionary  and  immediately 
following  years,  and  the  earlier  part  of  the 
present  century.  Already  have  we  seen  the 
arts  firmly  rooted  in  the  love  of  the  people 
and  the  genius  of  their  professors ; seen  na- 
tive artists  grow  up,  and  by  their  labors  re- 
flect high  and  imperishable  honor  on  their 
country.  In  the  continuation  and  the  sequel 
of  our  history  it  will  be  our  pleasure  to  see 
this  glory  ever  brightening,  and  the  public 
taste  and  artistic  skill  still  more  rapidly  ad- 
vancing hand  in  hand.  This  progress  can- 
not, however,  be  better  understood  than  by 
following,  step  by  step,  the  lives  of  those 
from  whose  genius  and  works  it  alone  springs. 
We  therefore  continue  as  we  have  begun, 
the  chronological  mention  of  the  men  to 
whom  we  are  the  most  indebted  for  it. 

We  have  already  seen  how  our  country 
had  no  sooner  come  of  age  than  its  early  in- 
debtedness to  the  mother-land  for  the  hum- 
ble aid  of  her  Smybert  and  others,  was 
promptly  and  nobly  repaid  by  the  fame 
which  we  sent  her  of  a West  and  a Copley. 
Not  content  with  this  ample  acknowledg- 
ment, we  added  to  these  high  names  at  a 
later  day  those  of  Leslie  and  Newton,  which 
she  has  inscribed  upon  the  brightest  tablet 
of  her  art  achievement.  Both  these  emi- 
nent artists  were  Americans  by  their  parent- 
age, though,  through  the  chances  of  the  mo- 
ment, the  former  first  saw  the  light  in  Lon- 
d6n.  The  latter  was  born  in  Halifax,  in 


Nova  Scotia,  during  a temporaiy  visit  of  his 
parents  thither  from  Boston.  They  estab- 
lished themselves  in  London,  where  they 
passed  their  lives  in  such  successful  labors 
as  to  leave  a name  and  fame  cherished  zeal- 
ously both  by  their  native  and  their  adopted 
homes. 

Some  of  the  men  most  distinguished  and 
the  most  serviceable  in  the  cause  of  art  in 
America  who  came  upon  the  stage  at  or  near 
the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  are 
yet  living  to  see  the  happy  fruits  of  their 
toil,  in  the  general  diffusion  of  an  apprecia- 
tive and  enduring  love  of  art  throughout  the 
land,  in  the  growing  up  of  a community  of 
artists,  large  and  influential  enough  to  have 
become  an  acknowledged  and  revered  power 
in  society,  and  in  the  firm  foundation  of  a 
strongly  individualized  and  healthful  national 
school. 

Among  these  great  men,  we  should,  per- 
haps, mention  the  late  Samuel  Findley 
Breese  Morse,  to  whom  (though  he  was  drawn 
out  of  the  profession  as  Fulton  was  before 
him,  by  the  allurements  of  science)  we  owe 
much  for  the  excellent  labors  of  his  pencil 
and  the  yet  more  excellent  effects  of  his 
earnest  sympathy  with  his  art  brethren 
throughout  his  long  and  illustrious  life.  It 
is  to  this  strong  and  indefatigable  love  that 
we  are,  more  than  to  any  other  agency,  in- 
debted for  the  foundation  and  success  of  our 
chief  art  society,  the  National  Academy  of 
Design.  Morse  was  the  leading  spirit  in 
this  great  enterprise.  He  was  its  first  presi- 
dent; an  office  which  he  continued  to  fill 
with  high  honor  for  a score  of  years,  and 
which,  only  that  other  duties  required  him 
to  resign,  he  would  have  filled  to  this  day. 
Prof.  Morse  was  born  in  Charlestown,  Mass., 
April  29th,  1791.  His  father  was  the  fa- 
mous geographer,  the  Rev.  Jedidiah  Morse. 
He  was  educated  at  Yale  College  under  Dr. 
Dwight.  In  his  twentieth  year  he  went  to 
England,  and  yet  two  years  later  successfully 
exhibited  a large  picture  of  the  Dying 
Hercules  at  the  Royal  Academy.  He  had 
previously  executed  a plaster  model  of  the 
Hercules,  which  he  also  displayed,  and  for 
which,  greatly  to  his  own  surprise,  he  re- 
ceived the  gold  medal  from  the  Society  of 
Arts.  From  this  happy  commencement  of 
his  life  as  an  artist,  and  from  the  portraits 
and  other  works  which  he  subsequently  pro- 
duced, until  other  studies  drew  his  mind 
away  from  the  easel,  we  may  fairly  suppose 
that  he  would  have  reached  the  highest  posi* 


WOMEN  ENGAGED  IN  TIIE  FINE  ARTS. 


' 

* 


. 

■ 


. 


. 


PAINTING,  SCULPTURE,  AND  ENGRAVING. 


331 


tion  as  a painter  had  ho  continued  to  seek 
it,  and  some  regret  at  his  loss  to  the  arts 
may  be  permitted,  even  in  view  of  what  the 
world  at  large  owes  to  his  scientific  studies 
in  the  priceless  gift  of  the  Magnetic  Tele- 
graph. Professor  Morse  died  in  New  York, 
April  2,  1872. 

Charles  C.  Ingham,  an  eminent  portrait 
painter,  born  in  Dublin,  1797,  died  in  New 
York,  Dec.  10,  18G3.  He  was  an  earnest 
co-laborer  with  Morse  in  the  establishment 
of  our  National  Academy,  which  has  always 
owed  and  still  owes  much  in  its  exhibitions 
to  the  productions  of  his  easel — his  exquis- 
ite pictures  of  fair  women  and  brave  men. 
He  filled  for  some  years  the  office  of  vice- 
president  of  the  academy. 

Robert  W.  Weir,  who  has  been  for  many 
years,  as  now,  professor  of  drawing  at  the 
Military  Academy  at  West  Point,  holds  a 
distinguished  place  among  the  older  of  our 
living  artists.  He  was  born  on  the  18th  of 
January,  1803,  at  New  Rochelle,  in  the  state 
of  New  York.  It  is  to  his  pencil  that  we 
owe  that  best  of  the  pictures  in  the  Capitol 
at  Washington,  the  Embarkation  of  the 
Pilgrims,  a work  eminently  illustrative  of 
the  thoughtfulness  and  conscientiousness  of 
his  genius.  He  has  painted  numerous  his- 
torical compositions,  genre  subjects,  land- 
scapes, and  portraits  of  great  excellence. 

Thomas  S.  Cuirfmings,  another  of  the 
founders  of  the  Academy,  and  always  one 
of  its  officers,  held  high  rank  at  this  period 
in  the  department  of  miniature  painting. 
Mr.  Cummings  was  born  in  Bath,  England, 
in  1804,  and  became  a resident  of  the  United 
States  in  early  childhood. 

John  G.  Chapman,  born  in  Alexandria, 
Virginia,  on  the  11th  of  August,  1808,  now 
residing  in  Italy,  is  well  known  as  the  paint- 
er of  the  Baptism  of  Pocahontas,  in  the 
Capitol  at  Washington,  and  as  the  author  of 
innumerable  designs  in  our  illustrated  books. 

William  S.  Mount,  born  in  Setauket, 
L . I.,  Nov.  1807,  died  there,  Nov.10,  1808, 
was  the  first  American  artist  who  achieved 
success  in  subjects  of  a purely  national 
character,  in  a series  of  pictures  of  the  bum- 
bler features  of  our  country  life.  Ilis  Bar- 
gaining for  a Horse,  Haymaker’s  Dance,  the 
Power  of  Music,  and  other  light  themes, 
have  been  often  engraved,  and  are  familiar 
to  everybody. 

Francis  W.  Edmonds,  born  1806,  died 
1860,  produced  many  pleasant  pictures  in  the 
same  vein  of  quiet  humor  with  Mount. 

20* 


Wiliam  Page,  born  in  Albany,  Jan.  23, 

I 1811,  has  distinguished  himself,  at  home  and 
abroad,  in  the  field  of  portraiture.  lie 
painted,  also,  many  excellent  classic  themes, 
among  them  two  Venuses,  which  were  great- 
ly admired.  Mr.  Page  has  been  President 
of  the  Academy  since  May,  1871. 

Henry  Inman,  born  in  Utica,  N.  Y.,  Oct. 
20,  1801,  died  Jan.  17,  1846,  was  one  of  the 
most  eminent  of  American  artists.  He  was 
a pupil  of  Jarvis,  whom  he  soon  surpassed, 
excellent  as  Jarvis  was.  He  was  a man  of 
remarkable  versatility,  and  worked  with 
equal  facility  in  portraiture,  landscape,  and 
history.  lie  was  a guest  of  Wordswrorth, 
during  a visit  to  England  in  1844,  at  which 
time  he  painted  a characteristic  picture  of 
the  great  poet,  and  that  charming  illustra- 
tion of  the  scenery  of  his  region,  the  Rydal 
Water.  While  in  England,  he  painted,  also, 
portraits  of  Dr.  Chalmers,  Macaulay,  and 
o:her  eminent  people.  The  exhibition  which 
was  made,  after  his  death,  of  his  works,  was 
one  of  the  most  interesting  and  varied  ever 
seen  in  New  York. 

With  the  advent  of  Asher  Brown  Durand 
as  a landscape  painter,  about  1828,  begins 
the  development  of  high  art  in  the  depart- 
ment of  landscape  painting  in  this  country. 
The  few  artists  who  had  attempted  land- 
scapes before  him,  had  drawn,  not  from  na- 
ture so  much  as  from  those  conventional 
rules  which,  both  in  Europe  and  America, 
had  supplanted  nature.  Mr.  Durand,  already 
a skilful  artist,  had  from  the  beginning  gone 
to  the  forest,  the  mountain,  the  lake,  and  the 
glen,  for  his  inspiration,  and  his  one  thought 
was  to  reproduce  in  all  its  beauty  of  form, 
position,  variety,  and  color,  nature  as  its  per- 
fection gladdened  his  eyes.  Mr.  Durand 
was  bom  in  Jefferson,  N.  J.,  Aug.  21,  1796. 
Ilis  father  was  a watchmaker  and  in  a small 
way  an  engraver  of  cyphers,  coats  of  arms, 
and  designs  upon  silver  and  gold.  The  son 
had  from  early  childhood  an  insatiable  taste 
for  the  arts  ot  design,  and  when  a mere  lad, 
j was  remarkable  for  the  felicity  of  his  designs 
for  the  plate,  &c.,  of  his  father’s  customers, 
and  for  his  deftness  and  skill  in  transferring 
them  to  the  metal.  He  had  also  tried  his 
! hand  at  engraving  and  printing  watch  pa- 
I pers  and  other  little  sketches  which  he  traced 
I on  thin  sheets  of  copper  hammered  out  from 
j spare  pennies.  He  acquired  a very  thorough 
knowledge  of  every  branch  of  the  engraver’s 
art  under  Mr.  Maverick,  whose  partner  he 
afterwards  became,  and  attained  the  reputa- 


TIIS  ARTS  OF  DESIGN  IN  AMERICA. 


332 


tion  of  being  the  finest  engraver  of  the  New 
World,  and  the  peer  of  the  best  in  Europe, 
by  his  engraving  of  Yanderlyn’s  “Ariadne,” 
before  he  had  gained  any  considerable  repu 
tation  as  a painter.  He  had  been,  however, 
for  years  secretly  trying  his  powers  as  a 
painter,  before  he  had  the  courage  to  show 
his  pictures  to  any  one.  He  was  thirty 
years  old  when  he  exhibited  his  first  paint- 
ing— a portrait  of  his  child — at  the  Academy, 
but  from  that  time  forward,  the  exhibition  of 
each  year  always  contained  one  or  two  of 
them,  and  his  truthfulness  to  nature,  the 
care  and  fidelity  of  his  drawing,  and  his  ex- 
quisite taste  in  color,  have  made  his  pictures 
a perpetual  delight.  In  1844,  he  was  chosen 
vice-president,  and  in  1845  president  of  the 
National  Academy,  and  was  reelected  each 
year  till  1861,  when  he  declined  in  order  to 
bring  about  the  reelection  of  Prof.  Morse. 
Though  now  (1872)  in  his  76th  year,  Mr. 
Durand  is  still  active  as  ever,  and  paints  as 
well  as  he  did  thirty  years  ago.  His  land 
scapes  are  widely  known  and  highly  prized. 

Thomas  Cole,  born  in  England,  Feb.  1, 
1801,  died  in  Catskill,  N.  Y.,  Feb.  11, 1848, 
was  the  associate  and  intimate  friend  of 
Durand,  till  his  death,  all  too  soon,  severed 
the  ties  that  bound  them  together.  lie  came 
to  this  country  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  and 
though  for  some  years  of  his  early  profes- 
sional career  he  had  to  struggle  with  poverty 
and  hardships,  yet  he  soon  received  from 
Durand,  Trumbull,  and  Dunlap  that  cordial 
recognition  and  encouragement  which  ena- 
bled him  to  triumph  over  all  difficulties.  His 
tastes  in  landscape,  though  equally  true  to 
nature  with  Durand’s,  were  attracted  to  a 
different  phase  of  her  many-sided  glories. 
Durand  was  essentially  a painter  of  nature 
in  repose  and  quiet.  The  gentle  grass  cov- 
ered slopes,  the  drowsy  forests  at  noon  tide, 
the  calm  lake  whose  placid  bosom  reflects 
the  foliage  of  the  hills,  the  gently  flowing 
river,  the  meadows  covered  with  kine,  were 
the  subjects  in  which  Durand  has  always 
delighted.  Cole,  on  the  contrary,  preferred 
to  depict  the  mountains  riven  by  earth- 
quakes, the  varied  hues  of  the  storm  cloud, 
the  fierce  torrent  and  cataract,  and  the 
waters  lashed  into  fury  by  the  mighty  wind. 
If  he  painted  the  forest,  it  must  be  when  the 
Frost  King  had  decked  it  in  its  gorgeous 
parti-colored  hues. 

Without  losing  at  any  time  his  fondness 
for  nature,  his  poetic  temperament  led  him 


to  embody  it  in  those  grand  allegorical  pic* 
tures,  in  which  he  has  combined  perfect 
fidelity  to  the  great  truths  of  nature  with  a 
higher  and  sublimer  significance,  as  in  his 
series  of  the  “ Rise,  Progress,  and  Fall  of 
Empire,”  his  beautiful  epic  of  the  “ Voyage 
of  Life,”  and  his  not  quite  finished  group, 
“ The  Cross  and  the  World.” 

Though  cut  off  in  his  prime,  Cole  has  left 
a reputation  which  in  some  respects  has 
never  been  surpassed  in  this  country.  Thos. 
Doughty,  the  third  of  the  trio  of  our  found- 
ers of  the  American  School  of  landscape 
art,  (born  in  Philadelphia  July  19, 1793,  and 
died  in  New  York,  July  24,  1856)  was  not 
the  peer  of  either  Durand  or  Cole.  The 
influence  of  the  old  conventional  school 
which  thought  nature  needed  to  be  improved 
before  she  was  presentable,  and  perhaps,  too, 
the  lack  of  that  lofty  genius  which  enabl-  d 
the  others  to  overleap  conventional  rule  s, 
kept  him  in  bondage  throughout  his  career. 
Still  his  landscapes  possess  a large  mea  ure 
of  poetic  beauty.  He  did  not  enter  on  his 
profession  till  he  was  nearly  twenty-eight 
years  of  age. 

Daniel  Huntington,  born  in  New  York, 
Oct!  14,  1816,  a pupil  of  Morse,  and  Elliott, 
is  one  of  the  most  versatile  and  accomplished 
of  American  artists.  He  has  painted,  and 
with  eminent  success  in  every  case,  portraits, 
historical,  allegorical,  and  genre  pieces,  and 
landscapes  of  wonderful  beauty.  His  ‘‘Mer- 
cy’s Dream,”  “ Christiana  and  her  Children,” 
“ The  Shepherd’s  Boy,”  “ The  Marys  at  the 
Sepulchre,”  “ The  Good  Samaritan,”  “ Icha- 
bod  Crane  and  Katrina  Van  Tassel,”  “The 
Republican  Court,”  Chocurua  Peak,”  “ Sow- 
ing the  Word,”  and  his  numerous  portraits 
of  the  highest  style  of  art,  all  give  evidence 
of  the  great  scope  of  his  powers.  Mr. 
Huntington  was  President  of  the  National 
Academy  from  1862  to  1870. 

Charles  Loring  Elliott,  born  in  Scipio,  N. 
Y.,  in  Dec.  1812,  died  at  Albany,  Aug.  25, 
18G8,  was  for  more  than  twenty  years  be- 
fore his  death  regarded  as  the  most  eminent 
portrait  painter  in  this  country,  succeeding 
almost  without  any  interval  to  the  great 
reputation  of  Inman.  Some  of  his  male 
heads  have  never  been  surpassed  in  vigor 
and  thorough  soul ful ness. 

George  A.  Baker,  of  New  York,  is  equally 
distinguished  for  his  heads  of  women  and 
children.  Henry  Peters  Gray,  born  in  New 
York  in  1819,  holds  a high  position  as  a 


PAINTING,  SCULPTURE,  AND  ENGRAVING. 


333 


painter  of  portraits,  and  of  small  pictures  \ 
of  genre  and  history.  His  “ Pride  of  the 
Village,”  “ Building  of  the  Ship,”  “ Venus 
and  Paris,”  etc.,  are  admirable.  Mr.  Gray 
was  President  of  the  Academy  1870-1871. 
Thomas  P.  Rossiter,  born  in  Sept.  1818, 
died  in  1871,  was  a man  of  rare  gifts  in  art, 
and  had  painted  many  large  historical  and 
scriptural  pieces  of  great  merit.  Arthur  F. 
Tait  is  particularly  happy  in  pictures  of 
game  and  sporting  life,  a branch  successfully 
followed  by  the  late  William  Ranney.  Thos. 
Hicks,  born  Oct.  18,  1823,  is  among  the 
most  popular  of  the  present  group  of  por- 
trait painters  in  New  York.  He  completed 
in  1865,  a large  picture  of  the  authors  of  the 
United  States.  Kdwin  White’s  great  pic- 
ture of  “ Washington  Resigning  his  Commiss- 
ion,” painted  for  the  legislature  of  Maryland, 
is  a fair  example  of  this  artist’s  style  and 
class  of  subjects. 

Emanuel  Leutze,  born  in  Wurtemburg, 
May  24,  1816,  died  in  Washington,  D.  C., 
July  18,  1868,  was,  perhaps,  the  best  of  our 
historical  painters.  From  his  15th  to  his 
28th  year,  he  resided  in  Philadelphia,  but 
then  went  abroad  to  study  art,  and  remained 
eighteen  years.  He  returned  to  the  United 
States  in  1859,  and  painted  many  pictures 
on  topics  connected  with  American  Revolu- 
tionary and  later  history. 

P.  F.  Rothermel,  born  July  8,  1817,  of 
Philadelphia,  is  eminent  in  historical  sub- 
jects. The  Lambdins,  of  Philadelphia,  father 
and  son,  hold  a distinguished  place  in  the 
art,  the  elder  as  portrait  painter,  the  latter 
as  painter  of  poetical  and  dramatic  scenes. 

F.  0.  C.  Harley  has  achieved  a world- 
wide fame,  by  his  designs  and  book  illustra- 
tions. Nothing  can  surpass,  in  beauty  of 
conception,  his  charming  outline  drawings 
from  Irving’s  “Rip  Van  Winkle”  and 
“Sleepy  Hollow,”  or  his  compositions  from 
Judd’s  novel,  “ Margaret.”  He  has  illus- 
trated a fine  edition  of  Cooper’s  works  in 
thirty-two  volumes,  and  Dickens’  works  in 
fifty-six  volumes,  as  well  as  numerous  minor 
works.  John  W.  Ehninger  has  been  most 
successful  in  the  same  walk  with  Harley,  be- 
sides which  he  has  made  many  happy  genre 
pictures  in  oil.  E.  D.  E.  Green  is  justly 
famous  for  the  classic  beauty  of  his  female 
heads  ; J.  T.  Peele  for  his  dainty  pictures 
of  childhood ; Rowse  and  Colyer  for  their 
charming  heads  in  crayon ; W.  J.  Hays  for 
his  animal  subjects  ; Eastman  Johnson  for 


his  domestic  passages  of  negro  and  other 
humble  life ; Healy  and  Lang  for  brilliant 
portraiture ; James  Hamilton  for  marine 
views  ; Wenzler  and  Stone  for  their  female 
heads,  and  May  in  historical  subjects. 

Among  the  eminent  artists  of  a somewhat 
younger  class,  the  first  place  as  a landscape 
painter  must,  we  think,  be  given  to  Frederic 
E.  Church,  born  at  Hartford,  May,  1826. 
A pupil  of  Thomas  Cole,  he  has  all  his  mas- 
ter’s genius,  with  an  equally  careful  industry 
in  thoroughly  finishing  his  work.  His  “ Ni- 
agara Falls”  achieved  for  him  the  highest 
reputation,  and  his  “ Heart  of  the  Andes,” 
“ Cotopaxi,”  “ The  Icebergs,”  and  “ Rainy 
Season  in  the  Tropics,”  have  maintained  it. 

J.  F.  Cropsey,  bom  in  Staten  Island, 
Feb.  18,  1823,  has  also  an  excellent  reputa- 
tion, both  in  Europe  and  America,  as  a land- 
scape artist.  He  resided  in  England  from 
1856  to  1863.  J.  F.  Kensett  is  a little  old- 
er, having  been  bom  in  1818.  He  was  at 
first  a bank  note  engraver.  His  first  scenes 
and  mountain  views  are  greatly  admired. 
L.  R.  Mignot,  whose  tropical  atmospheres 
and  vegetation  are  wonderfully  faithful,  now 
resides  abroad,  as  does  F.  R.  Gignoux,  a 
native  of  France,  but  resident  for  nearly 
thirty  years  in  the  United  States,  and  first 
President  of  the  Brooklyn  Art  Academy. 
His  “Niagara  by  Moonlight,”  and  “Niaga- 
ra in  Winter,”  are  both  very  beautiful.  'I  he 
Hart  brothers,  William  and  James  M.,  of 
Scotch  birth,  have  won  high  fame  by  their 
landscapes.  Albert  Bierstadt  has  immortal- 
ized himself  by  his  large  paintings  of  Rocky 
Mountain  Scenery,  his  views  in  the  Yo- 
Semite,  etc.  He  has  a very  high  reputation 
abroad.  Our  list  would  be  incomplete  with- 
out the  names  of  Gifford,  Casilear,  Hub- 
bard, Webber,  Gay,  Brown,  Shattuck,Inness, 
Colman,  and  the  lamented  T.  Buchanan  Read. 

We  pass  now  to  a brief  glance  at  the  re- 
markable performance  of  our  young  land  in 
the  noble  art  of  Sculpture,  a performance 
confessedly  surpassed  by  no  modern  school. 

Sculpture,  as  the  more  costly  art,  and  as 
the  less  intelligible  to  the  popular  eye,  of 
course  followed  painting  in  its  progress 
among  us  as  elsewhere.  The  surprise  is 
that  it  should  have  followed  so  speedily  and 
with  such  grand  strides.  It  is  possible  that 
this  happy  result  may  have  sprung  in  a meas- 
ure from  the  circumstance  that  our  first  for- 
j eign  visitors  and  instructors  in  marble  art 
j were  men  of  the  highest  genius,  instead  of 


THE  ARTS  OF  DESIGN  IN  AMERICA. 


334 


the  third-rate  talent  only  which  our  early 
; painters  brought  to  us.  It  is  seldom  amiss 
to  make  a good  start,  and  much  is  saved 
where  there  is  nothing  left  to  he  wwlearned. 

One  of  our  first  heralds  of  the  chisel  ap- 
peared in  1791,  when  Ceracchi,  an  eminent 
Italian  sculptor,  arrived  at  Philadelphia.  He 
was  scarcely  less  celebrated  as  a revolution- 
ist than  as  an  artist,  and  leaving  France  when 
the  dangers  there  grew  too  thick  around 
him,  he  marched  over  to  the  New  World, 
with  a scheme  for  building  us  a grand  mar- 
ble monument  to  Liberty.  His  project  was 
submitted  to  Congress,  which  was  then  in 
session,  but  that  body  supposed  that  the 
public  funds  could  be  employed,  at  the  mo- 
ment, more  advantageously  in  the  cause  of 
Liberty,  than  in  honoring  her  with  sculptured 
shrines.  Washington,  however,  gave  his 
personal  assent  to  the  idea,  and  headed  a 
private  subscription,  by  means  of  which  it 
was  hoped  the  required  thirty  thousand  dol- 
lars could  be  procured.  Not  an  inch,  though, 
of  the  proposed  hundred  feet  of  stone  ever 
rose  from  the  ground.  Instead  of  the  mon- 
ument, the  sculptor  employed  his  chisel  upon 
busts ; and,  among  others,  executed  fine  por- 
traits of  the  commander-in-chief,  of  Alex- 
ander Hamilton,  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  Geo. 
Clinton,  John  Jay,  and  Paul  Jones. 

On  returning  to  France,  Ceracchi’s  red 
republicanism  reappeared  in  a madder  form 
than  ever,  and  he  plotted  to  take  the  hated 
life  of  Napoleon,  then  first  consul,  even  in 
the  sanctity  of  his  own  studio,  and  while  he 
should  be  sitting  for  his  bust.  He  was  after- 
ward guillotined  on  a charge  of  complicity 
in  the  famous  scheme  of  the  “ infernal  ma- 
chine.” 

Yet  earlier  than  the  time  of  Ceracchi’s 
residence  in  the  United  States,  Houdon,  a 
celebrated  French  sculptor,  was  invited  to 
visit  this  country  for  the  express  purpose  of 
perpetuating  in  marble  the  form  and  features 
of  Washington.  The  result  of  his  visit  was 
the  full-length  statue  which  now  adorns  the 
vestibule  of  the  Capitol  at  Richmond,  in 
Virginia.  The  sculptor’s  legend  on  this 
work  reads  thus  : “ Fait  par  Houdon , Cito- 
yen  Franrais,  1788.”  The  Father  of  his 
country  is  here  represented  of  life  size,  and 
in  the  military  style  of  the  Revolution.  The 
figure  stands,  resting  on  the  right  foot,  hav- 
ing the  left  somewhat  advanced,  with  the 
knee  bent.  The  left  hand  rests  on  a bundle 
of  fasces,  on  which  hang  a military  cloak  and 
a small  sword,  a plough  leaning  near. 


Another  noble  statue  of  Washington,  by 
Canova,  adorned  the  Capitol  of  North  Car- 
olina, at  Raleigh,  until  that  edifice  was  un- 
happily destroyed,  and  the  statue  with  it, 
by  fire,  in  1831. 

Of  our  native  sculptors,  perhaps  the  first 
who  gave  indications  of  talent  above  the 
humblest  mediocrity,  was  John  frasee,  bom 
in  Rockaway,  in  New  Jersey,  July  18th,  1790. 
A bust  which  he  executed  in  1824  of  John 
Wells,  now  in  Grace  Church,  in  New  York, 
was,  says  Dunlap  in  his  “ Arts  of  Design,” 
the  first  portrait  in  marble  ever  attempted  in 
the  United  States.  Ceracchi’s  works  were 
probably  only  modelled  here,  and  were  after- 
ward put  into  stone  at  home.  Frasee  made 
excellent  busts  of  Chief  Justice  Marshall,  of 
Daniel  Webster,  and  others.  “He  had  ad- 
vanced,” adds  Dunlap  in  1834,  “to  a per- 
fection which  leaves  him  without  a rival  at 
present  in  this  country.”  To  those  who 
know  any  thing  of  our  sculptors  of  this  day 
we  hardly  need  say,  that  Dunlap  lived  too 
long  ago  to  witness  the  real  beginning  of  its 
brilliant  history,  and  that  the  talent  of  Frasee, 
excellent  as  it  was,  did  not  even  indicate  the 
high  rank  the  art  now  holds. 

Shobal  Vail  Clevenger,  who  was  born  at 
Middleton,  Ohio,  in  1812,  and  died  at  sea  in 
1843,  left  behind  him  admirable  busts  of 
Webster,  Clay,  Allston,  Van  Buren,  and  oth- 
ers. His  early  death  interrupted  a progress 
which  might  have  extended  far  toward  the 
point  which  our  sculptors  have  since  reached. 

In  the  year  1805,  on  the  6th  of  September, 
Horatio  Greenough  was  born  in  Boston,  to 
fill  a distinguished  place  in  the  annals  of 
American  sculpture.  He  received  his  earliest 
instruction  from  a resident  French  artist 
named  Binon,  and  at  the  age  of  twenty  went 
abroad.  After  modelling  busts  of  John 
Quincy  Adams,  Chief  Justice  Marshall,  and 
many  others,  he  executed,  at  the  order  of 
Fenimore  Cooper,  the  novelist,  his  Chant- 
ing Cherubs,  which  was  the  first  original 
group  from  the  chisel  of  an  American  artist. 
This  work  was  made  in  Florence,  where  he 
had  permanently  established  his  studio  at 
this  time.  In  1831  he  went  to  Paris  to 
model  the  bust  of  Lafayette,  and  thencefor- 
ward received  liberal  commissions,  especially 
from  his  countrymen  abroad. 

Through  the  influence  of  his  generous 
friend,  Cooper,  he  received  a commission 
from  Congress  for  the  colossal  statue  of 
Washington,  which  now  stands  so  grandly 
on  the  great  lawn  opposite  the  east  front  of 


PAINTING,  SCULPTURE,  AND  ENGRAVING. 


335 


the  national  Capitol.  This  work  was  com- 
pleted in  1843,  after  many  years  of  indus- 
trious toil.  Among  others  of  Greenough’s 
works  at  this  period,  were  the  Medora, 
commissioned  by  Mr.  Robert  Gilmor,  of 
Baltimore  ; the  Venus  Victrix,  in  the  Boston 
Athenaeum  ; and  the  Angel  Abdiel.  In  1856 
he  returned  to  the  United  States  to  superin- 
tend the  placing  at  Washington  of  his  group 
of  the  Rescue,  symbolizing  the  triumph  of 
civilization,  which  he  had  executed  in  fulfil- 
ment of  an  order  from  Congress.  It  is  sup- 
posed that  the  vexatious  delays  in  the  arri- 
val of  this  work  from  Italy,  together  with 
the  hurly-burly  of  American  life,  to  which 
his  long  residence  abroad  had  unaccustomed 
him,  contributed  to  induce  the  attack  of 
brain  fever,  from  the  effects  of  which  he 
died,  December  18th,  1852. 

Greenough  was  educated  at  Harvard,  and 
was  a man  of  elegant  attainments  and  accom- 
plished manners.  He  was  engaged  in  the 
delivery  of  a course  of  art  lectures  in  Boston 
at  the  time  of  his  last  illness.  An  interest- 
ing memorial  of  Greenough  was  published 
by  the  poet  Tuckerman  in  1853. 

The  first  general  and  popular  acknowledg- 
ment, at  home  and  abroad,  of  our  success  in 
sculpture,  was  won  for  us  by  the  genius  of 
Hiram  Powers,  and  dated  from  the  time 
of  the  exhibition  of  his  Greek  Slave.  Not 
that  this  is  by  any  means  the  best  per- 
formance our  artists  have  reached — for  other 
men  have  followed  with  yet  greater  works; 
and  among  these  others,  one,  of  whom  we 
shall  speak,  who  has  cast  off  the  convention- 
alities of  old  art,  and  has,  upon  his  own 
native  soil,  not  that  of  Europe,  gone  beyond 
mere  classic  beauty,  to  the  higher  attainment 
of  individual  and  national  character  and 
truth.  Yet,  as  we  have  said,  it  was  from 
the  popular  success  of  this  statue  of  the 
Greek  Slave  that  the  world  picked  up  and 
recognized  the  fact  of  the  genius  of  Ameri- 
can sculptors. 

Powers  is  a native  of  Vermont;  but,  like 
most  of  our  men  of  marble,  resides  and 
works  abroad.  lie  established  himself  long 
years  ago  in  Florence,  since  which  time  we 
do  not  know  that  he  has  even  visited  his 
native  land.  lie  is  an  industrious  worker, 
and  has  made  innumerable  busts,  in  addition 
to  his  more  ambitious  ventures  into  the  field 
of  poetry  and  the  imagination.  It  is,  in- 
deed, in  portraiture  that  his  strength  lies — 
with  a temperament  more  practical  than 
anciful,  and  with  a sympathy  more  with 


the  real  than  with  the  ideal.  His  colossal 
figure  of  Eve,  and  his  full-length  statue 
of  Calhoun,  are  preserved  in  South  Carolina. 

In  the  lamented  Crawford,  who  was  born 
in  New  York,  March  22d,  1814,  and  who 
died  in  London,  October  10th,  1857,  we  pos- 
sessed a man  of  stronger  and  nobler  grasp 
than  any  of  his  predecessors ; a man,  who 
not  only  could  have  done  great  things  had  he 
lived,  but  who  did  them  even  without  living 
to  the  full  years  of  ripe  experience.  Craw- 
ford was  a poor  boy,  and  began  his  art  life 
in  the  humble  occupation  of  a wood-carver. 
At  the  age  of  nineteen  he  was  promoted  to 
a place  in  the  studio  of  Frasee  and  Launitz, 
in  New  York;  and,  when  about  twenty-one, 
he  went  to  Rome,  and  became  a pupil  of  the 
Danish  sculptor  Thorwaldsen.  Here  he 
toiled  so  unremittingly  that  he  is  said  to 
have  modelled  no  fewer  than  seventeen  busts 
in  the  space  of  ten  weeks,  besides  copying,  in 
marble,  the  figure  of  Demosthenes  in  the 
Vatican.  In  1839,  when  in  his  twenty-fifth 
year,  he  exhibited  his  Orpheus,  with  the 
warm  congratulations  of  his  master,  Thor- 
waldsen, and  other  sculptors,  and  with  the 
hearty  approval  of  the  public.  From  that 
period  his  fame  continued  to  increase  up  to 
the  hour  of  his  untimely  death.  The  Or- 
pheus— which  is  now  in  the  Athenaeum  in 
Boston — was  followed  by  numerous  admira- 
ble subjects  from  classical  and  scriptural 
history.  Among  his  greater  and  later  works, 
was  the  remarkable  statue,  in  bronze,  of 
Beethoven,  executed  for  the  Boston  Music 
Hall ; and  the  completion  of  which,  at  the 
foundry  in  Munich,  was  celebrated  by  a mu- 
sical festival,  at  which  the  royal  family  of 
Bavaria,  and  a grand  concourse  of  people, 
assisted.  Afterward  came  the  equestrian 
statue  of  Washington,  which  now  adorns 
the  Capitol  hill  at  Richmond ; where  it  was 
placed  by  the  patriotism  and  liberality  of 
the  people  of  Virginia.  This  great  work 
was  cast  in  bronze  in  Munich,  and  sent  home 
in  1857.  Its  pedestal  rests  upon  a star- 
shaped elevation,  with  six  points,  upon 
which  statues  of  Jefferson,  Henry,  Lee,  and 
other  illustrious  sons  of  Virginia  are  to  be 
placed.  He  executed  orders  from  Congress 
for  various  works  for  the  new  Capitol,  some 
of  the  most  successful  of  which  were  his 
designs  for  the  pediment  and  the  great 
bronze  doors.  His  grandest  effort  is,  per- 
haps, the  model  for  the  colossal  statue  of  the 
Genius  of  America,  which  is  to  be  cast  in 
bronze,  and  placed  upon  the  pinnacle  of  the 


336 


THE  ARTS  OF  DESIGN  IN  AMERICA. 


Capitol  dome.  This  statue  represents  a fe- 
male figure,  fully  draped,  and  posed  with 
marvellous  grace  and  dignity.  During  his 
brief  career,  Crawford  finished  more  than 
sixty  works,  many  of  them  of  the  grand  size ; 
besides  which,  he  left  nearly  as  many 
sketches  in  plaster,  and  numerous  designs, 
which  his  assistants  are  to  complete.  In 
1844,  he  married  Miss  Louisa  Ward,  daugh- 
ter of  the  late  Samuel  Ward,  of  New  York. 
Soon  after  his  return  from  his  last  visit  to 
his  native  land,  in  1856,  he  was  afflicted  with 
a cancerous  tumor  on  the  brain,  from  the  ef- 
fects of  which  he  died,  after  many  months 
of  acute  suffering,  borne  with  heroic  pa- 
tience. 

Henry  Ivirke  Brown,  another  of  the  most 
eminent  of  our  American  sculptors,  was  born 
at  Leyden,  Massachusetts,  in  1814.  He 
began  the  study  of  portrait  painting  in 
Boston,  when  eighteen  years  of  age ; and 
afterward  he  became  a railroad  engineer  in 
Illinois,  much  to  the  injury  of  his  health, 
and  at  length  repaired  to  Italy  to  pursue  the 
grave  art  of  the  statuary.  Among  his  more 
famous  works,  are  the  well-known  marbles 
of  Hope;  the  Pleiades;  the  Four  Seasons; 
the  bronze  statue  of  De  Witt  Clinton 
at  Greenwood  Cemetery,  and  the  noble 
equestrian  statue  of  Washington,  which 
stands  in  Union  square  in  the  city  of  New 
York.  Most,  if  not  all  of  these  works,  were 
executed  in  Brooklyn,  New  York;  though, 
of  late  years,  the  artist  has  established  him- 
self in  a pleasant  cottage  at  Newburgh,  on 
the  Hudson.  Brown’s  Washington  was  the 
first  statue  ever  cast  in  bronze  in  this 
country. 

Palmer,  who  is,  perhaps,  the  most  popu- 
lar of  American  sculptors  at  the  present 
day,  was  born  in  the  interior  of  the  state  of 
New  York.  His  noble  character — no  less 
personal  than  professional — is  seen  in  all  the 
interesting  incidents  of  his  career,  from  the 
humblest  boyhood  to  his  present  high  po- 
sition, social  and  artistic.  In  his  younger 
days  he  toiled  hard  at  the  carpenter’s  craft ; 
afterward  he  rose  to  the  dignity  of  a carver 
in  wood,  of  models  and  moulds  for  stove 
and  other  iron  castings;  and  at  length  he 
became  a cutter  of  cameos.  He  was  a mar- 
ried man,  with  a young  family  growing  up 
around  him,  before  he  finally  made  that  ven- 
ture in  marble  which  has  brought  such 
high  honor  to  himself  and  his  country. 
His  works  are  marked  with  singular  sim- 
plicity, truth,  and  naturalness  of  treatment, 


and  with  a finish  and  delicacy  of  execution 
rarely  obtained  in  obdurate  stone.  Among 
his  chief  and  best  known  productions,  are 
the  full-length,  life-like  figures  of  the  In- 
dian Girl,  and  the  White  Captive ; the 
Moses,  and  many  beautiful  bas-reliefs  and 
female  heads,  both  portrait  and  ideal.  An 
exhibition  of  his  collected  works  was  made 
a few  years  ago,  with  great  advantage  to  his 
own  fame  and  fortune,  and  to  the  public 
pleasure  and  profit. 

Launt  Thompson,  a young  pupil  of  the 
eminent  sculptor  above  named,  is  pursuing 
his  art  in  New  York  with  a success  which 
promises  the  most  enviable  results. 

Clark  Mills,  a self-educated  man,  in  the 
proper  sense  of  the  phrase,  is  known  by  his 
popular  equestrian  statues  of  Jackson  and 
Washington,  executed  by  the  order  of 
Congress,  for  the  embellishment  of  the  na- 
tional Capitol. 

Harriet  Hosmer,  of  Watertown,  Mass., 
has  achieved  a fair  fame  in  this  difficult  field 
of  art.  The  approval  which  followed  her 
first  original  work — a bust  of  Hesper — in- 
duced her  father  to  send  her  to  Borne,  where 
she  has  resided  most  of  the  time  since  1852. 
She  began  her  studies  in  the  eternal  city, 
as  a pupil  of  Gibson,  in  1852.  Her  first 
works  abroad  were  the  busts  of  Daphne  and 
Medusa,  and  a statue  of  CEnone.  Afterward 
came  the  well-known  reclining  figure  of 
Beatrice  Cenci ; and,  in  1855,  the  charming 
statue  of  Puck,  and  a pendant  thereto,  en- 
titled Will-o’the-Wisp.  In  1859,  she  com- 
pleted her  statue  of  Zenobia  in  Chains. 

Of  our  other  sculptors  of  great  promise, 
four  have  passed  away  within  a few  years  .* 
Benjamin  Paul  Akers  who  died  May  21, 
1861 ; E.  S.  Bartholomew,  at  Naples, 
May  2,  1858;  and  more  recently  Bober t 
Ball  Hughes,  an  Englishman  by  birth, 
who  died  in  Boston,  March  5,  1868,  and 
Bobert  E.  Launitz,  who  died  Dec.  2,  1870. 
Those  most  prominent  beside  those  already 
named,  are  Randolph  Bogers,  John  Q.  A. 
Ward,  now  vice-president  of  the  National 
Academy,  William  W.  Story,  Thomas  Ball, 
John  Rogers,  whose  groups  have  done  so 
much  to  popularize  sculpture,  Ives,  Stone, 
M osier,  Albert  de  Groot,  and  Gould,  a young 
countryman  of  ours  now  occupying  a studio 
in  Florence.  Mr.  Gould  has  recently  sent  to 
this  country  an  ideal  statue  “The  West 
Wind,”  which  for  its  perfect  embodiment 
of  a poetic  conception  has  no  superior 
in  modern  sculpture.  Among  others,  a 


Tho  above  engravings,  representing  the  Seasons,  are  from  the  Farmer's  Almanac , showing  the  Ar* 
derson  style  of  engraving;  the  opposite  page,  ongravod  from  sketches  about  Newport,  U.  I.  by  A.  IL 
Jocelyn,  illustrates  the  improvement  in  the  art. 


340 


PAINTING,  SCULPTURE,  AND  ENGRAVING. 


young  woman  of  color,  Edmonia  Lewis,  are 
still  climbing  the  heights  that  lead  to  fame. 

The  love  of  pictures,  so  general  among  our 
people  of  all  grades,  has  been  greatly  fos- 
tered and  cultivated,  of  late  years,  by  the 
universal  diffusion  of  engravings.  Besides 
the  best  of  this  class  of  works,  more  acces- 
sible examples,  in  the  form  of  book  illustra- 
tions, and  especially  in  illustrated  magazines 
and  newspapers,  have  been  scattered,  through 
a cheap  press,  broadcast  over  the  land,  and 
have  penetrated  its  remotest  corners,  doing 
the  labors  of  the  missionary  in  the  great 
cause  of  art.  It  is  true  that  these  heralds — 
the  pictorial  papers,  at  least— are  not  always 
the  best  possible  teachers;  yet  have  they 
cleared  the  way  for  greater  things  to  fol- 
low, and  it  is  gratifying  to  know  that  they 
are  themselves  every  day  reaching  toward  a 
higher  standard.  It  would,  indeed,  be  quite 
beyond  the  power  of  our  mathematics,  to 
cipher  out  the  good  effect  upon  the  art 
progress  of  the  nation,  of  even  one  of  our 
best  pictorial  magazines,  with  the  immense 
audience  which  they  are  wont  to  address; 
such  a magazine,  for  example,  as  that  of  the 
Harpers — read,  or  at  least  seen,  every  month, 
by  millions  of  people. 

This  grand  aggregate  of  the  good  influ- 
ence of  the  graver,  is  gained  through  the 
agency,  not  of  the  ambitious  steel-plate,  but 
the  humble  wood-cut.  The  art  of  work- 
ing on  wood — which  has  thus  of  late  be- 
come the  chief  medium  of  the  engraver,  and 
has  almost  superseded  all  other  mediums — 
has,  though  an  old  art,  so  greatly  improved 
during  the  eighty  years  life  of  our  republic, 
that  it  may  fairly  be  said  to  have  grown  up 
with  it,  and  in  a great  degree  from  it. 

The  general  demand  among  us  for  cheap 
art,  and  the  general  ability  to  buy,  at  least, 
such  cheap  art,  obviously  required  the  wood- 
cut  ; and  so  the  wood-cut — which  had  kept 
its  humble  place  from  a period  even  far 
beyond  the  invention  of  types — was  brought 
from  its  obscurity,  and  made — in  our  own 
hands,  as  much  as  in  those  of  any  people — 
to  fill  its  present  exalted  office. 

The  art  was,  really,  almost  reinvented  in 
America,  and  soon  after  the  great  Revolu- 
tion, when  Dr.  Anderson,  in  1794,  left  his 
materia  medica , and  set  up  in  New 'York  as 
a wood-engraver.  Anderson’s  first  consider- 
able performance  was  the  repetition,  in  a 
work  called  the  “ Looking-Glass,”  of  some 
cuts  by  Bewick.  Some  of  these  pictures  he 
executed  on  type  metal,  and  only  a portion 


of  them  on  the  wood-block.  For  these  he 
had  to  invent  his  own  tools,  and  then  manu- 
facture them.  He  continued  to  improve, 
and  all  through  his  professional  career  he 
contributed  greatly  to  develop  the  resour- 
ces of  the  art,  and  to  put  it  upon  the  track 
of  its  present  mature  power.  In  1812,  the 
art  was  introduced  and  successfully  prac- 
tised in  Boston  by  Abel  Brown,  and  in 
Philadelphia  by  William  Mason. 

About  the  year  1826,  Mr.  Adams  entered 
the  profession,  and  by  his  industry  and 
skill  gave  it  a great  impetus  toward  the  per- 
fection to  which  it  has  since  been  brought. 
The  innumerable  illustrations  which  he  pro- 
duced in  his  superb  pictorial  edition  of  the 
Bible,  published  by  the  Harpers,  called 
forth  all  the  talent  which  the  country  pos- 
sessed in  this  direction,  and  exercised  it  to 
yet  greater  excellence.  This  great  work 
served,  also,  no  doubt,  to  promote  the  popu- 
lar appreciation  of  the  art,  now  so  univer- 
sally manifested  in  the  demand  for  illus- 
trated books  and  pictorial  papers  of  all 
kinds.  From  the  time  of  Mr.  Adams,  the 
number  of  our  engravers  on  wood  has 
steadily  and  rapidly  increased ; and  so,  too, 
has  the  quality  of  their  work,  until  the 
present  day  shows  us  pictures  on  wood 
which  are,  in  many  respects — as  in  delicacy 
of  finish,  softness  of  texture,  and  vigor  of 
expression — quite  equal,  if  not  superior  to 
the  best  examples  of  work  on  copper  or  steel. 
The  greater  cheapness  of  the  wood-block ; 
its  capacity  of  use,  in  printing  with  the 
type  (which  metal  plates  do  not  possess) ; 
and  the  ease  with  which  it  may  be  dupli- 
cated by  stereotyping  or  by  electrotyping — 
have  caused  it  to  supersede  copper  and  steel- 
plates  in  a great  measure,  except  for  very 
large  and  costly  subjects,  and  for  bank  note 
engraving.  The  invention,  in  recent  times, 
of  Lowry’s  “ ruling  machine ;”  of  improv- 
ed methods  of  printing,  as  in  the  process 
called  “ overlaying,”  by  means  of  which  the 
nearer  parts  of  the  picture  are  made  to  re- 
ceive a stronger  pressure  than  the  more  dis- 
tant portions ; and  various  mechanical  aids — 
have  contributed  to  the  present  wonderful 
perfection  of  the  art  among  us.  The  coun- 
try now  possesses  a host  of  excellent  wood 
engravers,  who  find  full  and  remunerative 
employment. 

For  the  finer  class  of  wood-engravings, 
box-wood  (imported  chiefly  from  Germany) 
is  used ; while,  for  coarser  and  larger  work, 
that  of  the  pear-tree  will  answer,  and  some- 


FIRST  MAP  ENGRAVED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  IN  RAISED  LETTERS. 


MAP  OF  THE  PRESENT  TIME  IN  RAISED  LETTERS. 


... 


THE  ARTS  OF  DESIGN  IN  AMERICA. 


341 


times  even  that  of  the  apple-tree,  beech,  and 
even  mahogany  and  pine.  The  wood  is  cut 
across  the  ends  of  the  fibre,  of  the  thickness 
of  type ; and  after  being  smoothly  planed, 
a thin  covering  of  white  is  rubbed  over  the 
surface ; after  which  the  drawing  to  be  en- 
graved is  made  upon  it  with  a lead  pen- 
cil, or  with  India-ink,  or  both  combined. 
The  block  is  then  cut  away  with  the  graver, 
in  such  manner  as  to  leave  the  lines  of  the 
drawing  all  in  relief  \ like  type.  On  copper 
or  steel,  on  the  contrary,  the  drawing  is  sunk 
into  the  plate,  and  is  necessarily  printed  with 
greater  slowness  and  care,  and  at  a greater 
cost.  In  engravings  printed  in  colors,  a 
separate  block  is  made  for  each  tint. 

Copper-plate  engraving  is  an  art  as  old, 
almost,  as  xylography  or  wood-cutting.  A 
picture  upon  this  metal  is  preserved  in  Ger- 
many of  as  ancient  a date  as  1461.  Instead  of 
the  simple  wooden  blocks  of  other  days,  our 
cotton  manufacturers  now  print  their  calicoes 
from  copper  plates  of  cylindrical  form,  by 
which  improvement  the  fabrics  are  made  in- 
finitely more  beautiful  and  greatly  cheaper. 
Most  of  the  larger  print-works  employ  skil- 
ful artists  and  engravers  to  produce  their  de- 
signs, paying  them  large  salaries  for  their 
labors.  In  some  establishments  thousands 
of  dollars  are  thus  profitably  expended  each 
year.  Copper-plate  engraving,  after  reaching 
the  highest  degree  of  excellence,  both  at 
home  and  abroad,  has,  within  the  present 
century,  given  way  in  a great  measure  to 
the  superior  capacity  of  the  steel  plate,  a 
capacity  revealed  to  the  world  and  developed 
in  the  highest  degree  by  Jacob  Perkins,  of 
Newbury  port,  in  Massachusetts.  Mr.  Per- 
kins, who  began  his  experiments  about  1805, 
may,  indeed,  almost  be  said  to  have  invented 
steel  engraving,  since  the  metal  had  been 
used  only  once  before  his  time,  in  an  English 
print  in  Smith’s  “Topographical  Illustrations 
of  Westminster.”  Mr.  Perkins  discovered 
the  present  invaluable  processes  by  which 
the  steel  plate  is  so  hardened  after  being 
engraved,  that  by  the  pressure  upon  it  of . 
other  soft  plates,  the  picture  can  be  trans-  j 
ferred  in  relief  and  again  repeated  so  as  to 
duplicate  the  work  to  any  extent.  The  first 
impression  in  relief,  from  which  duplicates 
of  the  original  engraving  arc  made,  is  taken 
upon  a soft  steel  cylinder  by  repeated  roll- 
ings over  the  hardened  plate.  By  this  pro- 
cess any  bank  note  vignettes  can  be  trans- 
ferred, in  combination , at  will,  from  the  sep- 
arate original  plates  to  the  steel  cylinder,  and 


from  that  to  other  plates  for  the  printer. 
The  product  is  thus  greatly  cheapened,  inas- 
much as  all  the  pictures,  the  central  vignette, 
the  end  scene  or  portrait,  and  the  bottom  or 
tail  piece,  usually  put  upon  a bank  note,  can 
be  furnished  for  the  cost  of  a special  engrav- 
ing of  one  of  them.  Mr.  Perkins’  system 
is  employed  throughout  England  and  the 
continent  of  Europe,  no  less  than  all  over 
the  United  States.  By  it  the  art  of  bank 
note  engraving  has  been  so  perfected  among 
us  that  only  the  highest  skill  and  the  costliest 
machinery  can  now  produce  successful  coun- 
terfeits. Nothing  remained  but  to  insure  the 
bank  note  against  the  wonderful  power  of 
the  art  of  photography,  and  this  security  our 
engravers  and  paper  makers  have  provided. 
In  1858-9  the  principal  bank  note  engravers 
of  the  country  formed  themselves  into  two 
associations,  the  American  and  the  National 
Bank  Note  Companies,  and  in  the  early 
years  of  the  National  Banks,  they  prepared 
for  the  government  the  elaborate  engravings 
of  the  National  Bank  Notes,  as  well  as  the 
simpler  plates  of  the  Legal  Tender  Notes. 
These  notes  and  National  Bank  notes  hav- 
ing now  become  the  only  bank  circulation 
of  the  country,  they  are  prepared  by  the 
government.  Among  the  successful  Ameri- 
can steel  engravers  of  bank  notes  and  other 
works,  are  Durand,  Smillie,  Cheney,  Sar- 
tain,  Danforth,  Dick,  Casilear,  and  Alfred 
Jones.  Engraving  on  copper  or  steel  is 
practiced  in  its  most  simple  form,  called 
line  engraving,  by  covering  the  face  of  the 
polished  metal  with  a thin  surface  of  melted 
white  wax ; on  this  the  sketch  is  transferred  by 
laying,  face  down,  a tracing  of  the  design  in 
black  lead  pencil  upon  the  wax,  and  subject- 
ing it  to  a heavy  pressure ; the  lines  are 
then  seen  distinctly  upon  the  wax  when  the 
paper  is  removed.  The  workman  then  with 
a fine  graver  makes thelines  through  upon  the 
metal ; after  which  the  wax  is  melted  oft’  and 
the  engraver  proceeds  to  complete  the  work 
by  cutting  the  lines  to  the  proper  depth  and 
shade.  The  graver,  when  in  use,  is  pressed 
forward,  cutting  a furrow  and  raising  burrs 
on  each  side.  The  burr,  pushed  up  by  the 
graver  in  its  progress,  is  removed  by  the 
scraper.  Lines  are  softened  by  rubbing  over 
with  a smoothly  pointed  burnisher.  In 
some  instances  the  burrs  made  by  the  finest 
etching  needles  being  allowed  to  remain, 
produce  a pleasing  effect,  seen  in  some  of 
Kembrandt’s  engravings.  The  parallel  lines 
that  are  sometimes  required  in  series  are 


342 


PAINTING,  SCULPTURE,  AND  ENGRAVING. 


cat  by  a ruling  machine.  The  fainter  shades, 
too  delicate  for  the  graver,  are  scratched 
in  with  a needle. 

In  the  stippling  or  dotted  style,  the  effect 
is  produced  by  dots  made  in  curved  lines, 
with  the  graver.  The  more  closely  the  dots 
are  grouped  together,  the  darker  the  shade, 
and  the  whole  effect  is  more  like  painting 
than  the  line  engraving.  In  the  shadows  of 
the  limbs  of  the  human  figure  it  is  much 
used,  and  sometimes  in  portraits  the  line  and 
stipple  are  combined  with  good  effect. 

The  style  called  etching  is  practised  upon 
other  metals,  also  upon  glass.  By  this  pro- 
cess the  coating  of  wax  is  formed  of  white 
wax,  Burgundy  pitch,  and  asplialtum,  and  is 
applied  in  silk  bags,  through  which  the  com- 
position oozes.  W lien  the  plate  is  covered  it  is 
held  over  a smoking  lamp  until  the  wax  is  cov- 
ered with  lamp-black.  The  lead  pencil  design 
is  then  laid  upon  this  lamp-black  and  pressed. 
The  lines  are  then  drawn  through  the  wax, 
and  nitric  acid  with  four  parts  water 
is  poured  upon  the  plate.  This  remains 
until  the  fainter  portions  of  the  sketch 
are  corroded.  The  acid  is  then  poured  off 
and  the  plate  washed  with  water.  An  appli- 
cation of  lamp-black  and  turpentine,  called 
stopping,  is  applied  with  a camel’s  hair 
brush  to  those  portions  sufficiently  corroded  ; 
a reapplication  of  the  acid  eats  deeper  into 
those  parts  that  require  deeper  lines.  This 
process  of  stopping  is  repeated  until  the 
work  is  complete.  Being  then  cleaned  of 
the  wax,  those  portions  of  the  plate  that  re- 
quire it  are  gone  over  with  the  graver,  and 
not  unfrequently  the  shades  are  stippled. 

Aquatinta  is  a French  invention  of  1662, 
and  takes  its  name  from  the  resemblance  it 
has  to  water  colors  on  India-ink  drawings. 
After  the  design  is  etched  in  outline  and  the 
wax  removed,  a solution  of  Burgundy  pitch 
in  alcohol  is  poured  over  the  plate  as  it  lies  in 
an  inclined  position.  The  alcohol  evaporat- 
ing, the  pitch  remains.  The  design  is  then 
drawn  with  a gummy  syrup  called  the  burst- 
ing-ground, which  is  applied  only  wherever  a 
shade  is  wanted.  The  whole  is  then  covered 
with  a turpentine  varnish  ; water  being  left 
on  it  for  fifteen  minutes,  the  bursting-ground 
cracks  open  and  exposes  the  copper.  The 
etching  process  is  then  pursued.  Sometimes 
colors  are  applied  and  printed  from  the  plate ; 
but  when  there  are  different  tints,  it  is  cus- 
tomary to  use  a distinct  plate  for  each  one. 

The  mezzotinto,  or  half-painted  style,  was 
introduced  into  England  by  Prince  Rupert. 


The  invention  has  been  ascribed  to  Sir  Chris- 
topher Wren.  The  plate  is  roughed  up  by 
running  over  its  surface  little  toothed  wheels 
of  different  degrees  of  fineness,  called  cradles, 
which  by  a rocking  motion  are  caused  to 
raise  little  burrs,  pointing  in  different  direc- 
tions. The  whole  plate  being  thus  made 
rough,  the  burrs  are  rubbed  off  with  scrapers, 
wherever  light  shades  are  required,  and  the 
shades  are  deepened  by  increasing  the  burrs. 
The  effect  is  fine  where  dark  grounds  are 
desired.  This  method  combined  with  etching, 
produces  an  improved  style.  Some  mezzo- 
tints are  now  prepared  for  the  trade  by  a 
machine.  The  prints  wear  much  better  on 
steel  than  on  copper. 

Admirable  examples  of  these  branches  of 
the  art  may  be  seen  in  the  superb  landscape 
works  of  Smillie,  especially  those  from  the 
four  pictures  of  Cole’s  Voyage  of  Life,  in 
Durand’s  works  after  Vanderlyn’s,  in  our 
many  beautiful  illustrated  books,  in  the  pub- 
lications of  the  late  American  Art  Union,  and, 
as  already  intimated,  in  the  dainty  vignettes 
which  embellish  our  bank  notes. 

In  the  art  of  die  sinking — a process  con- 
ducted in  a similar  manner  to  that  already 
described  of  the  transfer  in  relief  of  the  im- 
pression from  a hardened  plate  or  plug  of 
steel  to  a soft  plate,  and  from  that  again, 
when  hardened,  to  yet  another — many  admi- 
rable works  have  been  produced.  Excellent 
examples  may  be  seen  in  the  medals  of  All- 
ston,  Stuart,  and  other  subjects  executed  for 
the  American  Art  Union  by  the  late  C.  C. 
Wright. 

By  the  assistance  of  the  electrotype  pro- 
cess, the  work  of  the  engraver  is  now  repeat- 
ed, in  as  many  copies  as  may  be  desired, 
each  of  the  copper  transcripts  thus  produced 
being  an  absolute  duplicate  of  the  original 
plate  or  block.  It  is  these  electrotypcd  cop- 
ies which  are  now  used  by  the  printer,  the 
same  picture  sometimes  on  several  presses  at 
once,  while  the  original  wood  block  is  pre- 
served untouched,  except  to  form  the  mould 
for  other  copies  in  metal  when  they  may  be 
required.  The  effect  of  this  power  of  per- 
fect and  inexpensive  repetition  of  engraved 
blocks  has  been  to  reduce  the  cost  of  picto- 
rial illustrations  to  a point  within  the  com- 
pass of  the  most  unpretending  purse,  and 
thus  to  send  good  examples  of  the  engraver’s 
art  to  the  remotest  and  humblest  corners  of 
the  land. 

What  may  be  the  consequences  of  the 
many  processes,  now  more  or  less  perfected, 


THE  ARTS  OF  DESIGN  IN  AMERICA. 


343 


for  the  mechanical  production  of  engraving 
by  the  aid  of  photography,  it  is  hardly  pos- 
sible to  imagine  : not  other  than  advantage- 
ous, however,  even  to  the  engravers  them- 
selves, since  their  field  of  labor  will  be  high- 
er, if  not  broader,  when  their  pictures  shall 
be,  as  they  promise  to  be,  not  only  drawn 
for  them  on  their  plates  and  blocks  by  pho- 
tography, but  even  etched  and  engraved  be- 
sides. 

In  the  art  of  lithography,  or  drawing  upon 
stone,  a steady  advance  may  be  witnessed  ; 
though  our  works  of  this  class  cannot  yet 
claim  comparison  with  those  of  the  conti- 
nent of  Europe. 

The  introduction  of  the  daguerreotype,  the 
perfection  to  whic  h the  art  has  been  brought 
in  the  skilful  hands  of  American  operators, 
and  the  immense  extent  to  which  it  is  used 
among  us,  (apart  from  its  share  in  the  work 
of  other  aits),  have  had,  no  doubt,  a most 
wonderful  influence  upon  our  art  progress. 
Furnishing  pictures  which  are,  through  their 
cheapness,  accessible  to  all  classes,  it  has 
worked,  like  the  engraving,  as  an  elementary 
instructor,  while  its  truthfulness  has  been  a 
constant  lesson  to  the  artist  himself.  Better 
pictures  have,  unquestionably,  been  painted 
through  the  hints  of  the  daguerreotype  and 
photograph  ; and  many  people  who,  but  for 
them  would  never  have  dreamed  of  pictures, 
have  become  intelligent  lovers  and  liberal 
patrons  of  the  arts. 

The  art  of  color  printing  is  not  very  new, 
but  it  is  only  within  a few  years  past  that  it 
has  been  brought  to  such  perfection  by  the 
processes  of  chromo-lithography  as  to  be 
able  to  reproduce  paintings,  within  certain 
limitations  of  size  and  color,  so  exactly  Us  to 
make  it  difficult  to  distinguish  the  copies  from 
the  original  painting.  The  process  has  other 
limitations  even  than  these  ; it  requires  slow 
and  careful,  almost  painful  manipulation 
sometimes  for  months,  and  the  printer  mu^t 
be  himself  an  artist,  at  h ast  in  his  taste  and 
his  knowledge  and  skill  in  the  blending  of  j 
colors.  He  will  even,  at  the  best,  meet  with  ! 
frequent  failures ; but  notwithstanding  all  j 
these  limitations,  chromo-lithography,  as 
now  practiced  by  the  best  artists,  is  a boon 
to  the  world  second  only  to  the  sun  pictures.  I 
It  has  made  it  possible  for  persons  of  small 
means  and  but  just  developing  taste  for  art,  j 
to  obtain  gems  of  art,  every  way  superior  to 


the 


average 


copies  of  celebrated  pictures, 


and  thus  awaken  a love  for  the  really  beau- 


tiful which  will  grow  until  it  makes  the  hum- 
ble purchaser  in  time,  a munificent  patron 
of  art.  The  process  as  now  practised  by 
Messrs.  Colton,  Zahm  and  Roberts,  L.  Prang 
& Co.,  E.  Ketterlinus  & Co.,  and  others,  re- 
quires a very  searching  and  accurate  analy- 
sis of  the  colors  and  combinations  of  color 
which  will  produce  the  required  effect  of  the 
picture  selected  for  copying,  and  then  an 
accurate  copy  of  the  picture  in  outline  hav- 
ing been  made  on  stone  it  is  printed  first 
with  a single  uniform  tint.  Then  by  suc- 
cessive printings  each  time  from  a different 
stone,  the  colors  and  combinations  are  laid 
on,  the  utmost  care  being  taken  to  make  the 
register  perfect  each  time  so  as  to  give  the 
perfect  copy  of  the  original  without  blurring 
or  commingling  the  colors  unduly.  Between 
each  printing  ample  time  must  be  given  for 
the  pigments  to  dry  and  harden.  After  all 
the  printings  are  done,  the  picture  is  var- 
nished and  then  embossed  or  subjected  to 
pressure  on  a grained  surface  of  stone  or 
metal,  by  which  process  the  glossy  lights  are 
broken,  the  hard  outlines  softened,  and  the 
appearance  of  canvas  is  given  to  it.  If  all 
these  steps  have  been  properly  taken,  and 
guided  by  real  artistic  taste  and  knowledge, 
the  picture  once  mounted  and  framed  will 
have  all  the  effect  of  the  original.  The  cost 
of  production,  which  is  very  considerable,  is 
greatly  reduced  on  each  copy,  from  the  fact 
that  five  hundred,  one  thousand,  or  more, 
can  be  printed  from  the  same  plates,  and 
though  there  will  be  some  defective  copies, 
yet  with  proper  care,  the  greater  part  will 
be  perfect. 

We  must  not,  in  ever  so  cursory  a glance 
at  the  history  of  the  arts,  forget  the  service 
of  our  academies  and  schools  of  painting, 
little  as  some  affect  to  think  of  art  academies 
—so  far,  at  least,  as  their  honorary  charac- 
ter is  concerned. 

The  first  attempt  to  found  an  institution 
of  this  nature  in  the  United  States,  was 
made  in  Philadelphia,  in  1791,  by  Charles 
Wilson  Peide,  the  father  of  the  painter, 
Rembrandt  Peale.  The  elder  Peale  was  a 
very  energetic  laborer  in  the  cause  of  art,  all 
through  his  long  life.  This  first  attempt  of 
his  to  found  an  academy,  was  seconded  by 
the  Italian  sculptor  Ceracchi,  who  was  in  the 
country  at  the  time.  The  attempt  failed, 
however,  from  some  cause  or  other,  and  a 
second  and  rather  more  fortunate  venture 
was  made  in  1794,  when  the  Columbiauum 


344 


PAINTING,  SCULPTURE,  AND  ENGRAVING. 


was  established.  This  society  lived  a year, 
held  one  exhibition,  and  was  forgotten. 

In  1802,  some  art-loving  citizens  of  New 
York,  headed  by  Edward  Livingston,  found- 
ed the  New  York,  afterward  the  American 
Academy  of  Fine  Arts.  There  were  so  few 
artists  in  this  society,  and  the  governing  in- 
fluence was  so  little  of  a professional  charac- 
ter, that  it  was  an  academy  of  art  only  in 
name,  and  quite  failed  in  its  office  of  an  acad- 
emy. The  necessary  result  was  an  inefficient 
life,  until  it  was,  in  due  time,  superseded  by 
a better  organized  establishment.  This  re- 
sult followed  in  1826,  in  the  institution  of 
the  present  National  Academy  of  Design. 

The  National  Academy,  thus  founded  by 
Morse,  and  his  brother  artists  of  the  period, 
has  steadily  advanced  to  this  day  in  position 
and  u-efulness,  and  now  numbers  among  its 
academicians  and  associates  nearly  all  the 
leading  painters  of  the  land.  Its  annual  ex- 
hibitions have  been  prepared,  without  inter- 
ruption, from  1826  until  now,  with  a cata- 
logue of  works  extended  gradually  from  less 
than  two  hundred,  to  over  eight  hundred, 
and  with  an  aggregate  of  receipts  from  less 
than  nothing  up  to  six  or  seven  thousand 
dollars  annually.  The  academy  has  always 
supported  free  (evening)  schools  for  the  study 
of  the  antique  statuary,  and  the  living  models; 
schools,  to  which  any  student  has  access, 
when  coming  with  the  required  preparatory 
knowledge  of  the  use  of  the  crayon.  Mem- 
bership in  the  academy,  except  in  the  grade 
of  “ student,”  is  awarded  only  to  professional 
artists,  and  then  by  ballot,  as  a mark  of  hon- 
orary distinction.  The  progress  of  art  in 
America  during  the  last  forty  or  fifty  years 
cannot  be  better  seen  than  in  the  continued 
growth  of  the  National  Academy,  and  in  its 
present  large  and  varied  exhibitions  as  com- 
pared with  those  of  days  gone  by.  An  art 
academy  was  founded  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  in 
1867,  which  is  in  a very  flourishing  condition. 

The  Pennsylvania  Academy  of  Fine  Arts 
in  Philadelphia  is  doing  a good  work,  though 
it  is  not  so  fully  an  association  of  artists  only 
as  is  the  National  Academy  at  New  York. 


Conducted  in  part  by  laymen,  it  labors  under 
some  of  the  disadvantages  of  the  old  super- 
seded American  Academy.  It  was  founded 
as  early  as  1807,  and  is  now  a flourishing 
and  most  useful  institution,  keeping  a valu- 
able permanent  gallery  always  open  to  the 
public  view,  and  providing  besides  an  annual 
display  of  the  current  productions  of  our 
artists.  It  possesses  also  a fine  collection  of 
casts  from  the  antique,  gratuitously  accessi- 
ble to  all  students. 

The  art  gallery  of  the  Athenaeum  in  Bos- 
ton, serves,  in  a measure,  the  purposes  of  an 
academy  in  that  city.  Of  late  years  Acad- 
emies of  Art  have  sprung  up  in  some  form, 
and  with  more  or  less  success,  in  many  other 
of  our  chief  cities,  as  in  Baltimore,  Charles- 
ton, Brooklyn,  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  Cincin- 
nati, and  elsewhere,  giving  us  a fair  prom- 
ise of  picture  galleries  and  facilities  for  art 
study,  as  general  and  as  liberal  as  our  wants 
demand. 

Besides  these  institutions  for  the  use  of  the 
profession  itself,  there  is  happily  a rapid  ex- 
tension throughout  the  Union  of  drawing 
schools  for  all  classes  of  the  population. 
Professorships  of  drawing  are  being  intro- 
duced into  our  universities  and  colleges,  and 
a higher  standard  is  being  everywhere  set 
up  in  our  seminaries  of  all  grades.  Schools 
of  Design  for  women  are  springing  up  in  our 
larger  cities,  and  such  an  institution  has 
been  in  successful  operation  in  connection 
with  the  Cooper  Union  of  New  Yo;k  for 
thirteen  or  fourteen  years  past,  under  the 
highest  promise  of  successful  result.  When 
the  principles  of  art  become  universally 
known  to  us,  as  we  have  good  cause  to  be- 
lieve they  soon  will  be,  we  shall  realize  the 
fact  not  only  in  the  increased  excellence  and 
fame  of  our  pictures  and  our  sculptures,  but 
in  the  higher  beauty,  utility,  and  value  of 
our  manufactures  and  fabrics  of  all  kinds, 
from  the  rarest  luxury  to  the  simplest  article 
of  necessary  use.  In  another  and  less  ma- 
terial sense  we  shall  feel  it  and  enjoy  it,  in 
breathing  the  air  of  a more  refined  and  more 
1 beautiful  social  and  national  life. 


■ 


STATE  UNIVERSITY 


NTS  OF  NORMAL  SCHOOLS  OF  WISCONSIN  1859 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

EDUCATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT  IN  THE 
COLONIAL  PERIOD. 

INTRODUCTION. 

The  origin,  nomenclature,  and  early  pe- 
culiarities of  tlie  systems,  institutions,  and 
methods  of  instruction  adopted  in  the  origi- 
nal colonies,  which  now  constitute  a portion 
of  the  United  States  of  America,  will  be 
found  in  the  educational  institutions  and 
practices  of  the  countries  from  which  these 
colonies  were  settled — modified  by  the  edu- 
cation, character,  motives  of  emigration,  and 
necessities  of  the  settlers  themselves. 

The  earliest  effort  to  establish  an  education- 
al institution  in  the  English  dominions  in 
America,  was  made  under  the  auspices  of 
King  James  I,  and  by  contributions  of  mem- 
bers of  the  Church  of  England  from  1618  to 
1623.  In  a letter  addressed  to  the  Arch- 
bishops, he  authorizes  them  to  invite  the 
members  of  the  Church  throughout  the  king- 
dom to  assist  “those  undertakers  of  that 
Plantation  [Virginia],  with  the  erecting  of 
some  churches  and  schools  for  the  education 
of  the  children  of  those  barbarians”  [the 
Aborigines]  and  of  the  colonists.  Under 
these  instructions,  a sum  of  £1500  was  col- 
lected for  the  erection  of  a building  for  a col- 
lege at  Henrico — a town  whose  foundations, 
or  site  even,  cannot  now  be  certainly  deter- 
mined, but  which  according  to  the  best  author- 
ities was  situated  near  Varina  on  Cox’s  Island, 
about  fifty  miles  above  Jamestown.  Author- 
ity was  given  by  the  Company  to  the  Gov- 
ernor to  set  apart  10,000  acres  of  land  for 
the  support  of  the  college,  and  one  hun- 
dred colonists  were  sent  from  England  to 
occupy  and  cultivate  the  same,  who  were  to 
receive  a moiety  of  the  produce  as  the  profit 
of  their  labor,  and  to  pay  the  other  moiety 
toward  the  maintenance  of  the  college.  In 
1620,  George  Thorpe  was  sent  out  as  super- 
intendent, and  300  acres  of  land  was  set 
apart  for  his  sustenance.  Other  donations 


and  legacies  were  made  for  the  endowment 
of  this  institution  of  learning. 

In  1619,  the  Governor  for  the  time  be- 
ing was  instructed  by  the  company  to  see 
“that  each  town,  borough,  and  hundred 
procured  by  just  means  a certain  number 
of  their  children  to  be  brought  up  in  the 
first  elements  of  literature;  that  the  most 
t.owardly  of  them  should  be  fitted  for  college, 
in  the  building  which  they  purposed  to  pro- 
ceed as  soon  as  any  profit  arose  from  the 
estate  appropriated  to  that  use ; and  they 
earnestly  required  their  help  in  that  pious 
and  important  work.”  In  1621,  Rev.  Mr. 
Copeland,  chaplain  of  the  Royal  James,  on 
her  arrival  from  the  East  Indies,  prevailed 
on  the  ship’s  company  to  subscribe  £100 
toward  a “free  schoole”  in  the  colony  of 
Virginia,  and  collected  other  donations  in 
money  and  books  for  the  same  purpose. 
The  school  was  located  in  Charles  City,  as 
being  most  central  for  the  colony,  and  was 
called  the  “ East  India  School .”  The  com- 
pany allotted  one  thousand  acres  of  land,  with 
five  servants  and  an  overseer,  for  the  mainten- 
ance of  the  master  and  usher.  The  inhabitants 
made  a contribution  of  £1500  to  build  a house, 
for  which  workmen  were  sent  out  in  1622. 

The  “college”  and  “free  school”  thus 
projected  and  partially  endowed  were  in  the 
style  of  the  “ college”  and  “ free  school”  and 
the  “ free  grammar  school”  of  England,  and 
were  intended  to  be  of  the  same  character  as 
the  college  afterward  established  at  Cam- 
bridge, and  the  institution  for  which  “ the 
richer  inhabitants”  of  Boston  in  1636  sub- 
scribed toward  “the  maintenance  of  a free 
schoolmaster,”  and  the  same  as,  according  to 
Governor  Winthrop,  in  his  journal,  was  erect- 
ed in  Roxbury  in  1645,  and  other  towns,  and 
for  which  every  inhabitant  bound  some 
house  or  land  for  a yearly  allowance  for- 
ever, and  many  benevolently  disposed  per- 
sons left  legacies  in  their  last  wills,  and  the 
towns  made  “an  allowance  out  of  the  com- 
mon stock,”  or  set  apart  a portion  of  land 


346 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


“to  be  improved  forever,  for  the  mainten- 
ance of  a free  schoole  forever.” 

The  same  leading  idea  can  be  traced  in 
the  educational  policy  of  the  Dutch  West 
India  Company — which  bound  itself,  in  re- 
ceiving its  charter  of  colonization,  “to  main- 
tain good  and  fit  preachers,  schoolmasters, 
and  comforters  of  the  sick.”  The  company 
recognized  the  authority  of  the  established 
Church  of  Holland,  and  the  establishment 
of  schools  and  the  appointment  of  school- 
masters rested  conjointly  with  the  company 
and  the  classis  (ecclesiastical  authorities)  of 
Amsterdam.  When  the  company  granted 
a special  “ Charter  of  Freedom  and  Exemp- 
tions” to  the  “Patroons,”  for  the  purpose 
of  agricultural  colonization,  they  were  not 
only  to  satisfy  the  Indians  for  the  lands 
upon  which  they  should  settle,  but  were  to 
make  prompt  provision  for  the  support  of 
a minister  and  schoolmaster,  that  thus  the 
service  of  God  and  zeal  for  religion  might  not 
grow  cold,  and  be  neglected  among  them. 
In  1633,  in  the- enumeration  of  the  compa- 
ny’s officials  at  Manhattan,  Adam  Roeland- 
sen  is  mentioned  as  the  schoolmaster,  and 
that  school,  it  is  claimed,  is  still  in  existence 
in  connection  with  the  Reformed  Dutch 
Church  of  New  York.  In  the  projected 
settlement  at  New  Amstel  on  the  Delaware, 
the  first  settlers  were  encouraged  to  proceed 
by  certain  conditions,  one  of  which  was  that 
the  city  of  Amsterdam  should  send  thither 
“ a proper  person  for  a schoolmaster ;”  and 
we  find  among  the  colonists  who  embarked, 
“ Evert  Pietersen,  who  had  been  approved, 
after  examination  before  the  classis,  as  school- 
master.” In  these  early  efforts  to  establish 
schools,  we  trace  the  educational  policy  of 
the  Reformed  Church  of  Holland  as  indi- 
cated by  the  synod  ofWesel  in  1568,  and 
matured  at  the  synod  of  Dort  in  1618,  by 
which  the  training  of  Christian  youth  was 
to  be  provided  for — “ I.  In  the  house,  by 
'parents.  II.  In  the  schools , by  schoolmas- 
ters. III.  In  the  churches , by  ministers , 
elders , and  the  catechists  especially  appoint- 
ed for  this  purpose.”  Owing  in  part  to  the 
commercial  purposes  entertained  by  the 
companies  having  charge  of  the  coloniza- 
tion of  New  York,  Virginia,  and  some  other 
portions  of  the  country,  and  to  the  edu- 
cational and  religious  institutions  of  the 
colonists  being  not  so  much  a matter  of  do- 
mestic as  of  foreign  policy,  these  institu- 
tions never  commanded  the  regular  and 


constant  attention  of  the  local  authorities, 
or  of  the  settlers  themselves. 

The  outline  and  most  of  the  essential  feat' 
ures  of  the  system  of  common  schools  now 
in  operation  in  the  New  England  states,  and 
the  states  which  have  since  avowedly  adopt- 
ed the  same  policy,  will  be  found  in  the 
practice  of  the  first  settlers  of  the  several 
towms  which  composed  the  original  colonies 
of  Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  and  New  Ha- 
ven. The  first  law  on  the  subject  did  but 
little  more  than  declare  the  motive,  and  make 
more  widely  obligatory  the  practice  which 
already  existed  in  the  several  neighborhoods 
and  towns,  which  had  grown  up  out  of  the  ed- 
ucation of  these  colonists  at  home,  and  the  cir- 
cumstances in  which  they  were  placed.  They 
did  not  come  here  as  isolated  individuals, 
drawn  together  from  widely  separated  homes, 
entertaining  broad  differences  of  opinion  on 
all  matters  of  civil  and  religious  concernment, 
and  kept  together  by  the  necessity  of  self- 
defence  in  the  eager  prosecution  of  some  tem- 
porary but  profitable  adventure.  They  came 
after  God  had  set  them  in  families,  and  they 
brought  with  them  the  best  pledges  of  good 
behavior,  in  the  relations  which  father  and 
mother,  husband  and  wife,  parents  and  chil- 
dren, neighbors  and  friends,  establish.  They 
came  with  a foregone  conclusion  of  perma- 
nence, and  with  all  the  elements  of  the  social 
state  combined  in  vigorous  activity — every 
man  expecting  to  find  or  make  occupation 
in  the  way  in  which  he  had  been  already 
trained.  They  came  with  earnest  religious 
convictions,  made  more  earnest  by  the  trials 
of  persecution ; and  the  enjoyment  of  these 
convictions  was  a leading  motive  in  their 
emigration  hither.  The  fundamental  articles 
of  their  religious  creed,  that  the  Bible  was 
the  only  authoritative  expression  of  the  di- 
vine will,  and  that  every  man  was  able  to 
judge  for  himself  in  its  interpretation,  made 
schools  necessary,  to  bring  all  persons  “ to  a 
knowledge  of  the  Scriptures,”  and  an  under- 
standing “ of  the  main  grounds  and  princi- 
ples of  the  Christian  religion  necessary  to 
salvation.”  The  constitution  of  civil  gov- 
ernment adopted  by  them  from  the  out- 
set, which  declared  all  civil  officers  elective, 
and  gave  to  every  inhabitant  who  would  take 
the  oath  of  allegiance  the  right  to  vote  and 
to  be  voted  for,  and  which  practically  con- 
verted political  society  into  a partnership,  in 
which  each  member  had  the  right  to  bind 
the  whole  firm,  made  universal  education 


EDUCATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT  IN  THE  COLONIAL  PERIOD. 


347 


identical  with  self-preservation.  But  aside 
from  these  considerations,  the  natural  and 
acknowledged  leaders  in  this  enterprise — 
the  men  who,  by  their  religious  character, 
wealth,  social  position,  and  previous  expe- 
rience in  conducting  large  business  oper- 
ations, commanded  public  confidence  in 
church  and  commonwealth,  were  educated 
men — as  highly  and  thoroughly  educated 
as  they  could  be  at  the  best  endowed  free 
and  grammar  schools  in  England  at  that 
period;  and  not  a few  of  them  had  en- 
joyed the  advantages  of  her  great  univer- 
sities. These  men  would  naturally  seek  for 
their  own  children  the  best  opportunities 
of  education  which  could  be  provided  ; and 
it  is  the  crowning  glory  of  these  men,  that, 
instead  of  sending  their  own  children  back 
to  England  to  be  educated  in  grammar 
schools  and  colleges,  these  institutions  were 
established  here  amid  the  stumps  of  the  pri- 
meval forests;  that,  instead  of  setting  up 
“family  schools”  and  “select  schools”  for 
the  ministers’  sons  and  magistrates’  sons,  the 
ministers  and  magistrates  were  found,  not 
only  in  town  meeting,  pleading  for  an  allow- 
ance out  of  the  common  treasury  for  the 
support  of  a public  or  common  school,  and 
in  some  instances  for  a “ free  school,”  but 
among  the  families,  entreating  parents  of  all 
classes  to  send  their  children  to  the  same 
school  with  their  own.  All  this  was  done 
in  advance  of  any  legislation  on  the  subject, 
as  will  be  seen  from  the  following  facts 
gleaned  from  the  early  records  of  several  of 
the  towns  first  planted. 

TOWN  ACTION  IN  BEHALF  OF  SCHOOLS. 

The  earliest  records  of  most  of  the  towns 
of  New  England  are  either  obliterated  or 
lost,  but  among  the  oldest  entries  which 
can  now  be  recovered,  the  school  is  men- 
tioned not  as  a new  thing,  but  as  one  of  the 
established  interests  of  society,  to  be  looked 
after  and  provided  for  as  much  as  roads 
and  bridges  and  protection  from  the  Indians. 
In  the  first  book  of  records  of  the  town  of 
Boston,  under  date  of  April  13,  1034,  after 
providing  by  ordinance  for  the  keeping  of 
the  cattle  by  “ brother  Cheesbrough,”  “ it 
was  then  generally  agreed  upon  that  our 
brother  Philemon  Purmont  shall  be  entreat- 
ed to  become  schoolmaster  for  the  teaching 
and  nurturing  of  children  with  us.”  This 
was  doubtless  an  elementary  school,  for  in 
1636  we  find  a subscription  entered  on 
the  records  of  the  town  “ by  the  richer 


inhabitants,”  “ for  the  maintenance  of  a free 
schoolmaster,  for  the  youth  with  us — Mr. 
Daniel  Maude  being  now  also  chosen  there- 
unto.” Mr.  Maude  was  a clergyman,  a title 
at  that  day  and  in  that  community  which 
was  evidence  of  his  being  an  educated  man. 
This  “ free  school”  was,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
writer,  not  necessarily  a school  of  gratuitous 
instruction  for  all,  but  an  endowed  school 
of  a higher  grade,  of  the  class  of  the  Eng- 
lish grammar  school,  in  which  many  of  the 
first  settlers  of  New  England  had  received 
their  own  education  at  home.  Toward  the 
maintenance  of  this  school,  the  town,  in 

1642,  in  advance  of  any  legislation  by  the 
General  Court,  ordered  “ Deer  Island  to  be 
improved,”  and  several  persons  made  be- 
quests in  their  last  wills.  Similar  provision 
can  be  cited  from  the  early  records  of  Salem, 
Cambridge,  Dorchester,  and  other  towns  of 
Massachusetts  Bay. 

The  early  records  of  the  town  of  Hartford 
are  obliterated,  but  within  seven  years  after 
the  first  log-house  was  erected,  thirty  pounds 
are  appropriated  to  the  schools,  and  in  April, 

1643,  it  is  ordered  “that  Mr.  Andrews  shall 
teach  the  children  in  the  school  one  year,” 
and  “he  shall  have  for  his  pains  £16,  and 
therefore  the  townsmen  shall  go  and  inquire 
who  will  engage  themselves  to  send  their 
children ; and  all  that  do  so,  shall  pay  for  one 
quarter,  at  the  least,  and  for  more  if  they  do 
send  them,  after  the  proportion  of  twenty 
shillings  the  year ; and  if  they  go  any  week 
more  than  one  quarter,  they  shall  pay  six- 
pence a week ; and  if  any  would  send  their 
children  and  are  not  able  to  pay  for  their 
teaching,  they  shall  give  notice  of  it  to  the 
townsmen,  and  they  shall  pay  it  at  the  town’s 
charge.”  Mention  is  also  made  of  one  “Goody 
Betts,”  who  kept  a “ Dame  School”  after  the 
fashion  of  Shenstone’s  “schoolmistress”  at 
Leasower,  in  England.  Similar  entries  arc 
found  in  the  town  records  of  Windsor  and 
Wethersfield  in  advance  of  any  school  code 
by  the  colony  of  Connecticut. 

The  records  of  the  town  of  New  Haven  are 
full  of  evidence  of  the  interest  taken  by  the 
leading  spirits  of  the  colony,  particularly  by 
Governor  Theophilus  Eaton  and  ltev.  John 
Davenport,  in  behalf  of  schools  of  every  grade, 
and  of  the  education  of  every  class,  from  the 
apprentice  boy  to  those  who  filled  the  high 
places  in  church  and  state.  The  first  settle- 
ment of  the  colony  was  in  1638,  and  within  a 
year  a transaction  is  recorded,  which,  while 
it  proves  the  existence  of  a school  at  that 


348 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


early  period,  also  proclaims  the  protection 
which  the  first  settlers  extended  to  the  indi- 
gent, and  their  desire  to  make  elementary  ed- 
ucation universal.  In  1639,  Thomas  Fugill 
is  required  by  the  court  to  keep  Charles 
Higinson,  an  indentured  apprentice,  “ at 
school  one  year or  else  to  advantage  him 
as  much  in  his  education  as  a year’s  learning 
comes  to.  In  1641,  the  town  orders  “that 
a Free  School  be  set  up,”  and  “ our  pastor, 
Mr.  Davenport,  together  with  the  magistrates, 
shall  consider  what  yearly  allowance  is  meet 
to  be  given  to  it  out  of  the  common  stock 
of  the  town,  and  also  what  rules  and  orders 
are  meet  to  be  observed  in  and  about  the 
same.”  To  this  school  “ that  famous  school- 
master,” Ezekiel  Cheever,*  “was  appoint- 
ed,” “ for  the  better  training  up  of  youth  in 
this  town,  that,  through  God’s  blessing,  they 
may  be  fitted  for  public  service  hereafter, 
in  church  or  commonwealth.”  Not  con- 
tent with  a Grammar  School,  provision  was 
early  made  for  “ the  relief  of  poor  scholars 
at  the  college  at  Cambridge,”  and  in  1645 
forty  bushels  of  wheat  were  sent  forward  for 
this  purpose,  and  this  was  followed  by  other 
donations,  and  by  a richer  consignment  of 
young  men  to  enjoy  the  advantages  of  the 
institution.  In  1647,  in  the  distribution  of 
home  lots,  it  was  ordered  in  town  meeting, 
that  the  magistrates  “ consider  and  reserve 
what  lot  they  shall  see  meet,  and  most  com- 
modious for  a college,  which  they  desire  may 
be  set  up  so  soon  as  their  ability  will  reach 
thereunto.”  Among  the  active  promoters 
of  education  and  schools,  the  name  of  Gov- 
ernor Eaton,  in  connection  with  Mr.  Daven- 
port, is  particularly  prominent.  In  1652, 
he  calls  a meeting  of  the  magistrates  and 
elders  “ to  let  them  know  what  he  has  done 
for  a schoolmaster that  he  had  written  a 
letter  to  one  Mr.  Bower,  a schoolmaster  of 
Plymouth,  and  another  to  Rev.  Mr.  Lan- 
dron,  a scholar ; and  many  of  the  town 
thought  there  would  be  need  of  two  school- 
masters— “one  to  teach  boys  to  read  and 
write,”  as  well  as  the  “ Latin  schoolmaster.” 
At  another  time  he  reports  his  correspond- 
ence with  a teacher  in  Wethersfield,  then 
with  one  at  old  Plymouth,  and  again  with 
one  at  Norwalk,  “so  that  the  town  might 
never  be  without  a sufficient  schoolmaster.” 
He  seems  to  have  been  considerate  of  the 
health  of  the  teachers,  and  proposes  to  ex- 

*See Barnard’s  American  Teachers  and  Educators , 
vol.  i.,  art.  “Ezekiel  Cheever.” 


cuse  one  “ whose  health  would  not  allow 
him  to  go  on  with  the  work  of  teaching,” 
which  he  seems  to  regard  as  more  laborious 
than  that  of  the  ministry.  On  another  oc- 
casion he  introduces  to  the  committee  a 
schoolmaster  who  has  come  to  treat  about 
the  school.  He  is  allowed  £20  a year,  and 
30  shillings  for  his  expenses  in  travel,  besides 
his  board  and  lodgings.  He  wished  to  have 
liberty  to  visit  his  friends,  “ which  he  pro- 
posed to  be  in  harvest  time,  and  that  his 
pay  be  such  as  wherewith  he  may  buy 
books.”  These  particulars  show  the  consid- 
erate interest  taken  by  men  in  local  authori- 
ty in  the  school  and  the  teacher,  in  advance 
of  any  directory  or  compulsory  legislation 
of  the  colony  of  New  Haven.  It  was  owing, 
in  part,  to  the  timely  suggestions  of  Rev. 
Mr.  Davenport,  that  Gov.  Edward  Hopkins, 
of  Connecticut,  by  his  will,  dated  London, 
March  7,  1657,  bequeathed  the  residue  of  his 
estate  (after  disposing  of  much  of  his  estate 
in  New  England)  to  trustees  residing  in  New 
Haven  and  Hartford,  “ in  full  assurance  of 
their  trust  and  faithfulness”  in  disposing  of 
it,  “ to  give  some  encouragement  in  those 
foreign  plantations  for  the  breeding  up  of 
hopeful  youths  both  at  the  grammar  school 
and  college,  for  the  public  service  of  the 
country  in  future  times.”  By  the  final  dis- 
position and  distribution  of  this  estate  three 
grammar  schools  were  established  at  New 
Ilaven,  Hartford,  and  Hadley,  which  are  in 
existence  at  this  day,  among  the  oldest  insti- 
tutions of  this  class  in  America. 

The  early  records  of  the  several  towns 
which  subsequently  constituted  a portion  of 
the  colony  of  New  Hampshire,  exhibit  evi- 
dence of  a different  character  a^d  spirit  in 
the  first  settlers.  The  plantations  on  the 
Piscataqua  river  were  made  by  proprietors 
from  mere  commercial  motives,  and  the  set- 
tlers were  selected  in  reference  to  immediate 
success  in  that  direction  ; and  in  these  settle- 
ments we  find  no  trace  of  any  individual  or 
town  action  in  behalf  of  education  until 
after  their  union  with  the  colony  of  Massa- 
chusetts, whose  laws  made  the  establishment 
of  schools  obligatory. 

In  the  early  records  of  the  Rhode  Island 
and  Providence  Plantations,  we  find  traces 
of  the  same  educational  policy  which  mark- 
ed the  early  history  of  towns  in  Massachu- 
setts and  Connecticut.  According  to  Cal- 
lender, in  Newport,  “so  early  as  1640,  Mr. 
Lenthal  was  by  vote  called  to  keep  a public 
school  for  the  learning  of  youth,  and  for 


EDUCATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT  IN  THE  COLONIAL  PERIOD. 


349 


liis  encouragement  there  were  granted  to 
him  and  his  heirs,  one  hundred  acres  of  land, 
and  four  more  for  a house  lot.  It  was  also 
voted  that  one  hundred  acres  should  be  ap- 
propriated for  a school  for  encouragement 
of  the  poorer  sort  to  train  up  their  youth  in 
learning.  And  Mr.  Robert  Lenthal,  while 
he  continues  to  keep  school,  is  to  have  the 
benefit  thereof.”  The  proprietors  of  other 
plantations  reserved  a portion  of  land  for 
the  maintenance  of  schools,  and  generally 
of  a “ free  schoole and  “ Mr.  Schoolmas- 
ter Turpin,”  petitions  the  town  of  Provi- 
dence, that  he  and  his  heirs,  so  long  as  any 
of  them  should  maintain  the  worthy  art  of 
learning,  may  be  invested  in  the  lands  set 
apart  for  a school. 

These  citations  show  the  action  of  the 
towns  independent  of  any  general  legislation 
by  the  several  colonies  of  New  England — 
action  prompted  by  their  own  consciousness 
of  the  advantages  of  education  in  “ Dame 
Schools,”  in  “Free  Schools,”  in  “Grammar 
Schools”  and  in  “Colleges”  at  home — aided 
by  the  presence  among  them  of  “masters” 
and  “ ushers,”  and  also  of  “ schoolmasters” 
and  “ schoolma’ams”  willing  to  engage  in 
the  same  vocations  in  the  new  townships  and 
villages — stimulated  by  magistrates  and  min- 
isters, who  had  themselves  received  the  best 
education  that  such  schools  could  give  in 
England,  who  inculcated  the  reading  of  the 
Scriptures  as  of  daily  obligation,  and  who 
believed  that  the  foundations  of  the  state 
should  be  laid  in  the  virtue  and  intelligence 
of  the  whole  people. 

COLONIAL  LEGISLATION  AND  ACTION. 

We  shall  now  notice  briefly  the  legislation 
respecting  children  and  schools  of  each  of 
the  colonies,  in  the  order  of  their  settlement. 

Virginia. — Although  several  attempts 
were  made  to  establish  “ Free  Schools”  and 
a “ College”  in  Virginia,  by  the  Virginia 
Company  and  benevolent  individuals,  at  an 
earlier  day,  the  first  general  legislation  re- 
specting the  education  of  children  by  the 
Colonial  Assembly  was  in  1631,  w hen  it  wras 
enacted  : “ It  is  also  thought  fit,  that  upon 
every  Sunday  the  mynister*  shall,  halfe  an 
hour  or  more  before  evening  prayer,  examine, 
catechise,  and  instruct  the  youths  and  igno- 
rant persons  of  his  parish  in  the  ten  com- 


*  In  this  and  some  other  quotations  we  have 
followed  the  orthography  of  the  original. 

21* 


mandments,  the  articles  of  the  beliefe,  and  in 
the  Lord’s  prayer ; and  shall  diligentlie  heere, 
instruct,  and  teach  the  catechisme,  sett  forth 
in  the  book  of  Common  Prayer.  And  all 
fathers,  mothers,  maysters,  and  mistrisses, 
shall  cause  their  children,  servants,  or  ap- 
prentices, which  have  not  learned  their  cate- 
chisme, to  come  to  church  at  the  time  ap- 
poynted,  obedientlie  to  heare,  and  to  be 
ordered  by  the  mynister  untill  they  have 
learned  the  same.  And  yf  any  of  sayd 
fathers,  mothers,  maysters  & mistresses, 
children,  servants,  or  apprentices,  shall  neg- 
lect their  duties,  as  the  one  sorte  in  not 
causinge  them  to  come,  and  the  other  in 
refusinge  to  learne  as  aforesayd,  they  shall 
be  censured  by  the  corts  in  these  places 
holden.”  To  secure  the  execution  of  this 
last  clause,  it  is  provided  in  the  oath  of  the 
warden,  taken  before  “the  justices  for  the 
monthlie  corts” — “ they  shall  present  such 
mastyrs  and  mistresses  as  shall  be  delinquent 
in  the  catechisinge  the  youth  and  ignorant 
persons.  So  help  you  God.” 

In  1660  an  attempt  was  made  to  found  a 
college  for  the  supply  of  educated  clergymen. 
“ Whereas  the  want  of  able  and  faithful 
ministers  in  this  country  deprives  us  of  those 
great  blessings  and  mercies  that  always  at- 
tend upon  the  service  of  God ; which  want, 
by  reason  of  the  great  distance  from  our 
native  country,  cannot  in  all  probability  be 
always  supplied  from  thence : Be  it  enacted , 
that  for  the  advance  of  learning,  education 
of  youth,  supply  of  the  ministry,  and  pro- 
motion of  piety,  there  be  land  taken  for  a 
college  and  free  school  with  as  much  speed  as 
may  be  convenient,  houses  erected  thereon 
for  entertainment  of  students  and  scholars.” 
In  the  same  year  it  was  ordered  that  a peti- 
tion be  drawn  up  by  the  General  Assembly 
to  the  king  for  a college  and  free  school ; and 
that  there  be  his  letters  patent  “to  collect 
the  charity  of  well  disposed  persons  in  Eng- 
land, for  the  erecting  of  colledges  & schools 
in  this  countrye,”  and  also  to  bestow  univer- 
sities “to  furnish  the  church  here  with  min- 
isters for  the  present.”  And  this  petition  was 
recommended  to  the  right  honorable  Gov- 
ernor, Sir  William  Berkeley.  Sir  William 
does  not  appear,  in  his  reply  to  the  Lords 
Commissioners  of  Foreign  Plantations,  dated 
1670,  to  have  been  very  kindly  disposed  to 
public  schools  of  high  or  low  degree. 

“Question  23.  What  course  is  taken 
about  the  instructing  the  people  within 
your  government  in  the  Christian  religion  ; 


350 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


and  what  provision  is  there  made  for  the  pay* 
ment  of  your  ministry  ?” 

“ Answer . The  same  course  that  is  taken 
in  England  out  of  towns;  every  man  accord- 
ing to  his  ability  instructing  his  children. 
We  have  forty- eight  parishes,  and  our  min- 
isters are  well  paid,  and  by  my  consent  should 
be  better  if  they  would  pray  oftener  and 
preach  less.  But  of  all  other  commodities, 
so  of  this,  the  wTorst  are  sent  us,  and  we  had 
few  that  we  could  boast  of,  since  the  perse- 
cution in  Cromwell’s  tyranny  drove  divers 
worthy  men  hither.  But  1 thank  God  there 
are  no  free  schools,  nor  printing,  and  I hope 
we  shall  not  have  these  hundred  years ; for 
learning  has  brought  disobedience  and  heresy 
and  sects  into  the  world,  and  printing  has  di- 
vulged them,  and  libels  against  the  best  gov- 
ernment. God  keep  us  from  both  !” 

In  1691,  “the  good  design  of  building  a 
free  school  and  college  for  the  encourage- 
ment of  learning,”  was  recognized,  but  it  was 
not  till  1693  that  an  act  was  passed  locat- 
ing the  college,  for  which  a royal  charter  had 
been  obtained  April  8,  1692,  with  the  title 
of  William  and  Mary,  at  Middle  Plantation, 
afterward  Williamsburgh.  Toward  its  en- 
dowment the  royal  founders  granted  £2000 
in  money,  land,  and  a revenue  duty  on  to- 
bacco ; and  the  Assembly  enacted  an  ex- 
port duty  on  skins  and  furs.  The  money 
grant  of  £2000  did  not  meet  with  much 
encouragement  from  the  English  Attorney 
General  (Seymour)  who  was  instructed  to 
prepare  the  charter,  who  remarked  to  the 
Rev.  James  Blair,  the  agent  of  the  colony 
for  this  purpose,  that  the  money  was  wanted 
for  other  purposes,  and  that  he  did  not  see 
the  slightest  occasion  for  a college  in  Vir- 
ginia. The  agent  represented  that  the  in- 
tention of  the  colony  was  to  educate  and 
qualify  young  men  to  be  ministers  of  the 
Gospel,  and  begged  Mr.  Attorney  would 
consider  that  the  people  of  Virginia  had 
souls  to  be  saved  as  well  as  the  people  of 
England.  “ Souls  !”  said  he ; “ damn  your 
souls ! make  tobacco.”  The  plan  of  the 
building  was  designed  by  Sir  Christopher 
Wren.  The  first  commencement  was  held 
in  1700,  at  which,  according  to  Oldmixon, 
“there  was  a great  concourse  of  people; 
several  planters  came  thither  in  their  coaches, 
and  several  sloops  from  New  York,  Pennsyl- 
vania and  Maryland ; it  being  a new  thing 
in  America  to  hear  graduates  perform  their 
academical  exercises.  The  Indians  them- 
selves had  the  curiosity  to  come  to  Wil- 


liamsburgh on  this  occasion  ; and  the  whole 
country  rejoiced  as  if  they  had  some  relish 
of  learning.”  After  the  English  fashion,  the 
college  had  a representative  in  the  General 
Assembly.  As  a quitrent  for  the  land  grant- 
ed by  the  Crown,  the  students  and  professors 
every  year  marched  to  the  residence  of  the 
royal  Governor,  and  presented,  and  some- 
times recited,  some  Latin  verses.  On  the 
breaking  out  of  the  Revolution  the  endow- 
ments of  the  college  were  cut  off,  and  its 
constitution  was  somewhat  changed. 

No  general  school  law  was  established  in 
Virginia  until  1796,  although  a plan  was 
proposed  by  Mr.  Jefferson  in  1779,  which 
recognized  three  degrees  of  public  instruc- 
tion, viz. : 1.  Elementary  schools  for  all  chil- 
dren. 2.  Colleges  for  an  extension  of  in- 
struction suitable  for  the  common  purposes 
of  life.  3.  A university,  an  extension  of  the 
means  of  higher  culture  on  the  basis  of  the 
college  at  Williamsburgh. 

Scattered  through  the  colony  were  schools 
in  connection  with  churches,  both  Episcopal 
and  Presbyterian,  and  in  many  families 
private  teachers  were  employed,  and  in  some 
cases  sons  were  sent  out  to  England  to  com- 
plete their  education. 

Massachusetts. — In  1636,  six  years.after 
the  first  settlement  of  Boston,  the  General 
Court  of  the  colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay, 
which  met  in  Boston  on  the  8th  of  Septem- 
ber, passed  an  act  appropriating  £400  to- 
ward the  establishment  of  a college.  The 
sum  thus  appropriated  was  more  than  the 
whole  tax  levied  on  the  colony  at  that  time 
in  a single  year,  and  the  population  scattered 
through  ten  or  twelve  villages  did  not  ex- 
ceed five  thousand  persons ; but  among  them 
were  eminent  graduates  of  the  university  of 
Cambridge,  in  England,  and  all  were  here 
for  purposes  of  permanent  settlement.  In 
1638,  John  Harvard  left  by  will  the  sum  of 
£779  in  money,  and  a library  of  over  three 
hundred  books.  In  1640  the  General  Court 
granted  to  the  college  the  income  of  the 
Charlestown  ferry;  and  in  1642  the  Gov- 
ernor, with  the  magistrates  and  teachers  and 
elders,  were  empowered  to  establish  statutes 
and  constitutions  for  the  infant  institution, 
and  in  1650  granted  a charter  which  still 
remains  the  fundamental  law  of  the  oldest 
literary  institution  in  this  country. 

In  1642  the  attention  of  the  General 
Court  was  turned  to  the  subject  of  family 
instruction  in  the  following  enactment: — 


EDUCATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT  IN  THE  COLONIAL  PERIOD. 


351 


“ Forasmuch  as  the  good  education  of 
children  is  of  singular  behoof  and  benefit  to 
any  commonwealth ; and  whereas  many 
parents  and  masters  are  too  indulgent  and 
negligent  of  their  duty  in  this  kind  : 

“ It  is  therefore  ordered  by  this  Court  and 
the  authority  thereof  That  the  selectmen  of 
every  town,  in  the  several  precincts  and 
quarters  where  they  dwell,  shall  have  a vigi- 
lant eye  over  their  brethren  and  neighbors, 
to  see,  first,  that  none  of  them  shall  suffer  so 
much  barbarism  in  any  of  their  families,  as 
not  to  endeavor  to  teach,  by  themselves  or 
others,  their  children  and  apprentices  so 
much  learning  as  may  enable  them  perfectly 
to  read  the  English  tongue,  and  knowledge 
of  the  capital  laws,  upon  penalty  of  twenty 
shillings  for  each  neglect  therein  ; also,  that 
all  masters  of  families  do,  once  a week,  at 
least,  catechise  their  children  and  servants 
in  the  grounds  and  principles  of  religion,  and 
if  any  be  unable  to  do  so  much,  that  then, 
at  the  least,  they  procure  such  children  or 
apprentices  to  learn  some  short  orthodox 
catechism,  without  book,  that  they  may  be 
able  to  answer  to  the  questions  that  shall  be 
propounded  to  them  out  of  such  catechisms 
by  their  parents  or  masters,  or  any  of  the 
selectmen,  where  they  shall  call  them  to  a 
trial  of  what  they  have  learned  in  this  kind ; 
and  further,  that  all  parents  and  masters  do 
breed  and  bring  up  their  children  and  ap- 
prentices in  some  honest  lawful  calling,  labor 
or  employment,  either  in  husbandry  or  some 
other  trade  profitable  for  themselves  and  the 
commonwealth,  if  they  will  not  nor  cannot 
train  them  up  in  learning  to  fit  them  for 
higher  employments;  and  if  any  of  the  select- 
men, after  admonition  by  them  given  to, such 
masters  of  families,  shall  find  them  still  neg- 
ligent of  their  duty  in  the  particulars  afore- 
mentioned, whereby  children  and  servants 
become  rude,  stubborn  and  unruly,  the  said 
selectmen,  with  the  help  of  two  magistrates, 
shall  take  such  children  or  apprentices  from 
them,  and  place  them  with  some  masters  for 
years,  boys  till  they  come  to  twenty-one, 
and  girls  eighteen  years  of  age  complete, 
which  will  more  strictly  look  unto  and  force 
them  to  submit  unto  government,  according 
to  the  rules  of  this  order,  if  by  fair  means 
and  former  instructions  they  will  not  be 
drawn  unto  it.” 

In  the  same  year  the  following  general 
school  law  was  enacted: — “It  being  one 
chief  project  of  that  old  deluder,  Satan,  to 
keep  men  from  the  knowledge  of  the  Scrip- 


tures, as  in  former  times,  keeping  them  in 
an  unknown  tongue,  so  in  these  latter  times, 
by  persuading  from  the  use  of  tongues,  so 
that  at  least  the  true  sense  and  meaning  of 
the  original  might  be  clouded  and  corrupted 
with  false  glosses  of  deceivers  ; and  to  the  end 
that  learning  may  not  be  buried  in  the  grave 
of  our  forefathers,  in  church  and  common- 
wealth, the  Lord  assisting  our  endeavors : 

“ It  is  therefore  ordered  by  this  Court  and 
authority  thereof  ’ That  every  township  with- 
in this  jurisdiction,  after  the  Lord  hath  in- 
creased them  to  the  number  of  fifty  house' 
holders,  shall  then  forthwith  appoint  one  with- 
in their  town  to  teach  all  such  children,  as 
shall  resort  to  him,  to  write  and  read,  whose 
wages  shall  be  paid,  either  by  the  parents  or 
masters  of  such  children,  or  by  the  inhabi- 
tants in  general,  by  way  of  supply,  as  the 
major  part  of  those  who  order  the  pruden- 
tials of  the  town  shall  appoint;  provided, 
that  those  who  send  their  children  be  not 
oppressed  by  paying  much  more  than  they 
can  have  them  taught  for  in  other  towns. 

“ And  it  is  further  ordered,  That  where 
any  town  shall  increase  to  the  number  of 
one  hundred  families  or  householders,  they 
shall  set  up  a grammar  school,  the  masters 
thereof  being  able  to  instruct  youths  so  far 
as  they  may  be  fitted  for  the  university,  and 
if  any  other  town  neglect  the  performance 
hereof  above  one  year,  then  every  such 
town  shall  pay  five  pounds  per  annum  to 
the  next  such  school,  till  they  shall  perform 
this  order.” 

With  various  modifications  as  to  details,  but 
with  the  same  objects  steadily  in  view,  viz.,  the 
exclusion  of  “barbarism”  from  every  family, 
by  preventing  its  having  even  one  untaught 
and  idle  child  or  apprentice,  the  maintenance 
of  an  elementary  school  in  every  neighbor- 
hood where  there  were  children  enough  to 
constitute  a school,  and  of  a Latin  school  in 
every  large  town,  and  of  a college  for  higher 
culture  for  the  whole  colony,  the  colonial 
legislature,  and  the  people  in  the  several 
towns  of  Massachusetts,  maintained  an  edu- 
cational system,  which,  although  not  as  early 
or  as  thorough  as  the  school  code  of  Saxony 
and  Wirtemberg,  has  expanded  with  the 
growth  of  the  community  in  population, 
wealth,  and  industrial  development,  and 
stimulated  and  shaped  the  legislation  and  ef- 
forts of  other  states  in  behalf  of  universal  edu- 
cation. 

The  early  records  of  the  colony  of  Fly- 
mouth  contain  no  trace  of  the  zeal  for 


352 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


schools  which  characterized  the  colonies  of 
Massachusetts  Bay,  Connecticut,  and  New 
Haven.  In  1662  the  profits  of  the  codfish- 
ery  were  appropriated  to  the  maintenance 
of  grammar  schools  in  such  towns  as  would 
make  arrangements  for  the  same ; and  in 
1669  towns  having  fifty  families  were  au- 
thorized to  raise  by  rate  on  all  the  inhabi- 
tants the  sum  of  twelve  pounds  for  this 
class  of  schools,  “for  as  much  as  the  mainte- 
nance of  good  literature  doth  much  tend  to 
the  advancement  of  the  weal  and  flourishing 
state  of  societies  and  republics.”  After  the 
union  of  the  two  colonies  under  one  charter, 
several  towns  in  the  old  colony  were  fined 
for  not  complying  with  the  provisions  of  the 
law  of  1647  respecting  children  and  schools. 

In  addition  to  the  grammar  school  which 
each  town  having  one  hundred  families  was 
obliged  by  law  to  maintain,  to  enable  young 
men  to  fit  for  college,  in  several  counties 
endowed  schools  were  set  up;  and  in  1763 
the  first  of  that  class  of  institutions,  known 
and  incorporated  as  academies,  was  estab- 
lished in  the  parish  of  Byfield  in  the  town 
of  Newbury,  on  a legacy  left  by  Gov.  Wil- 
liam Dummer.  Its  objects  were  the  same  as 
those  of  the  town  grammar  school,  but  its 
benefits  were  not  confined  to  one  town,  nor 
was  it  supported  in  any  degree  by  taxation. 

Rhode  Island. — In  this  colony  education 
was  left  to  individual  and  parental  care,  no 
trace  of  any  legislation  on  the  subject  being 
found  in  the  proceedings  of  the  General 
Assembly,  except  to  incorporate  in  1747  the 
“ Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Knowledge 
and  Virtue,”  which  wTas  established  in  New- 
port in  1730  by  the  name  of  the  “ Company 
of  the  Redwood  Library;”  and  in  1764  to 
grant  the  charter  to  the  College  of  Rhode 
Island,  which  was  first  located  in  Warren, 
and  in  1770  removed  to  Providence,  and  in 
1804  called,  after  its  most  liberal  benefactor, 
Brown  University. 

Connecticut. — In  1646,  Mr.  Roger  Lud- 
low was  requested  to  compile  “ a body  of 
laws  for  the  government  of  this  common- 
wealth,” which  was  not  completed  till  May, 
1650,  and  is  known  as  the  code  of  1650. 
The  provisions  for  the  family  instruction 
of  children  and  the  maintenance  of  schools 
are  identically  the  same  as  in  Massachu- 
setts, and  remained  on  the  statute-book, 
with  but  slight  modifications  to  give  them 
more  efficiency,  for  one  hundred  and  fifty 


years.  In  the  chapter  on  “ capital”  of- 
fences, it  is  enacted  that  if  any  child  above 
sixteen  years  of  age,  and  of  sufficient  under- 
standing, shall  curse  or  smite  his  father  or 
mother,  he  shall  be  put  to  death,  “ unless  it 
can  be  sufficiently  testified  that  the  parents 
have  been  unchristianly  negligent  in  the  ed- 
ucation of  such  children.”  In  the  chapter 
respecting  schools,  the  proposition  made  by 
the  “Commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies,” 
that  it  be  commended  to  every  family  which 
“ is  able  and  willing  to  give  yearly  but  the 
fourth  part  of  a bushel  of  corn,  or  something 
equivalent  thereto,”  “for  the  advancement 
of  learning,”  was  approved,  and  two  men 
were  appointed  in  every  town  to  receive  and 
forward  the  contributions.  This  was  done 
in  the  larger  towns  of  the  colonies  of  Con- 
necticut and  New  Haven,  from  time  to  time, 
until  ten  of  the  principal  ministers,  in  1700, 
at  Branford,  brought  each  a number  of  books, 
and  as  they  laid  them  on  the  table,  declared — 
“/  give  these  books  for  founding  a College  in 
Connecticut ;”  and  on  that  foundation  rose 
Yale  College.  To  fit  young  men  for  the 
college  at  Cambridge,  and  subsequently  for 
Yaie,  in  1672  it  was  ordered  by  the  Gen- 
eral Court,  “ that  in  every  county  there  shall 
be  set  up  a grammar  school  for  the  use  of 
the  county,  the  master  thereof  being  able  to 
instruct  youths  so  far  as  they  may  be  fitted 
for  college ;”  and  to  aid  the  county  towns  in 
maintaining  their  schools,  six  hundred  acres 
of  land  were  appropriated  by  the  General 
Court  to  each,  “ to  be  improved  in  the  best 
manner  that  may  be  for  the  benefit  of  a 
grammar  school  in  said  towns,  and  to  no 
other  use  or  end  whatsoever;”  and  in  1677 
a fine  of  ten  pounds  annually  is  imposed  on 
any  county  town  neglecting  to  keep  the 
Latin  school.  In  1690,  the  county  Latin 
schools  of  Hartford  and  New  Haven  are  de- 
nominated “ Free  Schools,”  probably  in  ref- 
erence to  the  partial  endowment  of  schools 
of  this  class  by  the  trustees  of  the  legacy 
of  Governor  Hopkins. 

As  early  as  1700,  the  system  of  public 
instruction  in  Connecticut  embraced  the  fol- 
lowing particulars : 

1.  An  obligation  on  every  parent  and 
guardian  of  children,  “ not  to  suffer  so  much 
barbarism  in  any  of  their  families  as  to  have 
a single  child  or  apprentice  unable  to  read 
the  holy  word  of  God,  and  the  good  laws  of 
the  colony ;”  and  also,  “ to  bring  them  up  to 
some  lawful  calling  or  employment,”  under 
a penalty  for  each  offence* 


EDUCATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT  IN  THE  COLONIAL  PERIOD. 


353 


2.  A tax  of  forty  shillings  on  every  thou- 
sand pounds  of  the  lists  of  estates,  was  col- 
lected in  every  town  with  the  annual  state 
tax,  and  payable  proportionably  to  those 
towns  only  which  should  keep  their  schools 
according  to  law. 

3.  A common  school  in  every  town  hav- 
ing over  seventy  families,  kept  for  at  least 
six  months  in  the  year. 

4.  A grammar  school  in  each  of  the  four 
head  county  towns  to  fit  youth  for  college, 
two  of  which  grammar  schools  were  free  or 
endowed. 

5.  A collegiate  school,  toward  which  the 
General  Court  made  an  annual  appropriation 
of  £120. 

6.  Provision  for  the  religious  instruction 
of  the  Indians. 

The  system,  therefore,  embraced  every 
family  and  town,  all  classes  of  children  and 
youth,  and  all  the  then  recognized  grades  of 
schools.  There  were  no  select  or  sectarian 
schools  to  classify  society  at  the  roots,  but 
all  children  were  regarded  with  equal  favor, 
and  all  brought  under  the  assimilating  influ- 
ence of  early  associations  and  similar  school 
privileges.  Here  was  the  foundation  laid, 
not  only  for  universal  education,  but  for  a 
practical,  political,  and  social  equality,  which 
has  never  been  surpassed  in  the  history  of 
any  other  community. 

New  Hampshire. — From  1623  to  1641, 
the  early  records  of  the  first  settlements 
within  the  present  limits  of  New  Hampshire 
exhibit  no  trace  of  educational  enactments; 
from  1641  to  1680,  the  school  laws  of  Mas- 
sachusetts prevailed,  and  the  presence  of 
6uch  men  as  Philemon  Purmont  and  Daniel 
Maude,  who  were  the  first  schoolmasters  of 
that  colony,  must  have  contributed  to  inaugu- 
rate the  policy  of  local  and  endowed  schools. 
When  the  necessities  of  the  college  at  Cam- 
bridge were  made  known,  the  people  of 
Portsmouth,  in  town  meeting,  made  a col- 
lection of  sixty  pounds,  with  a pledge  to  con- 
tinue the  same  amount  for  seven  years,  “ for 
the  perpetuating  of  knowledge  both  religious 
and  civil  among  us  and  our  posterity  after 
us.”  In  the  original  grants  for  towns  one 
lot  was  reserved  for  the  support  of  schools. 

In  1680  New  Hampshire  became  a sepa- 
rate colony,  and  in  1693  the  Colonial  As- 
sembly enacted  “ that  for  the  building  and 
repairing  of  meeting  houses,  ministers’ 
houses,  and  allowing  a salary  to  a school- 
master in  each  town  within  this  province, 


the  selectmen  shall  raise  by  an  equal  rate 
an  assessment  upon  the  inhabitants  and 
in  1 7 1 9 it  was  ordained  that  every  town 
having  fifty  householders  should  be  con- 
stantly provided  with  a schoolmaster  to 
teach  children  to  read  and  write ; and  those 
having  one  hundred  should  maintain  a gram- 
mar school,  to  be  kept  by  some  decent 
person,  of  good  conversation,  well  instructed 
in  the  tongues.  In  1721  it  was  ordered  that 
not  only  each  town  but  each  parish  of  one 
hundred  families  should  be  constantly  pro- 
vided with  a grammar  school,  or  forfeit  the 
sum  of  twenty  pounds  to  the  treasury  of  the 
province.  This  system  of  elementary  and 
secondary  instruction  continued  substantially 
until  the  adoption  of  the  state  constitution 
in  1792. 

In  1770  Dr.  Wheelock  removed  a school 
which  he  had  established  in  Lebanon,  Con- 
necticut, under  the  name  of  “ Moor’s  Indian 
Charity  School,”  to  the  depths  of  the  forests 
in  the  western  part  of  New  Hampshire. 
Here,  side  by  side  with  the  school  for 
Indians,  he  organized  another  institution, 
termed  a college  in  the  charter  granted  by 
Governor  Wentworth  in  1769,  and  which 
held  its  first  commencement  in  1771,  with 
four  graduates,  one  of  whom  was  John 
Wheelock,  the  second  president  of  the  in- 
stitution, which  was  called  Dartmouth  Col- 
lege after  Lord  Dartmouth,  one  of  the  larg- 
est benefactors  of  the  Charity  School. 

At  the  close  of  the  colonial  period  of  our 
history,  according  to  Noah  Webster,  the 
condition  of  the  educational  system  in  Con- 
necticut and  New  England  was  as  follows: 

“The  law  of  Connecticut  ordains  that 
every  town  or  parish  containing  seventy 
householders,  shall  keep  an  English  school, 
at  least  eleven  months  in  the  year;  and 
towns  containing  a less  number,  at  least  six 
months  in  the  year.  Every  town  keeping 
a public  school  is  entitled  to  draw  from  the 
treasury  of  the  state  a certain  sum  of  money, 
proportioned  to  its  census  in  the  list  of  prop- 
erty which  furnishes  the  rule  of  taxation. 
This  sum  might  have  been  originally  suf- 
ficient to  support  one  school  in  each  town 
or  parish,  but  in  modern  times  is  divided 
among  a number,  and  the  deficiency  of 
money  to  support  the  schools  is  raised  upon 
the  estates  of  the  people,  in  the  manner  the 
public  taxes  are  assessed.  To  extend  the 
benefits  of  this  establishment  to  all  the  in- 
habitants, large  towns  and  parishes  are  di- 


354 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


vided  into  districts,  each  of  which  is  sup- 
posed able  to  furnish  a competent  number 
of  scholars  for  one  school.  In  each  district 
a house  is  erected  for  the  purpose  by  the 
inhabitants  of  that  district,  who  hire  a mas- 
ter, furnish  wood,  and  tax  themselves  to  pay 
all  expenses  not  provided  for  by  the  public 
money.  The  school  is  kept  during  the  win- 
ter months,  when  every  farmer  can  spare  his 
sons.  In  this  manner,  every  child  in  the 
state  has  access  to  a school.  In  the  sum- 
mer, a woman  is  hired  to  teach  small  chil- 
dren, who  are  not  fit  for  any  kind  of  labor. 
In  the  large  towns,  schools,  either  public  or 
private,  are  kept  the  whole  year;  and  in 
every  county  town,  a grammar  school  is 
established  by  law. 

“ The  beneficial  effects  of  these  institutions 
will  be  experienced  for  ages.  Next  to  the 
establishments  in  favor  of  religion,  they  have 
been  the  nurseries  of  well-informed  citizens, 
brave  soldiers  and  wise  legislators.  A peo- 
ple thus  informed  are  capable  of  understand- 
ing their  rights  and  of  discovering  the  means 
to  secure  them.  In  the  next  place,  our  fore- 
fathers took  measures  to  preserve  the  repu- 
tation of  schools  and  the  morals  of  youth, 
by  making  the  teaching  them  an  honor- 
able employment.  Every  town  or  district 
has  a committee,  whose  duty  is  to  procure  a 
master  of  talents  and  character ; and  the 
practice  is  to  procure  a man  of  the  best 
character  in  the  town  or  neighborhood.  The 
wealthy  towns  apply  to  young  men  of  lib- 
eral education,  who,  after  taking  the  bache- 
lor’s degree,  usually  keep  school  a year  or 
two  before  they  enter  upon  a profession. 
One  of  the  most  unfortunate  circumstances 
to  education  in  the  Middle  and  Southern 
states,  is  an  opinion  that  school-keeping  is 
a mean  employment,  fit  only  for  persons  of 
low  character.  The  wretches  who  keep  the 
schools  in  those  states  very  frequently  de- 
grade the  employment ; but  the  misfortune 
is,  public  opinion  supposes  the  employment 
degrades  the  man : of  course  no  gentleman 
will  undertake  to  teach  children  while  in 
popular  estimation  he  must  forfeit  his  rank 
and  character  by  the  employment.  Until 
public  opinion  is  corrected  by  some  great 
examples,  the  common  schools,  what  few 
there  are  in  those  states,  must  continue  in 
the  hands  of  such  vagabonds  as  wander 
about  the  country.” 

“Nearly  connected  with  the  establishment 
of  schools  is  the  circulation  of  newspapers 
in  New  England.  This  is  both  a conse- 


quence and  a cause  of  a general  diffusion  of 
letters.  In  Connecticut,  almost  every  man 
reads  a paper  every  week.  In  the  year 
1785,  I took  some  pains  to  ascertain  the 
number  of  papers  printed  weekly  in  Con- 
necticut and  in  the  Southern  states.  I found 
the  number  in  Connecticut  to  be  nearly  eight 
thousand ; which  was  equal  to  that  published 
in  the  whole  territory  south  of  Pennsylvania. 
By  means  of  this  general  circulation  of  pub- 
lic papers,  the  people  are  informed  of  all 
political  affairs ; and  their  representatives 
are  often  prepared  to  deliberate  on  proposi- 
tions made  to  the  legislature. 

“Another  institution  favorable  to  knowl- 
edge is  the  establishment  of  parish  libraries. 
These  are  procured  by  subscription,  but  they 
are  numerous,  the  expense  not  being  con- 
siderable, and  the  desire  of  reading  universal. 
One  hundred  volumes  of  books,  selected 
from  the  best  writers,  on  ethics,  divinity, 
and  history,  and  read  by  the  principal  in- 
habitants of  a town  or  village,  will  have  an 
amazing  influence  in  spreading  knowledge, 
correcting  the  morals,  and  softening  the 
manners  of  a nation.  I am  acquainted  with 
parishes  where  almost  every  householder  has 
read  the  works  of  Addison,  Sherlock,  Atter- 
bury,  Watts,  Young,  and  other  similar 
writings  ; and  will  converse  well  on  the 
subjects  of  which  they  treat.” 

New  York. — In  the  early  history  of  the 
settlements  of  the  New  Netherlands,  the 
school  was  regarded  as  an  appendage  of  the 
church,  and  the  schoolmaster  was  paid  in 
part  out  of  the  funds  of  the  government. 
Down  to  its  organization  as  a royal  province 
of  England,  a parochial  school  existed  in 
every  parish.  In  1658  a petition  of  the 
burgomasters  and  schepens  of  New  Amster- 
dam was  forwarded  to  the  West  India  Com- 
pany, in  which  “ it  is  represented  that  the 
youth  of  this  place  and  the  neighborhood 
are  increasing  in  number  gradually,  and 
that  most  of  them  can  read  and  write,  but 
that  some  of  the  citizens  and  inhabitants 
would  like  to  send  their  children  to  a school 
the  principal  of  which  understands  Latin, 
but  are  not  able  to  do  so  without  sending 
them  to  New  England  ; furthermore,  they 
have  not  the  means  to  hire  a Latin  school- 
master, expressly  for  themselves,  from  New 
England,  and  therefore  they  ask  that  the 
West  India  Company  will  send  out  a fit 
person  as  Latin  schoolmaster,  not  doubting 
that  the  number  of  persons  who  will  send 


EDUCATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT  IN  THE  COLONIAL  PERIOD. 


355 


their  children  to  such  teacher  will  from  year 
to  year  increase,  until  an  academy  shall  be 
formed  whereby  this  place  to  great  splendor 
will  have  attained,  for  which,  next  to  God, 
the  honorable  company  which  shall  have 
sent  such  teacher  here  shall  have  laud  and 
praise.”  In  compliance  with  this  petition, 
Dr.  Alexander  Carolus  Curtius,  a Latin 
master  of  Lithuania,  was  sent  out  by  the 
company.  The  burgomasters  proposed  to 
give  him  five  hundred  guilders  annually  out 
of  the  city  treasury,  wfith  the  use  of  a house 
and  garden,  and  the  privilege  of  collecting 
a tuition  of  six  guilders  per  quarter  of  each 
scholar.  Dr.  Curtius  proved  not  to  be  a 
good  disciplinarian,  and  parents  complained 
to  the  authorities  that  “ his  pupils  beat 
each  other,  and  tore  the  clothes  from  each 
other’s  backs.”  The  doctor  retorted  that 
he  could  not  interfere,  “ as  his  hands  were 
tied,  as  some  of  the  parents  forbade  him 
punishing  their  children.”  He  accordingly 
gave  up  his  place  and  returned  to  Holland, 
and  was  succeeded  in  the  mastership  by 
Rev.  Hilgidius  Luyck  in  1662.  11  is  school 

had  a high  reputation,  and  was  resorted  to 
by  pupils  from  Virginia,  Fort  Orange,  and 
the  Delaware. 

After  the  establishment  of  the  English 
authority,  the  governor  claimed  the  privilege 
of  licensing  teachers  even  for  the  church 
schools,  but  no  general  school  policy  was 
established.  In  I7u2  a free  grammar  school 
was  founded  and  built  on  the  King’s  Farm, 
and  in  1732  a “Free  School,”  for  teaching 
the  Latin  and  Greek  and  practical  branches 
of  mathematics,  was  incorporated  by  law. 
The  preamble  of  the  act  of  incorporation 
opens  as  follows : “ Whereas  the  youth  of 
this  colony  are  found  by  manifold  experience 
to  be  not  inferior  in  their  natural  genius  to 
the  youth  of  any  other  country  in  the 
world,  therefore  be  it  enacted,”  etc.  In 
1710,  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the 
Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts  established  a 
charity  school  in  connection  with  the  Epis- 
copal church,  which  is  still  in  existence,  and 
is  now  known  as  the  Trinity  School.  In 
1750,  Charles  Dutens  announced  to  the 
public  “ that  he  taught  a school  for  the  use 
of  young  ladies  and  gentlemen,  whose  love 
of  learning  might  incline  them  to  take 
lessons  from  him  in  French,  at  his  house  on 
Broad  street,  near  the  Long  Bridge,  where 
he  also  makes  and  vends  finger  and  ear  rings, 
solitaires,  stay-hooks  and  lockets,  and  sets 
diamonds,  rubies,  and  other  stones.  Science 


and  virtue  are  two  sisters,  which  the  most 
part  of  the  New  York  ladies  possess,”  etc. 

Judge  Smith,  in  his  “ History  of  the  Prov- 
ince of  New  York,”  when  speaking  of  the 
action  of  the  legislature  for  founding  a col- 
lege in  1746,  says:  “To  the  disgrace  of  our 
first  planters,  who  beyond  comparison  sur- 
passed their  eastern  neighbors  in  opulence, 
Mr.  Delaney,  a graduate  of  the  University 
of  Cambridge  (England),  and  Mr.  Smith, 
were  for  many  years  the  only  academics  in 
this  province,  except  such  as  were  in  holy 
orders;  and  so  late  as  the  period  we  are  now 
examining  (1750),  the  author  did  not  recol- 
lect above  thirteen  men,  the  youngest  of 
whom  had  his  bachelor’s  degree  at  the  age 
of  seventeen,  but  two  months  before  the  pass- 
ing of  the  above  law,  the  first  toward  erecting 
a college  in  this  colony,  though  at  a distance 
of  above  one  hundred  and  twenty  years  after 
its  discovery  and  settlement  of  the  capital  by 
Dutch  progenitors  from  Amsterdam.” 

In  1754  a royal  charter  was  obtained  for 
a college  in  New  York,  with  the  style  of 
King’s  College,  which  came  into  possession 
of  a fund  raised  by  a lottery  authorized  for 
this  purpose  by  the  Assembly  in  1746,  and 
of  a grant  of  land  conveyed  to  its  governors 
by  Trinity  Church  in  1755.  Out  of  this 
grant,  Columbia  College  is  now  (1860)  re- 
alizing an  income  of  $60,000  a year.  The 
first  commencement  was  celebrated  in  1758. 

“ For  the  advantage  of  our  new  intended 
college”  (King’s),  “and  the  use  and  orna- 
ment of  the  city,”  a number  of  eminent  citi- 
zens of  New  York,  in  1754,  united  in  an 
association  to  form  a library,  which  in  1772 
was  incorporated  with  the  title  of  the  “New 
York  Society  Library.” 

Maryland. — The  first  settlement  was 
effected  within  the  present  limits  of  Mary- 
land in  1634;  and  in  the  years  immediately 
following,  we  find  no  record  of  any  marked 
individual  or  legislative  effort  to  establish 
institutions  of  learning.  The  first  act  of  the 
colonial  Assembly  is  entitled  a “Supplicatory 
Act  to  their  sacred  majesties  for  erecting  of 
schools,”  which  was  passed  in  1694,  and  re- 
pealed or  superseded  by  an  act  entitled  a 
“ Petitionary  Act”  for  the  same  purpose. 
Appealing  to  the  royal  liberality,  which  had 
been  extended  to  the  neighboring  colony  of 
Virginia  in  the  institution  of  the  college,  “ a 
place  of  universal  study,”  the  Assembly  ask, 
“ that  for  the  propagation  of  the  Gospel,  and 
the  education  of  the  youth  of  this  province 


356 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


in  good  letters  and  manners,  that  a certain 
place  or  places  for  a free  school  or  schools,  or 
place  of  study  of  Latin,  Greek,  writing  and 
the  like,  consisting  of  one  master,  one  usher, 
and  one  writing-master  or  scribe  to  a school, 
and  100  scholars,”  be  established  in  Arundel 
County,  of  which  the  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury should  be  chancellor,  and  to  be  called 
“ King  William’s  School;”  and  a similar  free 
school  is  asked  for  in  each  county,  to  be 
established  from  time  to  time  as  the  re- 
sources of  the  several  counties  may  suffice. 
To  increase  the  educational  resources  of  the 
counties,  in  1 7 1 7 it  was  enacted  that  an  ad- 
ditional duty  of  twenty  shillings  current  money 
per  poll  should  be  levied  on  all  Irish  servants, 
being  papists,  to  prevent  the  growth  of  popery 
by  the  importation  of  too  ofreat  a number  of 
them  into  this  province,  and  also  an  addi- 
tional duty  of  twenty  shillings  current 
money  per  poll  on  all  negroes,  for  raising 
a fund  for  the  use  of  public  schools.  In 
1723,  “an  act  for  the  encouragement  of 
learning,  and  erecting  schools  in  the  several 
counties,”  was  passed,  with  a preamble  set- 
ting forth  that  preceding  Assemblies  have 
had  it  much  at  heart,  “to  provide  for  the 
liberal  and  pious  education  of  the  youth 
of  the  province,  and  improving  their  natural 
abilities  and  acuteness  (which  seem  not  to 
be  inferior  to  any),  so  as  to  be  fitted  for  the 
discharge  of  their  duties  in  the  several  sta- 
tions and  employments  in  it,  either  in  re- 
gard to  church  or  state.”  By  this  act  seven 
visitors  are  appointed  in  each  county,  with 
corporate  powers  to  receive  and  hold  estate 
to  the  value  of  £100  per  annum;  and  they 
are  authorized  with  all  convenient  speed  to 
purchase,  out  of  funds  realized  from  revenues 
already  set  apart  for  this  purpose,  one  hun- 
dred acres  more  or  less,  one  moiety  of  which 
is  to  serve  for  making  corn,  grain,  and  pas- 
turage for  the  benefit  and  use  of  the  master, 
who  is  prohibited  growing  tobacco,  or  per- 
mitting it  by  others  on  said  farm.  The 
visitors  are  directed  to  employ  good  school- 
masters, members  of  the  Church  of  England, 
and  of  pious  and  exemplary  lives  and  con- 
versation, and  capable  of  teaching  well  the 
grammar,  good  writing,  and  the  mathemat- 
ics, if  such  can  be  conveniently  got,  on 
a salary  of  £20  per  annum,  and  the  use  of 
the  plantation.  In  1728  the  master  of  each 
public  school  is  directed  “to  teach  as  many 
poor  children  gratis  as  the  majority  of  the 
visitors  should  order.” 

Up  to  the  establishment  of  the  state  gov- 


ernment in  1777,  there  was  no  system  of 
common  schools  for  elementary  instruction 
in  operation  in  Maryland.  “ A free  school,” 
like  the  free  endowed  grammar  school  of 
England,  was  established  in  a majority  of 
counties,  two  of  which  were  subsequently 
converted  into  colleges,  that  of  Charlestown 
in  Kent  county,  into  Washington  College  in 
1782,  and  the  second  at  Annapolis  into  St. 
John’s  College  in  1784 — the  former  “in 
honorable  and  perpetual  memory  of  his 
excellency  General  Washington,  the  illus- 
trious and  virtuous  commander-in-chief  of 
the  armies  of  the  United  States.” 

In  1696,  Rev.  Thomas  Bray,  then  residing 
in  the  parish  of  Sheldon,  England,  was  made 
commissary  of  Maryland,  to  establish  the 
Church  of  England  in  the  colony.  His  first 
act  was  to  inaugurate  a plan  of  parochial 
libraries  for  the  use  of  ministers  in  each 
parish.  Through  his  influence,  Princess 
Anne  made  a benefaction  for  this  purpose, 
and  in  acknowledgment  of  the  honor  of 
having  the  capital  of  the  province  called 
after  her  name  (Annapolis),  donated  books 
to  the  value  of  four  hundred  pounds  to  the 
parish  library,  which  he  called  “the  An- 
napolitan  Library.”  By  his  influence  in 
England  a plan  of  “lending-libraries”  was 
projected  in  every  deanery  throughout  the 
kingdom,  and  carried  out. 

New  Jersey. — In  the  history  of  New 
Jersey  as  a colony  we  find  no  trace  of  any 
general  legislation  or  governmental  action  in 
behalf  of  schools.  Scattered  at  wide  in- 
tervals over  the  state  were  schools  kept 
by  clergymen  in  connection  with  their 
churches. 

In  1748  a charter  of  incorporation  for  the 
College  of  New  Jersey  was  obtained  from 
George  II.,  during  the  administration  of 
Governor-  Belcher,  “ for  the  instruction  of 
youth  in  the  learned  languages  and  liberal 
arts  and  sciences.”  During  the  adminis- 
tration of  Governor  Franklin  in  1770,  a 
second  college  was  chartered,  with  the  name 
of  Queen’s  (now  Rutger’s)  College,  as  a 
school  of  theology  for  the  Reformed  Dutch 
Church.  Neither  of  the  institutions  receiv- 
ed any  aid  from  the  government. 

Pennsylvania. — The  frame  of  govern- 
ment of  the  province  of  Pennsylvania,  dated 
April  25th,  1682,  drawn  up  by  William 
Penn  before  leaving  England,  contains  the 
following  provision  : “ The  governor  and 


EDUCATIONAL  DEVELOPMENT  IN  THE  COLONIAL  PERIOD. 


357 


provincial  council  shall  erect  and  order  all 
public  schools  and  reward  the  authors  of 
useful  sciences  and  laudable  inventions  in 
said  province.”  In  the  laws  agreed  upon 
a few  months  later  in  the  same  year  by  the 
governor  and  divers  freemen  of  the  province 
in  England,  it  is  provided  “ that  all  children 
within  this  province  of  the  age  of  twelve 
years  shall  be  taught  some  useful  trade,  or 
skill,  to  the  end  that  none  be  idle,  but  that 
the  poor  may  work  to  live,  and  the  rich,  if 
they  become  poor,  may  not  want.”  In  1683 
the  governor  and  council  in  Philadelphia, 
“ having  taken  into  their  serious  considera- 
tion the  great  necessity  there  is  of  a school- 
master in  the  town  of  Philadelphia,  sent  for 
Enoch  Flower,  an  inhabitant  of  said  town, 
who  for  twenty  years  past  hath  been  exer- 
cised in  that  care  and  employment  in  Eng- 
land, to  whom  having  communicated  their 
minds,  he  embraced  it  upon  the  following 
terms  : to  learn  to  read  English,  4s.  by  the 
quarter ;”  to  learn  to  read  and  write,  6s. ; 
read,  write  and  cast  accounts,  8s. ; for  board- 
ing a scholar,  £10  per  year.  In  1689  the 
Society  of  Friends  established  a Latin  school 
of  which  George  Keith  was  the  first  teacher. 
In  1725  Rev.  Francis  Alison,  a native  of 
Ireland,  but  educated  at  Glasgow,  became 
pastor  of  the  Presbyterian  church  in  New 
London,  in  Chester  county,  and  opened  a 
school  there,  which  had  great  reputation. 
He  at  one  time  resided  at  Thunder  Hill,  in 
Maryland,  where  he  educated  many  young 
men  who  were  afterward  distinguished  in 
the  Revolutionary  struggle.  He  was  subse- 
quently Provost  of  the  college  at  Philadel- 
phia. 

In  1749  Benjamin  Franklin  published  his 
“ Proposals  relating  to  the  Education  of 
Youth  in  Pennsylvania ,”  out  of  which  ori- 
ginated subsequently  an  academy  and  char- 
ity school,  and  ultimately  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania.  At  the  head  of  the  English 
department  of  the  academy  in  1751  was  Mr. 
Dove,  who  was  then  engaged  in  giving  pub- 
lic lectures  in  experimental  philosophy  with 
apparatus — an  early  lyceum  or  popular  lec- 
turer. 

In  1743  the  American  Philosophical  So- 
ciety originated  in  a “ Proposal  for  Promot- 
ing Useful  Knowledge,”  published  by  Ben- 
jamin Franklin,  which,  after  various  forms 
of  organization,  took  its  present  name  and 
shape  on  the  2d  of  January,  1769. 

In  1765  the  Medical  School  originated 
with  the  appointment  of  Dr.  Morgan  to  the 


professorship  of  the  theory  and  practice  of 
physic;  in  1767  it  was  fully  organized,  and 
in  1768  degrees  in  medicine  were  for  the 
first  time  conferred. 

Among  the  denominational  schools  which 
grew  up  in  the  absence  of  any  general 
legislation  on  the  subject,  was  a Moravian 
school  for  boys  at  Nazareth  in  1747,  and  for 
girls  at  Bethlehem  1749,  both  of  which  are 
still  in  existence,  and  the  latter,  especially, 
since  1789,  has  been  one  of  the  most  flour- 
ishing female  seminaries  in  this  country. 

Delaware. — In  the  early  settlements  of 
the  Swedes  and  Dutch  in  Delaware,  the 
policy  of  connecting  a school  with  the 
church  was  probably  imperfectly  carried 
out,  but  there  is  no  historical  trace  of  its 
existence.  The  only  school  legislation  of 
the  colony  extant,  is  an  act  incorporating 
“ the  Trustees  of  the  Grammar  School  in  the 
borough  of  Wilmington,  and  county  of  New 
Castle,”  dated  April  10,  1773. 

North  Carolina. — In  North  Carolina  for 
fifty  years,  the  policy  of  the  provincial  au- 
thorities was  to  discourage  all  forms  of  re- 
ligious and  educational  activity  outside  of 
the  Church  of  England,  to  the  extent  of  for- 
bidding expressly  the  establishment  of  print- 
ing presses.  The  first  act  on  record  relat- 
ing to  schools,  in  1764,  was  “for  the  build- 
ing of  a house  for  a school,  and  the  residence 
of  a schoolmaster  in  the  town  of  Newbern” 
— appropriating  the  half  of  two  lots,  before 
set  apart  for  a church,  for  this  purpose.  In 
1766  another  act  was  passed  incorporating 
trustees  for  this  school,  with  the  preamble 
“that  a number  of  well-disposed  persons, 
taking  into  consideration  the  great  necessity 
of  having  a proper  school,  or  public  seminary 
of  learning  established,  whereby  the  present 
generation  may  be  brought  up  and  instructed 
in  the  principles  of  the  Christian  religion, 
and  fitted  for  the  several  offices  and  purposes 
of  life,  have  at  great  expense  erected  a 
school-house  for  this  purpose ;”  and  provid- 
ing that  the  master  of  the  school  shall  be 
“of  the  established  Church  of  England,  and 
licensed  by  the  governor.”  Similar  acts  were 
pasRodin  I770and  1779  for  schools  at  Edenton 
and  Hillsborough.  In  1770  an  act,  reciting 
that  a very  promising  experiment  had  been 
made  in  the  town  of  Charlotte  in  the  county 
of  Mecklenburg,  with  a seminary  of  learning 
“ a number  of  youths  there  taught  making 
great  advancement  in  the  knowledge  of  the 


358 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


learned  languages,  and  in  the  rudiments  of 
the  arts  and  sciences,  having  gone  to  various 
colleges  in  distant  parts  of  America,”  incor- 
porates the  same  with  the  name  of  Queen’s 
College.  This  act  was  repealed  by  procla- 
mation in  the  next  year,  but  in  1777  it  was 
reincorporated  by  name  of  “ Liberty  Hall.” 
With  the  downfall  of  the  royal  authority, 
and  the  religious  party  which  had  swayed 
the  colony,  a new  educational  policy  was 
inaugurated. 

South  Carolina. — In  the  early  history 
of  the  colony  of  South  Carolina,  as  of  several 
other  colonies,  the  first  efforts  to  establish 
schools  were  in  connection  with  the  predom- 
inant church  of  the  settlers,  i.  e.,  of  the 
Church  of  England,  through  the  aid  of  the 
“Venerable  Society  for  Propagating  the 
Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts.”  By  the  mission- 
aries of  that  society  charity  schools  were 
established  in  several  parishes,  some  of  which 
were  afterward  endowed  by  individuals,  and 
incorporated  by  act  of  the  legislature,  and 
called  “Free  Schools.”  In  1710  a free 
school  of  this  character  was  established  at 
Goosecreek,  and  in  1 7 1 2 in  Charleston;  and 
by  the  general  act  of  February  22,  1722,  the 
justices  of  the  county  courts  were  author- 
ized to  erect  a free  school  in  each  county 
and  precinct,  to  be  supported  by  assessment 
on  land  and  negroes.  These  schools  were 
bound  to  teach  ten  poor  children  each,  if 
sent  by  said  justices.  In  1724,  a memorial 
to  the  “Venerable  Society”  from  the  parish 
of  Dorchester  sets  forth — “ The  chief  source 
of  irreligion  here  is  the  want  of  schools ; 
and  we  may  justly  be  apprehensive,  that  if 
our  children  continue  longer  to  be  deprived 
of  opportunities  of  being  instructed,  Chris- 
tianity will  of  course  decay  insensibly,  and 
we  shall  have  a generation  of  our  own  as 
ignorant  as  the  native  Indians.”  The  so- 
ciety sent  out  schoolmasters  to  this  and 
other  parishes,  and  about  2000  volumes  of 
bound  books.  In  1721  Mr.  Richard  Beres- 
ford  bequeathed  to  the  parish  of  St.  Thomas 
and  St.  Dennis,  in  trust,  for  the  purpose  of 
educating  the  poor,  £6500;  and  in  1732 
Mr.  Richard  Harris,  for  the  same  object, 
£1000.  In  1728  Rev.  Richard  Ludlam  be- 
queathed his  whole  estate  to  the  parish  of 
St.  James;  which  in  1778  amounted  to 
£15,272.  Other  bequests  for  the  same 
objects  were  made  at  different  times  before 
the  Revolution.  In  1743  Rev.  Alexander 
Garden  wrote  to  the  society  that  the  negro 


school  consisted  of  thirty  children,  and  in 
1750  that  it  was  going  on  with  all  desirable 
success.  In  1748  a library  was  founded  in 
Charleston  by  an  association  of  seventeen 
young  men,  whose  first  object  was  to  collect 
new  pamphlets  and  magazines  published  in 
Great  Britain,  but  in  the  course  of  a year 
embraced  the  purchase  of  books.  After 
many  delays  and  refusals,  an  act  of  incor- 
poration was  obtained  in  1754.  There  is 
but  one  older  library  in  this  country. 

Georgia. — The  earliest  effort  to  establish 
schools  in  Georgia  was  made  by  the  Rev. 
George  Whitefield.  Before  leaving  England 
in  1737,  he  had  projected  an  Orphan  House, 
after  the  plan  of  that  of  Dr.  Franke,  at  Halle, 
of  which  an  account  about  that  time  ap- 
peared in  English.  His  first  visit  to  Savan- 
nah in  1738  satisfied  him  of  the  necessity 
of  a charity  school  for  poor  and  neglected 
children,  and  in  the  course  of  that  year  he 
returned  to  England  to  obtain  his  ordination 
as  priest  and  collect  funds  for  his  educational 
enterprise.  The  trustees  of  the  colony  gave 
him  five  hundred  acres  of  land  upon  which 
to  erect  his  buildings.  These  were  selected 
about  ten  miles  out  of  Savannah,  and  on  the 
25th  of  March,  1740,  he  laid  the  first  brick 
of  the  house,  which  he  called  Bethesda,  or 
House  of  Mercy,  and  opened  his  school  in 
temporary  shelters  with  forty  children.  In 
the  fall  of  the  same  year  he  made  a collec- 
tion and  preaching  tour  in  New  England, 
during  which  he  collected  over  £800  for  his 
charity.  After  disasters  by  fire,  etc.,  the 
Orphan  House  property  was  bequeathed  to 
Selina,  Countess  of  Huntingdon,  in  trust  for 
the  purposes  originally  designed,  and  subse- 
quently incorporated  for  this  purpose.  On 
her  death,  and  after  the  Revolution,  the  legis- 
lature transferred  the  property  to  thirteen 
trustees,  to  manage  the  estate  and  make  reg- 
ulations for  an  academy  in  the  county  of 
Chatham.  Schools  were  established  by  the 
missionaries  sent  out  by  the  Society  for  the 
Propagation  of  the  Gospel  at  Savannah,  Au- 
gusta, and  Frederica,  and  by  the  Moravians 
and  Huguenots  in  their  respective  settle- 
ments. 

results  at  the  close  of  our  colonial 

HISTORY. 

The  educational  systems  and  provisions 
of  the  colonial  period  of  the  United  States 
were,  especially  in  its  earlier  portion,  closely 
connected  witli  the  ecclesiastical  systems  of 


REVOLUTIONARY  AND  TRANSITIONAL  PERIOD. 


359 


the  colonies.  Schools  were  maintained  by 
individual  youth  trained  up  in  very  many 
cases,  because  it  was  a duty  to  prepare  use- 
ful future  members  of  the  church,  which  in 
some  of  the  colonies  was  also  the  state. 

In  three  states,  Massachusetts,  Connecti- 
cut, and  New  Hampshire,  it  was  very  early 
made  the  legal  duty  of  parents  and  towns 
to  make  provision  for  the  education  of  youth. 
Elsewhere,  such  efforts  as  were  made,  aside 
from  the  natural  desire  of  parents  to  afford 
their  children  such  an  education  as  was  suit- 
able to  their  rank  in  life,  or  such  as  would 
aid  their  subsequent  progress  and  prosperity, 
were,  generally  speaking,  put  forth  by  clergy- 
men, ecclesiastical  bodies,  or  pious  laymen, 
for  colonial  institutions  for  secondary  edu- 
cation were  not  very  numerous,  including 
the  town  grammar  schools  of  New  England, 
and  a small  number  of  endowed  or  free 
schools.  In  these  two  classes  of  institutions, 
a small  number  of  pupils  were  prepared  to 
enter  college.  A far  greater  number  of  col- 
lege students,  more  especially  in  the  middle 
and  southern  states,  were  prepared  by  clergy- 
men, who  received  each  a small  number  of 
pupils  into  his  family,  as  a means  of  secur- 
ing some  additional  income.  There  were 
also  a few  private  schools  of  considerable 
reputation  and  value. 

In  connection  with  these  educational  agen- 
cies, the  small  parochial  and  social  libraries, 
and  the  two  or  three  associations  for  the 
increase  and  dissemination  of  science,  should 
also  be  referred  to. 

The  institutions  of  superior  education, 
established  during  the  colonial  period,  were 
seven  in  number;  namely,  Harvard,  Wil- 
liam and  Mary,  Yale,  Nassau  Hall,  Rutgers, 
Brown,  and  Columbia.  From  these  came 
forth  nearly  all  the  liberally  educated  men 
of  that  day,  though  it  was  a custom  of  a few 
of  the  wealthiest  families  of  the  day  to  grad 
uate  their  sons  at  a European  university, 
Oxford  or  Cambridge  being  commonly  se- 
lected. The  colonial  colleges,  like  the 
schools  preparatory  to  them,  were  substan- 
tially church  institutions,  their  pupils  being 
the  stock  from  which  the  clerical  body  was 
reinforced. 

It  was  not  until  the  very  close  of  the  co- 
lonial period  that  a few  special  or  profes- 
sional schools  were  established.  A school 
of  medicine,  sufficiently  entitled  to  the  name, 
gave  degrees  in  New  York  in  1769;  a sort 
of  theological  seminary  was  founded  in  Penn- 
sylvania in  1778;  while  the  first  law  school 


only  arose  the  year  after  the  peace  of  1783. 
Professorships,  however,  in  these  depart- 
ments, had  afforded  a certain  amount  of  in- 
struction in  all  of  them  as  part  of  the  college 
course,  long  before ; indeed,  from  the  foun- 
dation of  the  earliest  colleges. 

Female  education  was  comparatively  neg- 
lected in  the  colonial  period.  Girls  were 
taught  housewifely  duties  far  more  assidu- 
ously than  learning,  and  often  depended 
upon  home  instruction  for  whatever  educa- 
tion they  received ; neither  the  common 
schools  nor  those  for  secondary  education 
affording  or  being  designed  to  afford  accom- 
modation for  them. 

That  special  supplementary  training  which 
at  the  present  day  does  so  much  to  alleviate 
the  misfortunes  of  the  blind,  the  deaf  and 
dumb,  and  the  feeble  minded,  was  quite  un- 
known, nor  was  the  idea  entertained  that 
such  a training  was  practicable. 


CHAPTER  II. 

REVOLUTIONARY  AND  TRANSITIONAL 
PERIOD. 

The  immediate  effects  of  the  war  of  the 
Revolution  were  adverse,  and,  in  certain  as- 
pects, disastrous  to  the  interests  of  education. 
Dangers  so  great  and  imminent  almost  en- 
grossed all  thought  and  absorbed  all  exertion 
and  resources.  Children,  indeed,  were  not 
left  without  the  instruction  of  the  family  and 
the  local  elementary  school,  and  they  were, 
thank  God,  everywhere  surrounded  with  the 
most  stirring  exhibitions  of  heroic  patriotism 
and  the  self-sacrificing  virtues.  But  too  gen- 
erally the  elementary  school  and  the  teacher, 
never  properly  appreciated,  gave  way  to 
more  pressing  and  universally-felt  necessities. 
Higher  education  for  a time  experienced  a 
severe  shock.  The  calls  of  patriotism  with- 
drew many  young  men  from  the  colleges  and 
the  preparatory  schools,  and  prevented  many 
more  from  resorting  thither.  The  impover- 
ishment of  the  country,  and  the  demand  for 
immediate  action,  compelled  others  to  relin- 
quish an  extended  course  of  professional 
study.  In  some  cases  the  presence  of  armies 
caused  a suspension  of  college  instruction  and 
the  dispersion  of  faculty  and  students,  and 
even  converted  the  college  buildings  into 
barracks.  But  the  action  and  influence  of 
this  period  were  not  wholly  adverse  or  dis- 
astrous to  schools  and  higher  education.  The 


360 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


public  mind  was  stimulated  into  greatly  in- 
creased activity — now,  for  the  first  time,  as- 
suming a collective  existence  and  national 
characteristics.  The  heart  of  the  people  was 
thoroughly  penetrated  by  the  spirit  of  self- 
sacrifice,  in  cheerfully  bearing  the  burdens  of 
society  with  diminished  resources,  and  in  re- 
pairing the  waste  and  destruction  of  the  war. 
The  examples  of  wisdom  and  eloquence  in 
council,  and  courage  and  heroism  in  the 
field,  and  of  patient  endurance  of  privation 
and  hardship,  and  towering  above  all  and 
outshining  all,  the  colossal  greatness  and 
transparent  purity  of  the  character  of  Wash- 
ington— these  were  lessons  for  the  head  and 
the  heart  of  a young  nation,  which  amply 
compensated  for  the  partial  and  temporary 
suspension  of  schools.  In  the  discussion  and 
reconstruction  of  political  society,  in  framing 
constitutions  and  organic  legislation,  and  in 
the  disposition  of  unsettled  territory,  the  im- 
portance of  the  elementary  school,  the  acad- 
emy,  and  the  college,  was  recognized  and  pro- 
vided for. 

Among  the  earliest  to  do  justice  to  this 
great  subject  was  Noah  Webster,  who,  in  a 
series  of  essays,  first  published  in  a New 
York  paper,  and  copied  extensively  by  the 
press  in  other  parts  of  the  country,  and  after- 
ward embodied  in  a volume  with  other  fu- 
gitive pieces,  advocated  a liberal  policy  by 
the  national  and  local  governments  in  favor 
of  a broad  system  of  education.  “ Here  every 
class  of  people  should  know  and  love  the 
laws.  This  knowledge  should  be  diffused  by 
means  of  schools  and  newspapers ; and  an  at- 
tachment to  the  laws  may  be  formed  by  early 
impression  upon  the  mind.  Two  regulations 
are  essential  to  the  continuance  of  republican 
governments : 1.  Such  a distribution  of  lands 
and  such  principles  of  descent  and  alienation 
as  shall  give  every  citizen  a powrer  of  acquir- 
ing what  his  industry  merits.  2.  Such  a sys- 
tem of  education  as  shall  give  every  citizen 
an  opportunity  of  acquiring  knowledge,  and 
fitting  himself  for  places  of  trust.”  “ Edu- 
cation should  be  the  first  care  of  a legisla- 
ture ; not  merely  the  institution  of  schools, 
but  the  furnishing  them  with  the  best  men 
for  teachers.  A good  system  of  schools 
should  be  the  first  article  in  a code  of  politi- 
cal regulations ; for  it  is  much  easier  to  in- 
troduce and  establish  an  effectual  system  for 
preserving  morals,  than  to  correct  by  penal 
statutes  the  ill  effects  of  a bad  system.  I am 
so  fully  persuaded  of  this,  that  I should  al- 
most adore  that  great  man  who  shall  change 


our  practice  and  opinions,  and  make  it  re- 
spectable for  the  first  and  best  men  to  super- 
intend the  education  of  youth.”  As  speci- 
mens of  the  utterances  of  eminent  public 
men  on  this  subject,  we  cite  the  following : 

“ Promote,  as  an  object  of  primary  import- 
ance, institutions  for  the  general  diffusion  of 
knowledge.  In  proportion  as  the  structure 
of  a government  gives  force  to  public  opin- 
ion, it  is  essential  that  public  opinion  should 
be  enlightened.”  George  Washington. 

“ The  wisdom  and  generosity  of  the  legis- 
lature in  making  liberal  appropriations  in 
money  for  the  benefit  of  schools,  academies 
and  colleges,  is  an  equal  honor  to  them  and 
their  constituents,  a proof  of  their  veneration 
for  letters  and  science,  and  a portent  of  great 
and  lasting  good  to  North  and  South  Amer- 
ica, and  to  the  world.  Great  is  truth — great 
is  liberty — great  is  humanity — and  they  must 
and  will  prevail.”  John  Adams. 

“ I look  to  the  diffusion  of  light  and  edu- 
cation as  the  resources  most  to  be  relied  on 
for  ameliorating  the  condition,  promoting 
the  virtue,  and  advancing  the  happiness  of 
man.  And  I do  hope,  in  the  present  spirit 
of  extending  to  the  great  mass  of  mankind 
the  blessings  of  instruction,  I see  a prospect 
of  great  advancement  in  the  happiness  of  the 
human  race,  and  this  may  proceed  to  an  in- 
definite, although  not  an  infinite,  degree.  A 
system  of  general  instruction,  which  shall 
reach  every  description  of  our  citizens,  from 
the  richest  to  the  poorest,  as  it  was  the  ear- 
liest, so  shall  it  be  the  latest  of  all  the  public 
concerns  in  which  I shall  permit  myself  to 
take  an  interest.  Give  it  to  us,  in  any  shape, 
and  receive  for  the  inestimable  boon  the 
thanks  of  the  young,  and  the  blessings  of 
the  old,  who  are  past  all  other  services  but 
prayers  for  the  prosperity  of  their  country, 
and  blessings  to  those  who  promote  it.” 
Thomas  Jefferson. 

“ Learned  institutions  ought  to  be  the  fa- 
vorite objects  with  every  free  people ; they 
throw  that  light  over  the  public  mind  which 
is  the  best  security  against  crafty  and  dan- 
gerous encroachments  on  the  public  liberty. 
They  multiply  the  educated  individuals,  from 
among  whom  the  people  may  elect  a due 
portion  of  their  public  agents  of  every  de- 
scription, more  especially  of  those  who  are 
to  frame  the  laws : by  the  perspicuity,  the 


REVOLUTIONARY  AND  TRANSITIONAL  PERIOD. 


361 


consistency,  and  the  stability,  as  well  as  by 
the  justice  and  equal  spirit  of  which,  the  great 
social  purposes  are  to  be  answered.” 

James  Madison. 

“ Moral,  political  and  intellectual  improve- 
ment, are  duties  assigned  by  the  Author  of 
our  existence  to  social,  no  less  than  to  indi- 
vidual man.  For  the  fulfilment  of  these  du- 
ties, governments  are  invested  with  power, 
and  to  the  attainment  of  these  ends,  the  ex- 
ercise of  this  power  is  a duty  sacred  and  in- 
dispensable.” John  Quincy  Adams. 

“ For  the  purpose  of  promoting  the  happi- 
ness of  the  State,  it  is  absolutely  necessary 
that  our  government,  which  unites  into  one 
all  the  minds  of  the  State,  should  possess  in 
an  eminent  degree  not  only  the  understand- 
ing, the  passions,  and  the  will,  but  above  all, 
the  moral  faculty  and  the  conscience  of  an 
individual.  Nothing  can  be  politically  right 
that  is  morally  wrong ; and  no  necessity  can 
ever  sanctify  a law  that  is  contrary  to  equity. 
Virtue  is  the  soul  of  a Republic.  To  pro- 
mote this,  laws  for  the  suppression  of  vice 
and  immorality  will  be  as  ineffectual  as  the 
increase  and  enlargement  of  jails.  There  is 
but  one  method  of  preventing  crime  and  of 
rendering  a republican  form  of  government 
durable ; and  that  is,  by  disseminating  the 
seeds  of  virtue  and  knowledge  through  every 
part  of  the  State,  by  means  of  proper  modes 
and  places  of  education ; and  this  can  be 
done  effectually  only  by  the  interference  and 
aid  of  the  legislature.  I am  so  deeply  im- 
pressed with  this  opinion,  that  were  this  the 
last  evening  of  my  life,  I would  not  only  say  to 
the  asylum  of  my  ancestors  and  my  beloved 
native  country,  with  the  patriot  of  Venice, 
lEsto  perpetua,'  but  I would  add,  as  the  best 
proof  of  my  affection  for  her,  my  parting  ad- 
vice to  the  guardians  of  her  liberties,  establish 
and  support  public  schools  in  every  part  of 
the  State.”  Benjamin  Rush. 

“ There  is  one  object  which  I earnestly  re- 
commend to  your  notice  and  patronage — T 
mean  our  institutions  for  the  education  of 
youth.  The  importance  of  common  schools 
is  best  estimated  by  the  good  effects  of  them 
where  they  most  abound  and  are  best  regu- 
lated. Our  ancestors  have  transmitted  to  us 
many  excellent  institutions,  matured  by  the 
wisdom  and  experience  of  ages.  Let  them 
descend  to  posterity,  accompanied  with  oth- 
ers, which,  t>y  promoting  useful  knowledge, 


and  multiplying  the  blessings  of  social  order, 
diffusing  the  influence  of  moral  obligations, 
may  be  reputable  to  us,  and  beneficial  to 
them.”  John  Jay. 

“The  first  duty  of  government,  and  the 
surest  evidence  of  good  government,  is  the 
encouragement  of  education.  A general  dif- 
fusion of  knowledge  is  the  precursor  and  pro- 
tector of  republican  institutions,  and  in  it  we 
must  confide  as  the  conservative  power  that 
will  w atch  over  our  liberties  and  guard  them 
against  fraud,  intrigue,  corruption  and  vio- 
lence. I consider  the  system  of  our  Com- 
mon Schools  as  the  palladium  of  our  freedom, 
for  no  reasonable  apprehension  can  be  enter- 
tained of  its  subversion,  as  long  as  the  great 
body  of  the  people  are  enlightened  by  educa- 
tion. To  increase  the  funds,  to  extend  the 
benefits,  and  to  remedy  the  defects  of  this 
excellent  system,  is  wTorthy  of  your  most  de- 
liberate attention.  I can  not  recommend  in 
terms  too  strong  and  impressive,  as  munifi- 
cent appropriations  as  the  faculties  of  the 
State  will  authorize  for  all  establishments 
connected  with  the  interests  of  education, 
the  exaltation  of  literature  and  science,  and 
the  improvement  of  the  human  mind.” 

De  Witt  Clinton. 

“ The  parent  who  sends  his  son  into  the 
world  uneducated,  defrauds  the  community 
of  a lawful  citizen,  and  bequeaths  to  it  a 
nuisance.”  Chancellor  Kent. 

In  the  discussions  which  have  taken  place 
in  the  press  and  in  the  halls  of  legislation 
on  the  subject,  the  experience  of  the  New 
England  States  is  constantly  cited  as  an  irre- 
futable argument  in  favor  of  public  schools 
and  universal  education.  The  character  and 
value  of  this  example  are  admirably  set  forth 
by  Daniel  Webster : 

“In  this  particular,  New  England  may  be 
allowed  to  claim,  I think,  a merit  of  a pecu- 
liar character.  She  early  adopted  and  has 
constantly  maintained  the  principle,  that  it 
is  the  undoubted  right,  and  the  bounden 
duty  of  government,  to  provide  for  the  in- 
struction of  all  youth.  That  which  is  else- 
where left  to  chance,  or  to  charity,  we  secure 
by  law.  For  the  purpose  of  public  instruc- 
tion, we  hold  every  man  subject  to  taxation 
in  proportion  to  his  property,  and  we  look 
not  to  the  question,  whether  he  himself  have, 
or  have  not,  children  to  be  benefited  by  the 
education  for  which  he  pays.  We  regard  it 


362 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


as  a wise  and  liberal  system  of  police,  by 
which  property,  and  life,  and  the  peace  of 
society  are  secured.  We  seek  to  prevent  in 
some  measure  the  extension  of  the  penal 
code,  by  inspiring  a salutary  and  conserva- 
tive principle  of  virtue  and  of  knowledge  in 
an  early  age.  We  hope  to  excite  a feeling 
of  respectability,  and  a sense  of  character,  by 
enlarging  the  capacity,  and  increasing  the 
sphere  of  intellectual  enjoyment.  By  gen- 
eral instruction,  we  seek,  as  far  as  possible, 
to  purify  the  whole  moral  atmosphere;  to 
keep  good  sentiments  uppermost,  and  to  turn 
the  strong  current  of  feeling  and  opinion,  as 
well  as  the  censures  of  the  law,  and  the  de- 
nunciations of  religion,  against  immorality 
and  crime.  We  hope  for  a security,  beyond 
the  law,  and  above  the  law,  in  the  prevalence 
of  enlightened  and  well-principled  moral  sen- 
timent. We  hope  to  continue  and  prolong 
the  time  when,  in  the  villages  and  farm- 
houses of  New  England,  there  may  be  undis- 
turbed sleep  within  unbarred  doors.  And 
knowing  that  our  government  rests  directly 
on  the  public  will,  that  we  may  preserve  it, 
wTe  endeavor  to  give  a safe  and  proper  direc- 
tion to  that  public  will.  We  do  not,  indeed, 
expect  all  men  to  be  philosophers  or  states- 
men ; but  we  confidently  trust,  and  our  ex- 
pectation of  the  duration  of  our  system  of 
government  rests  on  that  trust,  that  by  the 
diffusion  of  general  knowledge  and  good  and 
virtuous  sentiments,  the  political  fabric  may 
be  secure,  as  well  against  open  violence  and 
overthrow,  as  against  the  slow  but  sure  un- 
dermining of  licentiousness.” 

The  action  of  Congress,  and  of  the  early 
constitutional  conventions  of  the  several 
states,  shows  how  nobly  the  public  mind 
responded  to  these  appeals. 

On  the  1 7 th  of  May,  1784,  Mr.  Jefferson, 
as  chairman  of  a committee  for  that  purpose, 
introduced  into  the  old  Congress  an  ordin- 
ance respecting  the  disposition  of  the  public 
lands ; but  this  contained  no  reference  to 
schools  or  education.  On  the  4th  of  March, 
1785,  another  ordinance  was  introduced — by 
whom  does  not  appear  on  the  journal — and 
on  the  16th  of  the  same  month  was  recom- 
mitted to  a committee  consisting  of  Pierce 
Long  of  New  Hampshire,  Rufus  King  of 
Massachusetts,  David  Howell  of  Rhode  Is- 
land, Win.  S.  Johnson  of  Connecticut,  R.  II. 
Livingston  of  Now  York,  Charles  Stewart  of 
New  Jersey,  Joseph  Gardner  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, John  Henry  of  Maryland,  William 
Grayson  of  Virginia,  Hugh  Williamson  of 


North  Carolina,  John  Bull  of  South  Caro- 
lina, and  William  Houston  of  Georgia.  On 
the  14th  of  April  following,  this  committee 
reported  the  ordinance — by  whom  drawn  up 
no  clue  is  given — which,  after  being  perfect- 
ed, was  passed  the  20th  of  May  following, 
and  became  the  foundation  of  the  existing 
land  system  of  the  United  States. 

By  one  of  its  provisions,  the  sixteenth  sec- 
tion of  every  township  was  reserved  “for  the 
maintenance  of  public  schools  ;”  or,  in  other 
words,  one  section  out  of  the  thirty-six 
composing  each  township.  The  same  pro- 
vision was  incorporated  in  the  large  land 
sale,  in  1786,  to  the  Ohio  Company,  and  the 
following  year  in  Judge  Symmes’  purchase. 
The  celebrated  ordinance  of  1787,  for  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  territory  north-west  of  the 
River  Ohio,  and  which  confirmed  the  pro- 
visions of  the  land  ordinance  of  1785,  pro- 
vides further,  that,  “Religion,  Morality 
and  Knowledge  being  necessary  to  good 
government  and  the  happiness  of  mankind, 
Schools,  and  the  means  of  Education, 
shall  be  forever  encouraged.”  From 
that  day  to  the  present,  this  noble  policy 
has  been  confirmed  and  extended,  till  its 
blessings  now  reach  even  the  distant  shores 
of  the  Pacific,  and  fifty  millions  of  acres 
of  the  public  domain  have  been  set  apart  and 
consecrated  to  the  high  and  ennobling  pur- 
poses of  education,  together  wdth  five  per 
cent,  of  the  net  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  all 
public  lands  in  each  of  the  states  and  terri- 
tories in  w'hich  they  are  situated. 

During  this  period  individual  beneficence 
and  associated  enterprise  began  to  be  direct- 
ed to  the  building  up,  furnishing,  and  main- 
taining libraries,  colleges,  academies,  and 
scientific  institutions.  Societies  for  the  pro- 
motion of  science  and  literature,  and  schools 
for  professional  training,  were  founded  and 
incorporated,  and  men  of  even  moderate 
fortune  began  to  feel  the  luxury  of  doing 
good,  and  to  see  that  a wise  endowment 
for  the  relief  of  suffering,  the  diffusion  of 
knowledge,  the  discovery  of  the  laws  of 
nature,  the  application  of  the  principles  of 
science  to  the  useful  arts,  the  conservation 
of  good  morals,  and  the  spread  of  religious 
truth,  is,  in  the  best  sense  of  the  term, 
a good  investment — an  investment  produc- 
tive of  the  greatest  amount  of  the  highest 
good  both  to  the  donor  and  his  posterity, 
and  which  makes  the  residue  of  the  prop-, 
erty  from  which  it  is  taken  both  more  se^ 
cure  and  more  valuable. 


COLLEGES,  ACADEMIES,  AND  COMMOM  SCHOOLS  IN  1800. 


363 


CHAPTER  III. 

STATE  AND  NATIONAL  ACTION. 

INTRODUCTION. 

We  shall  not  attempt  to  follow  out  in 
separate  channels  the  action  of  the  National 
and  State  governments,  which  together  con- 
stitute the  legislative  power  of  the  United 
States,  both  of  which  have  been  exerted  on 
the  education  and  educational  institutions  of 
the  whole  country ; but  confine  ourselves 
mainly  to  an  exposition  of  the  State  systems 
of  public  instruction,  with  an  incidental 
notice  of  such  national  institutions  as  belong 
to  each  department  treated  of.  Before  enter- 
ing on  this  exposition,  we  give  from  the  most 
reliable  cotemporaneous  authority  (A  His- 
torical and  Geographical  Account  of  the 
United  States.  By  Noah  Webster , Jr., 
1804),  a comprehensive  survey  of  the  state 
of  learning  and  of  educational  institutions 
in  the  whole  country  at  the  opening  of  this 
century. 

I.  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS  ABOUT  1800. 

NEW  HAMPSHIRE. 

Of  the  State  of  Learning. — An  old  law  of 
the  colony  (1719),  directed  every  town,  con- 
taining one  hundred  families,  to  provide  a 
grammar  school ; in  which  also  was  to  be 
taught  reading,  writing  and  arithmetic. 
This  law  was  not  well  executed.  Since  the 
revolution,  a law  of  the  state  has  directed 
the  maintenance  of  schools  in  the  several 
towns  under  certain  penalties.  There  are 
also  social  libraries ; and  newspapers  circu- 
late in  almost  all  parts  of  the  state. 

Of  the  Academies. — At  Exeter  an  acad- 
emy, founded  by  John  Phillips,  Esq.,  and 
called  after  his  name,  was  incorporated  in 
1781.  At  Atkinson,  an  academy  founded 
by  Nathaniel  Peabody,  Esq.,  was  incor- 
porated in  1790.  Academics  are  also 
found  at  Amherst,  Charlestown  and  Concord. 

Of  Dartmouth  College. — At  Hanover,  in 
Grafton  county,  is  a college  founded  by  Dr. 
Wheelock  in  1769,  with  a special  view  to 
the  instruction  of  young  Indians.  Although 
this  object  has  in  a great  measure  failed, 
the  institution  is  prosperous  and  highly 
useful.  The  number  of  students  is  seldom 
less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  ; its  funds, 
consisting  of  new  lands,  are  increasing  in 
value;  its  library  and  apparatus  are  tolerably 
complete ; its  situation  is  pleasant  and  ad- 


vantageous. It  takes  its  name  from  a 
principal  benefactor,  the  Earl  of  Dartmouth. 

VERMONT. 

Of  the  State  of  Learning. — Learning  re- 
ceives from  the  people  of  Vermont  all  the 
encouragement  that  can  be  expected  from 
an  agricultural  people  in  a new  settlement. 
Schools  for  common  education  are  planted 
in  every  part  of  the  state ; and  two  col- 
leges are  established,  one  at  Middlebury, 
the  other  at  Burlington,  in  which  are 
taught  classical  learning,  and  the  higher 
branches  of  mathematics,  philosophy,  and 
other  sciences. 

MASSACHUSETTS. 

Of  the  State  of  Learning. — In  Massachu- 
setts the  principal  institutions  for  science 
are  the  University  of  Cambridge,  and  the 
college  at  Williamstown.  The  university 
of  Cambridge  was  founded  in  1638 — it  is 
well  endowed — is  furnished  with  professors 
of  the  several  sciences — a large  library 
and  apparatus — and  contains  usually  from 
one  hundred  and  forty  to  two  hundred 
students.  Williams  college,  in  Williams- 
town, founded  in  1793,  is  in  a thriving 
state.  Academies  are  established  in  various 
parts  of  the  state,  in  wdiich  are  taught  the 
liberal  sciences,  as  well  as  the  languages. 
The  laws  of  the  state  require  a school  to 
be  kept  in  every  town,  having  fifty  house- 
holders, and  a grammar  school  in  every 
town  having  two  hundred  families.  And 
although  the  laws  are  not  rigidly  obeyed, 
still  most  of  the  children  in  the  state 
have  access  to  a school. 

MAINE  — PART  OF  MASSACHUSETTS  TILL  1822. 

Of  the  State  of  Learning  and  Religion. — 
The  laws  of  Massachusetts  direct  that  a 
school  shall  be  kept  in  each  town,  and  lands 
are  retained,  as  public  lots,  for  the  support 
of  schools  and  the  gospel  ministry.  These 
beneficial  institutions  are  enjoyed  in  the 
old  settlements ; but  a great  part  of  the 
district,  being  lately  settled,  is  not  well 
supplied  with  schools. 

RHODE  ISLAND. 

Of  the  State  of  Learning. — There  is  a 
college  at  Providence,  founded  by  the  Bap- 
tists, containing  forty-eight  rooms  for 
students,  and  eight  rooms  for  public  uses. 
It  has  a library  of  near  three  thousand 
volumes — and  an  apparatus  for  experiments 
in  philosophy.  It  is  furnished  with  a presi- 
dent and  suitable  instructors  for  the  students 
who  are  usually  about  fifty  in  number.  In. 


364 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


the  large  towns,  and  in  some  others,  there 
are  private  schools  for  teaching  the  com- 
mon branches  of  learning. 

CONNECTICUT. 

Of  the  State  of  Learning . — Soon  after 
the  settlement  of  Connecticut,  the  General 
Court  passed  laws  directing  schools  to  be 
kept  in  every  village,  and  providing  funds 
to  encourage  them.  Every  town  or  village 
containing  a certain  number  of  families, 
was  directed  to  maintain  a school,  and  em- 
powered to  draw  from  the  treasury  of  the 
state,  a sum  equal  to  one  five-hundredth 
part  of  the  amount  of  the  property  of  the 
town,  as  assessed  in  the  grand  list.  By 
means  of  this  provision,  common  schools 
have  been  kept  in  all  parts  of  the  state, 
and  every  person  is  taught  to  read,  write, 
and  keep  accounts.  By  the  sale  of  the 
western  reserve  in  1*795,  still  more  liberal 
and  permanent  funds  were  provided  for  the 
support  of  schools.  In  winters  the  larger 
children  are  instructed  by  men ; in  sum- 
mer, small  children  attend  the  schools,  and 
are  taught  by  women  ; in  general  the  in- 
structors are  selected  from  persons  of  good 
families  and  reputation. 

Of  Yale  College. — Yale  College,  so  called, 
from  a principal  benefactor,  was  founded  in 
the  year  1700  at  Killing  worth,  but  fixed  at 
New  Haven  in  1716.  It  consists  of  three 
colleges,  each  containing  thirty-two  rooms, 
a chapel  and  museum — has  a library  of 
about  two  thousand  volumes,  and  a philo- 
sophical apparatus.  Its  funds  are  ample, 
and  from  thirty  to  fifty  students  are  annu- 
ally graduated  at  the  public  commencement 
in  September.  It  is  under  the  direction  of 
trustees,  consisting  of  eleven  clergymen, 
and  eight  laymen.  The  vacancies  among 
the  clerical  members  are  supplied  by  the 
board  of  trustees.  The  lay  members  are 
the  governor,  lieutenant-governor,  and  six 
senior  members  of  the  council  of  the 
state,  or  upper  house. 

Of  Academies  and  Grammar  Schools. — 
By  law,  a grammar  school  may  be  established 
in  any  town  in  the  state,  by  a vote  of  the 
inhabitants  in  legal  meeting;  and  many 
academies  are  established  and  maintained 
by  private  funds.  In  these  are  taught  not 
only  the  primary  branches  of  learning,  but 
geography,  grammar,  the  languages,  and 
higher  branches  of  mathematics.  There 
are  also  academies  for  young  ladies,  in  which 
are  taught  the  additional  branches  of 
needle-work,  drawing,  and  embroidery. 


Among  the  academies  of  the  first  reputation 
are,  one  in  Plainfield,  and  the  Bacon  acad- 
emy in  Colchester,  whose  funds  amount  to 
about  thirty-five  thousand  dollars.  The 
most  distinguished  schools  for  young  ladies 
are,  Union  school  in  New  Haven,  and  one 
in  Litchfield. 

NEW  YORK. 

Of  the  State  of  Learning. — A college  was 
founded  in  the  city  of  New  York  in  1754, 
and  incorporated  by  charter  from  the  king. 
After  the  revolution,  the  legislature  instituted 
a university  consisting  of  a number  of  re- 
gents, whose  powers  extend  to  the  superin- 
tendence of  colleges,  academies  and  schools, 
throughout  the  state.  They  are  authorized 
to  found  colleges  and  academies,  confer 
degrees,  visit  all  seminaries  of  learning, 
and  make  regulations  for  their  government. 

Of  Columbia  and  Union  Colleges. — By 
the  act  of  the  Legislature  in  1787,  found- 
ing the  university  of  the  state,  the  college 
in  New  Y ork  received  the  name  of  Columbia, 
and  all  the  privileges  and  powers,  derived 
from  its  charter,  were  confirmed.  It  is 
under  the  government  of  twenty-four 
trustees,  and  has  considerable  funds.  Its 
instructors  are  a president  and  professors 
of  the  principal  sciences.  The  building  is 
of  stone,  three  stories  high,  and  contain- 
ing forty-eight  apartments.  The  college  is 
furnished  with  a chapel,  a library,  museum, 
and  philosophical  apparatus.  Union  college 
was  founded  at  Schenectady  in  1795,  and 
is  in  a prosperous  condition. 

Of  Academic s and  Schools. — Several  re- 
spectable academies  are  established  in  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  state,  in  which  are  taught 
the  learned  languages,  geography,  grammar, 
and  mathematics.  Until  since  the  revolu- 
tion, common  schools  received  no  encour- 
agement from  the  public  treasury,  or  the 
laws.  But  in  1795,  a law  of  the  state  ap- 
propriated a large  sum  of  money  for  erecting 
school-houses,  and  paying  teachers,  the  bene- 
ficial effects  of  which  are  visible.  Hitherto, 
however,  the  rudimentary  instruction  of  the 
laboring  people  has  not  been  general. 

NEW  JERSEY. 

Of  the  State  of  Learning. — The  education 
of  youth  in  New  Jersey  depends  on  the 
voluntary  contributions  of  individuals,  and 
therefore  is  neglected  by  some  classes  of  the 
people.  In  the  more  populous  towns  and 
villages  are  academies  and  schools  of  high 
reputation.  The  college  at  Princeton,  called 
Nassau  Hall,  is  a seminary  of  distinguished 


COLLEGES,  ACADEMIES,  AND  COMMON  SCHOOLS  IN  1800. 


365 


reputation,  and  from  thirty  to  forty  students 
are  annually  graduated. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

Of  the  State  of  Learning . — In  Pennsyl- 
vania is  one  university,  the  seat  of  which 
is  Philadelphia ; a college  at  Carlisle,  and 
another  at  Lancaster.  There  are  numerous 
academies  and  schools  in  Philadelphia  and 
other  large  towns.  The  legislature  have  re- 
served sixty  thousand  acres  of  land  as  a 
fund  for  supporting  public  schools.  The 
Moravian  academies  at  Bethlehem  and  Naz- 
areth, are  noted  for  strict  discipline. 

DELAWARE. 

Of  the  Schools. — There  are  private  schools 
in  this  state,  and  especially  in  Wilmington. 
In  1796,  the  legislature  passed  an  act  for 
creating  a fund  for  the  support  of  public 
schools.  There  is  no  college  in  the  state, 
but  an  academy  at  Newark,  a few  miles 
from  Wilmington. 

MARYLAND. 

Of  the  Literary  Institutions. — The  prin- 
cipal institutions  for  the  education  of  youth 
are,  Washington  academy,  in  Somerset 
county,  instituted  in  1779  ; Washington  col- 
lege at  Chester,  founded  in  1782  ; St.  Johns 
college  at  Annapolis,  founded  in  1784;  a 
college  at  Georgetown,  instituted  by  the 
Catholics  ; and  Cokesbury  college  in  Har- 
ford County,  instituted  by  the  methodists 
in  1785.  There  are  private  schools  in  many 
places ; and  private  tutors  in  families ; and 
many  young  men  are  sent  for  their  education 
either  to  Europe,  or  the  northern  states. 

VIRGINIA. 

Seminaries  of  Learning. — The  college  in 
Williamsburg  was  founded  during  the  reign 
of  William  and  Mary,  and  called  by  their 
names.  It  was  endowed  by  them  with 
twenty  thousand  acres  of  land,  and  the  pro- 
ceeds of  a duty  of  one  penny  on  the  pound 
of  tobacco  exported — with  a duty  on  skins 
and  furs  exported,  and  liquors  imported.  It 
is  under  the  government  of  twenty  visitors, 
a president  and  professors  in  the  most  im- 
portant branches  of  science.  There  is  also 
a college  in  Prince  Edward,  and  academies 
in  the  principal  towns,  as  well  as  numerous 
schools  in  other  parts  of  the  state. 

NORTH  CAROLINA. 

Of  the  State  of  Learning . — In  1789  the 
legislature  passed  an  act  incorporating  a 
number  of  persons  as  trustees  of  a univer- 
sity to  be  established,  and  funds  were  sup- 
plied for  the  purpose  of  erecting  buildings. 

22* 


There  is  an  academy  of  Warrenton,  and  a 
few  others  in  the  state ; but  the  education 
of  all  classes  of  people  is  not  general.  In 
1803,  however,  the  legislature  passed  an  act 
for  the  establishment  of  public  schools. 

SOUTH  CAROLINA. 

Of  the  Seminaries  of  Learning. — Gentle- 
men of  property  have  been  accustomed  to 
send  their  sons  and  daughters  to  England 
for  an  education.  Some  of  them  send 
their  sons  to  one  of  the  colleges  in  the 
northern  states.  There  are  several  institu- 
tions in  the  States  called  colleges  and  acade- 
mies— a college  in  Charleston,  one  at  Winns- 
borough,  in  Camden  district,  one  at  Cam- 
bridge, and  one  at  Beaufort,  with  consider- 
able funds.  There  are  several  academies 
and  schools  in  Charleston,  Beaufort,  and 
other  parts  of  the  state.  The  South  Caro- 
lina College  was  incorporated  in  1801,  with 
an  appropriation  of  fifty  thousand  dollars 
for  erecting  buildings  in  Columbia,  and  six 
thousand  dollars  yearly  for  instructors. 

GEORGIA. 

Of  the  Literary  Institutions. — The  legis- 
lature of  Georgia  has  founded  and  en- 
dowed a college  at  Louisville.  There  are 
also  some  schools  in  the  state.  A law  of 
the  state  has  incorporated  a number  of  lite- 
rary gentlemen,  for  the  purpose  of  estab- 
lishing and  superintending  seminaries  of 
learning — fifty  thousand  acres  of  land  are 
appropriated  for  funds,  for  this  university — 
and  a sum  of  money  in  each  county  for 
maintaining  an  academy.  The  funds  des- 
tined by  Mr.  Whitfield  to  maintain  an  or- 
phan house,  and  by  him  bequeathed  to  the 
countess  of  Huntingdon,  in  trust,  are  vested 
in  commissioners  to  support  a college. 

KENTUCKY. 

Of  the  State  of  Learning. — Provision  has 
been  made  by  law  for  founding  and  main- 
taining a college,  and  schools  are  established 
in  different  parts  of  the  state. 

TENNESSEE. 

Of  Learning. — Several  schools  are  estab- 
lished in  this  state,  and  by  law  provision  is 
made  for  three  colleges.  There  is  also  a 
society  for  promoting  useful  knowledge. 

Before  entering  on  a systematic  survey  of 
the  development  of-education  in  its  different 
departments  of  elementary,  secondary,  supe- 
rior, professional  and  supplementary  instruc- 
tion, we  give  in  the  following  table  the 
gradual  growth  of  the  country  from  13  to 
38  States,  with  their  population  in  1870. 


Table  I. — Historical  and  statistical  data  of  the  United  States. 
[Compiled  from  Report  of  the  Commissioner  of  the  Land  Office  for  1867.] 


Act  organizing  Territory. 


ries. 

U.  S.  Statutes. 

Vol. 

Page. 

U.  S.  Statutes. 

Vol. 

Page. 

Original  States. 

Virginia — East  and 
West. 

States  admitted. 
Kentucky 

Feb.  4,  1791 

1 

189 

Vermont 

Feb.  18,  1791 

1 

191 

Tennessee 

June  1,  1796 

1 

491 

Ohio 

Ord’ce  of  1 787 

Apr.  30,  1802 
Apr.  8,  1812 
Dec.  11,  1814 

2 

173 

Louisiana 

Mar.  3,  1805 
May  7,  1800 
Apr.  7,  1798 
Feb.  3,  1809 
Mar.  3,  1817 

2 

331 

2 

701 

Indiana 

2 

58 

3 

399 

Mississippi 

1 

549 

Dec.  10,  1817 

3 

672 

Illinois 

2 

514 

Dec.  3,  1818 

3 

536 

Alabama 

3 

371 

Dec.  14,  1819 
Mar.  3,  1820 
Mar.  2,  1821 

3 

608 

Maine 

3 

544 

Missouri . 

June  4,  1812 
Mar.  2,  1819 
Jan.  11,  1805 
Mar.  30,  1822 
June  12,  1838 

2 

743 

3 

645 

Arkansas 

3 

493 

June  15,  1836 
Jan.  26,  1837 
Mar.  3,  1845 
do 

5 

50 

Michigan 

2 

309 

5 

144 

Florida 

3 

654 

5 

742 

Iowa 

5 

235 

5 

742 

Texas 

Dec.  29,  1845 
Mar.  3,  1847 

9 

108 

Wisconsin 

Apr.  20,  1836 

5 

10 

9 

178 

California 

Sept.  9,  1850 
Feb.  26,  1857 
Feb.  14,  1859 

9 

452 

Minnesota 

Mar.  3,  1849 
Aug.  14,  1848 
May  30,  1854 

9 

403 

11 

166 

Oregon 

9 

323 

11 

383 

Kansas 

10 

277 

Jan.  29,  1861 
Dec.  31,  1862 

12 

126 

West  Virginia 

12 

633 

Nevada  

Mar.  2,  1861 
Feb.  28,  1861 
May  30,  1854 

Sept.  9,  1850 
do 

12 

209 

Mar.  21,  1864 

13 

30 

Colorado 

12 

172 

13 

32 

Nebraska 

10 

277 

Mar.  1,  1867 

13 

47 

Territories. 
New  Mexico 

9 

446 

Utah 

9 

453 

Washington 

Mar.  2,  1853 

10 

172 

Dakota 

Mar.  2,  1861 

12 

239 

Arizona 

Feb.  24,  1863 
Mar.  3,  1863 
May  26,  1864 

12 

664 

Idaho  

12 

808 

85 

Montana 

13 

Indian  Territory 

Dist.  of  Columbia. . . 

July  16,  1790 
Mar.  3,  1791 

1 

1 

130 

\ 

Russian  purchase  . . . 

214 

5 

Act  admitting  State. 


Area  in  sq. 
miles. 


Populat’n 
in  1860.t 


9, 280 
7,800 
1,306 
4,750 
47,  000 
8,  320 
46,000 
2,  120 
11, 124 
61,  352 

50,  704 
34,  000 
58,  000 


37,  680 
*10,  212 
45,600 
39,  964 
*41,346 
33,  809 
47,  156 
*55,410 
50,722 
*35,  000 
*65,  350 
52,198 
*56,  451 
59,  268 
55,  045 
*274,  356 
53,  924 
*188,  981 
83,  531 
95. 274 
81,318 
23,000 
112,  090 
*104,  500 
75,  995 


121,201 
88, 056 
69,  994 
240,  597 
113,916 
90,  932 
143,  776 
68,  991 

||  10  m.  sq. 
577,  390 


326, 073 
1,231,066 
174, 620 
460, 147 
3, 880, 735 
672,  035 
2,  906,115 
112,216 
687,  049 
1,  596, 318 

992,622 
703,  708 
1,  057,  286 


1,155,684 
315,  098 
1, 109, 801 
2, 339,  502 
708,  002 
1,  350,  428 
791, 305 
1, 711, 95L 
964,  201 
628, 279 
1, 182,  012 
435,  450 
749, 113 
140,  425 
674,  948 
604,215 
775,881 
305,  439 
173, 855 
52,  465 
107,  206 

16*857 
:34,  277 
28, 841 


§360, 000 


11126,  990 
70,000 


* Area  taken  from  geographical  authorities  and  not  from  public  surveys, 
t Total  population  in  1860  was  31,500,000  ; estimated  in  1867  to  be  38,500,000. 

J To  the  white  population  in  Nevada  should  be  added  10,507  Indians;  and  in  Colorado,  2,261 
Indians.  § As  estimated  January  1,  1865. 

||  That  portion  of  District  of  Columbia  south  of  the  Potomac  river  was  retroceded  to  Virginia 
July  9, 1846,  (Stat,  vol.  6,  p.  35.)  *j  By  census  of  1867. 


PROGRESS  OF  COMMON  OR  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS. 


367 


H.  SCHOOL-HOUSES,  STUDIES,  BOOKS,  AND  TEACHERS 
AS  THEY  WERE. 

To  understand  the  real  progress  which  has 
been  made  in  the  organization,  administra- 
tion, and  instruction  of  institutions  of  learn- 
ing in  this  country,  and  at  the  same  time  to 
appreciate  the  importance  of  many  agencies 
and  means  of  popular  education  besides 
schools,  books  and  teachers,  we  must,  as  far 
as  we  can,  look  into  the  schools  themselves, 
as  they  were  fifty  and  sixty  years  ago,  and 
realize  the  circumstances  under  which  some 
of  the  noblest  characters  of  our  history  have 
been  developed.  As  a contribution  to  our 
knowledge  of  the  early  history  of  education 
in  the  United  States,  we  bring  together  the 
testimony  of  several  eminent  men  who  were 
pupils  or  teachers  in  these  schools,  and  who 
assisted  in  various  ways  in  achieving  their 
improvement. 

LETTER  FROM  NOAH  WEBSTER,  LL.D. 

“New  Haven,  March  10th,  1840. 

“Mr.  Barnard:  Dear  Sir — You  desire 
me  to  give  you  some  information  as  to  the 
mode  of  instruction  in  common  schools  when 
I was  young,  or  before  the  Revolution.  I be- 
lieve you  to  be  better  acquainted  with  the 
methods  of  managing  common  schools,  at 
the  present  time,  than  I am ; and  I am  not 
able  to  institute  a very  exact  comparison 
between  the  old  modes  and  the  present. 
From  what  I know  of  the  present  schools  in 
the  country,  I believe  the  principal  difference 
between  the  schools  of  former  times  and  at 
present  consists  in  the  books  and  instruments 
used  in  the  modern  schools. 

“ When  I was  young,  the  books  used  were 
chiefly  or  wholly  Dilworth’s  Spelling  Books, 
the  Psalter,  Testament  and  Bible.  No  ge- 
ography was  studied  before  the  publication 
of  Dr.  Morse’s  small  books  on  that  subject, 
about  the  year  1786  or  1787.  No  history 
was  read,  as  far  as  my  knowledge  extends, 
for  there  was  no  abridged  history  of  the 
United  States.  Except  the  books  above 
mentioned,  no  book  for  reading  was  used 
before  the  publication  of  the  Third  Part  of 
my  Institute,  in  1785.  In  some  of  the  early 
editions  of  that  book,  I introduced  short 
notices  of  the  geography  and  history  of  the 
United  States,  and  these  led  to  more  en- 
larged descriptions  of  the  country.  In  1788, 
at  the  request  of  Dr.  Morse,  I wrote  an  ac- 


count of  the  transactions  in  the  United 
States,  after  the  Revolution  ; which  account 
fills  nearly  twenty  pages  in  the  first  volume 
of  his  octavo  editions. 

“Before  the  Revolution,  and  for  some 
years  after,  no  slates  were  used  in  common 
schools ; all  writing  and  the  operations  in 
arithmetic  were  on  paper.  The  teacher 
wrote  the  copies  and  gave  the  sums  in 
arithmetic ; few  or  none  of  the  pupils  having 
any  books  as  a guide.  Such  was  the  condi- 
tion of  the  schools  in  which  I received  my 
early  education. 

“ The  introduction  of  my  Spelling  Book, 
first  published  in  1783,  produced  a great 
change  in  the  department  of  spelling ; and 
from  the  information  I can  gain,  spelling  was 
taught  with  more  care  and  accuracy  for 
twenty  years  or  more  after  that  period,  than 
it  has  been  since  the  introduction  of  multi- 
plied books  and  studies.* 

“ No  English  grammar  was  generally 
taught  in  common  schools  when  I was 
young,  except  that  in  Dilworth,  and  that  to 
no  good  purpose.  In  short,  the  instruction 
in  schools  was  very  imperfect,  in  every 
branch ; and  if  I am  not  misinformed,  it  is 
so  to  this  day,  in  many  branches.  Indeed 
there  is  danger  of  running  from  one  extreme 
to  another,  and  instead  of  having  too  few 
books  in  our  schools,  we  shall  have  too 
many. 

“ I am,  sir,  with  much  respect,  your  friend 
and  obedient  servant,  N.  Webster.” 

Dr.  Webster,  in  an  essay  published  in  a 
New  York  paper  in  1788,  “On  the  Educa- 
tion of  Youth  in  America,”  and  in  another 
essay  published  in  Hartford,  Ct.,  in  1790, 
“ On  Property,  Government,  Education,  Re- 
ligion, Agriculture,  etc.,  in  the  United 
States, ”f  while  setting  forth  some  of  the 
cardinal  doctrines  of  American  education  as 
now  held,  throws  light  on  the  condition  of 
schools  and  colleges  in  different  parts  of  the 
country  at  that  date. 

“ The  first  error  that  I would  mention  is  a 


* “ Tho  general  use  of  my  Spelling  Book  in  the 
United  States  lias  had  a most  extensive  oflbet  in 
correcting  tho  pronunciation  of  words,  and  giving 
uniformity  to  tho  language.  Of  this  change,  tho 
present  generation  can  have  a very  imperfect  idea.” 

f These  essays  wore  afterwards  collected  with 
others  in  a volume  entitled  “A  Collection  of  Ks- 
says  and  Fugitive  Writings,  etc.”  By  Noah  Webster, 
Jr.  Boston:  17  DO. 


368 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


too  general  attention  to  the  dead  languages, 
■with,  a neglect  of  our  own.  . . . This 

neglect  is  so  general  that  there  is  scarcely  an 
institution  to  be  found  in  the  country  where 
the  English  tongue  is  taught  regularly  from 
its  elements  to  its  pure  and  regular  construc- 
tion in  prose  and  verse.  Perhaps  in  most 
schools  boys  are  taught  the  definition  of  the 
parts  of  speech,  and  a few  hard  names  which 
they  do  not  understand,  and  which  the 
teacher  seldom  attempts  to  explain ; this  is 
called  learning  grammar.  . . . The  prin- 

ciples of  any  science  afford  pleasure  to  the 
student  who  comprehends  them.  In  order  to 
render  the  study  of  language  agreeable,  the 
distinctions  between  words  should  be  illus- 
trated by  the  difference  in  visible  objects. 
Examples  should  be  presented  to  the  sen- 
ses which  are  the  inlets  of  all  our  knowledge. 

4 ‘Another  error  which  is  frequent  in 
America,  is  that  a master  undertakes  to 
teach  many  different  branches  in  the  same 
school.  In  new  settlements,  where  the 
people  are  poor,  and  live  in  scattered  situa- 
tions, the  practice  is  often  unavoidable.  But 
in  populous  towns  it  must  be  considered  as  a 
defective  plan  of  education.  For  suppose 
the  teacher  to  be  equally  master  of  all  the 
branches  which  he  attempts  to  teach,  which 
seldom  happens,  yet  his  attention  must  be 
distracted  with  a multiplicity  of  objects,  and 
consequently  painful  to  himself,  and  not  use- 
ful to  his  pupil's.  Add  to  this  the  continual 
interruptions  which  the  students  of  one 
branch  suffer  from  those  of  another,  which 
must  retard  the  progress  of  the  whole  school. 
It  is  a much  more  eligible  plan  to  appropri- 
ate an  apartment  to  each  branch  of  educa- 
tion, with  a teacher  who  makes  that  branch 
his  sole  employment.  . . . Indeed  what 

is  now  called  a liberal  education  disqualifies 
a man  for  business.  Habits  are  formed  in 
youth  and  by  practice ; and  as  business  is 
in  some  measure  mechanical,  every  person 
should  be  exercised  in  his  employment  in  an 
early  period  of  life,  that  his  habits  may  be 
formed  by  the  time  his  apprenticeship  ex- 
pires. An  education  in  a university  inter- 
feres with  the  forming  of  these  habits,  and 
perhaps  forms  opposite  habits;  the  mind 
may  contract  a fondness  for  ease,  for  plea- 
sure, or  for  books,  which  no  efforts  can  over- 
come. An  academic  education,  which  should 
furnish  the  youth  with  some  ideas  of  men 
and  things,  and  leave  time  for  an  apprentice- 
ship before  the  age  of  twenty-one  years, 


would  be  the  most  eligible  for  young  men 
who  are  designed  for  active  employments. 
****** 

“ But  the  principal  defect  in  our  plan  of 
education  in  America  is  the  want  of  good 
teachers  in  the  academies  and  common 
schools.  By  good  teachers  I mean  men  of 
unblemished  reputation,  and  possessed  of 
abilities  competent  to  their  station.  That  a 
man  should  be  master  of  what  he  undertakes 
to  teach  is  a point  that  will  not  be  disputed  ; 
and  yet  it  is  certain  that  abilities  are  often 
dispensed  with,  either  through  inattention 
or  fear  of  expense.  To  those  who  em- 
ploy ignorant  men  to  instruct  their  children, 
let  me  say,  it  is  better  for  youth  to  have  no 
education  than  to  have  a bad  one ; for  it  is 
more  difficult  to  eradicate  habits  than  to  im- 
press new  ideas.  The  tender  shrub  is  easily 
bent  to  any  figure ; but  the  tree  which  has 
acquired  its  full  growth  resists  all  impres- 
sions. Yet  abilities  are  not  the  sole  requi- 
sites. The  instructors  of  youth  ought,  of  all 
men,  to  be  the  most  prudent,  accomplished, 
agreeable,  and  respectable.  What  avail  a 
man’s  parts,  if,  while  he  is  ‘the  wisest  and 
brightest,’  he  is  the  ‘ meanest  of  mankind  V 
The  pernicious  effects  of  bad  example  on  the 
minds  of  youth  will  probably  be  acknowl- 
edged ; but,  with  a view  to  improvement,  it 
is  indispensably  necessary  that  the  teachers 
should  possess  good  breeding  and  agreeable 
manners.  In  order  to  give  full  effect  to  in- 
structions it  is  requisite  that  they  should  pro- 
ceed from  a man  who  is  loved  and  respected. 
But  a low-bred  clown  or  morose  tyrant  can 
command  neither  love  nor  respect ; and  that 
pupil  who  has  no  motive  for  application  to 
books  but  the  fear  of  the  rod,  will  not  make 
a scholar.” 

LETTER  FROM  REV.  HEMAN  HUMPHREY,  D.D. 

“Pittsfield,  Dec.  12th,  1860. 

“ IIon.  Henry  Barnard  : Dear  Sir — I 
am  glad  to  hear  from  you,  still  engaged  in 
the  educational  cause,  and  that  you  are  in- 
tending to  ‘ give  a picturesque  survey  of  the 
progress  of  our  common  schools,  their  equip- 
ment, studies  and  character.’  If  my  early 
recollections  and  experience  will  give  you 
any  little  aid,  I shall  esteem  myself  happy 
in  affording  it. 

“ The  first  school  I remember  was  kept  a 
few  weeks  by  a maiden  lady,  called  Miss 
Faithy,  in  a barn.  I was  very  young,  as 
were  most  of  the  children.  What  I learned 


PROGRESS  OF  COMMON  OR  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS. 


369 


then,  if  any  thing,  I have  forgotten.  This 
was  in  the  summer,  of  course.  The  next  was 
a school,  so  called,  kept  a month  or  two  by 
a neighbor  of  ours,  who  wTas  the  best  trout 
fisher , with  his  horse-hair  line,  in  all  those 
parts.  He  wrote  a fair  hand,  as  I remem- 
ber, on  birch  bark.  What  he  taught  us,  but  to 
say  tue  and  due , has  escaped  my  recollection. 
We  had  no  school-house  then  in  our  dis- 
trict, and  we  met  as  much  for  play  as  any 
thing,  where  we  could  find  shelter.  The 
next  winter,  another  neighbor  took  us  a few 
weeks  into  one  of  the  rooms  of  his  own 
house,  where  every  thing  but  learning  was  go- 
ing on.  His  speech  bewrayed  him  of  Rhode 
Island  origin,  and  whatever  he  knew,  he  cer- 
tainly could  never  have  had  much  if  any 
chance  of  being  whipped  in  school  when  he 
was  a boy.  I remember  his  tremendous 
stamp  when  we  got  noisy  in  school-time,  and 
that  is  all.  This,  however,  is  not  a fair 
sample  of  school  accommodations  in  my 
boyhood ; and  I had  a better  chance  for  two 
or  three  winters  afterward. 

“ School  Houses. — Most  of  the  other 
districts  in  the  town  had  school-houses,  but 
not  all.  The  first  winter  that  I kept  school 
myself,  was  in  a room  next  to  the  kitchen  in 
a small  private  house.  Some  of  the  school- 
houses  were  better  than  others;  but  none  of 
them  in  that  or  the  adjoining  towns  were 
convenient  or  even  comfortable.  They  were 
rather  juvenile  penitentiaries,  than  attractive 
accommodations  for  study.  They  were  too 
small,  and  low  from  the  ceiling  to  the  floor, 
and  the  calculation  of  the  builders  seemed 
to  have  been,  to  decide  into  how  small  a 
space  the  children  could  be  crowded,  from 
the  fire-place  till  the  room  was  well  packed. 
Not  unfrequently  sixty  or  seventy  scholars 
were  daily  shut  up  six  hours,  where  there 
was  hardly  room  for  thirty.  The  school- 
houses  were  square,  with  a very  narrow  en- 
try, and  a large  fire-place  on  the  side  near 
the  door.  There  were  no  stoves  then.  They 
were  generally  roughly  clapboarded,  but 
never  painted.  They  had  writing-desks,  or 
rather,  long  boards  for  writing,  on  two  or 
three  sides,  next  to  the  wall.  Hie  benches 
were  all  loose ; some  of  them  boards,  with 
slabs  from  the  saw-mill,  standing  on  four 
legs,  two  at  each  end.  Some  were  a little 
lower  than  the  rest,  but  many  of  the  smaller 
children  had  to  sit  all  day  with  their  legs 
dangling  between  the  bench  and  the  floor. 
Poor  little  things!  nodding  and  trying  to 
keep  their  balance  on  the  slabs,  without  any 


backs  to  lean  against,  how  I pity  them  to 
this  day.  In  the  coldest  weather,  it  was 
hard  to  tell  which  was  the  most  difficult,  to 
keep  from  roasting  or  freezing.  For  those 
nearest  to  the  fire  it  was  sweltering  hot, 
while  the  ink  was  freezing  in  the  pens  on 
the  back  side  of  the  rooni.  ‘ Master,  I am 
too  hot’ — ‘ Master,  may  I go  to  the  fire  V 
That  was  the  style  of  address  in  those  days, 
and  we  did  our  best  to  be  masters,  anyhow. 

“All  the  school-houses  that  I remember 
stood  close  by  the  travelled  road,  without 
any  play-grounds  or  enclosures  whatever. 
If  there  were  any  shade  trees  planted,  or  left 
of  spontaneous  growth,  I have  forgotten 
them.  And  in  most  cases,  there  were  no 
outside  accommodations,  even  the  most 
necessary  for  a moment’s  occasion.  I now 
marvel  at  it,  but  so  it  was.  In  that  respect, 
certainly,  the  days  of  the  children  are  better 
than  the  days  of  their  fathers  were. 

“ For  the  most  part,  the  winter  schools 
were  miserably  supplied  with  wood.  I kept 
school  myself  in  three  towns,  and  in  but  one 
of  the  schools  was  there  any  wood-shed  what- 
ever ; and  no  wood  was  got  up  and  seasoned 
in  summer  against  winter.  Most  of  what 
we  used  was  standing  in  the  forests  when 
the  school  began,  and  was  cut  and  brought 
sled  length  by  the  farmers  in  proportion  to 
the  number  of  scholars  which  they  sent. 
Not  exactly  that,  either;  for  sometimes, 
when  we  went  to  the  school-house  in  a cold 
morning,  there  was  no  wood  there.  Some- 
body had  neglected  to  bring  his  load,  and 
we  were  obliged  to  adjourn  over  to  the 
next  day.  In  many  cases,  the  understand- 
ing was,  that  the  larger  boys  must  cut  the 
wood  as  it  was  wanted.  It  always  lay  in 
the  snow,  and  sometimes  the  boys  were  sent 
to  dig  it  out  in  school-time,  and  bring  it  in, 
all  wet  and  green  as  it  was,  to  keep  us  from 
freezing.  That  was  the  fuel  to  make  fires 
with  in  the  morning,  when  the  thermometer 
was  below  zero,  and  how  the  little  children 
cried  with  the  cold,  when  they  came  almost 
frozen,  and  found  no  fire  burning ; nothing 
but  one  or  two  boys  blowing  and  keeping 
themselves  warm  as  well  as  they  could,  by 
exercise,  in  trying  to  kindle  it.  Such  were 
our  school-houses  and  their  disaccommoda- 
tions. 

“ Branches  Taught  in  tiie  Schools. — 
They  were  reading,  spelling,  and  writing, 
besides  the  A B C’s  to  children  scarcely  four 
years  old,  who  ought  to  have  been  at  home 
with  their  mothers.  They  were  called  up 


370 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


twice  a day  by  the  master  pointing  with  his 
penknife  ‘ What’s  that  ?’  ‘A.’  ‘What’s  that?’ 
‘D.’  ‘No,  it’s  B.’  ‘What’s that?’  ‘N.’  ‘No, 
you  careless  boy,  it’s  C and  so  down  to 
ezand.  ‘Go  to  your  seat,  you  will  never  learn 
your  lesson  in  the  world,  at  this  rate.’  Our 
school-books  were,  the  Bible,  ‘ Webster’s 
Spelling  Book,’  and  ‘ Third  Part,’  mainly. 
One  or  two  others  were  found  in  some 
schools  for  the  reading  classes.  Grammar 
was  hardly  taught  at  all  in  any  of  them,  and 
that  little  was  confined  almost  entirely  to 
committing  and  reciting  the  rules.  Parsing 
was  one  of  the  occult  sciences  in  my  day. 
We  had  some  few  lessons  in  geography,  by 
questions  and  answers,  but  no  maps,  no 
globes ; and  as  for  black-boards , such  a 
thing  was  never  thought  of  till  long  after. 
Children’s  reading  and  picture  books,  we 
had  none ; the  fables  in  Webster’s  Spelling 
Book  came  nearest  to  it.  Arithmetic  was 
hardly  taught  at  all  in  the  day  schools.  As  a 
substitute,  there  were  some  evening  schools 
in  most  of  the  districts.  Spelling  was  one 
of  the  leading  daily  exercises  in  all  the 
classes,  and  it  was  better,  a good  deal,  I 
think,  than  it  is  now. 

“ The  winter  schools  were  commonly  kept 
about  three  months;  in  some  favored  dis- 
tricts four , but  rarely  as  long.  As  none  of 
what  are  now  called  the  higher  branches 
were  taught  beyond  the  merest  elements, 
parents  generally  thought  that  three  or  four 
months  was  enough.  There  were  no  winter 
select  schools  for  the  young  above  the  age  of 
sixteen  or  seventeen,  as  I remember,  till  af- 
ter I'  retired  from  the  profession,  such  as  it 
then  was.  There  may  have  been  here  and 
there  an  academy,  *in  some  parts  of  the 
state ; but  not  one  within  the  range  of  my 
acquaintance. 

“Our  Spring  Exhibitions. — At  the  close 
of  the  winter  schools  we  had  what  we  used 
to  call  our  Quarter-days , when  the  schools 
came  together  in  the  meeting-house,  with  a 
large  congregation  of  parents  and  friends. 
The  public  exercises  were  reading,  spelling, 
and  speaking  single  pieces,  and  dialogues. 
Some  of  the  dialogues  we  wrote  ourselves, 
for  our  own  schools.  Most  of  them  were 
certainly  very  flat ; but  they  brought  down 
the  house,  and  answered  the  purpose  as  well 
as  any  we  could  pick  up.  We  thought 
then,  as  I think  now,  that  those  quarter- 
days  were  of  great  advantage  to  the  schools. 
The  anticipation  of  them  kept  up  an  interest 
all  winter,  and  stimulated  both  teachers  and 


scholars  to  do  their  best  in  the  way  of  prep- 
aration. As  the  time  approached,  we  had 
evening  schools  for  reading  and  rehearsing 
the  dialogues,  so  as  to  be  sure  not  to  fall  be- 
hind in  the  exhibitions.  None  of  our  col- 
lege commencements  are  now  looked  forward 
to  with  greater  interest  than  were  those  ver- 
nal anniversaries. 

“Another  thing  that  helped  us  a good  deal 
was  the  occasional  afternoon  visits  of  the 
parents  and  other  friends  of  the  schools. 
They  came  in  by  invitation,  or  whenever 
they  chose,  and  their  visits  always  did  us 
good. 

“ Still  another  practice  we  found  to  be  quite 
stimulating  and  useful.  We  had  a mutual 
understanding  that,  without  giving  any  no- 
tice, any  teacher  might  dismiss  his  own 
school  for  an  afternoon,  and,  taking  along 
with  him  some  of  the  older  boys,  call  in  to 
see  how  his  brother  teacher  got  along  in  the 
next  or  some  other  district.  The  arrange- 
ment worked  well.  We  made  speeches, 
complimented  one  another  as  politely  as  cir- 
cumstances would  allow,  and  went  home  re- 
solved not  to  fall  behind  the  best  of  them. 

“ In  the  school,  we  made  up  our  minds  to 
be  masters,  in  fact  as  well  as  in  name. 
Though  of  late  years  I have  not  had  very 
good  advantages  for  making  the  comparison, 
I believe  the  schools  were  quite  as  well  gov- 
erned sixty  years  ago  as  they  are  now. 
Among  other  things  which  we  did  to  main- 
tain our  authority,  was  to  go  out  now  and 
then  and  have  a snowball  skirmish  with  the 
boys,  and  though  we  commonly  got  beat, 
nothing  we  could  do  was  more  effectual. 

“ Corporal  punishments,  I believe,  were 
sparingly  resorted  to  in  most  of  our  schools. 
Though  I myself  believed  in  Solomon  fully, 
I never  flogged  but  one  scholar  in  my  life, 
though  I shook  the  mischief  out  of  a great 
many.  I think  Sam  was  of  the  opinion,  in 
the  premises,  that  the  rod  was  laid  on  rather 
smartly,  for  I understood  he  promised, 
some  day,  to  pay  me  in  kind,  which,  how- 
ever, I suppose  he  never  found  it  quite  con- 
venient to  undertake. 

“We  schoolmasters  within  convenient  dis- 
tances used  to  meet  in  the  winter  evenings 
for  mutual  improvement,  which,  to  own  the 
truth,  we  needed  a good  deal.  Our  regular 
exercises  were  reading  for  criticisms,  report- 
ing how  we  were  getting  along,  and  con- 
versing upon  the  best  method  of  managing 
our  schools.  This  was  very  profitable,  as 
we  thought,  to  us  all. 


progress  of  common  or  elementary  schools. 


371 


“ In  those  ancient  times,  it  was  an  almost 
universal  custom  in  the  rural  towns  of  Con- 
necticut, for  the  teachers  to  board  round , 
and  upon  the  whole  I liked  it.  It  was  a 
good  school  for  us.  By  going  into  all  the 
families  we  learned  a great  deal.  We  were 
looked  upon  as  having  more  in  our  heads 
than  we  could  fairly  claim,  and  they  always 
kept  us  on  the  best  they  had.  It  is  true, 
the  cooking  was  not  always  the  best,  nor 
sheets  always  so  clean  as  to  guard  against 
infection;  and  if,  perchance,  it  sometimes 
broke  out,  we  knew  how  to  cure  it. 

“ Our  wages  were  generally  screwed  down 
to  the  lowest  notch  by  the  school  commit- 
tees, under  the  instruction  of  the  districts. 
For  my  first  campaign  I received  seven  dol- 
lars a month  and  board ; for  the  next,  nine  ; 
for  the  third,  ten;  and  I think  I never  went 
above  thirteen  till  quite  the  last  of  my  teach- 
ing before  I went  to  college.  As  I had 
some  reputation  in  that  line,  I suppose  I was 
as  well  paid  as  my  brethren. 

“ With  regard  to  the  summer  schools  of 
that  period,  I have  very  little  to  say.  They 
were  kept  by  females  upon  very  low  wages, 
about  as  much  a week  as  they  could  earn  in 
families  by  spinning  or  weaving.  They  took 
good  care  of  the  little  children,  and  taught 
them  as  well  as  they  could. 

“ As  we  had  no  grammar  schools  in  which 
the  languages  were  taught,  we  most  of  us 
fitted  for  college  with  our  ministers,  who, 
though  not  very  fresh  from  their  classics, 
did  what  they  could  to  help  us. 

“ Finally,  you  ask  me  whether  there  were 
any  schools  for  young  ladies  in  those  old 
times  ? There  may  possibly  have  been  in 
two  or  three  the  largest  towns,  but  the 
only  one  of  which  I had  any  knowledge  was 
in  Litchfield,  kept  by  Miss  Pierce,  and  I am 
not  quite  sure  that  her  school  was  estab- 
lished as  early  as  your  question  contem- 
plates. 

“ These,  dear  sir,  are  some  of  my  old  re- 
membrances, which  you  may  make  such  use 
of  as  you  please. 

“ Respectfully  yours, 

“ II.  Humphrey.” 

LETTER  FROM  HON.  JOSEPH  T.  BUCKINGHAM. 

“Cambridge,  Dec.  10th,  1800. 

“ IIknry  Barnard,  Esq.  : My  Dear  Sir 
— I cheerfully  comply  with  your  request  to 
give  you  some  account  of  the  schools  and 
the  educational  books  that  were  in  use  about 


the  close  of  the  last  century.  I never  had 
the  privilege  of  attending  any  higher  insti- 
tution of  learning  than  the  common  district 
schools  of  Connecticut,  in  the  town  of  Wind- 
ham ; but  I have  no  doubt  that  those  of  that 
town  were  a fair  type  of  many  others,  prob- 
ably most  of  them,  except  such  as  were  kept 
in  the  larger  towns  or  thickly  populated  vil- 
lages. 

“According  to  the  best  of  my  remem- 
brance, my  school-days  began  in  the  spring 
of  1783.  The  school  to  which  I was  admit- 
ted was  kept  by  a lady,  and,  like  most  of  the 
district  schools,  was  kept  only  for  the  younger 
pupils,  and  was  open  for  two  months  during 
the  summer  season.  The  upper  class  in  the 
school  was  formed  entirely  of  females — such 
as  could  read  in  the  Bible.  The  lower  classes 
read  in  spelling  books  and  the  New  England 
Primer.  The  spelling  books,  of  which  there 
were  not,  probably,  more  than  three  or  four 
in  the  school,  I believe  were  all  by  Dilworth, 
and  were  much  worn  and  defaced,  having 
been  a sort  of  heir-loom  in  the  families  of 
the  pupils.  The  teacher  of  this  school  was 
the  daughter  of  the  minister  of  the  parish. 
She  kept  a rod  hanging  on  the  wall  behind 
her  chair  and  a ferule  on  the  table  by  her 
side ; but  I do  not  recollect  that  she  used 
either  of  them.  The  girls  who  constituted 
the  first  class  were  required,  every  Monday 
morning,  to  repeat  the  text  or  texts  of  the 
preceding  day’s  discourse,  stating  the  book, 
chapter,  and  verse  whence  it  was  taken.  The 
next  summer,  1784,  the  same  lady,  or  one  of 
her  sisters,  kept  school  in  the  same  district. 
The  same  books  were  in  use,  and  there  wras 
the  same  routine  of  exercises.  It  was  kept 
on  the  first  floor  of  the  steeple.  The  lower 
end  of  the  bell-rope  lay  in  a coil  in  the  centre 
of  the  floor.  The  discipline  was  so  strict, 
that  no  one,  however  mischievously  disposed, 
I believo  ever  thought  of  taking  hold  of  it, 
though  it  was  something  of  an  incumbrance. 
I was  then  four  years  and  a half  old,  and  had 
learned  by  heart  nearly  all  the  reading  lessons 
in  the  Primer,  and  much  of  the  Westminster 
Catechism,  which  was  taught  as  the  closing 
exercise  every  Saturday.  But  justice  to  one 
of  the  best  of  mothers  requires  that  I should 
say  that  much  the  greater  part  of  tho  im- 
provement I had  made  was  acquired  from 
her  careful  instruction. 

“ In  December,  1784,  the  month  in  which 
I was  five  years  old,  I attended,  for  a few 
days,  the  school  kept  by  a master — I do  not 
remember  his  name.  When  asked  up  for 


372 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


examination,  he  asked  me  if  I could  read 
without  spelling  ? I said  I could  read  in  the 
Bible.  He  hesitated  a moment,  and  then 
placed  me  on  one  of  the  benches,  opened  a 
Bible  at  the  fifth  chapter  of  Acts,  and  asked 
me  to  read.  I read  ten  or  a dozen  verses — 
being  the  account  of  Ananias  and  his  wife 
falling  dead  before  Peter  for  telling  a lie. 
Whether  he  had  any  suspicion  that  I had 
told  a falsehood,  and  took  this  method  to 
reprove  me,  I know  not ; but  he  dismissed 
me  with  approbation.  He  used  his  ferule  on 
the  hands  of  some  of  the  elder  boys ; but 
the  severest  punishment  that  he  inflicted  for 
any  violation  of  order,  was  compelling  a boy 
who  had  brought  into  the  school  the  breast- 
bone of  a chicken,  (commonly  called  the 
wishing-bone ,)  and  with  which  he  had  excited 
some  noise  among  the  pupils,  to  stand  on 
one  of  the  benches  and  wear  the  bone  on 
his  nose  till  the  school  was  dismissed.  I 
am  strongly  impressed  with  the  belief  that 
Webster’s  spelling  book  made  its  first  ap- 
pearance in  the  schools  during  this  winter. 
The  following  summer  I attended,  but  very 
irregularly,  a school  kept  as  before  in  the 
steeple  of  the  meeting-house,*  and  had  a 
copy  of  Webster.  Whether  there  were  any 
other  copies  in  the  school  or  not  I am  not 
able  to  say.  The  next  two  winters,  circum- 
stances which  I have  no  desire  to  recall,  and 
which  you  would  not  care  to  be  acquainted 
with,  prevented  my  attending  any  school. 
In  the  summer  of  1786,  these  same  circum- 
stances caused  me  to  be  removed  to  another 
district  three  miles  distant  from  the  central 
village.  The  farmer  with  whom  I lived 
thought  I could  read  well  enough,  and  as 
the  district  school-house  was  a mile  or  more 
distant,  he  considered  it  unnecessary  to  send 
me  that  distance  in  the  winter,  merely  to 
read ; and  consequently  for  two  or  three 
winters  I went  to  school  not  more  than  eight 
or  ten  days  in  each.  At  length,  in  1790  or 
1791,  it  was  thought  I was  old  enough  to 
learn  to  cipher,  and  accordingly  was  per- 
mitted to  go  to  school  more  constantly.  I 
told  the  master  I wanted  to  learn  to  cipher. 
He  set  me  a sum  in  simple  addition — Jive 
columns  of  figures,  and  six  jigures  in  each 
column.  All  the  instruction  he  gave  me 
was — add  the  figures  in  the  first  column, 
carry  one  for  every  ten,  and  set  the  overplus 
down  under  the  column.  I supposed  he 
meant  by  the  jirst  column  the  left  hand 


* This  was  the  last  time  I went  to  a summer  school.  I 


column ; but  what  he  meant  by  carrying  one 
for  every  ten  was  as  much  a mystery  as 
Samson’s  riddle  was  to  the  Philistines. 
I worried  my  brains  an  hour  or  two,  and 
showed  the  master  the  figures  I had  made. 
You  may  judge  what  the  amount  was,  when 
the  columns  were  added  from  left  to  right. 
The  master  frowned  and  repeated  his  former 
instruction — add  up  the  column  on  the  right, 
carry  one  for  every  ten,  and  set  down  the 
remainder.  Two  or  three  afternoons  (I  did 
not  go  to  school  in  the  morning)  were  spent 
in  this  way,  when  I begged  to  be  excused 
from  learning  to  cipher,  and  the  old  gentle- 
man with  whom  I lived  thought  it  was  time 
wasted;  and  if  I attended  the  school  any 
further  at  that  time,  reading  and  spelling, 
and  a little  writing  were  all  that  was  taught. 
The  next  winter  there  was  a teacher  more 
communicative  and  better  fitted  for  his  place, 
and  under  him  some  progress  was  made  in 
arithmetic,  and  I made  a tolerable  acquisi- 
tion in  the  first  four  rules,  according  to  Dil- 
worth’s  Schoolmaster’s  Assistant,  of  which 
the  teacher  and  one  of  the  eldest  boys  had 
each  a copy.  The  two  following  winters, 
1794  and  1795,  I mastered  all  the  rules  and 
examples  in  the  first  part  of  Dilworth ; that 
is,  through  the  various  chapters  of  Rule  of 
Three,  Practice,  Fellowship,  Interest,  etc. 
etc.,  to  Geometrical  Progression  and  Per- 
mutation. 

“ In  our  district,  the  books  were  of  rather 
a miscellaneous  character,  such  as  had  been 
in  families  perhaps  half  a century  or  more. 
My  belief  is  that  Webster’s  Spelling  Book 
was  not  in  general  use  before  1790  or  1791. 
The  Bible  was  read  by  the  first  class  in  the 
morning,  always,  and  generally  in  the  after- 
noon before  the  closing  exercise,  which  was 
always  a lesson  in  spelling,  and  this  was  per- 
formed by  all  the  pupils  who  were  sufficient- 
ly advanced  to  pronounce  distinctly  words 
of  more  than  one  syllable.  It  was  the  cus- 
tom for  all  such  pupils  to  stand  together  as 
one  class,  and  with  one  voice  to  read  a column 
or  two  of  the  tables  for  spelling.  The  mas- 
ter gave  the  signal  to  begin,  and  all  united 
to  read,  letter  by  letter,  pronouncing  each 
syllable  by  itself,  and  adding  it  to  the  pre- 
ceding one  till  the  word  was  complete.  Thus, 
a-d  ad,  m-i  mi,  admi,  r-a  ra,  admira,  t-i-o-n 
shun,  admiration.  This  mode  of  reading 
was  exceedingly  exciting,  and,  in  my  humble’ 
judgment,  exceedingly  useful ; as  it  required 
and  taught  deliberate  and  distinct  articula- 
tion, and  inspired  the  youngest  with  a desire 


PROGRESS  OF  COMMON  OR  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS. 


373 


to  equal  the  older  ones.  It  is  true  the  voices 
would  not  all  be  in  perfect  unison ; but  after 
a little  practice  they  began  to  assimilate.  I 
have  heard  a class  of  thirty  or  more  read 
column  after  column  in  this  manner,  with 
scarcely  a perceptible  variation  from  the 
proper  pitch  of  voice.  When  the  lesson  had 
been  thus  read,  the  books  were  closed,  and 
the  words  given  out  for  spelling.  If  one  was 
misspelt,  it  passed  on  to  the  next,  and  the 
next  pupil  in  order,  and  so  on  till  it  was 
spelt  correctly.  Then  the  pupil  who  had 
spelt  correctly  went  up  in  the  class  above  the 
one  who  had  misspelt.  It  was  also  a prac- 
tice, when  one  was  absent  from  this  exercise 
in  spelling,  that  he  should  stand  at  the  foot 
of  the  class  when  he  returned.  Another  of 
our  customs  was  to  choose  sides  to  spell  once 
or  twice  a week.  The  words  to  be  spelt  went 
from  side  to  side  ; and  at  the  conclusion,  the 
side  which  beat  (spelt  the  most  words)  were 
permitted  to  leave  the  schoolroom,  preceding 
the  other  side,  who  had  to  sweep  the  room 
and  build  the  fires  the  next  morning.  These 
customs  prevalent  sixty  and  seventy  years 
ago  excited  emulation,  and  emulation  pro- 
duced improvement.  A revival  of  them,  I 
have  no  doubt,  would  be  advantageous  in 
the  common  schools,  especially  where  pupils 
are  required  to  spell  words  given  out  indis- 
criminately from  a reading  book  or  diction- 
ary. There  was  not,  to  my  knowledge,  any 
reading  book  proper,  except  the  Bible,  till 
Webster’s  Third  Book,  so  called,  came  out 
about  1793  or  1794.  A new  edition  of  his 
spelling  book  furnished  some  new  matter  for 
reading — selections  from  the  New  Testament, 
a chapter  of  Proverbs,  and  a set  of  Tables, 
etc. ; but  none  of  these  operated  to  the  exclu- 
sion of  the  Bible. 

“ In  the  family  in  which  I lived  there  were 
three  or  four  old  spelling  books,  which  I 
presume  had  been  used  in  schools  before  the 
period  of  my  remembrance.  One  of  these 
was  a book  of  less  than  a hundred  pages, 
printed  in  London,  I think  in  1690.  The 
words  were  arranged  in  tables  according  to 
syllables.  The  terminations  tion,  sion,  cial, 
tial,  etc.,  were  all  divided  and  printed  as  two 
distinct  syllables.  (And  I believe  this  mode 
of  printing  is  still  continued  in  England.  It 
was  in  the  time  of  Lindley  Murray,  as  may 
be  seen  in  his  spelling  book,  printed  about 
‘forty  years  ago.)  This  spelling  book  con- 
tained a numeration  table  which,  from  a sin- 
gular feature,  early  attracted  my  attention. 


Every  figure  was  9,  and  the  whole  formed  a 
curious  triangle.  Thus : 

9 

99 

999  and  so  on  to 
the  last,  999,999,999 

“Another  spelling  book  in  our  farmer’s 
library  was  by  Daniel  Fenning,  printed  in 
London.  It  contained  a short  treatise  on 
grammar,  on  which  I sometimes  exercised 
my  memory,  but  understood  not  one  of  its 
principles.  We  had  also  a Dil worth,  con- 
taining certain  fables — such  as  Jupiter  and 
the  Frogs,  the  Romish  Priest  and  the  Jester, 
Hercules  and  the  Wagoner,  etc.,  etc.  An- 
other still  we  had,  the  author  of  which  I 
never  knew,  as  several  pages  had  been  lost 
from  the  beginning.  It  had  a page  of  prov- 
erbs, one  of  which — ‘ a cat  may  look  upon  a 
king’ — occasioned  me  much  thoughtful  ex- 
ercise. It  also  had  an  appropriate  collection 
of  couplets  for  writing-copies,  of  which  the 
only  one  I recollect  was  this : 

“ ‘ X things  a penman  should  have  near  at  hand — 
Paper,  pounce,  pen,  ink,  knife,  hone,  rule,  plum- 
met, wax,  sand.’ 

But  that  which  rendered  the  book  so  mem- 
orable as  never  to  be  forgotten,  was  the  as- 
tonishing, if  not  terrific,  word  of  fourteen 
syllables  — ‘ Ho-no-ri-fi-ca-bi-li-tu-di-ni-tu-ti- 
bus-que’ — asserted  to  be  the  longest  word  in 
the  English  language. 

“In  the  winter  of  1793-4,  we  had  for  a 
teacher  Erastus  Ripley,  who  was  an  un- 
der-graduate of  Yale  College.  I mention  his 
name,  because  I cannot  look  back  upon  the 
time  when  I had  the  advantage  of  his  in- 
struction without  a feeling  of  reverence  for 
the  man  and  respect  for  the  teacher.  I 
learned  more  from  him  than  all  the  school- 
masters I had  been  under.  lie  took  more 
pains  to  instruct  us  in  reading  than  all  his 
predecessors  within  my  knowledge.  He 
opened  the  school  every  morning  with  pray- 
er— which  had  not  been  practised  in  our 
district.  He  was  preparing  for  the  ministry, 
and  was  afterwards  settled  at  Canterbury,  I 
think.  He  was  highly  esteemed  by  all  the 
people  of  the  district,  and  gave  such  an  im- 
petus to  the  ambition  of  the  pupils,  that  a 
subscription  was  made  to  employ  him  an  ex- 
tra month  after  the  usual  term  of  the  school 
had  expired. 

“ Mr.  Ripley  was  succeeded  in  the  winter 
of  1794-5  by  a young  man  from  Lebanon 
by  the  name  of  Tisdale,  under  whom  my 


374 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


school  days  were  finished ; and  here  I may 
bring  this  long  and,  I fear,  very  uninteresting 
letter  to  a close.  Hoping  this  may  serve  the 
purpose  for  which  you  suggested  the  writ- 
ing of  it,  and  wishing  you  all  the  success 
you  can  desire  in  the  noble  cause  in  which 
you  are  engaged, 

“ I am,  very  respectfully 
“ And  truly  yours, 

“Joseph  T.  Buckingham.” 

LETTER  FROM  REV.  ELIPHALET  NOTT,  D.D., 
DATED  JAN.,  1861. 

“ When  I was  a boy,  seventy-five  or  eighty 
years  ago,  in  good  old  Puritan  Connecticut, 
it  was  felt  as  a practical  maxim  ‘that  to 
spare  the  rod  was  to  spoil  the  child and 
on  this  maxim  the  pedagogue  acted  in  the 
school-room,  and  applied  it  for  every  offence, 
real  or  imaginary  ; and  for  having  been 
whipped  at  school  by  the  relentless  master, 
the  unfortunate  tyro  was  often  whipped  at 
home  by  his  no  less  relentless  father;  so 
that  between  the  two  relentless  executors  of 
justice  among  the  Puritan  fathers,  few 
children,  I believe,  were  spoiled  by  the  with- 
holding of  this  orthodox  discipline.  For 
myself,  I can  say  (and  I do  not  think  I was 
wr  ay  ward  beyond  the  average  of  district 
school-boys)  that,  in  addition  to  warnings, 
and  admonitions  daily,  if  I was  not  whipped 
more  than  three  times  a week,  I considered 
myself  for  the  time  peculiarly  fortunate. 

“ Being  of  a contemplative  and  forbearing 
disposition,  this  discipline  of  the  rod  became 
peculiarly  irksome  to  me,  -and,  as  I thought, 
unjustifiable;  and  I formed  a resolution,  if  I 
lived  to  be  a man,  I would  not  be  like  other 
men  in  regard  to  their  treatment  of  children. 

“ Through  the  mercy  of  God  I did  live  to 
be  a man,  and  when  at  the  age  of  eighteen 
I became  installed  as  master  of  a district 
school  in  the  eastern  part  of  Franklin,  Con- 
necticut— a school  where  rebellious  spirits 
had  previously  asserted  their  rights,  and 
been  subdued  or  driven  from  the  school 
by  the  use  of  the  rod — nothing  daunted, 
I made  up  my  mind  to  substitute  in  my 
school  moral  motives  in  the  place  of  the 
l*od ; and  I frankly  told  my  assembled  pu- 
pils so,  and  that  if  they  would  have  the 
generosity  to  second  my  efforts,  they  would 
secure  to  themselves  and  furnish  me  and 
their  parents  the  happiness  which  is  the 
heaven-appointed  reward  of  well-doing. 

“ The  school  responded  to  my  appeal,  and 


thereafter,  though  we  played  and  gambolled 
together  as  equals  in  play-hours,  and  on 
Saturday  afternoons,  which  were  also  de- 
voted to  play,  the  moment  we  entered  the 
school-room,  a subordination  and  application 
to  study  was  observable,  that  became  matter 
of  remark  and  admiration  among  the  in- 
habitants of  the  district,  the  fame  of  which 
success  extended  to  other  districts,  and  even 
to  adjoining  towns,  so  that  the  examination 
and  exhibition  with  which  the  school  closed 
the  ensuing  spring,  called  together  clergymen 
and  other  officials  from  places  quite  remote. 

“ This  success  brought  me  to  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  trustees  of  the  Plainfield  Acad- 
emy, one  of  the  most  important,  if  not  at 
the  time  the  most  important  academy  in  the 
state,  and  I was  by  a unanimous  vote  ap- 
pointed principal  of  said  academy — an  in- 
stitution in  which  several  hundred  children 
of  both  sexes  were  in  the  same  building 
successfully  taught  and  governed,  for  years, 
without  the  use  of  the  rod,  it  being  at  that 
time  the  prevailing  usage,' both  in  district 
schools  and  academies,  for  the  two  sexes  to 
be  taught  in  the  same  room,  and  subjected 
to  the  same  form  of  government. 

“ This  successful  experiment  in  the  use  of 
moral  suasion,  and  other  kindred  and  kindly 
influences,  in  place  of  the  rod,  led  to  other 
and  kindred  experiments,  until,  whether  for 
the  better  or  the  worse,  the  rod  at  length 
came  to  occupy  a very  subordinate  place  in 
the  system  of  school  education. 

“ In  those  days,  education  in  common 
schools  was  not  so  diffusive  as  at  the  present 
day ; but  quite  as  thorough,  if  not  more  so. 
The  same  remark  may  be  applied  to  the 
higher  schools  or  academies — the  whole  field 
of  natural  science  being  at  that  time,  for  the 
most  part,  unexplored  ; but  mathematics  and 
classics  were  zealously  taught.  In  evidence 
of  this,  though  inferior  in  attainments  to 
some  of  my  classmates,  I published  success- 
fully myself  an  almanac  when  about  twenty- 
one  years  of  age. 

“ As  the  rod  in  those  days  was  the  prin- 
cipal instrument  in  common  school  edu- 
cation, so  when  I was  afterward  called  to 
Union  College,  fines,  suspensions,  and  ex- 
pulsions were  the  principal  instruments  of 
collegiate  government.  The  faculty  sat  in 
their  robes  as  a court,  caused  offenders  to  be 
brought  before  them,  examined  witnesses, 
heard  defences,  and  pronounced  sentences 
with  the  solemnity  of  other  courts  of  justice ; 
and  though  Union  College  had  on  its  cata- 

O O 


PROGRESS  OF  COMMON  OR  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS. 


375 


logue  but  a very  diminutive  number  of  stu- 
dents, the  sitting  of  the  faculty  as  a court 
occupied  no  inconsiderable  part  of  the  time 
of  its  president  and  professors. 

“ Soon  after  I became  connected  with 
the  college  as  its  president,  a case  of  disci- 
pline occurred  which  led  to  the  trial  and  is- 
sued in  the  expulsion  of  a student  belong- 
ing to  a very  respectable  family  in  the  city 
of  Albany.  According  to  the  charter  of 
Union  College,  the  sentence  of  the  faculty  is 
not  final.  An  appeal  can  be  taken  to  the 
board  of  trustees,  and  in  the  case  in  ques- 
tion an  appeal  was  taken,  and,  after  keeping 
college  in  confusion  for  months,  by  the  dif- 
ferent hearings  of  the  case,  the  board  re- 
versed the  decision  of  the  faculty,  and  re- 
stored the  young  man.  On  the  event  of  this 
restoration,  I informed  them  that  they  should 
never,  during  my  administration,  have  occa- 
sion to  review  another  case  of  discipline  by 
the  faculty ; and  during  the  fifty-six  years 
which  have  since  passed  away,  I have  kept 
my  word;  and  though  we  have  been  less 
successful  in  our  system  pf  parental  govern- 
ment than  could  be  wished,  we  have  had  no 
rebellions,  and  it  is  conceded,  I believe  gen- 
erally, that  quite  as  large  a proportion  of 
our  young  men  have  succeeded  in  after  life 
as  of  any  other  collegiate  institution  in  the 
Union.” 

RECOLLECTIONS  OF  PETER  PARLEY. 

The  following  picture  of  the  District 
School  as  it  was  a few  years  later,  in  the 
town  of  Ridgefield,*  one  of  the  most  ad- 
vanced agricultural  communities  of  Connec- 


*  “ Nearly  all  the  inhabitants  of  Ridgefield  were 
farmers,  with  the  few  mechanics  that  were  neces- 
sary to  carry  on  society  in  a somewhat  primeval 
state.  Even  the  persons  not  professionally  devoted 
to  agriculture,  had  each  his  farm,  or  at  least  his  gar- 
den and  home  lot,  with  his  pigs,  poultry,  and  cattle. 
The  population  might  have  been  1200,  comprising 
200  families.  All  could  read  and  write,  but  in  point 
of  fact,  beyond  the  Almanac  and  Watts’  Psalms  and 
Hymns,  their  literary  acquirements  had  little  scope. 
Ther6  were,  I think,  four  newspapers,  all  weekly, 
published  in  the  state : one  at  Hartford,  one  at  New 
London,  one  at  New  Haven,  and  one  at  Litchfield. 
There  were,  however,  not  more  than  three  sub- 
scribers to  all  these  in  our  village.  Wo  had,  how- 
ever, a public  library  of  some  200  volumes,  and 
what  was  of  equal  consequence — the  town  was  on 
the  road  which  was  then  the  great  thoroughfare, 
connecting  Boston  with  New  York,  and  hence  it 
had  means  of  intelligence  from  travellers  constantly 
passing  through  the  place,  which  kept  it  up  with 
the  march  of  events.” 


ticut,  is  from  tbe  pen  of  Peter  Parley,  in  bis 
“ Recollections  of  a Lifetime .” 

“ About  three  fourths  of  a mile  from  my 
father’s  house,  on  the  winding  road  to  Lower 
Salem,  which  bore  the  name  of  West  Lane, 
was  the  school-house  where  I took  my  first 
lessons,  and  received  the  foundations  of  my 
very  slender  education.  I have  since  been 
sometimes  asked  where  I graduated : my 
reply  has  always  been,  ‘At  West  Lane.’  Gen- 
erally speaking,  this  has  ended  the  inquiry, 
whether  because  my  interlocutors  have  con- 
founded this  venerable  institution  with  ‘ Lane 
Seminary,’  or  have  not  thought  it  worth  while 
to  risk  an  exposure  of  their  ignorance  as  to 
the  college  in  which  I was  educated,  I am 
unable  to  say. 

“ The  site  of  the  school-house  was  a trian- 
gular piece  of  land,  measuring  perhaps  a 
rood  in  extent,  and  lying,  according  to  the 
custom  of  those  days,  at  the  meeting  of  four 
roads.  The  ground  hereabouts — as  every- 
where else  in  Ridgefield — was  exceedingly 
stony,  and  in  making  the  pathway  the  stones 
had  been  thrown  out  right  and  left,  and 
there  remained  in  heaps  on  either  side,  from 
generation  to  generation.  All  round  was 
bleak  and  desolate.  Loose,  squat  stone 
walls,  with  innumerable  breaches,  inclosed 
adjacent  fields.  A few  tufts  of  elder,  with 
here  and  there  a patch  of  briers  and  poke- 
weed,  flourished  in  the  gravelly  soil.  Not  a 
tree,  however,  remained,  save  an  aged  chest" 
nut,  at  the  western  angle  of  the  space.  This 
certainly  had  not  been  spared  for  shade  or 
ornament,  but  probably  because  it  would 
have  cost  too  much  labor  to  cut  it  down,  for 
it  was  of  ample  girth.  At  all  events  it  was 
the  oasis  in  our  desert  during  summer ; and 
in  autumn,  as  the  burrs  disclosed  its  fruit, 
it  resembled  a besieged  city.  The  boys, 
like  so  many  catapults,  hurled  at  it  stones 
and  sticks,  until  every  nut  had  capitulated. 

“ Two  houses  only  were  at  hand  : one,  sur- 
rounded by  an  ample  barn,  a teeming  or- 
chard, and  an  enormous  wood-pile,  belonged 
to  Granther  Baldwin ; the  other  was  the 
property  of  ‘Old  Chich-es-ter,’  an  uncouth, 
unsocial  being,  whom  everybody  for  some 
reason  or  other  seemed  to  despise  and  shun. 
Uis  house  was  of  stone  and  of  one  story, 
lie  had  a cow,  which  every  year  had  a calf. 
Ue  had  a wife — filthy,  uncombed,  and  vague- 
ly reported  to  have  been  brought  from  the 
old  country.  This  is  about  the  whole  his- 
tory of  the  man,  so  far  as  it  is  written  in 
I the  authentic  traditions  of  the  parish.  Ilis 


376 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


premises,  an  acre  in  extent,  consisted  of  a 
tongue  of  land  between  two  of  the  converg- 
ing roads.  No  boy,  that  I ever  heard  of, 
ventured  to  cast  a stone  or  to  make  an  in- 
cursion into  this  territory,  though  it  lay 
close  to  the  school-house.  I have  often,  in 
passing,  peeped  timidly  over  the  walls,  and 
caught  glimpses  of  a stout  man  with  a drab 
coat,  drab  breeches,  and  drab  gaiters,  glazed 
with  ancient  grease  and  long  abrasion,  prowl- 
ing about  the  house ; but  never  did  I dis- 
cover him  outside  of  his  own  dominion.  I 
know  it  was  darkly  intimated  that  he  had 
been  a tory,  and  was  tarred  and  feathered  in 
the  revolutionary  war,  but  as  to  the  rest  he 
was  a perfect  myth.  Granther  Baldwin  was 
a character  no  less  marked,  but  I must  re- 
serve his  picture  for  a subsequent  letter. 

“ The  school-house  itself  consisted  of  rough, 
unpainted  clapboards,  upon  a wooden  frame. 
It  was  plastered  within,  and  contained  two 
apartments — a little  entry,  taken  out  of  a 
corner  for  a wardrobe,  and  the  school-room 
proper.  The  chimney  was  of  stone,  and 
pointed  with  mortar,  which,  by  the  way, 
had  been  dug  into  a honeycomb  by  uneasy 
and  enterprising  penknives.  The  fireplace 
was  six  feet  wide  and  four  feet  deep.  The 
fiue  was  so  ample  and  so  perpendicular,  that 
the  rain,  sleet,  and  snow  fell  direct  to  the 
hearth.  In  winter,  the  battle  for  life  with 
green  fizzling  fuel,  which  was  brought  in 
sled  lengths  and  cut  up  by  the  scholars,  was 
a stern  one.  Not  unfrequently,  the  wood, 
gushing  with  sap  as  it  was,  chanced  to  be 
out,  and  as  there  was  no  living  without  fire, 
the  thermometer  being  ten  or  twenty  degrees 
below  zero,  the  school  was  dismissed,  where- 
at all  the  scholars  rejoiced  aloud,  not  having 
the  fear  of  the  schoolmaster  before  their 
eyes. 

“ It  was  the  custom  at  this  place  to  have  a 
woman’s  school  in  the  summer  months,  and 
this  was  attended  only  by  young  children. 
It  was,  in  fact,  what  we  now  call  a primary 
or  infant  school.  In  winter,  a man  was 
employed  as  teacher,  and  then  the  girls  and 
boys  of  the  neighborhood,  up  to  the  age  of 
eighteen,  or  even  twenty,  were  among  the 
pupils.  It  was  not  uncommon,  at  this  sea- 
son, to  have  forty  scholars  crowded  into  this 
little  building. 

44  I was  about  six  years  old  when  I first 
went  to  school.  My  teacher  was  Aunt  De- 
light, that  is,  Delight  Benedict,  a maiden 
lady  of  fifty,  short  and  bent,  of  sallow  com- 
plexion and  solemn  aspect.  I remember  the 


first  day  with  perfect  distinctness.  I went 
alone — for  I was  familiar  with  the  road,  it 
being  that  which  passed  by  our  old  house. 
I carried  a little  basket,  with  bread  and 
butter  within,  for  my  dinner,  the  same  being 
covered  over  with  a white  cloth.  When  I 
had  proceeded  about  half  way,  I lifted  the 
cover,  and  debated  whether  I would  not  eat 
my  dinner  then.  I believe  it  was  a sense 
of  duty  only  that  prevented  my  doing  so, 
for  in  those  happy  days  I always  had  a 
keen  appetite.  Bread  and  butter  were  then 
infinitely  superior  to  pate  de  foie  gras  now ; 
but  still,  thanks  to  my  training,  I had  also  a 
conscience.  As  my  mother  had  given  me 
the  food  for  dinner,  I did  not  think  it  right 
to  convert  it  into  lunch,  even  though  I was 
strongly  tempted. 

44  I think  we  had  seventeen  scholars — boys 
and  girls — mostly  of  my  own  age.  Among 
them  were  some  of  my  after  companions.  I 
have  since  met  several  of  them — one  at 
Savannah,  and  two  at  Mobile,  respectably 
established,  and  with  families  around  them. 
Some  remain,  and  are  now  among  the  gray 
old  men  of  the  town ; the  names  of  others  I 
have  seen  inscribed  on  the  tombstones  of 
their  native  village.  And  the  rest — where 
are  they  ? 

44  The  school  being  organized,  we  were  all 
seated  upon  benches,  made  of  what  were 
called  slabs — that  is,  boards  having  the  ex- 
terior or  rounded  part  of  the  log  on  one 
side : as  they  were  useless  for  other  purposes, 
these  were  converted  into  school-benches, 
the  rounded  part  down.  They  had  each 
four  supports,  consisting  of  straddling  wood- 
en legs,  set  into  auger  holes.  Our  own  legs 
swayed  in  the  air,  for  they  were  too  short  to 
touch  the  floor.  Oh,  what  an  awe  fell  over 
me,  when  we  were  all  seated  and  silence 
reigned  around  ! 

“ The  children  were  called  up,  one  by  one, 
to  Aunt  Delight,  who  sat  on  a low  chair, 
and  required  each,  as  a preliminary,  to  make 
his  manners,  consisting  of  a small  sudden 
nod  or  jerk  of  the  head.  She  then  placed 
the  spelling-book — which  was  Dilwotlh’s — 
before  the  pupil,  and  with  a buck-handled 
penknife  pointed,  one  by  one,  to  the  letters 
of  the  alphabet,  saying,  ‘What’s  that?’  If 
the  child  knew  his  letters  the  ‘ What’s  that  ?’ 
very  soon  ran  on  thus  : 

“ ‘ What’s  that  ?’ 

u < i 

44 4 ’Stha-a-t  ?’ 

“ 4 B.’ 


PROGRESS  OF  COMMON  OR  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS. 


377 


“ ‘ Sna-a-a-t  V 
“ ‘ C.’ 

“ ‘ Sna-a-a-t  ?’ 

“ ‘ D.’ 

“ ‘ Sna-a-a-t  V 
“‘E.’  Ac. 

“ I looked  upon  these  operations  with  in- 
tense curiosity  and  no  small  respect,  until 
my  own  turn  came.  I went  up  to  the  school- 
mistress with  some  emotion,  and  when  she 
said,  rather  spitefully,  as  I thought,  ‘ Make 
your  obeisance !’  my  little  intellects  all  fled 
away,  and  I did  nothing.  Having  waited  a 
second,  gazing  at  me  with  indignation,  she 
laid  her  hand  on  the  top  of  my  head,  and 
gave  it  a jerk  which  made  my  teeth  clash. 

I believe  I bit  my  tongue  a little;  at  all 
events,  my  sense  of  dignity  was  offended, 
and  when  she  pointed  to  A,  and  asked  what 
it  was,  it  swam  before  me  dim  and  hazy, 
and  as  big  as  a full  moon.  She  repeated  the 
question,  but  I was  doggedly  silent.  Again, 
a third  time,  she  said,  1 What’s  that  V I 
replied : 1 Why  don’t  you  tell  me  what  it 
is  ? I didn’t  come  here  to  learn  you  your 
letters !’  I have  not  the  slightest  remem- 
brance of  this,  for  my  brains  were  all  a-wool- 
gathering ; but  as  Aunt  Delight  affirmed  it 
to  be  a fact,  and  it  passed  into  tradition,  I 
put  it  in.  I may  have  told  this  story  some 
years  ago  in  one  of  my  books,  imputing  it 
to  a fictitious  hero,  yet  this  is  its  true  origin, 
according  to  my  recollection. 

“What  immediately  followed  I do  not 
clearly  remember,  but  one  result  is  distinct- 
ly traced  in  my  memory.  In  the  evening 
of  this  eventful  day,  the  school-mistress  paid 
my  parents  a visit,  and  recounted  to  their 
astonished  ears  this,  my  awful  contempt  of 
authority.  My  father,  after  hearing  the 
story,  got  up  and  went  away ; but  my 
mother,  who  was  a careful  disciplinarian, 
told  me  not  to  do  so  again  ! I always  had 
a suspicion  that  both  of  them  smiled  on  one 
side  of  their  faces,  even  while  they  seemed 
to  sympathize  with  the  old  petticoat  and 
penknife  pedagogue,  on  the  other;  still  I 
do  not  affirm  it,  for  I am  bound  to  say,  of 
both  my  parents,  that  1 never  knew  them, 
even  in  trifles,  say  one  thing  while  they 
meant  another. 

“I  believe  I achieved  the  alphabet  that 
summer,  but  my  after  progress,  for  a long 
time,  I do  not  remember.  Two  years  later 
I went  to  the  winter-school  at  the  same  place, 
kept  by  Lewis  Olmstead — a man  who  had  a 
call  for  plowing,  mowing,  carting  manure, 


etc.,  in  summer,  and  for  teachingschool  in  the 
winter,  with  a talent  for  music  at  all  seasons, 
wherefore  he  became  chorister  upon  occa- 
sion, vrhen,  peradventure,  Deacon  Ilawley 
could  not  officiate.  He  vras  a celebrity  in 
ciphering,  and  ’Squire  Seymour  declared 
that  he  was  the  greatest  ‘ arithmeticker’  in 
Fairfield  county.  All  I remember  of  his 
person  is  his  hand,  which  seemed  to  me  as 
big  as  Goliah’s,  judging  by  the  claps  of 
thunder  it  made  in  my  ears  on  one  or  two 
occasions. 

“ The  next  step  of  my  progress  which  is 
marked  in  my  memory,  is  the  spelling  of 
words  of  two  syllables.  I did  not  go  very 
regularly  to  school,  but  by  the  time  I was 
ten  years  old  I had  learned  to  write,  and 
had  made  a little  progress  in  arithmetic. 
There  was  not  a grammar,  a geography,  or 
a history  of  any  kind  in  the  school.  Read- 
ing, writing,  and  arithmetic  were  the  only 
things  taught,  and  these  very  indifferently — 
not  wholly  from  the  stupidity  of  the  teacher, 
but  because  he  had  forty  scholars,  and  the 
standards  of  the  age  required  no  more  than 
he  performed.  I did  as  well  as  the  other 
scholars,  certainly  no  better.  I had  excel- 
lent health  and  joyous  spirits;  in  leaping, 
running,  and  wrestling,  I had  but  one  su- 
perior of  my  age,  and  that  was  Stephen 
Olmstead,  a snug-built  fellowr,  smaller  than 
myself,  and  who,  despite  our  rivalry,  was 
my  chosen  friend  and  companion.  I seemed 
to  live  for  play : alas ! how  the  world  has 
changed  since  I have  discovered  that  we  live 
to  agonize  over  study,  work,  care,  ambition, 
disappointment,  and  then ? 

“ As  I shall  not  have  occasion  again,  for- 
mally, to  introduce  this  seminary  into  my 
narrative,  I may  as  well  close  my  account 
of  it  now.  After  I had  left  my  native  town 
for  some  twenty  years,  I returned  and  paid 
it  a visit.  Among  the  monuments  that 
stood  high  in  my  memory  was  the  West 
Lane  school-house.  Unconsciously  carrying 
with  me  the  measures  of  childhood,  I had 
supposed  it  to  be  at  least  thirty  feet  square; 
how  had  it  dwindled  when  I came  to  esti- 
mate it  by  the  new  standards  I had  form- 
ed ! It  was  in  all  things  the  same,  yet 
wholly  changed  to  me.  What  I had  deem- 
ed a respectable  edifice,  as  it  now  stood  be- 
fore ine  was  only  a weather-beaten  little 
shed,  which,  upon  being  measured,  1 found 
to  be  less  than  twenty  feet  square.  It  hap- 
pened to  be  a warm,  summer  day,  and  I 
ventured  to  enter  the  place.  I found  a girl, 


378 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


some  eighteen  years  old,  keeping  ‘ a ma’am 
school’  for  about  twenty  scholars,  some  of 
whom  were  studying  Parley’s  Geography. 
The  mistress  was  the  daughter  of  one  of  my 
schoolmates,  and  some  of  the  boys  and  girls 
were  grandchildren  of  the  little  brood  which 
gathered  under  the  wing  of  Aunt  Delight, 
when  I was  an  a-b-c-darian.  None  of  them, 
not  even  the  school-mistress,  had  ever  heard 
of  me.  The  name  of  my  father,  as  having 
ministered  unto  the  people  of  Ridgefield  in 
some  bygone  age,  was  faintly  traced  in  their 
recollection.  As  to  Peter  Parley,  whose 
Geography  they  were  learning — they  sup- 
osed  him  some  decrepit  old  gentleman 
obbling  about  on  a crutch,  a long  way  off, 
for  whom,  nevertheless,  they  had  a certain 
affection,  inasmuch  as  he  had  made  geogra- 
phy into  a story-book.  The  frontispiece- 
picture  of  the  old  fellow,  with  his  gouty  foot 
in  a chair,  threatening  the  boys  that  if  they 
touched  his  tender  toe,  he  would  tell  them 
no  more  stories,  secured  their  respect,  and 
placed  him  among  the  saints  in  the  calendar 
of  their  young  hearts.  Well,  thought  I,  if 
this  goes  on  I may  yet  rival  Mother  Goose ! 

“ At  the  age  of  ten  years  I was  sent  to  the 
up-town  school,  the  leading  seminary  of  the 
village,  for  at  this  period  it  had  not  ar- 
rived at  the  honor  of  an  academy,  the  in- 
stitution being  then,  and  many  years  after, 
under  the  charge  of  Master  Stebbins.  He 
was  a man  with  a conciliating  stoop  in  the 
shoulders,  a long  body,  short  legs,  and  a 
swaying  walk.  He  was,  at  this  period,  some 
fifty  years  old,  his  hair  being  thin  and  sil- 
very, and  always  falling  in  well-combed  rolls 
over  his  coat-collar.  Ilis  eye  was  blue, 
and  his  dress  invariably  of  the  same  color. 
Breeches  and  knee-buckles,  blue-mixed  stock- 
ings, and  shoes  with  bright  buckles,  seemed 
as  much  a part  of  the  man  as  his  head  and 
shoulders.  On  the  whole,  his  appearance 
was  that  of  the  middle-class  gentleman  of 
the  olden  time,  and  he  was  in  fact  what  he 
seemed. 

“ This  seminary  of  learning  for  the  rising 
aristocracy  of  Ridgefield  was  a wooden  edi- 
fice, thirty  by  twenty  feet,  covered  with 
brown  clapboards,  and,  except  an  entry,  con- 
sisted of  a single  room.  Around  and  against 
the  walls  ran  a continuous  line  of  seats,  front- 
ed by  a continuous  writing-desk.  Beneath, 
were  depositories  for  books  and  writing  mate- 
rials. The  centre  was  occupied  by  slab  seats, 
similar  to  those  of  West  Lane.  The  larger 
scholars  were  ranged  on  the  outer  sides,  at 


the  desks;  the  smaller  fry  of  a-b-c-darians 
were  seated  in  the  centre.  The  master  was 
enshrined  on  the  east  side  of  the  room,  con- 
trary, be  it  remembered,  to  the  law  of  the 
French  savans,  which  places  dominion  in- 
variably in  the  west.  Regular  as  the  sun, 
Master  Stebbins  was  in  his  seat  at  nine 
o’clock,  and  the  performances  of  the  school 
began. 

“ According  to  the  Catechism — which,  by 
the  way,  we  learned  and  recited  on  Saturday 
— the  chief  end  of  man  was  to  glorify  God 
and  keep  his  commandments : according  to 
the  routine  of  this  school,  one  would  have 
thought  it  to  be  reading,  writing,  and  arith- 
metic, to  which  we  may  add  spelling.  From 
morning  to  night,  in  all  weathers,  through 
every  season  of  the  year,  these  exercises 
were  carried  on  with  the  energy,  patience, 
and  perseverance  of  a manufactory. 

“ Master  Stebbins  respected  his  calling : 
his  heart  was  in  his  work  ; and  so,  what  he 
pretended  to  teach,  he  taught  well.  When 
I entered  the  school,  I found  that  a huge 
stride  had  been  achieved  in  the  march  of 
mind  since  I had  left  West  Lane.  Webster's 
Spelling  Book  had  taken  the  place  of  Dil- 
worth,  which  was  a great  improvement. 
The  drill  in  spelling  was  very  thorough,  and 
applied  every  day  to  the  whole  school.  I 
imagine  that  the  exercises  might  have 
been  amusing  to  a stranger,  especially  as 
one  scholar  would  sometimes  go  off*  in  a 
voice  as  grum  as  that  of  a bull-frog,  while 
another  would  follow  in  tones  as  fine  and 
piping  as  a peet-weet.  The  blunders,  too, 
were  often  ineffably  ludicrous;  even  we 
children  would  sometimes  have  tittered,  had 
not  such  an  enormity  been  certain  to  have 
brought  out  the  birch.  As  to  rewards  and 
punishments,  the  system  was  this:  who- 

ever missed  went  down  ; so  that  perfection 
mounted  to  the  top.  Here  was  the  begin- 
ning of  the  up  and  down  of  life. 

“ Reading  was  performed  in  classes,  which 
generally  plodded  on  without  a hint  from 
the  master.  Nevertheless,  when  Zeek  San- 
ford— who  was  said  to  have  a streak  of 
lightning  in  him — in  his  haste  to  be  smart, 
read  the  37th  verse  of  the  2d  chapter  of  the 
Acts — 4 Now  when  they  heard  this,  they 
were  pickled  in  their  heart’ — the  birch  stick 
on  Master  Stebbins’s  table  seemed  to  quiver 
and  peel  at  the  little  end,  as  if  to  give  warn- 
ing of  the  wrath  to  come.  When  Orry 
Keeler — Orry  was  a girl,  you  know,  and  not 
a bfty — drawled  out  in  spelling:  k — o— n, 


PROGRESS  OF  COMMON  OR  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS. 


379 


kon , s — h — u — n — t — s,  shunts , konshunts 
— the  bristles  in  the  master’s  eyebrows  fidg- 
eted like  Aunt  Delight’s  knitting-needles. 
Occasionally,  when  the  reading  was  insup- 
portably  bad,  he  took  a book  and  read  him- 
self, as  an  example. 

“We  were  taught  arithmetic  in  Daboll, 
then  a new  book,  and  which,  being  adapted 
to  our  measures  of  length,  weight,  and  cur- 
rency, was  a prodigious  leap  over  the  head 
of  poor  old  Dilworth,  whose  rules  and  ex- 
amples were  modelled  upon  English  customs. 
In  consequence  of  the  general  use  of  Dil- 
worth in  our  schools,  for  perhaps  a century 
— pounds,  shillings,  and  pence  were  classi- 
cal, and  dollars  and  cents  vulgar,  for  several 
succeeding  generations.  ‘ I would  not  give 
a penny  for  it,’  was  genteel ; ‘ I would  not 
give  a cent  for  it,’  was  plebeian.  We  have 
not  yet  got  over  this : we  sometimes  say  red 
cent  in  familiar  parlance,  but  it  can  hardly 
be  put  in  print  without  offence. 

“ Master  Stebbins  was  a great  man  with  a 
slate  and  pencil,  and  I have  an  idea  that  we 
were  a generation  after  his  own  heart.  We 
certainly  achieved  wonders  according  to  our 
own  conceptions,  some  of  us  going  even  be- 
yond the  Rule  of  Three,  and  making  forays 
into  the  mysterious  region  of  Vulgar  Frac- 
tions. Several  daring  geniuses  actually  en- 
tered and  took  possession. 

“ But  after  all,  penmanship  was  Master 
Stebbins’s  great  accomplishment.  He  had 
no  magniloquent  system;  no  pompous  les- 
sons upon  single  lines  and  bifid  lines,  and 
the  like.  The  revelations  of  inspired  copy- 
book makers  had  not  then  been  vouchsafed 
to  man.  He  could  not  cut  an  American 
eagle  with  a single  flourish  of  a goose-quill. 
He  was  guided  by  good  taste  and  native 
instinct,  and  wrote  a smooth  round  hand, 
like  copper-plate.  His  lessons  from  A to  &, 
all  written  by  himself,  consisted  of  pithy 
proverbs  and  useful  moral  lessons.  On  every 
page  of  our  writing-books  he  wrote  the  first 
line  himself.  The  effect  was  what  might 
have  been  expected — with  such  models,  pa- 
tiently enforced,  nearly  all  became  good 
writers. 

“Beyond  these  simple  elements,  the  Up- 
town school  made  few  pretensions.  When 
I was  there,  two  Webster’s  Grammars  and 
one  or  two  Dwight’s  Geographies  were  in 
use.  The  latter  was  without  maps  or  illus- 
trations, and  was  in  fact  little  more  than  an 
expanded  table  of  contents,  taken  from 
Morse’s  Universal  Geography — the  mam- 


moth monument  of  American  learning  and 
genius  of  that  age  and  generation.  The 
grammar  was  a clever  book ; but  I have  an 
idea  that  neither  Master  Stebbins  nor  his 
pupils  ever  fathomed  its  depths.  They  floun- 
dered about  in  it,  as  if  in  a quagmire,  and 
after  some  time  came  out  pretty  nearly  where 
they  went  in,  though  perhaps  a little  obfus- 
cated by  the  dim  and  dusky  atmosphere  of 
these  labyrinths. 

“ The  fact  undoubtedly  is,  that  the  art  of 
teaching,  as  now  understood,  beyond  the 
simplest  elements,  was  neither  known  nor 
deemed  necessary  in  our  country  schools  in 
their  day  of  small  things.  Repetition,  drill- 
ing, line  upon  line,  and  precept  upon  pre- 
cept, with  here  and  there  a little  of  the  birch 
— constituted  the  entire  system. 

“ Let  me  here  repeat  an  anecdote,  which 
I have  indeed  told  before,  but  which  I had 
from  the  lips  of  its  hero,  G . . . H . . .,  a 
clergyman  of  some  note  thirty  years  ago, 
and  which  well  illustrates  this  part  of  my 
story.  At  a village  school,  not  many  miles 
from  Ridgefield,  he  was  put  into  Webster’s 
Grammar.  Here  he  read,  ‘ A noun  is  the 
name  of  a thing — as  horse,  hair , justice.'1 
Now  in  his  innocence,  he  read  it  thus : ‘ A 
noun  is  the  name  of  a thing — as  horse-hair 
justice .’ 

“ ‘ What  then,’  said  he,  ruminating  deeply, 
‘ is  a noun  ? But  first  I must  find  out  what 
a horse-hair  justice  is.’ 

“Upon  this  he  meditated  for  some  days, 
but  still  he  was  as  far  as  ever  from  the  solu- 
tion. Now  his  father  was  a man  of  authority 
in  those  parts,  and  moreover  he  was  a justice 
of  the  peace.  Withal,  he  was  of  respectable 
ancestry,  and  so  there  had  descended  to  him 
a somewhat  stately  high-backed  settee,  cov- 
ered with  horse-hair.  One  day,  as  the  youth 
came  from  school,  pondering  upon  the  great 
grammatical  problem,  he  entered  the  front 
door  of  the  house,  and  there  he  saw  before 
him,  his  father,  officiating  in  his  legal  capa- 
city, and  seated  upon  the  old  horse-hair  set- 
tee. * I have  found  it !’  said  the  boy  to 
himself,  as  greatly  delighted  as  was  Archim- 
edes when  he  exclaimed  Eureka — 1 my  fa- 
ther is  a horse-hair  justice,  and  therefore  a 
noun !’ 

“ Nevertheless,  it  must  be  admitted  that 
the  world  got  on  remarkably  well  in  spite 
of  this  narrowness  of  the  country  schools. 
The  elements  of  an  English  education  were 
pretty  well  taught  throughout  the  village 
seminaries  of  Connecticut,  and  I may  add, 


380 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


of  New  England.  The  teachers  were  heart- 
ily devoted  to  their  profession : they  re- 
spected their  calling,  and  were  respected 
and  encouraged  by  the  community.  They 
had  this  merit,  that  while  they  attempted 
but  little,  that,  at  least,  was  thoroughly  per- 
formed. 

“ As  to  the  country  at  large,  it  was  a day 
of  quiet,  though  earnest  action:  Franklin’s 
spirit  was  the  great  ‘ schoolmaster  abroad’ — 
teaching  industry,  perseverance,  frugality, 
and  thrift,  as  the  end  and  aim  of  ambition. 
The  education  of  youth  was  suitedto  what  was 
expected  of  them.  With  the  simple  lessons 
of  the  country  schools,  they  moved  the 
world  immediately  around  them.  Though 
I can  recollect  only  a single  case — that  al- 
ready alluded  to  of  Ezekiel  Sanford — in  which 
one  of  Master  Stebbins’s  scholars  attained 
any  degree  of  literary  distinction,  still,  quite 
a number  of  them,  with  no  school  learning 
beyond  what  he  gave  them,  rose  to  a certain 
degree  of  eminence.  His  three  sons  obtain- 
ed situations  in  New  York  as  accountants, 
and  became  distinguished  in  their  career. 
At  one  period  there  were  three  graduates 
of  his  school,  who  were  cashiers  of  banks  in 
that  city.  My  mind  adverts  now  with  great 
satisfaction  to  several  names  among  the 
wealthy,  honorable,  and  still  active  mer- 
chants of  the  great  metropolis,  who  were 
my  fellow-students  of  the  Up-town  school, 
and  who  there  began  and  completed  their 
education.” 

To  the  advantages,  such  as  they  were,  of 
the  district  school,  Mr.  Goodrich  adds  an 
account  of  his  experience  on  the  farm,  and 
his  juvenile  sports,  as  well  as  his  early  at- 
tempts at  whittling  and  other  mechanical 
arts,  and  adds  the  following  reflections : — 

“ Now  all  these  things  may  seem  trifles, 
yet  in  a review  of  my  life,  I deem  them  of 
some  significance.  This  homely  familiarity 
with  the  more  mechanical  arts  was  a mate- 
rial part  of  my  education;  this  communion 
with  nature  gave  me  instructive  and  impor- 
tant lessons  from  nature’s  open  book  of 
knowledge.  My  technical  education,  as  will 
be  seen  hereafter,  was  extremely  narrow  and 
irregular.  This  defect  was  at  last  partially 
supplied  by  the  commonplace  incidents  I 
have  mentioned.  The  teaching,  or  rather 
the  training  of  the  senses,  in  the  country — 
ear  and  eye,  foot  and  hand,  by  running,  leap- 
ing, climbing  over  hill  and  mountain,  by  oc- 
casional labor  in  the  garden  and  on  the  farm, 
and  by  the  use  of  tools — and  all  this  in  youth, 


is  sowing  seed  which  is  repaid  largely  and 
readily  to  the  hand  of  after  cultivation,  how- 
ever unskilful  it  may  be.  This  is  not  so 
much  because  of  the  amount  of  knowledge 
available  in  after-life,  which  is  thus  obtained 
— though  this  is  not  to  be  despised — as  it 
is  that  healthful,  vigorous,  manly  habits  and 
associations — physical,  moral,  and  intellec- 
tual— are  thus  established  and  developed.. 

“ It  is  a riddle  to  many  people  that  the 
emigrants  from  the  country  into  the  city,  in 
all  ages,  outstrip  the  natives,  and  become 
their  masters.  The  reason  is  obvious : coun- 
try education  and  country  life  are  practical, 
and  invigorating  to  body  and  mind,  and 
hence  those  who  are  thus  qualified  triumph 
| in  the  race  of  life.  It  has  always  been,  it 
will  always  be  so;  the  rustic  Goths  and 
Vandals  will  march  in  and  conquer  Koine, 
in  the  future,  as  they  have  done  in  the  past. 
I say  this,  by  no  means  insisting  that  my 
! own  life  furnishes  any  very  striking  proof 
I of  the  truth  of  my  remarks ; still,  I may  say 
' that  but  for  the  country  training  and  cxperi- 
! ence  I have  alluded  to,  and  which  served  as 
a foothold  for  subsequent  progress,  I should 
have  lingered  in  my  career  far  behind  the 
humble  advances  I have  actually  made. 

“ Let  me  illustrate  and  verify  my  meaning 
by  specific  examples.  In  my  youth  I be- 
came familiar  with  every  bird  common  to 
the  country : I knew  his  call,  his  song,  his 
hue,  his  food,  his  habits ; in  short,  his  natu- 
ral history.  I could  detect  him  by  his  flight, 
as  far  as  the  eye  could  reach.  I knew  all 
the  quadrupeds — wild  as  well  as  tame.  I 
was  acquainted  with  almost  every  tree,  shrub, 
bush,  and  flower,  indigenous  to  the  country  ; 
not  botanicallv,  but  according  to  popular 
I ideas.  I recognized  them  instantly,  where- 
ever  I saw  them ; I knew  their  forms, 
j hues,  leaves,  blossoms,  and  fruit.  I could 
tell  their  characteristics,  their  uses,  the 
; legends  and  traditions  that  belonged  to 
them.  All  this  I learned  by  familiarity  with 
these  objects ; meeting  with  them  in  all  my 
i walks  and  rambles,  and  taking  note  of  them 
with  the  emphasis  and  vigor  of  early  experi- 
■ ence  and  observation.  In  after  days.  I have 
| never  had  time  to  make  natural  history  a 
systematic  study;  yet  my  knowledge  as  to 
these  things  has  constantly  accumulated, 
and  that  without  special  effort.  "When  I 
have  travelled  in  other  countries,  the  birds, 
the  animals,  the  vegetation,  have  interested 
me  as  well  by  their  resemblances  as  their 
| differences,  when  compared  with  our  own. 


PROGRESS  OF  COMMON  OR  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS. 


381 


In  looking  over  the  pages  of  scientific  works 
on  natural  history,  I have  always  read  with 
eagerness  and  intelligence  of  preparation; 
indeed,  of  vivid  and  pleasing  associations. 
Every  idea  I had  touching  these  matters 
was  living  and  sympathetic,  and  beckoned 
other  ideas  to  it,  and  these  again  originated 
still  others.  Thus  it  is  that  in  the  race  of  a 
busy  life,  by  means  of  a homely,  hearty  start 
at  the  beginning,  I have,  as  to  these  subjects, 
easily  and  naturally  supplied,  in  some  hum- 
ble degree,  the  defects  of  my  irregular  edu- 
cation, and  that  too,  not  by  a process  of  re- 
pulsive toil,  but  with  a relish  superior  to  all 
the  seductions  of  romance.  I am  therefore  a 
believer  in  the  benefits  accruing  from  simple 
country  life  and  simple  country  habits,  as  here 
illustrated,  and  am,  therefore,  on  all  occasions 
anxious  to  recommend  them  to  my  friends  and 
countrymen.  To  city  people,  I would  say, 
educate  your  children,  at  least  partially,  in  the 
country,  so  as  to  imbue  them  with  the  love 
of  nature,  and  that  knowledge  and  training 
which  spring  from  simple  rustic  sports,  ex- 
ercises, and  employments.  To  country  peo- 
ple, I would  remark,  be  not  envious  of  the 
city,  for  in  the  general  balance  of  good  and 
evil,  you  have  your  full  portion  of  the  first, 
with  a diminished  share  of  the  last.” 

THE  HOMESPUN  ERA  OF  COMMON  SCHOOLS. 

BY  HORACE  BUSHNELL,  D.D. 

“ But  the  schools — we  must  not  pass  by 
these,  if  we  are  to  form  a truthful  and  suffi- 
cient picture  of  the  homespun  days.  The 
schoolmaster  did  not  exactly  go  jound  the 
district  to  fit  out  the  children’s  minds  with 
learning,  as  the  shoemaker  often  did  to  fit 
their  feet  with  shoes,  or  the  tailor  to  mea- 
sure and  cut  for  their  bodies ; but,  to  come 
as  near  it  as  possible,  he  boarded  round,  (a 
custom  not  yet  gone  by,)  and  the  wood  for 
the  common  fire  was  supplied  in  a way 
equally  primitive,  viz.,  by  a contribution  of 
loads  from  the  several  families,  according  to 
their  several  quantities  of  childhood.  The 
children  were  all  clothed  alike  in  home- 
spun  ; and  the  only  signs  of  aristocracy 
were,  that  some  were  clean  and  some  a de- 
gree less  so,  some  in  fine  white  and  striped 
linen,  some  in  brown  tow  crash ; and,  in 
particular,  as  I remember,  with  a certain 
feeling  of  quality  I do  not  like  to  express, 
the  good  fathers  of  some  testified  the  opin- 
ion they  had  of  their  children,  by  bringing 
fine  round  loads  of  hickory  wood  to  warm 
them,  while  some  others,  I regret  to  say, 
23* 


brought  only  scanty,  scraggy,  ill-looking 
heaps  of  green  oak,  white  birch,  and  hem- 
lock. Indeed,  about  all  the  bickerings  of 
quality  among  the  children,  centered  in  the 
quality  of  the  wood  pile.  There  was  no 
complaint,  in  those  days,  of  the  want  of 
ventilation ; for  the  large  open  fire-place 
held  a considerable  fraction  of  a cord  of 
wood,  and  the  windows  took  in  just  enough 
air  to  supply  the  combustion.  Besides,  the 
bigger  lads  were  occasionally  ventilated,  by 
being  sent  out  to  cut  wood  enough  to  keep 
the  fire  in  action.  The  seats  were  made  of 
the  outer  slabs  from  the  saw-mill,  supported 
by  slant  legs  driven  into  and  a proper  dis- 
tance through  auger  holes,  and  planed 
smooth  on  the  top  by  the  rather  tardy 
process  of  friction.  But  the  spelling  went 
on  bravely,  and  we  ciphered  away  again 
and  again,  always  till  we  got  through  Loss 
and  Gain.  The  more  advanced  of  us,  too, 
made  light  work  of  Lindley  Murray,  and 
went  on  to  the  parsing,  finally,  of  extracts 
from  Shakspearc  and  Milton,  till  some  of  us 
began  to  think  we  had  mastered  their  tough 
sentences  in  a more  consequential  sense  of 
the  term  than  was  exactly  true.  O,  I re- 
member (about  the  remotest  thing  I can 
remember)  that  low  seat,  too  high,  never- 
theless, to  allow  the  feet  to  touch  the  floor, 
and  that  friendly  teacher  who  had  the  ad- 
dress to  start  a first  feeling  of  enthusiasm 
and  awaken  the  first  sense  of  power.  He  is 
living  still,  and  whenever  I think  of  him,  he 
rises  up  to  me  in  the  far  background  of 
memory,  as  bright  as  if  he  had  worn  the 
seven  stars  in  his  hair.  (I  said  he  is  living ; 
yes,  he  is  here  to-day,  God  bless  him !) 
How  many  others  of  you  that  are  here  as- 
sembled, recall  these  little  primitive  univer- 
sities of  homespun,  where  your  mind  was 
born,  with  a similar  feeling  of  reverence 
and  homely  satisfaction.  Perhaps  you  re- 
member, too,  with  a pleasure  not  less  genu- 
ine, that  you  received  the  classic  discipline 
of  the  university  proper,  under  a dress  of 
homespun,  to  be  graduated,  at  the  close, 
in  the  joint  honors  of  broadcloth  and  the 
parchment.” 

We  might  add  other  lights  and  shades  to 
the  picture  of  school  life  as  it  was  down  to  a 
very  recent  period  in  New  England  and  New 
York,  but  we  must  refer  our  readers  to  that 
amusing  and  instructive  volume  of  Rev.  War- 
ren Burton,  “ The  District  School  as  it  was.” 
We  must  pass  to  the  elementary  schools  of 
Pennsylvania  and  the  Southern  States. 


382 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


LETTER  FROM  WILLIAM  DARLINGTON,  M.D., 
LL.D. 

“ At  your  request,  I propose  to  attempt  a 
brief  and  hasty  sketch  of  acquaintance 
with,  and  reminiscences  of  the  Country 
Schools , and  their  condition,  some  sixty-five 
or  seventy  years  since,  in  the  south-eastern 
corner  of  the  state  of  Pennsylvania;  more 
particularly  the  school  at  Birmingham,  Ches- 
ter county,  where  the  limited  instruction  of 
my  youthful  days  was  chiefly  acquired. 

“ My  earliest  recollections  of  the  school  to 
which  I was  sent  go  back  to  that  trying  pe- 
riod of  loose  government,  rusticity,  and 
scarcity  experienced  in  the  interval  between 
the  War  of  Independence  and  the  adoption 
of  the  Federal  Constitution;  and  if  it  were 
given  me  to  wield  the  pen  of  Tom  Brown 
of  Rugby,  I might  perad  venture  furnish  some 
graphic  details  of  our  rural  seminaries  of 
learning  in  those  days  of  general  destitution. 
But,  under  present  circumstances,  I can  only 
offer  the  imperfect  narrative  of  incidents  and 
observations,  as  retained  in  an  almost  octo- 
genarian memory. 

“At  the  time  when  I was  first  sent  to 
school — say  in  1787— 8 — school-houses  were 
rare;  and  there  was  little  or  no  organization 
for  their  maintenance.  The  country  round, 
having  been  recently  ravaged  by  a hostile 
army,  was  scantily  supplied  with  teachers, 
who  occasionally  obtained  schools  by  going 
among  the  principal  families  of  the  vicinage, 
and  procuring  subscribers  for  a quarter’s  tui- 
tion of  the  children  on  hand.  Those  who 
were  too  young  to  be  serviceable  on  the 
farm  were  allowed  to  go  to  school  in  the 
summer  season ; but  the  larger  ones  ( exper - 
tus  loquor ) could  only  be  spared  for  that 
purpose  during  winter.  The  extent  of  rural 
instruction  was  then  considered  to  be  prop- 
erly limited  to  what  a worthy  London  aider- 
man  designated  as  the  three  R^s,  viz.,  ‘Read- 
ing, Riting,  and  Rithmetic.’  To  cipher 
beyond  the  Rule  of  Three  was  deemed  a 
notable  achievement  and  mere  surplusage 
among  the  average  of  country  scholars. 
The  business  of  teaching,  at  that  day,  was 
disdainfully  regarded  as  among  the  hum- 
blest and  most  unprofitable  of  callings ; and 
the  teachers — often  low-bred,  intemperate 
adventurers  from  the  old  world — were  gen- 
erally about  on  a par  with  the  prevalent  es- 
timate of  the  profession.  Whenever  a thrift- 
less vagabond  was  found  to  be  good  for 
nothing  else,  he  would  resort  to  school-keep- 


ing, and  teaching  young  American  ideas 
how  to  shoot ! It  was  my  good  fortune, 
however,  to  have  a teacher  who  was  a dis- 
tinguished exception  to  the  sorry  rule  re- 
ferred to.  John  Forsythe  was  a native  of 
the  Emerald  Isle,  born  in  1754,  received  a 
good  English  education  at  home,  and  while 
yet  a young  man,  migrated  to  the  county  of 
Chester , in  the  land  of  Penn,  where  he  be- 
came an  excellent  schoolmaster.  When  he 
arrived  in  our  quakerly  settlement,  he  was  a 
gay  young  Presbyterian,  dressed  in  the  fash- 
ionable apparel  of  the  world’s  people ; and 
being  withal  musical  in  his  taste,  was  an  ex- 
pert performer  on  the  violin.  He  soon,  how- 
ever, adopted  the  views  and  principles  of  the 
‘ Friends,’  among  whom  he  remained,  mar- 
ried one  of  the  society,  and  was  ever  recog- 
nized as  an  exemplary  and  valuable  member. 

“ As  the  head  and  master-spirit  of  the 
school,  at  Birmingham  meeting-house,  es- 
tablished under  the  auspices  of  the  Quaker 
society,  he  taught  for  a number  of  years, 
and  always  applied  himself  con  amore  to  his 
arduous  duties.  He  accomplished  more  in 
exciting  a taste  for  knowledge  and  develop- 
ing young  intellects,  than  any  teacher  who 
had  theretofore  labored  in  that  hopeful  vine- 
yard. He  effectually  routed  the  lingering 
old  superstitions,  prejudices,  and  benighted 
notions  of  preceding  generations,  and  ever 
took  delight  in  introducing  youthful  genius 
to  the  bright  fields  of  literature  and  science. 
The  young  men  of  his  day,  who  have  since 
figured  in  the  world,  were  deeply  indebted 
to  John  Forsythe  for  the  aid  which  he  af- 
forded them  in  their  studies,  as  well  as  for 
the  sound  doctrines  which  he  inculcated ; 
and  some  few  of  them  yet  survive  to  make 
the  grateful  acknowledgment. 

“ When  the  noble  Quaker  institution  at 
West-town  was  drected,  near  the  close  of  the 
last  century,  the  skill  and  experience  of  John 
Forsythe  were  put  in  requisition,  until  it  was 
fairly  inaugurated ; after  which  he  retired  to 
his  comfortable  farm,  in  East  Bradford, 
where  he  passed  a venerable  old  age,  until 
his  87th  year,  in  superintending  agricultural 
employments  and  in  manifesting  a lively  in- 
terest in  the  progress  of  education  among 
our  people.  No  instructor  has  labored  in 
this  community  more  faithfully,  nor  with 
better  effect.  None  has  left  a memory  more 
worthy  to  be  kindly  cherished. 

“ The  old  school-house  at  Birmingham  was 
a one  story  stone  building,  erected  by  men 
| who  did  not  understand  the  subject ; and 


PROGRESS  OF  COMMON  OR  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS. 


383 


was  badly  lighted  and  ventilated.  The  dis- 
cipline of  that  day  (adopted  from  the  mother 
country)  was  pretty  severe.  The  real  birch 
of  the  botanists  not  being  indigenous  in  the 
immediate  vicinity  of  the  school,  an  efficient 
substitute  was  found  in  young  apple  tree 
sprouts,  as  unruly  boys  were  abundantly 
able  to  testify. 

“ The  school  books  of  my  earliest  recollection 
were  a cheap  English  spelling  book,  the  Bi- 
ble for  the  reading  classes,  and  when  we  got 
to  ciphering,  the  ‘Schoolmasters’  Assistant.’ 
The  ‘ Spelling  Book’  and  ‘ Assistant’  were 
by  Thomas  Dilworth,  an  English  school- 
master at  Wapping.  The  ‘ Assistant’  was  a 
useful  work,  but  has  long  since  disappeared. 
The  ‘counterfeit  presentment’  of  the  worthy 
author  faced  the  title-page,  and  was  famil- 
iarly known  to  every  schoolboy  of  my  time. 
The  Spelling  Book  contained  a little  ele- 
mentary grammar,  in  which  the  English  sub- 
stantives were  declined  through  all  the  cases 
(genitive,  dative,  etc.)  of  the  Latin.  But 
grammar  was  then  an  unknown  study  among 
us.  Dilworth’s  ‘ Spelling  Book,’  however, 
was  soon  superseded  by  a greatly  improved 
one,  compiled  by  John  Pierce,  a respect- 
able teacher  of  Delaware  county,  Pennsyl- 
vania. This  comprised  a tolerable  English 
grammar,  for  that  period,  and  John  Forsythe 
introduced  the  study  into  his  school  with 
much  zeal  and  earnestness.  Intelligent  em- 
ployers were  made  to  comprehend  its  advan- 
tages, and  were  pleased  with  the  prospect 
of  a hopeful  advance  in  that  direction ; but 
dull  boys  and  illiterate  parents  could  not  ap- 
preciate the  benefit.  Great  boobies  often 
got  permission,  at  home,  to  evade  the  study, 
but  they  could  not  get  round  John  Forsythe 
in  that  way.  They  would  come  into  school 
with  this  promised  indulgence,  and  loudly 
announce,  ‘Daddy  says  I needn’t  lam  gram- 
mar ; it’s  no  use  :’  when  the  energetic  re- 
sponse from  the  desk  was,  ‘ I don’t  care 
what  daddy  says.  He  knows  nothing  about 
it ; and  I say  thou  shalt  learn  it !’  and  so 
some  general  notion  of  the  subject  was  im- 
pressed upon  the  minds  even  of  the  stupid; 
while  many  of  the  brighter  youths  became 
excellent  grammarians. 

“ In  this  Friendly  seminary  we  were  all  re- 
quired to  use  the  plain  language  in  conver- 
sation, being  assured  that  it  was  wrong,  both 
morally  and  grammatically,  to  say  you  to 
one  person.  Our  teacher  contrived  a meth- 
od of  his  own  for  mending  our  cacology, 
even  while  at  our  noonday  sports.  lie  pre- 


pared a small  piece  of  board  or  shingle, 
which  he  termed  a paddle ; and  whenever  a 
boy  was  heard  uttering  bad  grammar,  he 
had  to  take  the  paddle,  step  aside,  and  re- 
frain from  play,  until  he  detected  some  other 
unlucky  urchin  trespassing  upon  syntax; 
when  he  was  authorized  to  transfer  the 
badge  of  interdiction  to  the  last  offender, 
and  resume  his  amusements.  It  was  really 
curious  to  observe  how  critical  we  soon  be- 
came, and  how  much  improvement  was  ef- 
fected by  this  whimsical  and  simple  device. 

“ Pierce’s  ‘ Spelling  Book’  kept  its  position 
in  our  school  for  several  years,  but  was  at 
length  superseded,  in  the  grammatical  de- 
partment, by  a useful  little  volume,  prepared 
by  John  Comly,  of  Bucks  county,  Pennsyl- 
vania. Lindley  Murray  and  others  prepared 
elaborate  grammars,  which  were  successively 
introduced,  as  our  schools  improved  or  cre- 
ated a demand;  and  so  rapidly  have  the 
bookmaking  competitors  in  that  department 
multiplied  that  their  name  is  now  legion, 
and  the  respective  value  of  their  works  is 
known  only  to  experts  in  the  art  of  teach- 
ing- 

“ Excellent  works  in  Reading  and  Elocution 
are  now  so  abundant  and  well  known  in  all 
our  respectable  seminaries,  that  they  need 
not  to  be  here  enumerated.  One  of  the  best 
and  most  popular  of  those  works,  some  half 
century  or  more  since,  was  a volume  entitled 
‘ The  Art  of  Speaking,’  compiled,  I think, 
by  a Mr.  Rice,  in  England. 

“ But,  as  we  have  now  reached  the  age  of 
academies,  normal  institutes,  and  schools  for 
the  people,  I presume  you  will  gladly  forego 
a further  extension  of  this  prosy  narrative, 
so  little  calculated  to  interest  a veteran  in 
the  great  cause  of  education.  I have  ever 
been  a sincere  friend  and  advocate  of  the 
blessing;  but,  unfortunately,  my  acquaint- 
ance with  it  has  been  mainly  limited  to  a 
humbling  consciousness  of  my  deficiencies 
in  the  ennobling  attainment. 

“ Very  respectfully, 

“ Wm.  Darlington. 
“West  Chester,  Pa.,  Dec.  21,  1860.” 

SCHOOLS  IN  PHILADELPHIA. 

The  following  picture  of  the  internal  econ- 
omy of  one  of  the  best  schools  of  Phila- 
delphia, is  taken  from  Watson’s  “ Annals 
of  Philadelphia  and  Pennsylvania.” 

“ My  facetious  friend,  Lang  Syne,  has  pre- 
sented a lively  picture  of  the  ‘ schoolmas- 


384 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


ters’  in  those  days,  when  4 preceptors,’  and 
4 principals,’  and  4 professors’  were  yet  un- 
named. What  is  now  known  as  4 Friends’ 
Academy,’  in  Fourth  street,  was  at  that  time 
occupied  by  four  different  masters.  The 
best  room  down-stairs  by  Robert  Proud, 
Latin  master;  the  one  above  him,  by  Wil- 
liam Waring,  teacher  of  astronomy  and  math- 
ematics ; the  east  room,  up-stairs,  by  Jere- 
miah Paul,  and  the  one  below,  ‘last  not 
least’  in  our  remembrance,  by  J.  Todd,  and 
severe  he  was.  The  State  House  clock,  be- 
ing at  the  time  visible  from  the  school  pave- 
ment, gave  to  the  eye  full  notice  when  to 
break  off  marble  and  plug  top,  hastily  col- 
lect the  ‘ stakes,’  and  bundle  in,  pell-mell, 
to  the  school-room,  where,  until  the  arrival 
of  the  ‘master  of  scholars,’  John  Todd, 
they  were  busily  employed,  every  one  in 
finding  his  place,  under  the  control  for  the 
time  of  a short  Irishman,  usher,  named  Jim- 
my M’Cue.  On  the  entrance  of  the  master, 
all  shuffling  of  the  feet,  ‘scrouging,’  hit- 
ting of  elbows,  and  whispering  disputes, 
were  hastily  adjusted,  leaving  a silence 
which  might  be  felt,  ‘not  a mouse  stir- 
ring.’ He,  Todd,  dressed  after  the  plainest 
manner  of  Friends,  but  of  the  richest  ma- 
terial, with  looped  cocked  hat,  was  at  all 
times  remarkably  clean  and  nice  in  his  per- 
son, a man  of  about  sixty  years,  square 
built,  and  well  sustained  by  bone  and  mus- 
cle. 

“After  an  hour,  maybe,  of  quiet  time, 
every  thing  going  smoothly  on — no  sound, 
but  from  the  master’s  voice,  while  hearing 
the  one  standing  near  him,  a dead  calm, 
when  suddenly  a brisk  slap  on  the  ear  or 
face,  for  something  or  for  nothing,  gave 
* dreadful  note’  that  an  eruption  of  the 
lava  was  now  about  to  take  place.  Next 
thing  to  be  seen  was  ‘ strap  in  full  play 
over  the  head  and  shoulders  of  Pilgarlic.’ 
The  passion  of  the  master  ‘growing  by 
what  it  fed  on,’  and  wanting  elbow  room, 
the  chair  would  be  quickly  thrust  on  one 
side,  when,  with  sudden  gripe,  he  was  to  be 
seen  dragging  his  struggling  suppliant  to 
the  flogging  ground,  in  the  centre  of  the 
room ; having  placed  his  left  foot  upon  the 
end  of  a bench,  he  then,  with  a patent  jerk, 
peculiar  to  himself,  would  have  the  boy  com- 
pletely horsed  across  his  knee,  with  his  left 
elbow  on  the  back  of  his  neck,  to  keep  him 
securely  on.  In  the  hurry  of  the  moment 
he  would  bring  his  long  pen  with  him, 
griped  between  his  strong  teeth  (visible  the 


while),  causing  both  ends  to  descend  to 
a parallel  with  his  chin,  and  adding  much 
to  the  terror  of  the  scene.  His  face  would 
assume  a deep  claret  color — his  little  bob  of 
hair  would  disengage  itself,  and  stand  out, 
each  ‘ particular  hair’  as  it  were,  ‘ up  in 
arms  and  eager  for  the  fray.’  Having  his 
victim  thus  completely  at  command,  and  all 
useless  drapery  drawn  up  to  a bunch  above 
the  waistband,  and  the  rotundity  and  the 
nankeen  in  the  closest  affinity  possible  for 
them  to  be,  then  once  more  to  the  ‘ staring 
crew’  would  be  exhibited  the  dexterity  of 
master  and  strap.  By  long  practice  he  had 
arrived  at  such  perfection  in  the  exercise, 
that,  moving  in  quick  time,  the  fifteen  inches 
of  bridle  rein  ( alias  strap)  would  be  seen 
after  every  cut,  elevated  to  a perpendicular 
above  his  head ; from  wrhence  it  descended 
like  a flail  on  the  stretched  nankeen,  leav- 
ing ‘ on  the  place  beneath’  a fiery  red 
streak,  at  every  slash.  It  was  customary 
with  him  to  address  the  sufferer  at  intervals, 
as  follows  : 4 Does  it  hurt  ?’  4 Oh  ! yes, 

master ; oh ! don’t,  master.’  4 Then  I’ll 
make  it  hurt  thee  more.  I’ll  make  thy  flesh 
creep — thou  shan’t  want  a warming  pan  to- 
night. Intolerable  being ! Nothing  in  na- 
ture is  able  to  prevail  upon  thee  but  my 
strap.’  He  had  one  boy  named  George 
Fudge,  who  usually  wore  leather  breeches, 
with  which  he  put  strap  and  its  master  at 
defiance.  He  would  never  acknowledge 
pain — he  would  not  4 sing  out.’  Todd  seiz- 
ed him  one  day,  and  having  gone  through 
the  evolutions  of  strapping  (as  useless,  in 
effect,  as  if  he  had  been  thrashing  a flour- 
bag),  almost  breathless  with  rage,  he  once 
more  appealed  to  the  feelings  of  the  4 repro- 
bate,’ by  saying  : ‘ Does  it  not  hurt  ?’  The 
astonishment  of  the  school  and  the  mas- 
ter was  completed,  on  hearing  him  sing 
out,  4 No  ! Hurray  for  leather  crackers  !’ 
He  was  thrown  off  immediately,  sprawling 
on  the  floor,  with  the  benediction  as  follows  : 
‘ Intolerable  being  ! Get  out  of  my  school. 
Nothing  in  nature  is  able  to  prevail  upon 
thee — not  even  my  strap  !’ 

44  ’Twas  not  4 his  love  of  learning  was  in 
fault,’  so  much  as  the  old  British  system  of 
introducing  learning  and  discipline  into  the 
brains  of  boys  and  soldiers  by  dint  of  pun- 
ishment. The  system  of  flogging  on  all 
occasions  in  schools,  for  something  or  for 
nothing,  being  protected  by  law,  gives  free 
play  to  the  passions  of  the  master,  which 
he,  for  one,  exercised  with  great  severity. 


PROGRESS  OF  COMMON  OR  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS. 


385 


The  writer  has,  at  this  moment,  in  his  mem- 
ory, a schoolmaster  then  of  this  city,  who,  a 
few  years  ago,  went  deliberately  out  of  his 
school  to  purchase  a cow-skin,  with  which, 
on  his  return,  he  extinguished  his  bitter  re- 
venge on  a boy  who  had  offended  him. 
The  age  of  chivalry  preferred  ignorance  in 
its  sons,  to  having  them  subjected  to  the 
fear  of  a pedagogue — believing  that  a boy 
who  had  quailed  under  the  eye  of  the 
schoolmaster,  would  never  face  the  enemy 
with  boldness  on  the  field  of  battle  ; which 
it  must  be  allowed  is  ‘ a swing  of  the  pen- 
dulum’ too  far  the  other  way.  A good 
writer  says  : ‘We  do  not  harden  the  wax 
to  receive  the  impression — wherefore,  the 
teacher  seems  himself  most  in  need  of  cor- 
rection— for  he,  unfit  to  teach,  is  making 
them  unfit  to  be  taught !’ 

44 1 have  been  told  by  an  aged  gentleman, 
that  in  the  days  of  his  boyhood,  sixty-five 
years  ago,  when  boys  and  girls  were  to- 
gether, it  was  a common  practice  to  make 
the  boys  strip  off  their  jackets,  and  loose 
their  trowsers’  band,  preparatory  to  hoisting 
them  upon  a boy’s  back  so  as  to  get  his 
whipping,  with  only  the  linen  between  the 
flesh  and  the  strap.  The  girls  too — we 
pity  them — were  obliged  to  take  off  their 
stays  to  receive  their  floggings  with  equal 
sensibility.  He  named  one  distinguished 
lady,  since , who  was  so  treated  among  oth- 
ers, in  his  school.  All  the  teachers  then 
were  from  England  and  Ireland,  and  brought 
with  them  the  rigorous  principles  which 
had  before  been  whipped  into  themselves  at 
home.” 

Robert  Coram,  in  a pamphlet  devoted  in 
part  to  a 44  Plan  for  the  General  Establish- 
ment of  Schools  throughout  the  United 
States,”  printed  in  Wilmington,  Delaware, 
in  1791,  characterizes  the  state  of  education 
as  follows : 44  The  country  schools,  through 
most  of  the  United  States,  whether  we  con- 
sider the  buildings,  the  teachers,  or  the  reg- 
ulations, are  in  every  respect  completely  des- 
picable, wretched,  and  contemptible.  The 
buildings  are  in  general  sorry  hovels,  neither 
wind-tight  nor  water-tight ; a few  stools 
serving  in  the  double  capacity  of  bench  and 
desk,  and  the  old  leaves  of  copy  books  ma- 
king a miserable  substitute  for  glass  win- 
dows. The  teachers  are  generally  foreign- 
ers, shamefully  deficient  in  every  qualifica- 
tion necessary  to  convey  instruction  to 
youth,  and  not  seldom  addicted  to  gross* 


vices.  Absolute  in  his  own  opinion,  and 
proud  of  introducing  what  he  calls  his  Euro- 
pean method,  one  calls  the  first  letter  of  the 
alphabet,  aw.  The  school  is  modified  upon 
this  plan,  and  the  children  who  are  advanced 
are  beat  and  cuffed  to  forget  the  former 
mode  they  have  been  taught,  which  irritates 
their  minds  and  retards  their  progress.  The 
quarter  being  finished,  the  children  lie  idle 
until  another  master  offers,  few  remaining  in 
one  place  more  than  a quarter.  When  the 
next  schoolmaster  is  introduced,  he  calls  the 
first  letter  a,  as  in  mat ; the  school  under- 
goes another  reform,  and  is  equally  vexed 
and  retarded.  At  his  removal  a third  is  in- 
troduced, who  calls  the  first  letter  hay.  All 
these  blockheads  are  equally  absolute  in 
their  own  notions,  and  will  by  no  means 
suffer  the  children  to  pronounce  the  letter 
as  they  were  first  taught ; but  every  three- 
months  the  school  goes  through  a reform — 
error  succeeds  error,  and  dunce  the  second 
reigns  like  dunce  the  first.  I will  venture 
to  pronounce,  that  however  seaport  towns, 
from  local  circumstances,  may  have  good 
schools,  the  country  schools  will  remain  in 
their  present  state  of  despicable  wretched- 
ness, unless  incorporated  with  government. 
* * * The  necessity  of  a reformation  in 

the  country  schools  is  too  obvious  to  be  in- 
sisted on ; and  the  first  step  to  such  a re- 
formation will  be  by  turning  private  schools 
into  public  ones.  The  schools  should  be 
public,  for  several  reasons — 1st.  Because,  as 
has  been  before  said,  every  citizen  has  an 
equal  right  to  subsistence,  and  ought  to  have 
an  equal  opportunity  of  acquiring  knowl- 
edge. 2d.  Because  public  schools  are 
easiest  maintained,  as  the  burthen  falls  upon 
all  the  citizens.  The  man  who  is  too 
squeamish  or  lazy  to  get  married,  contrib- 
utes to  the  support  of  public  schools,  as 
well  as  the  man  who  is  burthened  with  a 
large  family.  But  private  schools  arc  sup- 
ported only  by  heads  of  families,  and  by  those 
only  while  they  are  interested  ; for  as  soon 
as  the  children  are  grown  up,  their  support 
is  withdrawn;  which  makes  the  employ- 
ment so  precarious,  that  men  of  ability  and 
merit  will  not  submit  to  the  trifling  salaries 
allowed  in  most  country  schools,  and  which, 
by  their  partial  support,  cannot  afford  a bet- 
ter.” 

SCHOOL  HOLIDAY  IN  GEORGIA. 

We  have  not  been  very  successful  in  gath- 
ering the  printed  testimony  of  the  dead,  or 


386 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


the  vivid  reminiscences  of  the  living,  respect- 
ing the  internal  economy  of  schools,  public 
or  family,  in  any  of  the  Southern  states  prior 
to  1800.  The  following  graphic  sketch  of 
“ the  turn  out”  of  the  schoolmaster,  from 
Judge  Longstreet’s  “ Georgia  Scenes,”  is 
said  to  be  “ literally  true  :” 

“ In  the  good  old  days  of  fescues , abisself- 
as  and  anper sants  * terms  which  used  to  be 
familiar  in  this  country  during  the  Revolu- 
tionary war,  and  which  lingered  in  some  of 
our  country  schools  for  a few  years  after- 
ward, I visited  my  friend  Captain  Griffen, 
who  resided  about  seven  miles  to  the  east- 
ward of  Wrightsborough,  then  in  Richmond, 
but  now  in  Columbia  county.  I reached  the 
captain’s  hospitable  home  on  Easter,  and 
was  received  by  him  and  his  good  lady  with 
a Georgia  welcome  of  1790. 

“ The  day  was  consumed  in  the  inter- 
change of  news  between  the  captain  and 
myself  (though,  I confess,  it  might  have 
been  better  employed),  and  the  night  found 
us  seated  round  a temporary  fire,  which  the 
captain’s  sons  had  kindled  up  for  the  pur- 
pose of  dyeing  eggs.  It  was  a common  cus- 
tom of  those  days  with  boys  to  dye  and 
peck  eggs  on  Easter  Sunday,  and  for  a few 
days  afterward.  They  were  colored  accord- 
ing to  the  fancy  of  the  dyer ; some  yellow, 
some  green,  some  purple,  and  some  with  a 
variety  of  colors,  borrowed  from  a piece  of 
calico.  They  were  not  unfrequently  beauti- 
fied with  a taste  and  skill  which  would  have 
extorted  a compliment  from  Hezekiah  Niles, 
if  he  had  seen  them  a year  ago,  in  the  hands 
of  the  ‘ young  operatives'  in  some  of  the 
northern  manufactories.  No  sooner  was  the 
work  of  dyeing  finished,  than  our  ‘ young 
operatives’  sallied  forth  to  stake  the  whole 
proceeds  of  their  ‘ domestic  industry'  upon 
a peck.  Egg  was  struck  against  egg,  point 
to  point,  and  the  egg  that  was  broken  was 


* The  fescue  was  a sharpened  wire  or  other  instru- 
ment used  by  the  preceptor  to  point  out  the  letters 
to  the  children. 

Abisselfa  is  a contraction  of  the  words  “ a by  it- 
self, a.”  It  was  usual,  when  either  of  the  vowels 
constituted  a syllable  of  a word,  to  pronounce  it, 
and  denote  its  independent  character  by  the  words 
just  mentioned,  thus : “a  by  itself,  a,  c-o-r-n  corn, 
acorn “e  by  itself,  e,  v-i-1,  evil,"  etc. 

The  character  which  stands  for  the  word  “ and  ” 
(&)  was  probably  pronounced  with  the  same  accom- 
paniment, but  in  terms  borrowed  from  the  Latin  lan- 
guage, thus:  “ k perse"  (by itself)  and.  Hence,  “an- 
persant.” 


given  up  as  lost  to  the  owner  of  the  one 
which  came  whole  from  the  shock. 

“ While  the  boys  were  busily  employed 
in  the  manner  just  mentioned,  the  captain’s 
youngest  son,  George,  gave  us  an  anecdote 
highly  descriptive  of  the  Yankee  and  Geor- 
gia character,  even  in  their  buddings,  and 
at  this  early  date.  ‘ What  you  think,  pa,’ 
said  he,  ‘ Zeph  Pettibone  went  and  got  his 
uncle  Zach  to  turn  him  a wooden  egg  ; and 
he  won  a whole  hatful  o’  eggs  from  all  us 
boys  ’fore  we  found  it  out ; but,  when  we 
found  it  out,  maybe  John  Brown  didn’t 
smoke  him  for  it,  and  took  away  all  his 
eggs,  and  give  ’em  back  to  us  boys ; and 
you  think  he  didn’t  go  then  and  git  a guinea 
egg,  and  win  most  as  many  more,  and  John 
Brown  would  o’  give  it  to  him  agin  if  all  we 
boys  hadn’t  said  we  thought  it  was  fair.  I 
never  see  such  a boy  as  that  Zeph  Pettibone 
in  all  my  life.  He  don’t  mind  whipping  no 
more  ’an  nothing  at  all,  if  he  can  win  eggs.’ 

“ This  anecdote,  however,  only  fell  in  by 
accident,  for  there  was  an  all-absorbing  sub- 
ject which  occupied  the  minds  of  the  boys 
during  the  whole  evening,  of  which  I could 
occasionally  catch  distant  hints,  in  under 
tones  and  whispers,  but  of  which  I could 
make  nothing,  until  they  were  afterward  ex- 
plained by  the  captain  himself.  Such  as 
‘I’ll  be  bound  Pete  Jones  and  Bill  Smith 
stretches  him.’  ‘ By  Jockey,  soon  as  they 
seize  him,  you’ll  see  me  down  upon  him  like 
a duck  upon  a June-bug.’  ‘ By  the  time  he 
touches  the  ground,  he’ll  think  he’s  got  into 
a hornet’s  nest,’  etc. 

“‘The  boys,’  said  the  captain,  as  they  re- 
tired, ‘ are  going  to  turn  out  the  schoolmas- 
ter to-morrow,  and  you  can  perceive  they 
think  of  nothing  else.  We  must  go  over  to 
the  schoolhouse  and  witness  the  contest,  in 
order  to  prevent  injury  to  preceptor  or  pu- 
pils ; for,  though  the  master  is  always,  upon 
such  occasions,  glad  to  be  turned  out,  and 
only  struggles  long  enough  to  present  his 
patrons  a fair  apology  for  giving  the  child- 
ren a holiday,  which  he  desires  as  much  as 
they  do,  the  boys  always  conceive  a holiday 
gained  by  a ‘ turn  out’  as  the  sole  achieve- 
ment of  their  valor ; and  in  their  zeal  to  dis- 
tinguish themselves  upon  such  memorable 
occasions,  they  sometimes  become  too  rough, 
provoke  the  master  to  v^rath,  and  a very  se- 
rious conflict  ensues.  To  prevent  these  con- 
sequences, to  bear  witness  that  the  master 
was  forced  to  yield  before  he  would  with- 
hold a day  of  his  promised  labor  from  his 


PROGRESS  OF  COMMON  OR  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS. 


387 


employers,  and  to  act  as  a mediator  between 
him  and  the  boys  in  settling  the  articles  of 
peace,  I always  attend ; and  you  must  ac- 
company me  to-morrow.’  I cheerfully  pro- 
mised to  do  so. 

“ The  captain  and  I rose  before  the  sun, 
but  the  boys  had  risen  and  were  off  to  the 
school-house  before  the  dawn.  After  an  ear- 
ly breakfast,  hurried  by  Mrs.  G.  for  our  ac- 
commodation, my  host  and  myself  took  up 
our  line  of  march  toward  the  school-house. 
We  reached  it  about  half  an  hour  before  the 
master  arrived,  but  not  before  the  boys  had 
completed  its  fortifications.  It  was  a simple 
log  pen,  about  twenty  feet  square,  with  a 
doorway  cut  out  of  the  logs,  to  which  was 
fitted  a rude  door,  made  of  clapboards,  and 
swung  on  wooden  hinges.  The  roof  was 
covered  with  clapboards  also,  and  retained 
in  their  places  by  heavy  logs  placed  on  them. 
The  chimney  was  built  of  logs,  diminishing 
in  size  from  the  ground  to  the  top,  and  over- 
spread inside  and  out  with  red  clay  mortar. 
The  classic  hut  occupied  a lovely  spot,  over- 
shadowed by  majestic  hickories,  towering 
poplars,  and  strong-armed  oaks.  The  little 
plain  on  which  it  stood  was  terminated,  at 
the  distance  of  about  fifty  paces  from  its 
door,  by  the  brow  of  a hill,  which  descended 
rather  abruptly  to  a noble  spring  that  gush- 
ed joyously  forth  among  the  roots  of  a state- 
ly beech  at  its  foot. 

“ The  boys  had  strongly  fortified  the  school- 
house,  of  which  they  had  taken  possession. 
The  door  was  barricaded  with  logs,  which  I 
should  have  supposed  would  have  defied  the 
combined  powers  of  the  whole  school.  The 
chimney,  too,  was  nearly  filled  with  logs  of 
goodly  size ; and  these  were  the  only  pass- 
ways  to  the  interior.  I concluded,  if  a turn 
out  was  all  that  was  necessary  to  decide  the 
contest  in  favor  of  the  boys,  they  had  al- 
ready gained  the  victory.  They  had,  how- 
ever, not  as  much  confidence  in  their  out- 
works as  I had,  and  therefore  had  armed 
themselves  with  long  sticks,  not  for  the  pur- 
pose of  using  them  upon  the  master  if  the 
battle  should  come  to  close  quarters,  for  this 
was  considered  unlawful  warfare,  but  for  the 
purpose  of  guarding  their  works  from  his  ap- 
proaches, which  it  was  considered  perfectly 
lawful  to  protect  by  all  manner  of  jabs  and 
punches  through  the  cracks.  From  the  ear- 
ly assembling  of  the  girls,  it  was  very  ob- 
vious that  they  had  been  let  into  the  con- 
spiracy, though  they  took  no  part  in  the 
active  operations.  They  would,  however, 


occasionally  drop  a word  of  encouragement 
to  the  boys,  such  as  ‘ I wouldn’t  turn  out 
the  master ; but  if  I did  turn  him  out,  I'd 
die  before  I’d  give  up.’ 

“ At  length  Mr.  Michael  St.  John,  the 
schoolmaster  made  his  appearance.  Though 
some  of  the  girls  had  met  him  a quarter  of 
a mile  from  the  school-house,  and  told  him 
all  that  had  happened,  he  gave  signs  of  sud- 
den astonishment  and  indignation  when  he 
advanced  to  the  door,  and  was  assailed  by  a 
whole  platoon  of  sticks  from  the  cracks  : 
‘ Why,  w hat  docs  all  this  mean  ?’  said  he, 
as  he  approached  the  captain  and  myself, 
with  a countenance  of  two  or  tkre«  varying 
expressions. 

“ ‘ Why,’  said  the  captain,  ‘ the  boys  have 
turned  you  out,  because  you  have  refused  to 
give  them  an  Easter  holiday.’ 

“ ‘Oh,’  returned  Michael,  ‘that’s  it,  is  it? 
Well,  I’ll  see  whether  their  parents  are  to 
pay  me  for  letting  their  children  play  when 
they  please.’  So  saying,  he  advanced  to 
the  school-house,  and  demanded,  in  a lofty 
tone,  of  its  inmates,  an  unconditional  sur- 
render. 

“‘Well,  give  us  a holiday,  then,’  said 
twenty  little  urchins  wuthin,  ‘ and  wre’ll  let 
you  in.’ 

“ 1 Open  the  door  of  the  academy ’ — 
(Michael  wrould  allow  nobody  to  call  it  a 
school-house) — ‘Open  the  door  of  the  acad- 
emy this  instant,’  said  Michael,  ‘or  I’ll  break 
it  down.’ 

“ ‘ Break  it  down,’  said  Pete  Jones  and 
Bill  Smith,  ‘ and  we'll  break  you  down.’ 

“ During  this  colloquy  I took  a peep  into 
the  fortress,  to  see  how  the  garrison  were 
affected  by  the  parley.  The  little  ones  were 
obviously  panic-struck  at  the  first  words  of 
command;  but  their  fears  were  all  chased 
awray  by  the  bold  determined  reply  of  Pete 
Jones  and  Bill  Smith,  and  they  raised  a 
whoop  of  defiance. 

“ Michael  now  walked  round  the  academy 
three  times,  examining  all  its  weak  points 
with  great  care.  He  then  paused,  reflected 
for  a moment,  and  wheeled  off  suddenly  to- 
ward the  woods,  as  though  a bright  thought 
had  just  struck  him.  lie  passed  twenty 
things  which  I supposed  he  might  be  in 
quest  of,  such  as  huge  stones,  fence  rails, 
portable  logs,  and  the  like,  without  bestow- 
ing the  least  attention  upon  them.  He 
went  to  one  old  log,  searched  it  thoroughly, 
then  to  another,  then  to  a hollow  stump, 
peeped  into  it  with  great  care,  then  to  a 


388 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


hollow  log,  into  which  he  looked  with  equal 
caution,  and  so  on. 

“ ‘ What  is  he  after  ?’  inquired  I. 

‘“I’m  sure  I don’t  know,’  said  the  cap- 
tain, ‘but  the  boys  do.  Don’t  you  notice 
the  breathless  silence  which  prevails  in  the 
school-house,  and  the  intense  anxiety  with 
which  they  are  eyeing  him  through  the 
cracks  ?’ 

“ At  this  moment  Michael  had  reached  a 
little  excavation  at  the  root  of  a dogwood, 
and  was  in  the  act  of  putting  his  hand  into 
it,  when  a voice  from  the  garrison  exclaimed, 
with  most  touching  pathos,  ‘ Lo’d  o’  messy, 
he’s  found  my  eggs  ! boys,  let’s  give  up.’ 

“ ‘ I won’t  give  up,’  was  the  reply  from 
many  voices  at  once. 

“‘Rot  your  cowardly  skin,  Zeph  Petti- 
bone,  you  wouldn’t  give  a wooden  egg  for 
all  the  holydays  in  the  world.’ 

“ If  these  replies  did  not  reconcile  Zeph- 
aniah  to  his  apprehended  loss,  it  at  least  si- 
lenced his  complaints.  In  the  mean  time 
Michael  was  employed  in  relieving  Zeph’s 
storehouse  of  its  provisions  ; and,  truly,  its 
contents  told  well  for  Zeph’s  skill  in  egg- 
pecking.  However,  Michael  took  out  the 
eggs  with  great  care,  and  brought  them 
within  a few  paces  of  the  schoolhouse,  and 
laid  them  down  with  equal  care  in  full  view 
of  the  besieged.  He  revisited  the  places 
which  he  had  searched,  and  to  which  he 
seemed  to  have  been  led  by  intuition ; for 
from  nearly  all  of  them  did  he  draw  eggs, 
in  greater  or  less  numbers.  These  he  treated 
as  he  had  done  Zeph’s,  keeping  each  pile 
separate.  Having  arranged  the  eggs  in 
double  files  before  the  door,  he  marched  be- 
tween them  with  an  air  of  triumph,  and 
once  more  demanded  a surrender,  under 
pain  of  an  entire  destruction  of  the  garri- 
son’s provisions. 

“ ‘ Break  ’em  just  as  quick  as  you  please,’ 
said  George  Griffin ; ‘ our  mothers  ’ll  give 
us  a plenty  more,  won’t  they,  pa?’ 

“ ‘ I can  answer  for  yours,  my  son,’  said 
the  captain ; ‘ she  would  rather  give  up 
every  egg  upon  the  farm  than  to  see  you 
play  the  coward  or  traitor  to  save  your  prop- 
erty.’ 

“ Michael,  finding  that  he  could  make  no  im- 
pression upon  the  fears  or  the  avarice  of  the 
boys,  determined  to  carry  their  fortifications 
by  storm.  Accordingly  he  procured  a heavy 
fence-rail,  and  commenced  the  assault  upon 
the  door.  It  soon  came  to  pieces,  and  the 
upper  logs  fell  out,  leaving  a space  of  about 


three  feet  at  the  top.  Michael  boldly  en- 
tered the  breach,  when,  by  the  articles  of 
war,  sticks  were  thrown  aside  as  no  longer 
lawful  weapons.  He  was  resolutely  met  on 
the  half-demolished  rampart  by  Peter  Jones 
and  William  Smith,  supported  by  James 
Griffin.  These  were  the  three  largest  boys 
in  the  school ; the  first  about  sixteen  years 
of  age,  the  second  about  fifteen,  and  the 
third  just  eleven.  Twice  was  Michael  re- 
pulsed by  these  young  champions ; but  the 
third  effort  carried  him  fairly  into  the  fort- 
ress. Hostilities  now  ceased  for  a while, 
and  the  captain  and  I,  having  levelled  the 
remaining  logs  at  the  door,  followed  Michael 
into  the  house.  A large  three  inch  plank 
(if  it  deserve  that  name,  for  it  was  wrought 
from  the  half  of  a tree’s  trunk  entirely  with 
the  axe),  attached  to  the  logs  by  means  of 
wooden  pins,  served  the  whole  school  for  a 
writing  desk.  At  a convenient  distance  be- 
low it,  and  on  a line  with  it,  stretched  a 
smooth  log,  resting  upon  the  logs  of  the 
house,  which  answered  for  the  writers’  seat. 
Michael  took  his  seat  upon  the  desk,  placed 
his  feet  on  the  seat,  and  was  sitting  very 
composedly,  when  with  a simultaneous  move- 
ment, Pete  and  Bill  seized  each  a leg,  and 
marched  off  with  it  in  quick  time.  The 
consequence  is  obvious ; Michael’s  head  first 
took  the  desk,  then  the  seat,  and  finally  the 
ground  (for  the  house  was  not  floored),  with 
three -sonorous  thumps  of  most  doleful  por- 
tent. No  sooner  did  he  touch  the  ground 
than  he  \yas  completely  buried  with  boys. 
The  three  elder  laid  themselves  across  his 
head,  neck  and  breast,  the  rest  arranging 
themselves  ad  libitum.  Michael’s  equanim- 
ity was  considerably  disturbed  by  the  first 
thump,  became  restive  with  the  second,  and 
took  flight  with  the  third.  His  first  effort 
was  to  disengage  his  legs,  for  without  them 
he  Could  not  rise,  and  to  lie  in  his  pres- 
ent position  was  extremely  inconvenient  and 
undignified.  Accordingly  he  drew  up  his 
right,  and  kicked  at  random.  This  move- 
ment laid  out  about  six  in  various  direc- 
tions upon  the  floor.  Two  rose  crying : 
‘Ding  his  old  red-headed  skin,’  said  one 
of  them,  ‘ to  go  and  kick  me  right  in 
my  sore  belly,  where  I fell  down  and  raked 
it,  running  after  that  fellow  that  cried  “ school 
butter.”  ’* 


* “ I have  never  been  able  to  satisfy  myself  clearly 
as  to  the  literal  meaning  of  these  terms.  They  were 


PROGRESS  OF  COMMON  OR  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS. 


389 


“ ‘ Drot  his  old  snaggle-tooth  picture,’  said 
the  other,  ‘to  go  and  hurt  my  sore  toe,  where 
I knocked  the  nail  off  going  to  the  spring  to 
fetch  a gourd  of  warter  for  him,  and  not  for 
myself  n’ other.’ 

“ ‘ Hut !’  said  Captain  Griffin,  ‘ young 
Washingtons  mind  these  trifles!  At  him 
again.’ 

“ The  name  of  Washington  cured  their 
wounds  and  dried  up  their  tears  in  an  in- 
stant, and  they  legged  him  de  novo.  The 
left  leg  treated  six  more  as  unceremoniously 
as  the  right  had  those  just  mentioned ; but 
the  talismanic  name  had  just  fallen  upon 
their  ears  before  the  kick,  so  they  were  in- 
vulnerable. They  therefore  returned  to  the 
attack  without  loss  of  time.  The  struggle 
seemed  to  wax  hotter  and  hotter  for  some 
time  after  Michael  came  to  the  ground,  and 
he  threw  the  children  about  in  all  directions 
and  postures,  giving  some  of  them  thrusts 
which  would  have  placed  the  ruffle-shirted 
little  darlings  of  the  present  day  under  the 
discipline  of  paregoric  and  opodeldoc  for  a 
week ; hut  these  hardy  sons  of  the  south 
seemed  not  to  feel  them.  As  Michael’s  head 
grew  easy,  his  limbs,  by  a natural  sympathy, 
became  more  quiet,  and  he  offered  one  day’s 
holiday  as  the  price.  The  boys  demanded 
a week ; but  here  the  captain  interposed,  and 
after  the  common  but  often  unjust  custom 
of  arbitrators,  split  the  difference.  In  this 
instance  the  terms  were  equitable  enough, 
and  were  immediately  acceded  to  by  both 
parties.  Michael  rose  in  a good  humor,  and 
the  boys  were  of  course.  Loud  was  their 
talking  of  their  deeds  of  valor  as  they  re- 
tired. One  little  fellow  about  seven  years 
old,  and  about  three  feet  and  a half  high, 
jumped  up,  cracked  his  feet  together,  and 
exclaimed,  ‘By  jingo,  Pete  Jones,  Bill 
Smith  and  me  can  hold  any  Sinjin  [St.  John] 
that  ever  trod  Georgy  grit.’  ” 


considered  an  unpardonable  insult  to  a country 
school,  and  always  justified  an  attack  by  the  whole 
fraternity  upon  the  person  who  used  them  in  their 
hearing.  I have  known  the  scholars  pursue  a trav- 
eller two  miles  to  be  revenged  of  the  insult.  Prob- 
ably they  are  a corruption  of  ‘ The  school’s  better.’ 

* Bitter'  was  the  term  commonly  used  of  old  to  de- 
note a superior , as  it  sometimes  is  in  our  day: 
‘Wait  till  your  betters  are  served,’  for  example.  I 
conjecture,  therefore,  the  expression  just  alluded  to 
was  one  of  challenge,  contempt,  and  defiance,  by 
which  the  person  who  used  it  avowed  himself  the 
superior  in  all  respects  of  the  whole  school,  from  the 
preceptor  down.  If  any  one  can  give  a bettor  ac- 
count of  it,  I shall  be  pleased  to  receive  it.” 


AN  OLD  FIELD  SCHOOL,  OR  ACADEMY,  IN 
VIRGINIA. 

The  experience  of  one  of  that  class  of 
teachers,  who  found  temporary  occupation 
in  teaching  the  children  of  one  or  more  fam- 
ilies of  planters  in  Virginia  and  other  south- 
ern states,  will  be  found  in  the  “ Travels  of 
Four  Years  and  a Half  in  the  United  States 
(in  1798,  1799,  1800,  1801  and  1802),  by 
John  Davis.”  Mr.  Davis  was  an  English- 
man of  more  than  ordinary  education  and 
of  social  address,  and  while  in  this  country 
numbered  among  his  friends  such  men  as 
Aaron  Burr,  President  Jefferson,  and  other 
men  of  high  political  standing.  He  was  a 
private  tutor  in  New  York,  South  Carolina 
and  Virginia,  and  his  graphic  sketches  of 
men  and  manners  show  some  of  the  defi- 
ciencies in  the  means  of  education  which 
even  wealthy  planters  in  the  southern  states 
experienced.  With  letters  of  introduction 
from  President  Jefferson  he  proceeds  to  the 
plantation  of  a Mr.  Ball,  and  is  engaged  to 
teach  his  and  his  neighbors’  children : 

“ The  following  day  every  farmer  came 
from  the  neighborhood  to  the  house,  who 
had  any  children  to  send  to  my  Academy, 
for  such  they  did  me  the  honor  to  term  the 
log-hut  in  which  I was  to  teach.  Each  man 
brought  his  son,  or  his  daughter,  and  re- 
joiced that  the  day  was  arrived  when  their 
little  ones  could  light  their  tapers  at  the 
torch  of  knowledge ! I was  confounded  at 
the  encomiums  they  heaped  upon  a man 
whom  they  had  never  seen  before,  and  was 
at  a loss  what  construction  to  put  upon 
their  speech.  No  price  was  too  great  for 
the  services  I was  to  render  their  children ; 
and  they  all  expressed  an  eagerness  to  ex- 
change perishable  coin  for  lasting  knowl- 
edge. If  I would  continue  with  them  seven 
years ! only  seven  years ! they  would  erect 
for  me  a brick  seminary  on  a hill  not  far  off ; 
but  for  the  present  I was  to  occupy  a log- 
house,  which,  however  homely,  would  soon 
vie  with  the  sublime  college  of  William  and 
Mary,  and  consign  to  oblivion  the  renowned 
academy  in  the  vicinity  of  Fauquier  Court- 
IIouse.  I thought  Englishmen  sanguine; 
but  these  Virginians  were  infatuated. 

“ I now  opened  what  some  called  an  acad- 
emy,* * and  others  an  Old  Field  School  ; 


* 11  It  is  worth  tho  while  to  describe  tho  academy 
I occupied  on  Mr.  Ball’s  plantation.  It  had  one 
room  and  a half.  It  stood  on  blocks  about  two  feet 


390 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


and,  however  it  may  be  thought  that  con- 
tent was  never  felt  within  the  walls  of  a 
seminary,  I,  for  my  part,  experienced  an  ex- 
emption from  care,  and  was  not  such  a fool 
as  to  measure  the  happiness  of  my  condition 
by  what  others  thought  of  it. 

“ It  was  pleasurable  to  behold  my  pupils 
enter  the  school  over  which  I presided ; for 
they  were  not  composed  only  of  truant  boys, 
but  some  of  the  fairest  damsels  in  the  coun- 
try. Two  sisters  generally  rode  on  one 
horse  to  the  school-door,  and  I was  not  so 
great  a pedagogue  as  to  refuse  them  my  as- 
sistance to  dismount  from  their  steeds.  A 
running-footman  of  the  negro  tribe,  who 
followed  with  their  food  in  a basket,  took 
care  of  the  beast ; and  after  being  saluted 
by  the  young  ladies  with  the  courtesies  of 
the  morning,  I proceeded  to  instruct  them, 
with  gentle  exhortations  to  diligence  of 
study. 

“ Common  books  were  only  designed  for 
common  minds.  The  unconnected  lessons 
of  Scot,  the  tasteless  selections  of  Bingham, 
the  florid  harangues  of  Noah  Webster,  and 
the  somniferous  compilation  of  Alexander, 
were  either  thrown  aside,  or  suffered  to 
gather  dust  on  the  shelf ; while  the  charm- 
ing essays  of  Goldsmith,  and  his  not  less 
delectable  Novel,  together  with  the  impres- 
sive work  of  Defoe,  and  the  mild  produc- 
tions of  Addison,  conspired  to  enchant  the 
fancy,  and  kindle  a love  of  reading.  The 
thoughts  of  these  writers  became  engrafted 
on  the  minds,  and  the  combinations  of  their 
diction  on  the  language  of  the  pupils. 

“ Of  the  boys  I cannot  speak  in  very  en- 
comiastic terms ; but  they  were  perhaps  like 
all  other  school-boys,  that  is,  more  disposed 
to  play  truant  than  enlighten  their  minds. 


and  a half  above  the  ground,  where  there  was  free 
access  to  the  hogs,  the  dogs,  and  the  poultry.  It 
had  no  ceiling,  nor  was  the  roof  lathed  or  plaster- 
ed, but  covered  with  shingles.  Hence,  when  it 
rained,  like  the  nephew  of  old  Elwes,  I moved  my 
bed  (for  I slept  in  my  academy)  to  the  most  com- 
fortable corner.  It  had  one  window,  but  no  glass, 
nor  shutter.  In  the  night,  to  remedy  this,  the  mu- 
latto wench  who  waited  on  me,  contrived  very  in- 
geniously to  place  a square  board  against  the  win- 
dow with  one  hand,  and  fix  the  rail  of  a broken 
down  fence  against  it  with  the  other.  In  the  morn- 
ing, when  I returned  from  breakfasting  in  the 
‘ great  big  house,’  (my  scholars  being  collected,)  I 
gave  the  rail  a forcible  kick  with  my  foot,  and  down 
tumbled  the  board  with  an  awful  roar.  ‘ Is  not  my 
window,’  said  I to  Virginia,  ‘ of  a very  curious  con- 
struction?’ ‘Indeed,  indeed,  sir,’  replied  my  fair 
disciple,  ‘I  think  it  is  a mighty  noisy  one.’  ” 


The  most  important  knowledge  to  an  Amer- 
ican, after  that  of  himself,  is  the  geography 
of  his  country.  I,  therefore,  put  into  the 
hands  of  my  boys  a proper  book,  and  ini- 
tiated them  by  an  attentive  reading  of  the 
discoveries  of  the  Genoese ; I was  even  so 
minute  as  to  impress  on  their  minds  the 
man  who  first  descried  land  on  board  the 
ship  of  Columbus.  That  man  was  Roderic 
Triana,  and  on  my  exercising  the  memory 
of  a boy  by  asking  him  the  name,  he  very 
gravely  made  answer,  Roderic  Random. 

“Among  my  male  students  was  a New 
Jersey  gentleman  of  thirty,  whose  object 
was  to  be  initiated  in  the  language  of  Cicero 
and  Virgil.  He  had  before  studied  the 
Latin  grammar  at  an  academy  school  (I  use 
his  own  words)  in  his  native  state ; but  the 
academy  school  being  burnt  down,  his  gram- 
mar, alas ! was  lost  in  the  conflagration, 
and  he  had  neglected  the  pursuit  of  litera- 
ture since  the  destruction  of  his  book. 
When  I asked  him  if  he  did  not  think  it 
was  some  Goth  who  had  set  fire  to  his  acad- 
emy school,  he  made  answer,  ‘ So,  it  is  like 
enough.’ 

“ Mr.  Dye  did  not  study  Latin  to  refine 
his  taste,  direct  his  judgment,  or  enlarge  his 
imagination ; but  merely  that  he  might  be 
enabled  to  teach  it  when  he  opened  school, 
which  was  his  serious  design.  He  had  been 
bred  a carpenter,  but  he  panted  for  the  hon- 
ors of  literature.” 

Mr.  Davis  accounts  for  his  fidelity  in 
teaching  more  hours  than  he  was  required 
to  do  by  his  contract,  by  his  interest  in  the 
lessons  of  one  of  his  female  pupils  : 

“ Hence  I frequently  protracted  the  stud- 
ies of  the  children  till  one,  or  half  past  one 
o’clock ; a practice  that  did  not  fail  to  call 
forth  the  exclamations  both  of  the  white 
and  the  black  people.  Upon  my  word,  Mr. 
Ball  would  say,  this  gentleman  is  diligent ; 
and  Aunt  Patty  the  negro  cook  would  re- 
mark, ‘ He  good  cool-mossa  that ; he  not 
like  old  Ilodgkinson  and  old  Harris,  who 
let  the  boys  out  before  twelve.  He  deserve 
good  wages  l” 

“ Having  sent  the  young  ladies  to  the 
family  mansion,  I told  the  boys  to  break 
up,  and  in  a few  minutes  they  who  had 
even  breathed  with  circumspection,  now 
gave  loose  to  the  most  riotous  merriment, 
and  betook  themselves  to  the  woods,  follow- 
ed by  all  the  dogs  on  the  plantation.” 

“ There  was  a carpenter  on  the  planta- 
tion, whom  Mr.  Ball  had  hired  by  the  year. 


PROGRESS  OF  COMMON  OR  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS. 


391 


He  had  tools  of  all  kinds,  and  the  recreation 
of  Mr.  Dye,  after  the  labor  of  study,  was  to 
get  under  the  shade  of  an  oak,  and  make 
tables,  or  benches,  or  stools  for  the  acade- 
my. So  true  is  the  assertion  of  Horace, 
that  the  cask  will  always  retain  the  flavor 
of  the  liquor  with  which  it  is  first  impreg- 
nated. 

“ ‘ Well,  Mr.  Dye,  what  are  you  doing?’ 

“ ‘ I am  making  a table  for  the  academy 
school.’ 

“ ‘ What  wrood  is  that  ?’ 

“ 4 It  is  white  oak,  sir.’ 

“ ‘ What,  then  you  are  skilled  in  trees,  you 
can  tell  oak  from  hickory,  and  ash  from  fir  ?’ 
“ 4 Like  enough,  sir.  (A  broad  grin.)  I 
ought  to  know  those  things;  I served  my 
time  to  it.’ 

Carpenter . — I find,  sir,  Mr.  Dye  has  done 
with  his  old  trade ; he  is  above  employing 
his  hands;  he  wants  work  for  the  brain. 
Well ! laming  is  a fine  thing ; there’s  noth- 
ing like  laming.  I have  a son  only  five 
years  old,  that,  with  proper  laming,  I should 
not  despair  of  seeing  a member  of  Congress. 
He  is  a boy  of  genus  ; he  could  play  on  the 
Jews-harp  from  only  seeing  Sambo  tune  it 
once.’ 

“ ‘ Mr.  Dye. — I guess  that’s  Billy ; he  is  a 
right  clever  child.’ 

“ ‘ Carpenter. — How  long,  sir,  will  it  take 
you  to  learn  Mr.  Dye  Latin  ?’ 

“ ‘ Schoolmaster. — How  long,  sir,  would  it 
take  me  to  ride  from  Mr.  Ball’s  plantation 
to  the  plantation  of  Mr.  Wormley  Carter?’ 

“ ‘ Carpenter. — Why  that,  sir,  I suppose, 
would  depend  upon  your  horse.’ 

“ ‘ Schoolmaster. — Well,  then,  sir,  you 
solve  your  own  interrogation.  But  here 
comes  Dick.  What  has  he  got  in  his  hand?’ 
“ 4 Mr.  Dye. — A mole  like  enough.  Who 
are  you  bringing  that  to,  Dick  ?’ 

“ ‘ Dick. — Not  to  you.  You  never  gave 
me  the  taste  of  a dram  since  I first  know’d 
you.  Worse  luck  to  me;  you  New  Jersey 
men  are  close  shavers ; I believe  you  would 
skin  a louse.  This  is  a mole.  I have 
brought  it  for  the  gentleman  who  came  from 
beyond  sea.  He  never  refuses  Dick  a dram; 
I would  walk  through  the  wilderness  of  Ken- 
tucky to  serve  him.  Lord ! how  quiet  he 
keeps  his  school.  It  is  not  now  as  it  was ; 
the  boys  don’t  go  clack,  clack,  clack,  like 
’Squire  Pendleton’s  mill  upon  Catharpin 
Run !’ 

“ ‘ Schoolmaster. — You  have  brought  that 
mole,  Dick,  for  me.’ 


“ ‘ Dick. — Yes,  master,  but  first  let  me  tell 
you  the  history  of  it.  This  mole  was  once 
a man ; see,  master  (Dick  exhibits  the  mole), 
it  has  got  hands  and  feet  just  like  you  and 
me.  It  was  once  a man,  but  so  proud,  so 
lofty,  so  puffed-up,  that  God,  to  punish  his 
insolence,  condemned  him  to  crawl  under 
the  earth.’ 

“ 4 Schoolmaster. — A good  fable,  and  not 
unhappily  moralized.  Did  you  ever  hear  or 
read  of  this  before,  Mr.  Dye  ?’ 

44  4 Mr.  Dye. — Nay  (a  broad  grin),  I am 
right  certain  it  does  not  belong  to  H£sop. 
I am  certain  sure  Dick  did  not  find  it  there.’ 

44  4 Dick. — Find  it  where  ? I would  not 
wrong  a man  of  the  value  of  a gram  of  corn. 
I came  across  the  mole  as  I was  hoeing  the 
potato-patch.  Master,  shall  I take  it  to  the 
school-house?  If  you  are  fond  of  birds,  I 
know  now  for  a mocking-bird’s  nest ; I am 
only  afeared  those  young  rogues,  the  school- 
boys, will  find  out  the  tree.  They  play  the 
mischief  with  every  thing,  they  be  full  of 
devilment.  I saw  Jack  Lockhart  throw  a 
stone  at  the  old  bird,  as  she  was  returning 
to  feed  her  young ; and  if  I had  not  coaxed 
him  away  to  look  at  my  young  puppies,  he 
would  have  found  out  the  nest.’ 

44 1 had  been  three  months  invested  in 
the  first  executive  office  of  pedagogue, 
when  a cunning  old  fox  of  a New  Jersey 
planter  (a  Mr.  Lee)  discovered  that  his  eld- 
est boy  wrote  a better  hand  than  I.  Fame 
is  swifLfooted ; vires  arquirit  eundo ; the 
discovery  spread  far  and  wide ; and  whither- 
soever I went,  I was  an  object  for  the  hand 
of  scorn  to  point  his  slow  unmoving  finger 
at,  as  a schoolmaster  that  could  not  write. 
Virginia  gave  me  for  the  persecutions  I 
underwent  a world  of  sighs,  her  swelling 
heavens  rose  and  fell  with  indignation  at  old 
Lee  and  his  abettors.  But  the  boys  caught 
spirit  from  the  discovery.  I could  perceive 
a mutiny  breaking  out  among  them  ; and 
had  I not  in  time  broke  down  a few  branches 
from  an  apple  tree  before  my  door,  it  is 
probable  they  would  have  displayed  their 
gratitude  for  my  instructions  by  throwing 
me  out  of  my  school-window.  But  by  argu- 
ing with  one  over  the  shoulders,  and  another 
over  the  back,  I maintained  with  dignity  the 
first  executive  office  of  pedagogue. 

“ I revenged  myself  amply  on  old  Lee. 
It  was  the  custom  of  his  son  (a  lengthy  fel- 
low of  about  twenty)  to  come  to  the  acade- 
my with  a couple  of  huge  mastiffs  at  his 
| heels.  Attached  to  their  master  ( par  nobde 


392 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


fratrum ) they  entered  without  ceremony 
Pohoke  Academy,  bringing  with  them  myr- 
iads of  fleas,  wood-lice,  and  ticks.  Nay, 
they  would  often  annoy  Virginia,  by  throw- 
ing themselves  at  her  feet,  and  inflaming  the 
choler  of  a little  lap-dog,  which  I had  bought 
because  of  his  diminutive  size,  and  which 
Virginia  delighted  to  nurse  for  me.  I could 
perceive  the  eye  of  Virginia  rebuke  me  for 
suffering  the  dogs  to  annoy  her ; and  there 
lay  more  peril  in  her  eye  than  in  the  jaws 
of  all  the  mastiffs  in  Prince  William  County. 

“ ‘ Mr.  Lee,’  said  I,  ‘ this  is  the  third  time 
I have  told  you  not  to  convert  the  academy 
into  a kennel,  and  bring  your  dogs  to  school.’ 
Lee  was  mending  his  pen  ‘ judgmatically.’ 
He  made  no  reply,  but  smiled. 

“ I knew  old  Dick  the  negro  had  a bitch, 
and  that  his  bitch  was  proud.  I walked 
down  to  Dick’s  log-house.  Dick  was  beat- 
ing flax. 

“ ‘ Dick,’  said  I,  ‘ old  Farmer  Lee  has 
done  me  much  evil — (I  don’t  like  the  old 
man  myself,  master,  said  Dick) — and  his 
son,  repugnant  to  my  express  commands, 
has  brought  his  father’s  two  plantation  dogs 
to  the  academy.  Revenge  is  sweet — ’ 

“ ‘ Right,  master,’  said  Dick.  ‘ I never 
felt  so  happy  as  when  I bit  off  Cuffey’s 
great  toe  and  swallowed  it — 

“‘Do  you,  Dick,’  said  I,  ‘walk  past  the 
school-house  with  your  bitch.  Lee’s  dogs 
will  come  out  after  her.  Go  round  with 
them  to  your  log-house;  and  when  you  have 
once  secured  them,  hang  both  of  them  up  by 
the  neck.’ 

“ * Leave  it  to  me,  master,’  said  Dick. 
‘ I’ll  fix  the  business  for  you  in  a few  min- 
utes. I have  a few  fadoms  of  rope  in  my 
house — that  will  do  it.’ 

“ I returned  to  the  academy.  The  dogs 
were  stretched  at  their  ease  on  the  floor. 
‘ Oh ! I am  glad  you  are  come,’  exclaimed 
Virginia ; ‘ those  great  big  dogs  have  quite 
scared  me.’ 

“ In  a few  minutes  Dick  passed  the  door 
with  his  slut.  Quick  from  the  floor  rose 
Mr.  Lee’s  two  dogs,  and  followed  the  female. 
The  rest  may  be  supplied  by  the  imagina- 
tion of  the  reader.  Dick  hung  up  both 
the  dogs  to  the  branch  of  a pine-tree ; old 
Lee  lost  the  guards  to  his  plantation  ; the 
negroes  broke  open  his  barn,  pilfered  his 
sacks  of  Indian  corn,  rode  his  horses  in  the 
night — and  thus  was  I revenged  on  Alexan- 
der the  coppersmith. 

“ Three  months  had  now  elapsed,  and  I 


was  commanded  officially  to  resign  my  sove- 
reign authority  to  Mr.  Dye,  who  was  in 
every  respect  better  qualified  to  discharge 
its  sacred  functions.  He  understood  tare 
and  tret,  wrote  a copper-plate  hand,  and, 
balancing  himself  upon  one  leg,  could  flour- 
ish angels  and  corkscrews.  I,  therefore, 
gave  up  the  ‘ academy  school’  to  Mr.  Dye, 
to  the  joy  of  the  boys,  but  the  sorrow  of 
Virginia.” 

Whilst  schools  were  thus  poorly  equipped 
and  the  instruction  given  was  thus  defective 
in  its  methods  and  meagre  in  its  extent,  it 
becomes  of  interest  to  inquire  whence  such 
a measure  of  general  intelligence  and  so 
many  individual  cases  of  attaining  to  an  emi- 
nent position  in  society.  This  was  the  re- 
sult of  no  single  cause  alone,  but  of  a variety 
in  combination. 

The  first  of  these  that  may  be  named,  both 
in  its  influence  upon  childhood  and  upon 
manhood,  was  the  necessity  of  a hard  fought 
battle  for  existence,  but  relieved  by  the  as- 
surance that  victory  would  be  the  reward  of 
persistent  exertion.  Its  results  were  robust- 
ness, patience  of  toil,  resoluteness  and  per- 
severance in  encountering  difficulties,  and 
fertility  of  resources.  The  rustic  lad, — and 
making  the  necessary  variations,  we  include 
the  female  sex  with  the  representative  male, 
— the  rustic  lad  who  had  been  trained  to 
help  his  parents  from  the  moment  he  had 
acquired  strength  to  steady  his  steps,  to  toil 
on  all  the  same  whether  the  bright  sun 
cheered  him  or  the  chill  air  benumbed  his 
limbs ; whether  his  tasks  were  varied,  pleas- 
ant and  light,  or,  on  the  contrary,  he  had 
learned  patience,  marching  beside  the  patient 
ox  all  the  long  hours  of  a long  spring  day, 
the  animals  only  alternating  with  others 
which  served  as  relays;  and  had  been  no 
stranger  to  such  discipline  as  picking  stones 
in  the  stubble  whilst  the  sad  heavens  distil- 
led a drizzly  rain,  they  condensing  all  their 
gloom  in  his  soul,  but -withheld  those  large 
and  frequent  drops  which  would  have  been 
the  signal  of  his  release;  and  among  the 
least  severe  of  whose  lessons  in  acquiring 
hardihood  had  been,  in  gathering  the  fruits 
of  autumn,  to  face  its  frosts  without  mittens 
or  shoes  ; this  lad  found  nothing  in  the  diffi- 
culties of  the  school-room  to  appall  him,  and 
storms  and  deep  drifts  rather  added  zest  to 
his  daily  walks.  No  unintelligible  jargon  of 
the  spelling  book,  no  abstruse  section  in  his 
reader,  was  an  overmatch  for  his  industry. 


PROGRESS  OF  COMMON  OR  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS. 


393 


True,  he  did  not  understand  all  he  studied, 
but  he  learned  to  spell  and  to  read  and  to 
commit  to  memory  what  was  assigned  him. 
And  when  he  took  his  arithmetic,  which  con- 
tained only  definitions,  rules  and  examples, 
although  his  teacher  vouchsafed  him  little 
explanation,  he  had  perseverance  enough  to 
ponder  every  dark  process  till  light  broke 
through.  And  there  were  instances  of  boys 
who  worked  for  consecutive  hours  and  days 
at  problems  confessedly  some  of  the  most 
knotty  that  could  be  found,  till  at  last  their 
unaided  exertions  were  rewarded  with  suc- 
cess, which  brought  more  exquisite  joy  than 
ever  thrilled  the  finder  of  a rare  gem.  These 
exceptional  cases  stimulated  the  more  dull, 
and  most  became  possessed  of  at  least  the 
rudiments  of  the  science,  quite  sufficient  for 
practical  life,  or  which  under  the  stimulus  of 
necessity  became  subsequently  enlarged  to 
that  extent.  In  manhood  no  blind  adherence 
to  traditional  methods  was  or  could  be  ob- 
served. Emergencies  were  constantly  arising 
which  taxed  ingenuity  to  the  utmost  in  de- 
vising the  fitting  expedients  to  meet  them. 
It  was  a daily  study  to  make  the  narrowest 
means  serve  the  same  ends  as  the  amplest. 
Hard  thought  was  expended  without  stint 
upon  labor-saving  processes,  improvements 
and  inventions.  Thus  was  gained  a disci- 
pline of  mind  beyond  what  the  higher  col- 
lege mathematics  usually  imparts,  and  oft- 
times  a readiness  in  applying  mechani- 
cal principles,  of  which  many  an  engineer 
trained  in  the  schools  is  utterly  devoid,  how- 
ever prompt  he  may  be  in  the  routine  to 
which  he  is  accustomed. 

The  family  training,  aside  from  the  inuring 
of  children  to  patient  industry,  contributed 
greatly  to  their  profiting  from  their  school 
privileges.  To  do  or  not  to  do  was  not  then 
left  so  generally  to  the  child’s  pleasure.  He 
was  made  to  obey  before  he  had  experienced 
the  delight  of  carrying  into  effect  his  own 
will  in  opposition  to  that  of  others;  and 
thus  was  formed  the  habit  of  unquestioning 
compliance  with  the  requirements  of  parents. 
When  the  child  could  understand  the  sub- 
ject, he  was  taught  that  however  irksome  at 
times  were  the  tasks  imposed  upon  him,  it 
was  only  in  virtue  of  the  allotment  that  man 
was  to  eat  bread  by  the  sweat  of  his  brow, 
and  that  only  by  a cheerful  performance  of 
what  was  within  his  power  could  he  make  a 
return  for  the  care  he  was  continually  re- 
ceiving. Thus  from  a sense  of  religious  and 
filial  obligation  the  rigor  of  their  early  disci- 


pline was  the  more  easily  sustained.  Self- 
control  and  a certain  measure  of  self-reliance 
were  results  of  the  discipline  of  infancy 
even  ; and  in  advancing  childhood  it  was  in- 
culcated in  the  house  and  in  the  field,  that 
each  must  depend  upon  himself  for  what- 
ever he  was  to  be  and  to  possess  in  life. 
And  knowledge,  knowledge  that  was  not  the 
mere  blind  recipient  of  instruction,  intelli- 
gent knowledge  which  perceived  relations, 
and  reasoning  knowledge  which  could  make 
the  practical  application  as  opportunity 
served,  was  set  forth  as  the  condition  indis- 
pensable to  render  exertion  successful.  Hence 
it  was  a prized  privilege  to  go  to  school,  as 
well  as  a pleasant  exchange  for  physical  toil 
for  a brief  period,  an  exchange  of  work  at 
home  for  another  variety  of  work  in  the 
school-room,  not  of  one  manner  of  busy  idle- 
ness and  mischief  for  another.  Also  in  many 
cases  the  home  was  itself  a school,  and  either 
that  knowledge  was  there  gained  which  oth- 
ers acquired  at  school,  or  study  was  further 
pursued  under  the  guidance  of  parent,  or 
brother  or  sister,  who  by  some  happy  gift 
of  Providence  had  required  little  tuition. 
Often  also,  winter  evenings  or  other  hours, 
when  the  labor  of  one  pair  of  hands  might 
be  spared,  were  passed  in  the  social  reading 
of  instructive  books. 

The  listening  every  seventh  day  to  two 
discourses,  wherein  were  discussed  the  deep- 
est theories  which  can  be  proposed  to  man, 
may  be  named  as  an  additional  item  in  the 
answer  to  our  inquiry.  The  clergymen  of 
that  day  had  received  the  best  education 
that  the  country  afforded,  and  were  daily 
cultivating  intimacy  with  the  profoundest 
theologians.  Thus  they  had  ever  thoughts 
which  they  had  originated  or  had  made  their 
own  to  present.  And  these  thoughts  were 
inwardly  digested  by  a goodly  number  of 
their  hearers,  and  becoming  a part  of  their 
being,  they  too 

“ reasoned  high 

Of  Providence,  foreknowledge,  will  and  fate, 

Fixed  fate,  free  will,  foreknowledge  absolute 

and  if  they  “ found  no  end,”  they  were  not 
“ in  wandering  mazes  lost,”  for,  unlike  the 
lost  angels,  they  ruled  their  discussions  by 
the  infallible  word  of  inspiration.  It  cannot 
be  said  that  serious  thought  then  bored,  or 
that  the  sparkle  of  the  unsubstantial  poem 
chiefly  drew,  or  that  triviality  was  the  char- 
acteristic of  the  multitude. 

'The  study  of  one  book,  and  that  the  Bible, 
simple  enough  in  parts  to  meet  the  under- 


394 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


standing  of  the  little  child,  and  of  interest 
enough  to  absorb  his  attention,  and  in  other 
parts  of  depths  which  no  finite  intellect  can 
sound,  and  everywhere  wise  above  the  wis- 
dom of  men,  and  without  any  alloy  of  error, 
was  one  of  the  most  efficacious  means  of 
raising  the  mass  of  the  people  in  intelligence, 
and  in  educating  a few,  who  made  it  their 
constant  meditation,  to  a nicety  of  discrimi- 
nation and  a profundity  of  thought  truly 
wonderful.  Take  as  an  example  one  silvery 
haired  man  whose  memory  is  cherished  with 
veneration.  His  school  privileges  had  been 
less  even  than’  the  scanty  amount  of  most 
of  his  contemporaries,  hardly  amounting  to 
three  winter  schools  in  all.  Moreover,  weak- 
ness of  the  eyes  almost  cut  him  off  from 
reading  books  and  papers  throughout  his 
life.  But  he  was  able  to  read  daily  a few 
verses,  sometimes  several  chapters,  in  his 
large  quarto  Bible,  and  when  he  read  aloud, 
all  untaught  as  he  was,  he  read  with  a natu- 
ralness and  gave  the  sense,  so  that  the  hearer 
marvelled.  Comparing  scripture  with  scrip- 
ture, he  had  attained  to  a skill  in  interpret- 
ing which  seldom  erred.  His  quickness  in 
detecting  a fallacy  or  in  observing  a doc- 
trine which  harmonized  not  with  the  living 
oracles  was  surpassed  by  very  few  of  even 
the  most  highly  educated  of  schoolmen.  He 
was  exceedingly  retiring,  but  to  the  few  who 
knew  him,  his  life  and  his  language  seemed 
as  correct  as  the  words  of  that  book  on 
which  both,  with  perfect  naturalness,  with- 
out any  tinge  of  formality  or  quaintness,  were 
modeled.  Who  will  venture  to  say  that  this 
man’s  education  was  not  incomparably  supe- 
rior to  that  of  him  who  has  delved  a whole 
life  in  conflicting  systems,  who  has  sought 
to  know  the  thoughts  of  all  reported  as 
great,  but  who  has  settled  nothing  for  him- 
self? 

The  political  principles  which  found  their 
expression  in  the  declaration  of  independ- 
ence, and  which  were  a cherished  inheri- 
tance from  the  fathers,  leading  to  a general 
participation  in  the  government  of  the  coun- 
try, and  producing  the  habit  of  earnestly 
debating  every  question  of  public  concern, 
had  no  small  share  of  influence  in  exciting 
intensity  and  energy  of  mental  action.  By 
the  fireside,  in  the  field,  at  the  corners  of  the 
streets,  in  the  shops  and  stores,  those  pow- 
ers were  developed  which  had  further  exer- 
cise in  the  town  meeting,  and  carried  their 
possessor  to  some  humble  position  of  trust 
or  authority ; and  when  here  trained  and 


shown  to  be  capable  of  sustaining  higher 
responsibilities,  advanced  him  again,  so  that 
he  who  had  forged  iron  chains,  was  chosen 
to  fashion  the  more  efficacious  restraints  of 
laws;  he  who  had  occupied  the  cobbler’s 
seat,  was  promoted  to  the  bench  of  justice  ; 
and  he  who  had  been  wont  to  rule  oxen  was 
thought  worthy  to  govern  men. 

The  newspaper,  and  the  family,  and  the 
village  library  contributed  largely  to  the 
general  intelligence.  The  weekly  paper  fur- 
nished no  small  part  of  the  topics  of  conver- 
sation in  the  family  and  among  neighbors, 
and,  in  particular,  supplied  the  pabulum  for 
political  discussions.  The  few  books  owned 
or  borrowed  were  carefully  read  again  and 
again.  The  small  proprietary  libraries  fur- 
nished some  of  the  most  valuable  histories 
and  the  choicest  Avorks  in  belles-lettres.  It 
was  not  of  rare  occurrence  to  find  persons 
who  showed  familiarity  with  Rollin,  Fergu- 
son, Gibbon,  Robertson,  and  Hume;  and 
sometimes  one  might  even  be  met,  who 
could  give  an  orderly  account  of  an  entire 
work  of  these  authors  ; and  there  were  many 
who  could  repeat  favorite  poems,  peradven- 
ture  even  the  entire  Night  Thoughts  of  Dr. 
Young,  if  that  was  the  chosen  vade  mecum. 
Even  some  children  of  twelve  or  fifteen  years 
of  age, — barefoot  boys  who  had  only  “ noon- 
ings” and  the  time  they  might  gain  by  man- 
ual dexterity  in  accomplishing  their  “ stents,” 
— had  perused  several  of  the  voluminous 
historians  named  above.  How  will  such 
lads  compare  in  mental  strength  and  vigor 
with  children  who  willingly  read  nothing  but 
the  most  exciting  tales  or  the  most  intellec- 
tual pap  made  toothsome  ? 

The  observation  of  men  and  of  nature, 
pursued  to  good  advantage  where  no  un- 
bending usages  restrained  free  development 
of  character,  no  wrappings  of  conventionali- 
ties gave  a uniform  semblance  to  all,  where 
the  woods  and  the  waters  and  the  inhabi- 
tants thereof  had  only  begun  to  recognize 
the  dominion  of  man,  quickened  too  by 
the  necessity  of  turning  to  account  every 
item  of  knowledge  that  could  be  gained,  was 
an  ample  equivalent  for  the  more  compre- 
hensive speculations  of  mental  philosophy 
and  the  scientific  nomenclatures  and  descrip- 
tions of  natural  history  to  be  learned  from 
the  mouth  of  the  lecturer. 

Finally,  those  defective  schools  of  the  past 
generation  did  place  the  key  of  knowledge 
in  the  hands  of  the  inquisitive  ; which  is 
nearly  all  that  the  schools  can  now  do. 


COMMON  SCHOOLS  AND  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION. 


395 


CHAPTER  IV. 

PROGRESSIVE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  SCHOOLS 

AND  OTHER  INSTITUTIONS  OF  PUBLIC 

INSTRUCTION. 

INTRODUCTION. 

By  common  or  public  schools  in  this 
chapter  is  understood  that  grade  or  class  of 
educational  institutions  which  the  State 
provides  or  secures  for  all  its  children,  in  the 
rural  districts  as  well  as  in  the  crowded  city, 
wherever  a human  being  is  to  be  found  on 
its  territory  capable  of  receiving  that  formal 
instruction  which  is  essential  to  the  healthy 
physical,  moral,  and  intellectual  growth  of 
each  individual,  and  to  the  attainment  of 
that  amount  of  knowledge  which  the  per- 
formance of  every  day  business  and  the 
universal  duties  of  citizenship  require.  It 
is  common,  because  it  is  the  debt  which  the 
community  owes  to  every  citizen  for  their 
good  and  its  security.  It  is  public,  because 
it  is  established  by  the  State  through 
agencies  of  its  appointment  or  providing, 
conducted  according  to  the  rules  of  its 
prescribing  or  authorization,  supported  by 
funds  protected  or  furnished  by  its  legislation, 
accessible  to  all  pupils  upon  terms  of 
equality,  and  subject  to  such  inspection  as 
the  law  may  institute.  It  is  not  necessarily 
gratuitous;  it  may  be  free  or  cheap — but  it 
can  not  be  common  if  the  cost  is  beyond  the 
reach  of  the  poorest.  Although  public,  it  is 
not  beyond  legal  control.  It  is  everywhere 
subject  to  such  limitations  as  to  age,  attend- 
ance, studies,  books,  and  teachers  as  the  State 
may  prescribe ; and  it  must  exist  by  force 
of  law,  general  or  special,  and  be  managed 
by  agents  who  have  their  authority  direct  or 
indirect  from  legal  provisions,  and  its  privi- 
leges must  be  open  to  all  children  on  equal 
terms.  It  is  no  longer  limited  in  its  range 
of  instruction  to  the  few  elementary  studies, 
or  to  mere  children.  Studies  which  formerly 
belonged  to  the  academy  or  college  are  now 
parts  of  the  curriculum  in  the  higher  classes 
or  grades  of  the  common  school,  especially 
in  cities  and  large  villages. 

Although  originating  at  different  times, 
and  projected  after  different  models,  and 
modified  by  differing  conditions  of  nation- 
ality, occupation,  and  religious  opinions  or 
practices,  the  American  Common  or  Public 
School,  however  widely  separated  in  terri- 
tory, is  now  subjected  to  common  social  and 
political  influences,  and  is  fast  approximating 


to  a common  organization,  and  to  similar, 
and  almost  identical  systems  of  administra- 
tion, instruction  and  discipline.  It  is  doubt- 
ful if  the  institution  attains  its  highest  effi- 
ciency and  broadest  usefulness,  by  this  legal 
uniformity.  Large  bodies  of  children  will 
be  thrown  out  of  its  influence  altogether ; 
bitter  antagonisms  between  bodies  of  citizens 
will  be  engendered ; and  the  teaching  power 
of  the  schools  will  not  find  that  field  and 
stimulus  for  individual  expansion  and  orig- 
inal methods  and  special  adaptations,  which 
greater  liberty  of  instruction,  and  more  diver- 
sified preparation  and  administration  would 
create.  It  is  not  impossible  that  the  recent 
rapid  approach  to  uniformity  in  organization, 
administration,  instruction  and  discipline,  will 
be  arrested  and  modified  by  the  independent 
action  of  State  and  city  systems,  as  soon  as 
each  becomes  again  more  subject  to  peculiar 
local  influences. 

The  constitutional  provision  of  any  State 
is  indicative  only  of  the  policy  of  a com- 
paratively few  men  on  the  subject  of  schools 
and  education,  and  is  mainly  serviceable  in 
protecting  funds  specially  appropriated  to 
these  purposes  from  being  devoted  to  other 
objects,  and  in  giving  the  friends  of  these 
interests  a firm  ground  to  stand  on  in  their 
advocacy  of  the  same.  The  constitutions 
and  school  acts  since  1865  in  the  States  re- 
cently engaged  in  the  rebellion,  and  pros- 
trated in  its  suppression,  have  been  adopted 
for  the  protection  of  the  enfranchised  col- 
ored population,  and  are  not  in  harmony 
with  the  former  habits  and  present  convic- 
tions of  a large  majority  of  the  old  voters. 
It  will  take  years  before  this  great  interest 
of  schools  and  education  can  get  adjusted  to 
the  new  relations  of  parties,  and  firmly  es- 
tablished in  the  habits  of  society. 

We  shall  now  proceed  to  give  a compre- 
hensive survey  of  the  progressive  develop- 
ment of  Common  or  Public  schools  in  each 
State,  and  at  the  same  time  indicate  at  least 
statistically,  the  condition  of  the  State  in  re- 
spect to  other  educational  institutions  and 
agencies.  For  convenience  of  reference  we 
shall  present  the  States  in  their  alphabetical 
order  and  not  in  the  more  logical  order  of 
the  chronological  establishment  and  de- 
velopment of  schools  in  the  same.  To  ap- 
preciate the  greater  or  less  rapidity  and 
efficiency  of  the  movement  we  shall  indicate 
the  date  of  settlement,  the  organization  of 
the  government,  the  growth  of  population, 
and  the  resources  of  each  State,  and  tho 
latest  statistical  results. 


396 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


I.  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION. 

ALABAMA. 

Alabama  belonged  to  the  State  of 
Georgia  till  1802,  when  by  cession  it  be- 
came part  of  the  Territory  of  Mississippi 
until  1817,  when  it  was  organized  as  an  in- 
dependent Territory,  and  admitted  a State 
in  1819,  with  a population  in  1820,  127,- 
901 ; which  had  increased  in  1870  to  996,- 
992,  (475,510  colored);  on  an  area  of 
50,722  square  miles;  and  taxable  property 
to  the  value  of  $157,770,387. 

The  earliest  constitution  of  Alabama 
(1819)  ordains  that  ‘schools  and  the  means 
of  education  shall  forever  be  encouraged,’ 
and  the  General  Assembly  is  directed  to  pro- 
tect (1,)  the  land  grants  of  the  United  States 
for  the  use  of  schools  within  each  township  ; 
and  (2,)  the  Seminary  lands  ‘ for  a State  uni- 
versity for  the  promotion  of  the  arts,  litera- 
ture and  science.’ 

The  Constitution  of  1867  ordains  the  ap- 
pointment of  a Superintendent  of  Public  In- 
struction,— elected  at  the  same  time  and  in 
the  same  manner  as  the  Governor,  and  of  a 
Board  of  Education,  consisting  of  the  Super- 
intendent and  the  Governor  ex-officio , and 
two  members  elected  for  a term  of  four 
years,  for  each  Congressional  District.  The 
Board  of  Education  is  declared  a body 
corporate  and  politic,  ‘ with  full  legislative 
powers  in  reference  to  the  public  educational 
institutions  of  the  State,  and  its  acts  when 
approved  by  the  Governor,  or  when  reenacted 
by  two-thirds  of  the  Board  in  case  of  his  dis- 
approval, shall  have  the  effect  of  law,  unless 
repealed  by  the  General  Assembly.’  This 
Board  of  Education  is  constituted  a Board 
of  Regents  for  the  State  University,  and 
when  sitting  as  such,  has  power  to  appoint 
the  president  and  faculty.  Of  the  Board  of 
Regents,  the  president  of  the  University  is, 
ex-officio , a member  for  consultation.  To 
the  support  of  public  schools  the  constitu- 
tion continues  the  appropriation  of  all  lands 
and  other  property  donated  to  the  State  by 
the  United  States  and  individuals  for  educa- 
tional purposes,  and  one-fifth  of  the  aggregate 
annual  revenue  of  the  State,  and  of  any 
specific  tax  which  the  General  Assembly  may 
levy  upon  all  railroad,  navigation,  banking 
and  insurance  companies,  foreign  or  domes- 
tic, doing  business  in  the  State. 

The  peculiar  legislative  and  administrative 
school  authorities  provided  by  the  State  in 


the  constitution  of  1867,  has  not  had  thus 
far,  a favorable  field,  or  sufficient  time  to  de- 
velop its  legitimate  results.  The  attempts 
to  establish  an  efficient  system  of  public 
schools,  based  on  the  original  U.  S.  town- 
ship land  grants  (16th  section),  by  ordinary 
legislation,  from  the  first  State  law  of  1823 
down  to  1854,  had  entirely  failed.  In  the 
year  last  named,  to  give  efficiency  to  previous 
laws,  a State  Superintendent  was  appointed, 
additional  resources  were  provided  by  set- 
ting aside  the  income  of  the  U.  S.  Surplus 
Revenue  fund  deposited  with  the  State,  and 
the  avails  of  certain  swamp  lands,  and  a 
direct  appropriation  of  $100,000  out  of  the 
aggregate  annual  State  tax.  Under  the 
active  labors  and  legislative  reports  of  the 
Superintendent,  the  holding  of  Teachers’ 
Institutes,  the  meetings  of  a State  Educa- 
tional Association,  the  circulation  of  monthly 
issues  of  an  Educational  Journal,  an  intelli- 
gent public  opinion  was  being  created,  and 
school  officers  were  being  educated  to  their 
work,  when  the  war  of  Secession  arrested 
the  work  of  peace.  The  annihilation  of  all 
personal  property,  and  the  revolution  of  the 
old  social  and  industrial  system  of  the  South 
which  followed,  has  left  a debris  to  be  cleared 
away  before  any  general  system  of  education 
adapted  to  the  new  order  of  society  can  be 
organized  and  put  in  efficient  operation. 

Under  the  legislative  authority  vested  by 
the  constitution  in  the  Board  of  Education, 
and  under  the  administration  of  a Superin- 
tendent of  Public  Schools,  elected  by  the 
people  for  four  years,  a system  has  been  in- 
stituted which  in  most  of  its  features  cor- 
responds to  that  which  was  growing  up  out 
of  the  legislation  of  1854,  and  for  its  sup- 
port the  superintendent  in  his  report  for 
1871  estimates  that  the  sum  of  $700,000 
will  be  available  in  1872. 

To  assist  the  reorganization  of  public 
schools  in  Mobile,  Montgomery,  Selma, 
Huntsville,  La  Fayette,  Girard,  and  Colum- 
biana, aid  was  extended  by  the  agent  of 
the  Peabody  Fund  to  the  extent  of  about 
$5,000  in  1871. 

The  census  of  1870  returned  77,139  in 
school  attendance,  out  of  342,976  of  the 
school  age  (5  to  18  years);  and  349,771 
persons  over  10  years  who  could  not  read, 
and  383,012  who  could  not  write.  Out  of 
2,969  schools  of  all  kinds,  with  75,866 
pupils,  57  are  returned  as  classical  colleges 
and  academies,  with  3,218  pupils,  and  2,812 
public  schools,  with  67,000  pupils. 


COMMON  SCHOOLS  AND  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION. 


397 


ARKANSAS. 

Population — In  1840,  97,574  j in  1870,  484,471 — race,  362.- 
115  w. ; 122,169  c.  Area— 52,198  sq  m. ; person*  to  .<?.  m., 
9 30;  families,  96.135;  pers.  to  fam.,  5.04;  dwellings, 
98,195;  per.  to  dio.,  5.20;  persons  between  5 and  18, 
84,645  in.,  80,845  /.  Taxable  property,  $94,168,843. 

Arkansas  was  organized  a Territory  in 
March,  1819,  and  admitted  a State  in  1836. 

The  constitution  of  1836  ordains  that  the 
General  Assembly,  in  consideration  that 
‘ knowledge  and  learning  generally  diffused 
throughout  a community  are  essential  to  the 
preservation  of  a free  government,’  shall  pro- 
vide by  law  for  the  school  lands,  and  ‘ en- 
courage intellectual,  scientific  and  agricul- 
tural improvements.’  The  State  received 
886,460  acres  of  land  for  common  schools, 
and  46,080  for  a university,  but  the  legisla- 
ture did  not  come  up  to  the  above  require- 
ments of  the  above  fundamental  ordinance, 
and  no  serious,  or  at  least  no  successful  at- 
tempt was  ever  made  to  inaugurate  a system 
of  public  schools.  In  1854  the  Secretary  of 
the  State,  who  was  ex-officio,  State  Commis- 
sioner of  Common  Schools,  reported  only  40 
public  schools,  and  complains  of  ‘ the  indif- 
ference that  pervades  the  public  mind  on  the 
subject  of  education.’  Owing  to  this  in- 
difference, and  fraudulent  and  defective  legis- 
lation, the  munificent  land  grants  of  the  gen- 
eral government  have  been  squandered,  and 
the  permanent  school  fund  from  these  sources 
in  1870  was  $35,192,  instead  of  $2,000,000 
or  $3,000,000,  as  might  have  been  realized 
under  honest  and  judicious  management. 

The  constitution  of  1868  ordains  that  ‘the 
General  Assembly  shall  establish  and  main- 
tain a system  of  free  schools  for  the  gratuit- 
ous instruction  of  all  persons  in  the  State  be- 
tween the  ages  of  five  and  twenty-one  years,’ 
and  for  their  supervision,  ‘ a superintendent 
and  such  other  officers  as  may  be  necessary, 
shall  be  appointed.’  A State  university, 
‘ with  departments  for  instruction  in  teaching, 
in  agriculture  and  the  natural  sciences  shall 
also  be  established  and  maintained.’  ‘ To 
support  these  institutions,  the  proceeds  of  all 
school  lands  and  other  property  before 
donated,  or  which  may  be  donated  to  the 
State  for  educational  purposes,  shall  consti- 
tute a School  Fund,  the  annual  income  of 
which,  together  with  one  dollar  per  capita 
annually  assessed  on  every  male  inhabitant 
over  the  age  of  21  years,  and  so  much  more 
of  the  ordinary  annual  revenue  of  the  State 
as  shall  be  found  necessary,  shall  be  faithfully 
appropriated  to  the  free  schools  and  univer- 
sities, and  to  no  other  purpose  whatever.’ 
24* 


In  view  of  these  provisions,  a school  sys- 
tem was  established  in  1869,  the  authorities 
of  which  are:  (1,)  a State  Superintendent, 
elected  every  four  years ; (2,)  a Circuit  Super- 
intendent, appointed  by  the  Governor  for 
each  judicial  district,  of  which  there  are  ten  ; 
(3,)  a State  Board  of  Education,  composed 
of  the  State  and  Circuit  Superintendents ; 
(4,)  a single  trustee  for  each  school  district, 
and  (5,)  a city  Superintendent  for  each  incor- 
porated city.  The  Circuit  Superintendent 
gives  his  entire  time  to  the  interests  of  the 
schools,  holds  a Teachers’  Institute  in  his 
district  every  year,  examines  all  candidates 
for  the  office  of  public  school  teacher,  and 
issues  three  grades  of  certificates — the  first 
of  which  is  valid  in  his  district  for  2 years,  the 
second  for  1 year,  and  the  third  for  6 months. 

The  report  of  the  Superintendent  to  the 
Governor  at  the  close  of  1870,  made  a very 
fair  exhibit  of  schools,  teachers  and  expen- 
ditures compared  with  any  thing  before  pub- 
lished. In  the  two  years  1869  and  1870, 
657  new  school-houses  have  been  built,  mak- 
ing in  all  1,289;  of  182,474  children  (white 
aud  colored)  between  the  ages  of  5 and  21, 
107,908  have  attended  school  of  some  kind  ; 
2,537  schools  had  been  taught  by  2,302 
teachers,  of  whom  944  attended  the  41 
Teachers’  Institutes  which  had  been  held. 
The  entire  sum  expended  for  the  public 
schools  was  $583,844,  of  which  $334,952 
was  from  direct  tax. 

The  Arkansas  Journal  of  Education  was 
established  in  1870,  and  made  the  organ  of 
the  State  Board  in  1871.  A State  Teachers’ 
Association  was  organized  in  1869,  and  has 
held  three  annual  meetings.  The  Peabody 
Fund  furnished  aid  in  1870  to  the  amount 
of  $9,450. 

The  National  census  for  1870  returns 
1,978  schools  of  all  kinds,  under  3,008 
teachers,  of  whom  992  were  females.  Of 
these  schools  1,744  are  public,  with  1,966 
teachers  and  72,004  pupils.  Under  the  head 
of  classical,  professional  and  technical  insti- 
tutions, there  are  8 colleges  ( so-called ),  46 
academies,  1 school  of  theology,  1 of  medi- 
cine and  one  for  the  blind  and  deaf  mutes. 

These  statistics  returned  for  some  States 
would  be  significant,  but  names  are  not 
things,  or  at  least  schools,  in  the  light  which 
official  reports  throw  on  their  actual  condi- 
tion in  Arkansas,  especially  when  the  same 
census  returns  111,799  persons  over  10 
years  old  who  can  not  read,  and  133,339 
who  can  not  write. 


398 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


CALIFORNIA. 

Population  in  1850,  92,597  ; in  1870,  560,247  ; race,  499,424 
w.  and  4,272  c.  Area,  198,181  sq.  m.  ; persons,  2.29  to  sq. 
m. ; families,  128,752  ; persons  to  a fam.,  4.35  ; dwellings, 
126,307 ; pers.  to  a dw.,  4.44 ; persons  5 to  18,  71, 1186  m., 
66,043  /.  Taxable  property,  $269,644,068. 

California  was  settled  by  the  Spanish  as 
early  as  1769,  and  became  part  of  the  terri- 
tory of  the  United  States  by  treaty  with 
Wisconsin  in  1848,  and  was  admitted  into 
the  Union  in  1850. 

The  constitution  of  1849  provides  for  the 
election  by*  the  people  of  a superintendent 
of  public  instruction,  and  enjoins  on  the 
legislature  ‘ the  establishment  of  a system 
of  common  schools,  by  which  a school  shall 
be  kept  in  each  district  at  least  three  months 
in  each  year,’  and  deprives  each  district 
which  neglects  to  do  so,  of  its  share  in  the 
interest  of  the  public  fund  during  such 
neglect.  The  proceeds  of  all  lands  donated 
by  the  United  States  Government  for  school 
or  university  purposes,  including  500,000 
acres  donated  for  internal  improvements,  are 
to  be  set  aside  inviolably  and  without  dim- 
inution for  such  purposes  and  no  other. 
Under  this  injunction  and  wise  legislative 
counsels,  a system  of  public  schools  was  at 
once  established,  and  within  the  last  ten  years 
has  been  developed  into  proportions  and 
efficiency,  especially  in  the  large  towns, 
which  may  challenge  comparison  with  any  in 
the  country.  Without  noticing  the  succes- 
sive enactments,  many  of  them  important, 
by  which  the  system  was  developed,  we  find 
in  the  constitution,  and  revised  school  law 
of  1866  the  following  features: 

1.  A State  Superintendent,  elected  for  a 
term  of  four  years  by  the  people. 

2.  A State  Board  of  Education,  consist- 
ing of  the  Governor,  the  State  Superintend- 
ent, the  Principal  of  the  State  Normal  School, 
the  Superintendent  of  the  city  and  county  of 
San  Francisco,  and  of  the  respective  counties 
of  Sacramento,  Santa  Clara  and  San  Joaquin, 
and  two  professional  teachers  holding  State 
certificates  of  competency  and  experience, 
nominated  by  the  State  Superintendent  and 
elected  by  the  Board.  To  this  Board  is  as- 
signed the  duty  of  ‘ adopting  a course  of 
study,  and  rules  and  regulations  for  all  public 
schools,  to  prescribe  a uniform  system  of  text- 
books, and  a list  of  books  suitable  for  school 
libraries,  to  grant  diplomas  to  teachers  and 
regulate  their  examinations.’ 

3.  A County  Superintendent  for  each 
county,  elected  at  the  general  election,  to 
hold  office  for  two  years,  who  must  visit  all 


the  schools  in  his  county  at  least  once  a year, 
distribute  and  see  to  the  enforcement  of  all 
regulations  and  circulars  of  the  State  Board, 
hold  Teachers’  Institutes,  keep  on  file  the 
State  Educational  Journal,  and  all  printed 
reports  and  documents  of  the  Superintend- 
ent, and  all  reports  of  school  officers  and 
teachers,  as  well  as  an  official  record  of  his 
own  doings  and  of  the  county  board  of  ex- 
amination, on  the  penalty  of  a forfeiture  of 
$100  from  his  official  salary  in  case  of  failure. 

4.  Three  trustees  for  each  school  district, 
one  elected  each  year  and  holding  office  for 
three  years,  to  whom  the  local  management 
of  the  school,  as  to  teachers,  books  and 
school-houses  belongs,  subject  to  the  regula- 
tions of  the  State  and  county  officers. 

The  law  provides  for  a State  Normal 
School,  Teachers’  Institutes,  and  State  and 
County  Boards  of  Examination  composed  of 
teachers,  exclusively.  It  also  deals  specific- 
ally with  many  points  which  are  left  doubt- 
ful or  discretionary  in  other  States,  such  as : 
a gradation  of  schools  into  primary,  gram- 
mar and  high  ; a limitation  of  school  hours 
for  children  under  eight  years  to  four  hours, 
and  for  all  schools  to  six  hours,  a school 
month  to  twenty  school  days,  or  four  weeks 
of  five  school  days ; making  the  parents  of 
pupils  liable  for  damages  to  school  property 
of  any  kind  ; making  profanity  and  vulgarity 
good  cause  for  suspension,  and  continued 
willful  disobedience  and  open  defiance  of  the 
teacher’s  authority,  good  cause  for  expulsion  ; 
exempting  all  teachers  from  professional  em- 
ployment on  days  as  may  be  declared  public 
holidays,  State  or  national ; the  necessity  of 
teachers  attending  the  Institute  for  their 
county,  and  of  the  State  Superintendent 
subscribing  for  a copy  of  an  Educational 
Journal  in  which  the  official  circulars,  decis- 
ions and  laws  relating  to  schools  are  pub- 
lished, for  each  county  and  city  and  district 
officer.  Teachers  are  enjoined  ‘ to  instruct 
their  pupils  in  the  principles  of  morality, 
justice,  and  patriotism,  and  to  train  them  up 
to  a true  comprehension  of  the  rights,  duties, 
and  dignity  of  American  citizenship.’ 

According  to  the  official  reports,  there  were 
in  1870,  1,354  public  schools,  under  1,687 
teachers  (961  females),  maintained  at  a 
total  expenditure  of  $1,290,585,  of  which 
$847,229  was  raised  by  tax.  The  productive 
capital  of  the  school  fund  is  $2,000,000. 

The  census  of  1870  returned  24,877  per- 
sons over  10  years  old  who  could  not  read, 
and  312,716  who  could  not  write. 


COMMON  SCHOOLS  AND  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION. 


399 


CONNECTICUT. 

Connecticut  on  becoming  a State  con- 
tinued the  educational  policy  commenced  in 
the  colonial  law  of  1650,  and  much  earlier 
in  the  original  towns,  which  composed  both 
the  colonies  of  Conuecticut  and  New  Haven 
— in  all  of  which  schools  were  instituted 
within  one  year  after  the  first  settlements 
were  made.  At  the  beginning  of  this 
century  the  system  of  public  instruction 
embraced  (1.)  a common  school  in  every 
neighborhood  where  at  least  twelve  children 
could  be  gathered  for  elementary  instruction  ; 
(2,)  an  endowed  grammar  school,  or  incor- 
porated academy,  in  the  county  town,  or 
one  or  more  private  schools  for  classical  in- 
struction in  all  the  large  parishes  of  the 
State ; (3,)  a college  for  superior  instruction 
at  New  Haven,  with  special  reference  to  the 
ministry,  and  the  ‘ learned  professions  ’ of 
law  and  medicine.  The  common  school 
authorities  were:  (1,)  a school  committee 
(of  three  persons)  for  each  school  society 
(which  corresponded  to  the  parish — and  of 
which  there  was  one  or  more  for  each  town,) 
which  looked  after  the  financial  affairs ; 
(2,)  a district  committee,  appointed  by  the 
society,  for  each  district,  to  employ  the 
teacher  and  look  after  the  local  matters  ; and 
(3,)  school  visitors,  (of  which  the  clergy- 
man was  always  a member)  whose  business 
it  was  to  visit  the  schools  and  certify  to  the 
competency  of  the  teachers. 

The  State  exercised  its  direct  authority  in 
the  supervision  of  the  common  schools  for 
the  first  time  in  1838,  when,  under  the  lead 
of  Henry  Barnard,  a member  of  the  Legis- 
lature from  Hartford,  a State  Board,  entitled 
Commissioners  of  Education,  was  instituted, 
with  a secretary  as  its  executive  officer. 
The  duties  of  the  board  were  mainly  to 
collect  and  disseminate  information  and 
awaken  public  interest  in  behalf  of  the 
schools,  and  the  means  of  popular  education 
generally.  Out  of  the  action  of  that  board, 
and  of  the  Massachusetts  Board  of  Educa- 
tion established  in  1837,  have  been  devel- 
oped the  measures  of  educational  reform  and 
the  systems  of  public  instruction  which  now 
exist  in  every  one  of  the  United  States. 

I.  The  system  of  Common  Schools  in 
Connecticut  is  administered  by  (1,)  State 
Board  of  Education,  composed  of  the  Gov- 
ernor, Lieut.  Governor,  and  four  persons, 
one  from  each  Congressional  district,  and 
charged  with  the  general  supervision  and 
control  of  the  educational  interests  of  the 


State,  with  special  power  to  prescribe  what 
books  shall  be  used,  but  not  to  require  any 
book  to  be  changed  oftener  than  once  in 
five  years ; to  prescribe  the  form  of  all 
school  reports ; to  establish  and  manage  a 
State  Normal  School,  and  hold  conventions 
of  teachers;  and  to  appoint  a secretary, 
whose  business  it  is  made  to  exercise  a gen- 
eral supervision  over  the  public  schools,  to 
visit  different  parts  of  the  State  for  the  pur- 
pose of  awakening  and  guiding  public  senti- 
ment in  relation  to  the  practical  interests  of 
education,  to  collect  school-books,  apparatus, 
maps,  and  charts  as  can  be  obtained  without 
expense  to  the  State,  and  to  report  annually 
to  the  board  on  the  condition  of  Normal 
schools  and  other  public  schools  of  the  State. 

(2,)  A Board  of  School  Visitors  for  each 
town,  of  six  or  nine  members,  as  the  town 
may  determine,  who  prescribe  regulations 
for  the  management,  studies,  classification, 
and  discipline  of  the  public  schools ; exam- 
ine candidates  and  issue  certificates  of  quali- 
fications to  such  as  they  find  qualified.  If 
authorized  by  the  towns,  this  board  may 
employ  the  teachers  for  the  schools ; visit 
the  schools  through  one  or  more  of  their 
mepbers,  called  an  acting  visitor  or  visitors ; 
ana  report  to  the  town  and  the  board  an- 
nually, and  when  required. 

(3,)  A committee  of  each  district,  charged 
with  all  matters  of  local  management,  unless 
the  same  shall  have  been  transferred  by 
the  town  to  the  school  visitors. 

The  law  designates  certain  branches  in 
which  the  teachers  must  be  found  qualified 
to  teach,  and  which  any  parent  may  require 
his  child,  if  properly  qualified,  to  receive 
instruction,  viz.,  reading,  writing,  arithme- 
tic, and  grammar  thoroughly,  and  the  rudi- 
ments of  geography,  history,  and  drawing. 

From  the  year  1650,  it  has  been  made  by 
law  the  duty  of  all  parents  and  guardians 
of  children  ‘ to  bring  them  up  in  some  hon- 
est and  lawful  calling,  and  to  cause  them 
to  be  instructed,’  originally  ‘ to  read  the 
Holy  Word  of  God  and  other  good  laws  of 
the  colony,’  but  by  existing  statute  ‘in  read- 
ing, writing,  English  grammar,  geography 
and  arithmetic.’  By  the  existing  law,  ‘ any 
child  between  the  ages  of  8 and  14  must 
attend  some  school,  public  or  private,  or  be 
instructed  at  home,  at  least  three  months  in 
each  year,  unless  the  physical  or  mental 
condition  renders  such  instruction  inexpe- 
dient. And  no  child  under  14  can  be  em- 
ployed to  labor  in  any  business,  whatever, 


400 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


unless  he  has  attended  school  three  months 
out  of  the  twelve  preceding,  under  a pen- 
alty of  $100  for  each  offense.  Each  city  or 
town  may  make  all  needful  regulations  con- 
cerning habitual  truants  from  school,  or 
children  under  16  years  of  age  found  loiter- 
iug  during  school  hours,  with  prescribed 
modes  for  their  arrest,  penalties,  and  for  re- 
peated convictions,  their  sentence  to  the 
State  Reform  School,  and  in  case  of  girls,  to 
the  Girls’  Industrial  School.  To  carry  out 
these  provisions  relative  to  children  engaged 
in  factory  labor,  the  State  Board  appoint  an 
agent  who  visits  the  localities,  confers  with 
employers  and  teachers,  and  thus,  without 
actually  appealing  to  penalties,  secure  the 
enforcement  of  the  law.  But  the  statistics 
of  the  Secretary’s  report  for  1872,  and  the 
national  census  of  1870,  show  that  the  aim 
of  the  law — universal  school  attendance, 
and  universal  elementary  instruction  at 
home  or  at  school,  are  not  now  reached. 
The  census  shows  that  there  were  29,616 
persons  over  10  years  old,  of  all  races, 
who  were  returned  as  illiterate — over 

19.000  who  could  not  read,  and  over 

29.000  who  could  not  write.  Of  the 
29,616  thus  returned,  27,913  were  white, 
and  of  these  5,678  were  native  born. 
Out  of  131,748  persons  over  4 and  under 
16  years  of  age  in  January,  1872,  only 
83,095  were  registered  as  scholars  in  public 
schools  in  the  summer  of  1872,  and  94,408 
in  the  winter  of  1872.  If  to  these  we  add 
8,754  in  private  schools,  it  leaves  11,947 
not  in  any  school,  public  or  private. 

In  1871,  there  were  166  towns;  1,535 
school  districts,  with  1,630  schools,  classi- 
fied into  2,290  departments,  under  2,420 
teachers  (2,194  females),  of  whom  595  had 
not  taught  before;  the  State  School  Fund, 
$2,048,375  ; Town  Deposit  Fund,  $763,661 ; 
Local  School  Fund,  $150,000;  valuation 
of  taxable  property,  $322,553,488.  The 
income  in  1871  was,  from  permanent  funds, 
$183,262;  from  town  and  district  taxation, 
$1,052,545;  from  rate-bills,  $267,809,— 
total  $1,503,617. 

The  educational  institutions  of  the  State 
in  1872  consisted  of  (1,)  1,630  common 
schools;  100  academies,  seminaries,  and 
high  schools  of  secondary  instruction ; 3 
colleges,  8 professional  and  special  schools, 
1 teaching,  3 theology,  1 law,  1 medicine, 
1 science  applied  to  engineering,  agriculture, 
and  architecture,  1 art — industrial  and 
ideal,  1 deaf  mute,  1 imbecile,  and  290 
private  schools  of  every  grade  and  aim. 


DELAWARE. 

Delaware  was  the  first  State  to  ratify  the 
Federal  Constitution  (1789),  and  one  of*  the 
earliest  to  ordain  by  constitution  (1792) 
that  ‘ the  Legislature  shall,  as  soon  as  con- 
veniently may  be,  provide  by  law  for  estab- 
lishing schools  and  promoting  arts  and  sci- 
ences.’ But  the  act  of  1796  ‘to  create  a 
fund  sufficient  to  establish  schools,’  and  all 
subsequent  acts  of  1797,  1816,  1817,  1821, 
‘ to  increase  the  fund  or  pay  the  tuition  of 
poor  children,’  or  of  1829  ‘,to  provide  for 
free  schools,’  or  of  1830  and  1832,  1833  and 
1835  supplementary  and  additional  thereto, 
or  of  1837  appropriating  the  income  of  the 
U.  S.  Surplus  Revenue  Fund  for  the  benefit 
of  the  school  districts,  and  all  subsequent 
acts  (1852,  1857,  1858,  1861)  have  failed  to 
go  to  the  root  of  the  matter  by  making  it 
obligatory  on  the  towns  or  hundreds  to  estab- 
lish and  maintain  public  schools,  not  for  the 
poor,  but  for  all  classes,  and  to  raise  by  tax 
on  the  taxable  property  of  such  town  or 
hundred,  a minimum  sum  for  the  support  of 
such  schools,  and  then  subjecting  teachers 
to  an  examination,  and  the  schools  to  regular 
visitation,  by  a committee  responsible  to  the 
State  and  to  the  local  community  for  the 
performance  of  their  duties.  From  this 
general  remark  should  be  excepted  the  city 
of  Wilmington,  in  which  a system  of  public 
schools  has  been  maintained  under  a special 
act  of  the  Legislature,  by  which  the  school 
interest  is  committed  to  a board  elected  by 
the  citizens,  with  power  to  establish  schools 
and  provide  money  for  their  support,  by 
requisition  on  the  city  authorities.  Down  to 
1872,  no  provision  was  made  by  the  State 
for  education  of  the  colored  children,  but  by 
the  aid  of  citizens,  and  the  Freedmen’s 
Bureau,  29  schools  were  maintained  with 
2,104  pupils  at  an  expense  of  $11,000. 

According  to  the  national  census  of  1870, 
out  of  a school  population  (5  to  18  years  of 
age)  of  40,807,  only  19,965  were  returned 
at  school  in  the  year  previous,  and  out  of 
the  total  population  (125,015),  19,356  per- 
sons over  10  years  could  not  read,  and 
23,100  could  not  write.  According  to  the 
same  census  there  were  326  public  schools 
under  388  teachers,  with  17,835  pupils; 
9 academic  institutions  under  63  teachers 
and  859  pupils  (including  2 classed  as  colleges 
with  15  teachers,  of  whom  8 are  females, 
and  137  pupils,  of  whom  120  are  females; 
and  38  private  and  parochial  schools,  with 
59  teachers  and  1,881  pupils. 


NORWICH  (CONN)  FREE  ACADEMY. 


COMMON  SCHOOLS  AND  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION. 


401 


FLORIDA. 

Florida  was  admitted  into  the  United 
States  in  1845,  although  settled  earlier  than 
other  portions  of  the  Union.  Although  the 
Constitution  adopted  in  1839,  and  that  of 
1865  throw  their  protection  around  lands 
granted  ‘ for  the  use  of  schools  and  semin- 
aries of  learning,’  not  much  seems  yet  to 
have  come  of  the  lands  (amounting  to  over 
1,000,000  acres),  or  to  have  been  done  for 
schools,  until  under  the  act  of  Jan.  30, 1869, 
by  which  (1,)  a Superintendent  of  Public  In- 
struction is  appointed  for  the  State,  and  (2,) 
County*  Superintendents  for  each. 

According  to  the  national  census  of  1870, 
out  of  a school  population  (5  to  18  years  of 
age)  of  63,807,  12,778  were  returned  as  at- 
tending school  in  the  year  previous.  Of  this 
number,  8,254  were  white  and  4,524  colored. 
Out  of  the  entire  population  (187,748), 
66,238  persons  over  10  years  of  age  could 
not  read,  and  71,803  could  not  write,  with 
taxable  property  to  the  valuation  of  $32,- 
480,843,  and  school  lands  yet  undisposed  of. 
A better  exhibit  may  be  anticipated  in  1880 
over  1870,  when  the  census  returned  377 
public  schools,  with  14,000  pupils;  10 
academies,  with  580  pupils,  and  141  private 
schools,  with  1,500  pupils. 

GEORGIA. 

Georgia  was  one  of  the  earliest  to  assert 
in  its  fundamental  law  (Constitution  of  1777), 
that  ‘ schools  shall  be  erected  in  each  county, 
and  supported  at  the  general  expense  of  the 
State,’  and  to  make  liberal  appropriations  to 
endow  seminaries  of  learning.  In  1783  the 
legislature  donated  1,000  acres  of  land  to 
each  county  for  the  support  of  free  schools, 
and  in  the  year  following,  40,000  acres  for 
the  endowment  of  a university,  and  in  1792, 
one  thousand  pounds  for  the  endowment  of 
an  academy  in  each  county.  In  the  preamble 
of  the  charter  creating  the  University  of 
Georgia  in  1785,  are  these  words:  ‘as  it  is 
the  distinguishing  happiness  of  free  govern- 
ments that  civil  order  should  be  the  result 
of  choice,  and  not  necessity,  and  that  the 
common  wishes  of  the  people  become  the 
laws  of  the  land,  their  public  prosperity  and 
even  existence  depend  very  much  on  suitably 
forming  the  minds  and  morals  of  their  citi- 
zens. * * * It  should  be  among  the 

first  objects  of  those  who  wish  well  to  the 
national  prosperity,  to  support  the  principles 
of  religion  and  morality,  and  early  to  place 
the  youth  under  the  forming  hand  of  society, 


that  by  instruction  they  may  be  molded  to 
the  love  of  virtue  and  good  order.  Sending 
them  abroad  to  other  countries  for  an  educa- 
tion will  not  answer.’  To  give  effect  to  the 
last  suggestion,  in  the  same  year  it  was 
enacted  that  ‘ if  any  person  or  persons  under 
the  age  of  sixteen  years,  shall,  after  the  pas- 
sage of  this  act,  be  sent  abroad  without  the 
limits  of  the  United  States,  and  reside  there 
three  years  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  an 
education  under  a foreign  power,  such  per- 
son or  persons,  after  their  return  to  this 
State,  shall  for  three  years  be  considered  and 
treated  as  aliens,  in  so  far  as  not  to  be  eligi- 
ble to  a seat  in  the  legislature  or  executive 
authority,  or  to  hold  any  office,  civil  or  mili- 
tary, in  the  State  for  that  term,  and  so  in 
proportion  for  any  greater  number  of  years 
as  he  or  they  shall  be  absent  as  aforesaid.’ 
The  Legislature  at  this  period  was  in  earnest, 
and  comprehensive  in  its  educational  policy. 
In  spite  of  numerous  laws  and  liberal  appro- 
priations designed  to  provide  free  elementary 
instruction  for  the  poor,  to  establish  at  least 
one  endowed  academy  in  each  county,  and  a 
university  for  higher  and  professional  learn- 
ing for  the  whole  State,  the  hindrances  inci- 
dent to  a new  country,  with  its  productive 
resources  not  developed,  to  a population  set- 
tled and  settling  not  in  villages  or  groups, 
but  in  independent  and  isolated  plantations, 
and  more  than  all,  to  a radically  unrepub- 
lican constitution  of  society,  these  laws  failed 
to  accomplish  their  beneficent  objects.  The 
provisions  of  the  amended  Constitution  of 
1798,  reordained  in  that  of  1839,  that  ‘the 
arts  and  sciences  shall  be  promoted,’  and 
‘ the  General  Assembly  shall  provide  effectual 
measures  ’ for  elementary  as  well  as  higher 
institutes,  did  not  establish  free  schools,  pro- 
vide competent  teachers,  awaken  public  in- 
terest, or  keep  the  legislature  informed  of  the 
exact  state  of  education  in  different  parts  of 
the  State.  The  national  census  of  1840, 
while  it  showed  the  existence  of  11  colleges 
(so  designated)  with  622  students,  and  176 
academies  with  7,878,  and  only  601  primary 
schools  with  15,561  pupils,  for  a white  popu- 
lation of  over  400,000,  of  whom  30,717 
persons  (increased  to  42,000  in  1850,)  over 
20  years  of  age  were  returned  unable  to  read 
and  write.  In  1843,  and  again  in  1854  and 
1856,  after  a personal  visit  of  the  writer  of 
this  article,  and  correspondence  with  promi- 
nent citizens,  a plan  was  devised  to  create  a 
system  of  common  schools,  open  alike  to 
rich  and  poor,  supported  by  public  tax,  State 


402 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


and  local,  and  administered  by  district, 
county  and  State  commissioners.  The  plan 
met  with  favor  in  the  legislature  both  in  1854 
and  1856,  but  failed  in  spite  of  the  eloquent 
appeal  of  Hon.  W.  II.  Stiles,  Speaker  of  the 
House,  ‘ Let  us,  by  the  passage  of  this  bill, 
inaugurate  a system  of  common  schools  in 
Georgia.  In  the  name  and  in  behalf  of 
150,000  Georgians,  between  5 and  20  years 
of  age,  wlio  are  growing  up  in  ignorance  of 
the  duties  and  relations  of  civilized  life,  I 
demand  it.  In  the  name  of  42,000  of  my 
countrymen,  over  the  age  of  20  years,  who 
are  daily  hurrying  to  the  grave  without  being 
able  to  read  for  themselves  the  way  of  eternal 
life,  I demand  it.  In  the  name  and  in  be- 
half of  the  whole  State,  which  we  proudly 
call  the  ‘ Empire  State  of  the  South,’  I demand 
it.  And  in  what,  pray,  does  her  empire  con- 
sist? In  lands  and  tenements,  in  fields  and 
stocks,  in  railroads  and  copper  mines,  but 
not  in  that  which  exceeds  them  all,  in  culti- 
vated intellect.  It  is  an  empire  of  matter, 
and  not  of  mind,  of  darkness  and  not  of 
light.  Enlighten  this  darkness,  efface  from 
her  escutcheon  that  foul  blot  of  illiteracy 
which  the  census  discloses,  or  never  call  her 
again  the  Empire  State.’  The  census  of 
1870  disclosed  a progressive  increase  of  illit- 
eracy; the  events  of  the  war,  having 
added  the  entire  black  race  at  once  to  the 
number  of  citizens,  and  the  ranks  of  the 
illiterate,  making  468,593  persons  over  10 
years  of  age  who  could  not  read. 

In  1870  a school  system  was  established, 
with  the  following  school  authorities : 

(1,)  A State  Board  of  Education,  consist- 
ing of  the  Governor  and  other  State  officers, 
acting  through  a State  School  Commissioner. 
To  this  Board  is  given  the  apportionment  of 
any  State  appropriation,  and  supervision. 

(2,)  A County  Board  of  Education,  consist- 
ing of  a member  for  each  militia  district. 
By  this  Board  a County  School  Commis- 
sioner is  elected,  who  thus  becomes  a mem- 
ber, and  its  secretary.  To  this  Board  belongs 
the  examination  of  teachers,  the  inspection 
of  schools,  and  the  imposition  of  a tax. 

(3,)  School  Trustees  for  each  militia  dis- 
trict, which  has  been  made  a school  district. 
This  Board  manages  the  school,  and  reports 
to  the  County  Commissioner. 

(4,)  The  city  school  authorities  of  Augusta, 
Columbia  and  Savannah,  instituted  by  special 
acts,  by  which  graded  systems  of  public 
schools  are  established  for  the  respective  cities 
and  the  counties  of  which  they  form  part. 


ILLINOIS. 

Illinois  became  one  of  the  United  States 
Dec.  3,  1818,  with  a population  in  1820  of 
55,211,  which  had  increased  in  1870  to 
1,680,637.  By  an  ordinance  dated  Aug. 
26,  1818,  the  convention  which  framed  the 
State  Constitution  accepted  a proposition 
contained  in  act  of  Congress  passed  April 
18,  1818,  as  a condition  precedent  of  the 
admission  of  the  people  of  the  Illinois  Ter- 
ritory, and  to  be  obligatory  upon  the  United 
States,  viz., ‘That  section  numbered  16  in 
every  township  shall  be  granted  to  the  State 
for  the  use  of  the  inhabitants  of  said  town- 
ship for  the  use  of  schools;  that  five  per 
cent,  of  the  net  proceeds  of  public  lands 
within  the  State  and  sold  by  Congress  after 
the  first  day  of  January,  1819,  shall  be  re- 
served for  the  following  purposes,  viz.,  two- 
fifths  for  making  roads  leading  to  the  State, 
and  the  residue  shall  be  appropriated  by  the 
Legislature  of  the  State  for  the  encourage- 
ment of  learning,  of  which  one-sixth  part 
shall  be  exclusively  bestowed  on  a college 
or  university.’  ‘That  36  sections,  or  one 
entire  township,  to  be  designated  by  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  together 
with  the  one  heretofore  reserved  for  that 
purpose,  shall  be  reserved  for  the  use  of  a 
seminary  of  learning,  and  vested  in  the 
Legislature  of  said  State  to  be  appropriated 
solely  to  the  use  of  such  seminary.’ 

Much  legislation  has  been  had  on  the 
management  of  the  funds  growings  out  of 
the  lease  and  sale  of  the  lands  thus  donated, 
and  the  controversy  over  the  possession  of 
portions  of  the  avails  of  the  United  States 
reservations  paid  over  to  the  State  has  not 
ceased.  The  capital  of  these  funds  in  1871 
was  as  follows:  School  Fund,  $613,363; 
College  or  University  Fund,  $156,613; 
Seminary  Fund,  $59,839 ; County  School 
Fund,  $348,285 ; Congressional  Township 
Fund,  $4,868,555  ; Surplus  Revenue  Fund, 
$335,592; — Total , September  30th,  1872, 
$6,382,248. 

The  first  general  school  law  -was  passed  in 
1825, ‘to  provide  for  the  establishment  of 
free  schools,’  with  the  following  preamble  : 
‘To  enjoy  our  rights  and  liberties  we  must 
understand  them  ; their  security  and  pro- 
tection ought  to«be  the  first  object  of  a free 
people;  and  it  is  a well  established  fact  that 
no  nation  has  ever  continued  long  in  the 
enjoyment  of  civil  and  political  freedom, 
which  was  not  both  virtuous  and  enlight 
ened;  and  believing  that  the  advancement 


COMMON  SCHOOLS  AND  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION. 


403 


of  literature  always  has  been,  and  ever  will 
be,  the  means  of  developing  more  fully  the 
rights  of  man ; that  the  mind  of  every  citi- 
zen in  the  republic  is  the  common  property 
of  society,  and  constitutes  the  basis  of  its 
strength  and.happiness ; it  is,  therefore,  con- 
sidered the  peculiar  duty  of  a free  govern- 
ment like  ours,  to  encourage  and  extend  the 
improvement  and  cultivation  of  the  intel- 
lectual energies  of  the  whole.’ 

The  upward  and  onward  movement  of 
common  schools  in  Illinois  dates  from  the 
legislation  of  1854,  for  which  preparation 
had  been  made  by  long  and  persistent  indi- 
vidual and  associated  labor.  Among 
these  should  be  mentioned  the  seven 
founders  (particularly  Baldwin,  Turner,  and 
Sturtevant,)  of  the  Illinois  College  from 
1829;  the  Ladles'  Association  for  Educating 
Females , founded  at  Jacksonville  in  1833; 
the  Illinois  Institute  of  Education,  founded 
at  Yandalia  in  the  same  year;  the  Illinois 
State  Educational  Society,  founded  at 
Springfield  in  1841  ; the  Northwestern  Edu- 
cational Society,  begun  in  1845;  the  In- 
dustrial Education  Conventions,  from  1851  ; 
the  Teachers'  Association,  county-wise  from 
1845,  and  culminating  in  the  State  Associa- 
tions in  1853;  the  publications  of  the 
Common  School  Advocate  in  1837,  the 
Illinois  School  Advocate  in  1841,  the 
Prairie  Farm.er,  and  Illinois  Ttacher'ux  1853. 

In  1854  provision  was  made  for  the  elec- 
tion by  the  people  of  a Superintendent  of 
Public  Instruction,  to  hold  his  office  for  two 
years,  and  whose  whole  time  should  be  de- 
voted to  the  supervision  of  the  common 
schools,  to  conferences  with  teachers  and 
school  officers,  to  public  addresses  in  the 
different  counties,  and  to  the  advancement 
of  public  education  generally,  lie  was 
specifically  required  to  make  a report  every 
year,  and  in  the  year  following  his  election, 
to  report  to  the  Legislature  by  bill  ‘ a system 
of  free  school  education  throughout  the 
State,  to  be  supported  by  a uniform  ad 
valorem  tax  upon  property  to  be  assessed 
and  collected  as  the  state  and  county 
revenue  is  assessed  and  collected.’ 

In  1855  a bill  for  the  thorough  organiza- 
tion of  the  common  schools  was  drawn  up 
by  the  superintendent,  the  basis  of  which 
was  the  principle  of  state  and  local  taxation 
for  educational  purposes,  and  a scries  of 
school  officers  for  local  and  general  adminis- 
tration to  secure  uniformity  and  efficiency 
in  the  schools.  The  bill  became  a law,  and 


under  it  were  : (1,)  A State  Superintendent 
of  Public  Instruction,  elected  by  the  people. 
(2,)  A School  Commissioner  for  each  county, 
elected  by  the  township  boards  of  educa- 
tion in  that  county.  (3,)  A Board  of  Edu- 
cation for  each  township.  Provision  was 
made  for  County  School  Conventions  and 
Teachers’  Institutes,  and  an  examining  com- 
mittee for  each  county.  No  school  could 
receive  any  portion  of  the  state  or  local 
school  moneys  unless  it  had  been  kept  for 
at  least  six  months  for  the  equal  and  free  in- 
struction of  all  persons.  The  law  has  been 
modified  and  revised  from  time  to  time, 
and  the  system  of  public  instruction  has 
been  extended  by  the  addition  of  new  insti- 
tutions until  it  has  reached  a high  degree 
of  efficiency  in  the  School  Law  of  1872. 

The  State  now  requires  and  secures  of- 
ficial returns  from  all  institutions  established, 
incorporated,  or  aided  to  any  extent  out  of 
public  funds,  and  of  the  school  attendance 
of  all  its  children  and  youth,  and  the  causes 
of  the  neglect  of  any  person  growing  up  in 
illiteracy,  either  white  or  black.  Provision 
is  made  to  protect  the  public  schools  against 
the  employment  of  incompetent  persons  as 
teachers,  by  providing  a Normal  University, 
teachers’  institutes,  teachers’  associations, 
the  advice  and  co-operation  of  school  officers, 
and  then  the  thorough  examination  by  ex- 
perts of  all  applicants  in  a range  of  specified 
studies  as  extensive  as  was  ever  before 
inserted  in  the  qualifications  of  common 
school  teachers,  viz.,  orthography,  reading 
in  English,  penmanship,  arithmetic,  English 
grammar,  modern  geography,  the  elements 
of  natural  science,  the  history  of  the  United 
States,  physiology,  and  the  law's  of  health, 
which  the  law  declares  must  be  thoroughly 
and  efficiently  taught ; vocal  music  and 
drawing  may  be  insisted  on  when  deemed 
expedient  by  the  directors.  And  these 
studies  may  be  extended  at  the  discretion  of 
the  Board  of  Education  in  all  large  cities. 

The  school  authorities  are : 

(1.)  State  Superintendent,  elected  by  the 
people  for  a term  of  four  years,  who  is  the 
legal  adviser  of  all  school  officers  and 
teachers,  and  who  must  address  the  county 
superintendents  by  circular  on  all  points 
touching  the  system,  and  the  organiz- 
ation, instruction,  and  discipline  of  schools, 
and  report  annually  to  the  Governor  on  the 
condition  and  improvement  of  the  educa- 
tional institutions  of  the  State. 

(2,)  County  Superintendent,  elected  by 


404 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


the  voters  of  each  county  to  hold  office  for 
four  years,  who  must  visit  at  least  once  in 
each  year  every  school  in  his  county,  and  to 
note  the  method  of  instruction,  the  branches 
taught,  the  text-books  used,  and  the  disci- 
pline, government,  and  general  condition  of 
the  schools.  He  shall  give  such  directions 
in  the  science,  art,  and  method  of  teaching 
as  he  may  deem  expedient  and  necessary, 
and  shall  be  the  official  adviser  and  constant 
assistant  of  the  school  officers  and  teachers 
of  his  county,  aud  shall  faithfully  carry  out 
the  advice  and  instructions  of  the  State 
Superintendent.  He  shall  encourage  the 
formation  and  assist  in  the  management  of 
county  teachers’  institutes,  and  labor  in 
every  practicable  way  to  elevate  the  stand- 
ard of  teaching,  and  improve  the  condition 
of  the  common  schools  of  his  county.  In 
all  controversies  arising  under  the  school 
law,  his  advice  shall  first  be  sought,  and  all 
appeals  to  the  State  Superintendent  must  be 
taken  up  on  the  statement  of  facts  certified 
by  him.  In  case  of  failure  of  any  township 
officers  to  provide  the  authorized  informa- 
tion and  statistics,  he  can  employ  a com- 
petent person  to  examine  all  books  and 
papers,  and  obtain  and  furnish  the  same. 

(3,)  Township  Trustees  for  each  town- 
ship (one  elected  each  year  for  a term  of 
three  year),  who  must  secure  an  efficient 
school  in  each  legally  constituted  district, 
for  a period  of  six  months  in  each  year,  and 
a High  School  for  the  winter  term  when  so 
ordered  by  the  town. 

(4,)  District  Directors,  one  for  each  dis- 
trict, into  which  a township  may  be  divided, 
who  must,  among  other  items,  report  the 
names  of  persons  over  12  and  under  21  re- 
siding in  the  district  unable  to  read  and 
write,  and  the  causes  of  such  neglect.  To 
this  office  is  committed  the  power  of  levying 
a tax  on  the  property  of  the  district  to  con- 
tinue the  school  for  not  less  than  5 or  more 
than  9 months,  and  to  excuse  the  attendance 
of  children  under  12  years  for  more  than 
four  hours  each  day. 

In  1872  there  were  11,156  common 
schools  (9  high,  651  graded,  and  10,414  un- 
graded,) with  672,782  pupils  under  20,285 
teachers  (11,459  females),  in  10,979  school- 
houses  (cost,  with  ground  and  apparatus, 
818,373,880);  58  academies  and  colleges; 
20  professional  and  special  schools,  4 teach- 
ing, 2 law,  2 medicine,  2 agriculture,  1 
blind,  1 deaf  mute,  2 commercial,  1 art, 
and  700  private  schools. 


* INDIANA. 

Indiana  was  organized  as  a Territory  in 
1800,  and  admittted  as  a State  in  1816, 
with  a population  in  1820  of  145,750,  which 
in  1870  had  increased  to  1,680,637,  with  a 
valuation  for  taxable  purposes  of  8663,- 
455,044. 

The  history  of  education  in  Indiana  com- 
mences with  the  Act  of  Congress  of  1804 
providing  for  the  sale  of  the  public  lands, 
which  directed  that  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  should  select  a township  of  land 
in  several  portions  of  the  northwestern  terri- 
tory for  the  use  of  seminaries  of  learning, 
and  that  the  section  numbered  sixteen  in 
each  and  every  township  should  be  reserved 
for  the  use  of  schools.  No  application  of 
these  lands  was,  however,  made  until  1816, 
when  Congress  passed  an  ordinance  to  enable 
the  people  of  the  Indiana  Territory  to  form 
a constitution  and  be  admitted  into  the 
Union.  That  ordinance  provided  that  one 
township  of  land,  in  addition  to  the  one 
heretofore  reserved,  should  be  granted  to 
the  State  of  Indiana  for  the  use  of  a semi- 
nary of  learning,  and  that  the  sixteenth  sec- 
tion in  every  township,  and  where  that  had 
been  otherwise  disposed  of,  other  lands  in 
lieu  thereof  should  be  granted  for  the  use 
of  schools.  The  proposition  was  accepted, 
and  after  the  admission  of  the  State  of  Indi- 
ana into  the  Union,  a State  University  was 
established  at  Bloomington  in  Monroe  county, 
and  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  the  two 
townships  were  directed  to  be  funded,  and 
the  income  thereof  annually  applied  to  the 
support  of  the  institution. 

The  constitution  of  1816  makes  it  the 
duty  of  the  General  Assembly  ‘ to  provide 
by  law  for  a general  system  of  education, 
ascending  in  regular  gradation  from  town- 
ship schools  to  a State  University,  where  tui- 
tion shall  be  gratis  and  equally  open  to  all.’ 
This  duty  is  reaffirmed  in  the  constitution 
of  1851,  with  provision  for  the  election  of  a 
superintendent,  and  a consolidation  and 
enlargement  of  the  Common  School  Fund, 
which  is  declared  to  consist  of : 

(1,)  Congressional  Township  Fund  and 
land ; (2,)  United  States  Surplus  Revenue 
Fund  ; (3,)  Saline  Fund  and  land  belonging 
thereto;  (4,)  Bank  Tax  Fund;  (5,)  County 
Seminaries’  Fund,  and  fines  assessed  for 
breaches  of  the  penal  laws;  (6,)  Swamp 
Land  Funds. 

The  aggregate  of  these  funds  in  1870 
amounted  to  87,282,639,  and  the  income 


COMMON  SCHOOLS  AND  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION. 


405 


from  the  same  to  about  $400,000,  which  was 
increased  by  property  and  capitation  tax  to 
the  sum  of  $1,810,866. 

The  first  school  law  was  enacted  in  1821, 
which  underwent  many  revisions  and  modi- 
fications, without  producing  efficient  schools, 
and  leaving  Indiana  in  1840  behind  most  of 
the  other  States,  and  in  1840,  according  to 
the  national  census  (out  of  a population  of 
988,416),  there  were  70,540  persons  over  20 
years  of  age  who  could  not  read  or  write, 
of  whom  less  than  1,000  were  returned  as 
native  born.  Under  the  energetic  appeals 
of  ‘ One  of  the  People  ’ (Prof.  Caleb  Mills 
of  Wabash  College,)  addressed  from  year  to 
year,  from  1840  to  1848,  to  the  people  of 
Indiana,  as  a sort  of  supplement  to  the  Gov- 
ernor’s message,  the  Legislature  was  finally 
aroused  to  efficient  action,  and  in  1848  an 
act  to  provide  a system  of  free  schools  was 
passed.  It  having  been  left  with  the  counties 
to  repeal  or  adopt  its  provisions  by  popular 
vote  for  its  respective  townships,  many 
counties  adhered  to  the  old  defective  system, 
but  the  Constitution  of  1850,  and  the  school 
law  of  1855,  brought  up  the  legal  require- 
ments to  a higher  and  a uniform  state,  and 
from  that  time  the  schools  have  been  under 
agencies  which  have  constantly  improved  the 
quality  of  the  instruction  given,  although 
they  have  not  prevented  an  alarming  amount 
of  illiteracy,  viz.,  76,634  persons  over  10 
years  of  age  who  could  not  read,  and  187,- 
124  who  could  not  write,  according  to  the 
census  of  1870. 

The  system  is  now  administered  by : 
(l,)  State  Superintendent;  (2,)  State  Board 
of  Education,  composed  of  State  Superin- 
tendent, president  of  State  University  and 
State  Normal  School,  and  the  superintend- 
ents of  the  three  largest  cities ; (3,)  County 
Commissioners,  one  for  each  of  the  92 
counties,  who  visit  the  schools  of  their  re- 
spective townships,  hold  institutes,  and  ap- 
point; (4,)  District  Superintendents,  who 
hold  office  for  three  years,  and  examine  all 
candidates  for  teaching ; Township  Trustees, 
who  may,  among  other  powers,  introduce 
the  study  of  the  German  language  into  any 
school  where  the  parents  or  guardians  of  25 
children  demand  it. 

In  1870,  out  of  619,627  children  between 
the  ages  of  5 and  21,  462,527  attended  in 
the  8,759  district  and  high  schools  (includ- 
ing 34  cities),  taught  by  11,846  teachers 
(4,722  females),  and  maintained  at  a cost 
of  $1,810,866. 


IOWA. 

Iowa  was  organized  as  a territory  in  1838 
and  admitted  into  the  Union  in  1846,  with 
an  area  of  55,045  sq.  m.,  and  a population  in 
1850  of  192,214,  which  has  increased  to 
1,191,792  in  1870,  with  taxable  property 
valued  at  $302,515,418.  The  constitution 
of  1846  provides  for  the  inviolability  of 
the  school  and  university  funds,  and  the 
election  by  the  people  of  a superin- 
tendent of  public  instruction,  to  hold 
his  office  for  three  years,  directs  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  to  encourage  intellectual, 
scientific,  moral  and  agricultural  improve- 
ments, and  provide  a system  of  common 
schools,  by  which  a school  shall  be  kept  up 
and  supported  in  each  school  district  at  least 
three  months  in  every  year.  The  amended 
constitution  of  1857  goes  into  much  detail, 
respecting  the  powers  of  a ‘Board  of  Edu- 
cation for  the  State  of  Iowa,’  to  which  was 
given  ‘ full  power  to  legislate  and  make  all 
needful  rules  and  regulations  in  relation  to 
common  schools,  and  other  educational  insti- 
tutions aided  from  the  school  or  university 
funds,  subject  to  the  revision  and  repeal  of 
the  General  Assembly.’  Power  was  reserved 
to  the  General  Assembly  to  abolish  or  reor- 
ganize the  Board  of  Education  at  any  time 
after  1863,  and  provide  for  the  educational 
interests  of  the  State  in  such  manner  as  shall 
seem  to  them  best  and  proper.  The  action 
of  the  Board,  instituted  according  to  the 
provisions  of  this  constitution,  did  not  prove 
acceptable  to  the  people,  and  in  1864  the 
school  system  as  established  by  them  was 
reorganized  by  the  General  Assembly. 

By  the  act  of  1863  and  its  subsequent 
amendments  the  school  authorities  are : 
(1,)  State  Superintendent,  elected  by  the 
people  for  two  years;  (2,)  County  Superin- 
tendents, one  for  each  county,  elected  for 
two  years ; (3,)  Township  Board  of  Direct- 
ors, made  up  of  three  or  more  sub-directors 
for  each  township,  who  have  the  manage- 
ment of  the  township  school  fund ; and 
(4,)  Sub-director  for  each  sub-district,  for 
the  local  management  of  the  school. 

According  to  the  report  of  1871,  there 
were  1,260  district  townships,  344  inde- 
pendent districts  (cities  and  villages),  and 
7,7 16  sub-districts,  with  7,823  schools,  of 
which  289  are  graded,  in  which  arc  40  high 
schools;  out  of  460,629  school  population 
(between  5 and  21  years)  341,938  attended 
school  during  the  year,  under  14,070  differ- 
ent teachers,  at  an  aggregate  salary  of 


406 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


$1,900,893,  in  7,594  school-houses,  erected 
at  a cost  of  $6,764,551,  in  which  was  school 
apparatus  to  the  value  of  $104,359.  In 
1871,  7,500  teachers  met  in  76  teachers’ 
institutes.  There  are  two  School  Journals 
and  a State  Teachers’  Association. 

According  to  the  national  census  in  1870 
there  were  217,554  persons  of  all  ages  in 
7,496  schools,  of  which  there  were  1 normal, 
37  high,  41  grammar,  294  graded,  and  6,949 
ungraded  common  schools ; 1 university, 
with  23  professors,  and  403  pupils;  21 
classical  colleges,  and  34  academies,  and 
5,200  pupils ; 1 school  of  law,  1 of  medi- 
cine, and  4 of  theology,  with  209  pupils ; 
10  special  schools,  with  850  pupils;  (1  ag- 
ricultural, 5 commercial,  1 blind,  1 deaf 
mutes,  2 music);  103  private  schools,  with 
5,300  pupils;  and  24,115  persons  over  10 
could  not  read,  and  45,671  (24,979  natives) 
could  not  write. 

The  school  fund  amounts  to  $3,174,578. 

KANSAS. 

Kansas  organized  as  a Territory  in  1854, 
was  after  many  tribulations,  admitted  as  a 
State  in  1859,  with  an  area  of  91,318  sq.  m., 
and  a population  in  1860  of  107,206,  which 
had  increased  in  1870  to  364,399,  and  a 
taxable  property  of  $92,125,861.  Total 
value  of  farms  and  live  stock  in  1870  was 
$126,992,538. 

The  constitution  adopted  in  1858,  pro- 
vides for  a superintendent  of  public  instruc- 
tion for  the  State,  and  one  for  each  county, 
and  directs  the  legislature  to  ‘ encourage  the 
promotion  of  intellectual,  moral,  scientific 
and  agricultural  improvement  by  establishing 
a uniform  system  of  common  schools,  and 
schools  of  higher  grade,  embracing  normal, 
preparatory,  collegiate  and  university  depart- 
ments.’ ‘ The  proceeds  of  lands  donated  by 
the  United  States  or  the  Stale  for  the  support 
of  schools,  and  the  500,000  acres  granted  to 
the  new  State  in  1841,  and  all  estates  of 
persons  dying  without  heirs  or  will,  and  such 
per  cent,  as  may  be  granted  by  Congress  on 
the  sale  of  lands  in  this  State  are  made  a 
perpetual  school  fund,  which  shall  not  be 
diminished,  the  interest  of  which  with  such 
other  means  as  the  legislature  may  furnish  by 
tax  or  otherwise,  shall  be  inviolably  appro- 
priated to  the  support  of  common  schools.’ 
‘ Provision  shall  be  made  by  law  for  a State 
University  for  the  promotion  of  literature 
and  the  arts  and  sciences,  including  a normal 
and  agricultural  department,’  and  4 no  relig- 
ious sect  or  sects  shall  ever  control  any  part 


of  the  common  school  or  university  funds  of 
the  State.’ 

Schools  are  organized  on  the  basis  of 
cities  (incorporated  by  general  law),  and  of 
the  congressional  township  distribution  of 
territory.  Each  city  by  general  law  has  a 
board  of  education  somewhat  differently 
constituted,  but  all  with  full  powers  to  es- 
tablish and  maintain  public  schools  accord- 
ing to  its  population,  while  each  con- 
gressional township,  embracing  an  area  of 
six  miles  square,  is  constituted  one  school 
district.  Each  district  is  divided  into  sub- 
districts of  any  convenient  size,  by  the 
county  superintendent.  Each  sub-district 
elects  a director,  and  all  the  directors  of 
sub-districts  constitute  a school  district 
board  for  the  township,  with  power  to  levy 
taxes,  locate,  and  erect  school-houses,  em- 
ploy teachers  for  the  schools  of  the  town- 
ship, and  writh  power  to  erect  a higher 
school  for  the  older  children  of  all  the  sub- 
districts. 

The  school  authorities  are : (I,)  State 
Superintendent,  elected  for  two  years,  with 
the  usual  powers ; (2,)  County  Superintend- 
ents, one  for  each  county,  elected  for  two 
years,  with  power  to  divide  the  congression- 
al townships  into  districts,  examine  (when 
associated  with  two  competent  persons  ap- 
pointed by  the  County  Commissioners,  who 
together  constitute  a County  Board  of  Ex- 
aminers,) teachers,  hold  institutes,  and  gen- 
erally administer  the  system  for  the  county ; 
(3,)  Township  Boards,  composed  of  a di- 
rector from  each  sub-district  into  which  the 
township  district  is  divided ; (4,)  District 
Boards,  composed  of  the  director,  clerk,  and 
treasurer;  (5,)  City  Boards  of  Education, 
charged  with  full  powers  of  local  manage- 
ment of  public  schools  in  the  several  in- 
corporated cities. 

According  to  the  report  of  the  superin- 
tendent for  1872  there  were  3,419  sub- 
districts, containing  165,982  persons  be- 
tween the  ages  of  5 and  21  years.  Of 
this  number  106,663  were  enrolled  in  the 
public  schools,  with  an  average  daily  attend- 
ance of  61,538  pupils  under  3,835  different 
teachers  (2,048  females),  to  whom  was  paid 
for  their  services  $596,611,  The  entire  ex- 
penditure on  account  of  public  schools  in 
1871  was  $1,701,950,  of  which  $217,810 
was  received  from  the  State  (interest  from 
the  permanent  fund  and  taxes),  $22,680 
from  county  funds,  $822,644  from  district 
tax,  and  $431,382  from  tuition  and  other 


COMMON  SCHOOLS  AND  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION. 


407 


sources.  The  total  Dumber  of  school- 
houses  for  3,419  organized  districts  was 
2,437,  valued,  with  lots  and  apparatus,  at 
$2,845,262.  Beside  the  public  schools 
there  are  two  State  Normal  Schools  (at 
Emporia  and  Leavenworth),  with  buildings 
erected  at  a cost  of  $140,000,  and  an  aver- 
age attendance  in  both  of  300  pupils. 

Out  of  section  16,  and  36  in  each  town- 
ship, and  the  500,000  acres  (total  nearly 
3,000,000  acres),  only  $759,095  has  yet 
been  converted  into  a permanent  school 
fund.  The  university  received  46,000  acres, 
out  of  which  only  $10,000  has  yet  been 
realized  as  a permanent  fund.  The  grounds 
and  improvements  have  cost  $164,000, 
mainly  contributed  by  the  city  of  Lawrence. 
The  Agricultural  College  receives  $90,000 
from  Congressional  grants,  out  of  which 
$189,745  have  been  realized,  leaving  land 
unsold  estimated  at  $180,797,  or  a total  of 
$378,542.  The  State  University  was  crip- 
pled at  the  start  by  the  incorporation  of 
two  denominational  institutions  of  higher 
education  (Baker  University  and  Washburne 
College),  on  wThich  $200,000  have  already 
been  expended  for  buildings  andequipments. 

The  census  of  1870  returns  a school  at- 
tendance of  63,183,  out  of  a school  popula- 
tion (between  the  ages  of  5 and  18)  of 
108,710,  with  16,369  persons  10  years  of 
ago  who  could  not  read,  and  24,550  who 
could  not  write.  In  the  table  of  schools 
there  were  1,663  public  schools  (1  normal, 
4 high,  1 grammar,  118  graded,  1,539  un- 
graded), with  1,955  teachers;  2 universities 
with  13  teachers  (1  female),  and  292 
students ; 5 special  schools  (1  agricultural, 
2 commercial,  1 blind,  1 deaf  mutes),  with 
277  pupils;  and  11  private  schools,  with 
671  pupils. 

KENTUCKY-. 

Kentucky  was  settled  from  Virginia,  of 
which  it  was  part  until  1791,  when  it  was 
admitted  as  a State,  with  a population  of 
73,077,  which  in  1870  had  increased  to 
1,321,011.  In  its  educational  and  econom- 
ical policy  it  followed  the  mother  State — 
relying  on  colleges,  academics  and  private 
tutors  for  families  who  could  pay,  and  mak- 
ing no  general  provision  for  common  schools 
until  1821,  when  a Literary  Fund  was  estab- 
lished out  of  one-half  of  the  clear  profits  of 
the  Bank  of  the  Commonwealth.  This  law 
was  made  slightly  efficient  by  the  act  of 
1830,  ‘to  establish  a uniform  system  of  pub- 
lic schools,’  in  which  this  provision  occurs. 


‘ any  widow  or  femme  sole  over  21  years  of 
age,  residing  and  owning  property  subject  to 
taxation  for  school  purposes  in  any  school 
district,  shall  have  the  right  to  vote,  either 
in  person  or  by  written  proxy  ; also  infants 
so  situated  may  vote  by  proxy.’  In  1838  an 
act  to  establish  a system  of  common  schools 
was  passed,  by  which  a Board  of  Education 
was  instituted,  of  which  the  Superintendent 
of  Public  Instruction,  appointed  by  the  Gov- 
ernor with  the  consent  of  the  senate,  was 
made  a member  and  the  executive  officer. 
By  this  law  the  State  was  divided  into  dis- 
tricts, and  the  income  of  the  small  permanent 
fund  was  increased  by  a tax  of  two  cents 
(made  three  by  popular  vote  in  1850)  on 
every  one  hundred  dollars  of  taxable  prop- 
erty in  the  State,  designed,  according  to  a 
subsequent  act  (1845),  ‘to  encourage  and 
aid  the  citizens  to  organize  and  maintain 
common  schools.’  In  1842  the  Superin- 
tendent was  instructed  to  report  on  creating 
the  profession  of  teaching,  and  in  1854  the 
legislature  made  provision  for  the  education 
of  150  teachers  in  the  State  University  at 
Lexington.  But  the  difficulties  of  a sparse 
population,  and  the  peculiar  social  and  in- 
dustrial habits  of  the  people  render  a sys- 
tem of  common  schools  impossible,  and  the 
schools  never  got  such  a lodgment  as  to 
materially  modify  the  habits  of  the  State 
except  in  Louisville,  where  the  graded  system 
was  truly  efficient,  its  public  high  school, 
teachers,  and  superintendence  comparing 
favorably  with  these  features  in  any  city. 
The  census  of  1870,  out  of  a school  popula- 
tion (5  to  18)  of  454,539,  returns  181,225 
persons  in  attendance  in  the  year  previous, 
and  out  of  the  entire  population  (1,324,011), 
249,567  persons  over  10  years  who  can  not 
read,  and  321,176  who  can  not  write. 

According  to  the  same  census  there  were 
in  1870,  5,149  schools  of  all  kinds  in  opera- 
tion ; 4,727  public  schools,  viz.,  1 normal, 
23  high,  19  grammar,  88  graded,  1,596  un- 
graded, with  an  aggregate  of  218,440 
pupils;  137  classical  academies  and  colleges 
(including  two  universities),  with  12,088 
pupils;  15  professional  and  special  schools, 
2 law,  4 medicine,  5 theology,  1 agricul- 
tural, 8 commercial,  1 blind,  1 deaf  mutes, 
1 idiotic. 

According  to  the  report  of  the  State  Super- 
intendent for  the  year  ending  June  30,  1871, 
there  were  5,117  school  districts,  in  which 
5,068  schools  were  taught  to  120,866  pupils, 
at  an  expense  to  the  State  (about  $156,000 


408 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


income  of  school  funds,  $802,000  avails 
of  State  property  tax,)  of  $968,176,  to  which 
will  be  added  next  year  the  avails  of  “a  rate 
bill  assessed  on  each  patron  of  the  school, 
according  to  the  number  of  children  and 
length  of  time  actually  sent  by  each.”  The 
State  tax  is  about  2 mills  on  each  dollar  of 
taxable  property,  which,  according  to  the 
census  in  1870,  was  $469,544,294. 

LOUISIANA. 

Louisiana  was  admitted  a State  in  1812, 
with  a population  in  1810  of  76,556,  which 
had  increased  to  726,915  in  1870.  While 
in  a territorial  organization,  the  University 
of  Orleans  was  instituted,  and  provision  was 
made  for  a college  in  the  city  of  New 
Orleans,  and  at  least  one  academy  and  one 
public  library  in  each  county,  and  for  the 
support  of  the  same,  $50,000  was  to  be  raised 
annually.  In  1808  authority  was  given  to 
institute  elementary  schools*  in  each  parish, 
which  in  1819  were  placed  under  police 
juries,  and  in  1821  under  five  trustees  ap- 
pointed by  the  police  jury  of  each  parish, 
from  the  resident  landowners;  and  the  sum 
of  $800  was  appropriated  annually  to  each 
parish  for  such  schools,  which  could  be  in- 
creased by  a local  tax  on  the  property  of  the 
parish.  In  1833  the  Secretary  of  State  was 
made  Superintendent  of  Public  Education, 
and  required  to  submit  to  the  Legislature 
annually  a report  on  the  condition  of  schools, 
academies,  and  colleges.  In  1849  special 
authority  was  given  to  the  Second  Munici- 
pality of  New  Orleans  to  establish  a system 
of  public  schools  supported  by  a tax  on  the 
property,  which  system  was  organized  in 
that  year  on  a plan  submitted  by  Henry 
Barnard  of  Connecticut,  to  whom  the  posi- 
tion of  superintendent  was  tendered  before 
the  schools  were  opened,  and  again  in  1849. 
In  the  constitution  of  1845,  it  is  ordained 
that  a superintendent  of  public  education 
shall  be  appointed,  and  that  free  public 
schools  shall  be  established  throughout  the 
State  supported  by  taxation  on  property, 
and  that  all  lands  donated  by  the  United 
States  shall  constitute  a perpetual  fund,  on 
which  the  State  shall  pay  an  annual  interest 
of  six  per  centum  for  the  support  of  such 
public  schools.  In  1847  an  act  ‘ to  establish 
Free  Public  Schools’  for  all  white  children 
between  the  ages  of  6 and  16,  provided  for 
the  appointment  of  a State  Superintendent, 
and  of  a superintendent  for  each  parish,  and 
the  collection  of  a tax  of  one  mill  on  the 
dollar  of  the  taxable  property  of  the  State, 


and  establishment  of  a State  School  Fund 
out  of  a consolidation  of  all  land  grants 
(786,044  acres  for  common  schools,)  and  in- 
dividual donations  made  for  educational  pur- 
poses. To  these  revenues  was  added  iu  1 855 
a capitation  tax  of  one  dollar  on  each  free 
white  male  inhabitant  over  the  age  of  twenty- 
one  years.  The  almost  insuperable  diffi- 
culties of  a sparse  population,  divided  socially 
by  race  and  occupation,  made  a system  of 
common  schools  almost  impossible  out  of 
New  Orleans,  and  Baton  Rouge,  and  the 
larger  villages. 

In  the  constitution  of  1868  it  is  ordained 
that  ‘ the  General  Assembly  shall  establish 
at  least  one  free  school  in  each  parish,  and 
provide  for  its  support  by  taxation  or  other- 
wise.’ ‘All  children  between  the  years  of  6 
and  21  shall  be  admitted  to  the  public 
schools  or  other  institutions  of  learning  sus- 
tained or  established  by  the  State  in  com- 
mon, without  distinction  of  race,  color,  or 
previous  condition.  There  shall  be  no 
separate  school  or  institution  of  learning 
established  exclusively  for  any  race  by  the 
State  of  Louisiana.’  Provision  is  made  for 
the  election  by  the  qualified  voters  of  the 
State  of  a Superintendent  of  Education,  to 
hold  his  office  for  four  years,  and  to  receive 
a salary  of  $5,000  per  annum.  In  the  spirit 
of  these  provisions,  a system  of  public  schools 
was  inaugurated  in  1870,  which  with 
abundant  means,  has  encountered  almost  in- 
superable obstacles  from  the  prejudices  of 
race  and  the  disturbed  condition  of  the 
public  mind.  ‘Colored  citizens  are  willing 
to  receive  the  benefits  of  the  schools,  but 
have  not  the  knowledge  or  experience  re- 
quired to  establish  and  manage  a system  ; 
the  white  citizens  are  opposed  to  mixed 
schools.’ 

The  school  authorities  are:  (1,)  a State 
Superintendent ; (2,)  State  Board  of  Educa- 
tion, composed  of  the  State  and  six  Division 
Superintendents;  (3,)  a Superintendent  for 
each  Judicial  District,  of  which  there  are  six; 
(4,)  Parish  Directors,  composed  of  one 
member  for  each  jury  board;  (5,)  Town  and 
City  Boards.  The  means  of  support  consist 
of  (1,)  Free  School  Fund,  $1,193,500;  (2,) 
Seminary  Fund,  $138,000 ; (3,)  Amount 
levied  on  property,  $468,035  ; amount  of 
poll  tax,  $112,668.  The  State  tax  is 
two  mills  on  the  dollar  upon  all  taxable 
property. 

The  census  of  1870  returns  a school  at- 
tendance of  51,259,  out  of  a population 


COMMON  SCHOOLS  AND  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION. 


409 


(persons  from  5 to  18  years)  of  226,114; 
and  592  schools  of  all  kinds,  viz.,  178 
public,  (1  normal,  5 high,  4 grammar,  60 
graded  common,  and  108  ungraded  com- 
mon), with  a total  of  25,088  pupils ; 36 
classical  academies  and  colleges  (including  2 
universities),  with  4,357  pupils;  10  pro- 
fessional and  special  schools,  viz.,  1 law,  1 
medicine,  1 theology,  1 blind,  1 deaf  mutes, 
and  4 commercial. 

MAINE. 

Maine  was  settled  under  the  colonial  juris- 
diction of  Massachusetts,  and  acted  under 
the  school  legislation  of  that  commonwealth, 
until  1820,  when  it  was  admitted  as  a State, 
with  a population  of  298,335,  which  had  in- 
creased in  1870  to  626,915.  The  constitu- 
tion of  1820  makes  it  the  duty  of  the  legis- 
lature ‘to  require  the  several  towns  to  make 
suitable  provision  at  their  own  expense,  for 
the  support  of  public  schools,  and  to  encour- 
age and  suitably  endow  academies,  colleges 
and  seminaries  of  learning  within  the  State  ; 
provided,  that  no  donation,  grant,  or  endow- 
ment shall  at  anytime  be  made  by  the  legis- 
lature to  any  literary  institution,  unless  at 
the  time  of  making  such  endowment  the 
legislature  shall  have  the  right  to  grant  any 
further  powers  to  alter,  limit,  or  restrain  any 
of  the  powers  vested  in  any  such  literary  in- 
stitution as  shall  be  judged  necessary  to 
promote  the  best  interests  thereof.’  The 
first  school  law  distinct  from  that  of  Massa- 
chusetts was  passed  in  1821,  by  which  each 
town  was  required  to  raise  by  tax  on  the  polls 
and  estates  of  the  citizens  a sum  of  money, 
which  in  the  aggregate  would  amount  to  at 
least  40  cents  for  each  inhabitant.  This  sum, 
increasing  from  year  to  year  with  the  popu- 
lation was  apportioned  among  the  several 
school  districts  into  which  each  town  was 
divided,  for  the  support  of  public  schools, 
equally  free  and  accessible  to  all  the  children 
between  the  ages  of  4 and  21  years,  under  the 
local  care  of  an  agent  appointed  by  the  town 
for  each  district,  and  the  general  supervision 
of  a superintending  committee  for  the  whole 
town  in  the  matter  of  teachers  and  studies. 
These  fundamental  principles  were  slightly 
altered  in  1822  and  1825,  by  which  the 
election  of  the  agent  was  left,  on  the  vote  of 
the  town,  to  the  district,  and  the  towns  of 
Portland  in  1825,  Bath  in  1828,  Bangor  in 
1832,  and  all  other  towns  in  1834,  were  al- 
lowed to  dispense  with  a district  agent  and 
put  all  their  schools  under  one  board.  In 
1825,  the  selectmen  of  the  several  towns 


were  required  to  make  returns  to  the  Secre- 
tary of  State,  once  in  three  years,  as  to  the 
number  of  districts,  the  number  of  scholars 
of  school  age,  and  the  number  in  actual 
school  attendance,  the  length  of  time  the 
schools  were  kept,  and  the  amount  expended 
in  each.  Maine  was  thus  the  second  State 
to  require  such  returns,  and  which  became 
henceforth  the  basis  of  all  school  discussion. 
In  1828  a permanent  State  School  Fund  was 
commenced  by  setting  apart  the  sales  of 
twenty  townships  of  the  State  lands  for  that 
purpose ; * and  the  principle  of  a graded 
school  by  the  employment  of  a master  and 
teachers  in  the  same  district  was  recognized. 
— After  much  discussion  in  local  and  State 
conventions,  and  in  the  legislature  from  1838 
to  1 846,  in  the  year  last  named  a State  Board 
of  Education  was  instituted,  and  in  1847  the 
mistress  was  required  to  keep  a register,  and 
return  the  same  at  the  close  of  the  school  to 
the  town  school  committee,  who  were  re- 
quired henceforth  to  make  the  statistical  re- 
turn to  the  Board  of  Education.  In  1835 
the  first  educational  association  was  formed, 
and  in  1838  the  State  Teachers’  Association 
was  organized.  In  1846  the  first  Teachers’ 
Institute  was  held ; in  1863  a State  Normal 
School  was  opened  at  Farmington,  and  a 
second  at  Castine  in  1865 ; and  in  1869  the 
office  of  County  Supervisors  was  established, 
and  $16,000  appropriated  for  their  salaries. 

According  to  the  revision  of  1871,  the 
administration  and  supervision  of  common 
schools  is  committed  to:  (1,)  State  Super- 
intendent, appointed  by  the  Governor  and 
council  for  three  years,  or  during  the  pleas- 
ure of  the  executive,  to  exercise  general  su- 
pervision, advise  and  direct  town  commit- 
tees, obtain  and  disseminate  information 
respecting  the  schools  of  the  State  and  other 
States  and  countries,  awaken  and  sustain  a 
popular  interest  in  school  matters,  hold  an- 
nually a State  educational  convention,  and 
an  institute  of  teachers  in  each  county,  pre- 
scribe the  studies  that  shall  be  taught  (re- 
serving to  town  committees  the  right  to  pre- 

* In  1784  the  legislature  of  Massachusetts  directed  the  com- 
mittee charged  with  the  sale  of  eastern  lands  to  reserve,  in  each 
township  conveyed,  200  acres  for  the  use  of  the  ministry,  280  for 
the  first  settled  minister,  280  for  the  grammar  school  and  200  for 
the  future  appropriation  of  the  General  Court.  This  resolve  was 
modified  in  1785  so  as  to  require  a reservation  of  five  lots  of  1120 
acres  each,  in  every  township  six  miles  square,  one  for  each  of 
the  purposes  above  specified.  This  resolve  in  the  articles  of 
separation  in  1818,  became  applicable  to  nil  grants  nod  sales  of 
land  made  by  Massachusetts  or  Maine.  The  present  prncticc  in 
Maine  is  to  reserve  in  each  township  1,000  acres  for  tho  use  of 
schools,  which,  after  the  township  is  settled,  form  a school  fund 
for  the  town.  Down  to  1834  more  than  half  a million  ncres  of 
land  had  been  donnted  hv  tho  Htnte  to  incorporated  academics, 
and  nine  townships  of  land  to  two  colleges. 


410 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


scribe  additional  studies),  act  as  superin- 
tendent of  the  State  Normal  School,  and 
report  annually  to  the  legislature.  (2,) 
County  Supervisors,  appointed  by  the  Gov- 
ernor, on  the  recommendation  of  State 
Superintendent,  for  each  county,  for  three 
years,  an  assistant  of  the  State  Superin- 
tendent, and  together  with  him  constitu- 
ting a State  Board,  to  meet  at  least  once  a 
year  during  the  session  of  the  legislature 
for  the  purpose  of  conferring  with  the  edu- 
cational committee  of  that  body,  and  ma- 
turing plans  for  the  following  year  to  pro- 
mote and  elevate  the  public  schools.  (3,) 
Town  Superintending  School  Committee,  of 
three  members,  elected  one  each  year  for  a 
term  of  three  years,  who  examine,  after 
public  notice  of  time  and  place,  all  candi- 
dates for  teaching  in  reading,  spelling,  writ- 
ing, English  grammar,  geography,  history, 
arithmetic,-  and  other  studies  usually  taught 
in  public  schools,  and  particularly  in  the 
school  for  which  he  is  examined,  and  also 
his  capacity  for  the  government  thereof; 
and  employ  teachers  for  the  several  districts, 
prescribe  regulations  for  the  studies,  books, 
discipline,  and  returns  of  all  the  public 
schools.  (4,)  District  Agents,  one  for  each, 
where  the  town  is  divided  into  districts. 

The  support  of  public  schools  is  derived 
from  (1,)  State  School  Fund,  the  income  of 
which,  and  all  money  received  by  the  State 
from  the  tax  on  banks,  together  ‘ with  a 
mill  tax  for  the  support  of  common  schools, 
assessed  and  collected  as  other  State  taxes, 
and  paid  out  according  to  the  number  of 
scholars  in  each (2,)  Town  Tax,  not  less 
than  one  dollar  for  each  inhabitant,  exclusive 
of  the  income  of  corporate  school  funds,  or 
revenue  from  the  State,  or  devise,  bequest 
or  forfeiture  to  the  use  of  schools ; (3,) 
District  Tax,  for  site,  construction,  and 
equipment  of  school-houses,  and  for  main- 
taining graded  schools,  not  exceeding  the 
sum  received  from  the  town. 

In  1870  the  total  cost  of  4,000  common 
schools  was  81,077,927,  to  which  the  towns 
voted  by  tax  8740,321,  and  the  school  fund 
(8293,596)  812,409;  districts  to  continue 
schools,  824,000  ; balance  by  the  State. 

According  to  the  census  of  1870  the 
whole  number  of  schools  of  all  kinds  was 
4,723,  with  6,986  teachers  (2,320  males, 
4,556  females),  and  162,636  pupils,  out  of 
a school  population  (5  to  18  years)  of  175,- 
488;  13,486  persons  over  10  years  of  age 
could  not  read,  and  19,052  could  not  write. 


MARYLAND. 

Maryland  was  first  settled  in  1634,  had  in 
1790  a total  population  of  319,728,  which 
had  increased  in  1870  to  780,894,  on  an  area 
of  11,124  sq.  m.,  and  with  8423,834,919  of 
taxable  property.  The  Constitutions  of  1 776 
and  1851  had  no  provision  respecting  educa- 
tion ; that  of  1864  prescribed  even  the  de- 
tails of  organization  and  the  amount  of  taxa- 
tion (‘  not  less  than  ten  cents  on  each  hundred 
dollars  of  taxable  property,  until  the  existing 
School  Fund  has  been  increased  to  86,000,- 
000  by  the  accumulating  avails  of  an  annual 
tax  of  five  cents  on  the  taxable  property, 
when  the  annual  State  tax  for  school  purposes 
shall  be  reduced  to  five  cents’).  These  pro- 
visions in  the  revision  of  1868  gave  way  to 
three  brief  articles,  by  which  it  is  made  the 
duty  of  the  first  General  Assembly  ‘to*  estab- 
lish by  law  a thorough  and  efficient  system 
of  free  public  schools,  and  to  provide  by 
taxation  or  otherwise  for  its  support,’  and  to 
continue  the  system  of  public  schools  estab- 
lished by  and  under  the  Constitution  of 
1864,  until  the  end  of  the  first  session  of  the 
General  Assembly  held  after  1868. 

In  1671  an  act  passed  the  upper  house 
of  the  assembly  ‘to  found  and  erect  a 
school  or  college  in  the  province  of  Mary- 
land, for  the  education  of  youth  in  learning 
and  virtue,’  which  in  the  lower  house  was 
returned  with  a message  asking  that  the 
place  for  the  college  might  be  named,  and 
‘that  the  schoolmasters  of  such  school  or 
college  should  be  qualified  according  to  the 
Reformed  Church  of  England,  or  that  there 
be  two  schoolmasters,  one  for  the  Catholic 
and  one  for  the  Protestant  children,  and  the 
Protestants  shall  have  leave  to  choose  their 
schoolmaster;’  and  ‘the  Lord  Proprietor 
be  pleased  to  set  out  his  declaration  as  to 
what  privileges  and  immunities  shall  be  en- 
joyed by  scholars  brought  up  or  taught  at 
such  schools.’ 

In  1694,  and  again  in  1696,  a ‘petitionary 
act  for  free  schools  ’ was  addressed  to  his 
Most  Excellent  Majesty  asking  ‘for  His 
Majesty’s  princely  royal  benediction  and 
aid  in  the  establishment  of  schools  and  col- 
leges of  universal  study ; and  for  the  propa- 
gation of  the  gospel  and  education  of  youth 
within  the  province  in  good  manners  and 
letters,’  especially  for  ‘ free  school  or  schools 
or  places  for  the  study  of  Latin,  Greek, 
writing,  and  the  like,’  with  ‘one  master,  one 
usher,  and  one  writing  master  or  scribe  to  a 
school  of  one  hundred  scholars,  more  or 


COMMON  SCHOOLS  AND  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION. 


411 


less,  according  to  the  ability  of  said  free 
school,’  and  that  ‘ the  Most  Reverend  Father 
in  God,  Thomas,  by  the  grace  of  God,  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  and  Metropolitan  of 
all  England,  may  be  chancellor,  and  to  per- 
petuate the  memory  of  your  Majesty,  the 
first,  at  Anne  Arundel  town,  be  called  King 
Williams  school  or  college,  and  be  managed 
by  certain  trustees  nominated  and  appointed 
by  your  Sacred  Majesty,’  and  so  on  ‘ until 
each  county  of  the  province  shall  have  one 
free  school,  and  apply  so  much  of  the  reve- 
nues to  each  school  as  they  shall  deem  most 
expedient,  not  exceeding  120  pounds  per 
annum.’  Under  this  and  subsequent  acts 
in  1715,  1717,  1723,  and  especially  of  the 
last,  a ‘ free  school,’  inadequately  endowed, 
was  established  in  each  county,  ‘ the  trustees 
were  to  have  perpetual  succession,  the 
schoolmasters  were  to  be  members  of  the 
Church  of  England,  of  pious,  exemplary 
lives,  and  capable  of  teaching  well,  grammar, 
good  writing,  and  mathematics ; for  which 
they  were  to  be  allowed  the  use  of  the  100 
acres  of  land  attached  to  the  school,  and 
£20  per  annum,  paid  out  of  the  county 
allowance.’ 

From  an  advertisement  in  the  Gazette, 
February,  1774,  it  would  appear  that  fam- 
ilies were  supplied  with  private  teachers 
after  a peculiar  fashion.  ‘ To  be  sold,  a 
schoolmaster,  an  indented  servant  that  has 
got  two  years  to  serve.’  John  Hammond, 
near  Annapolis.  N.  B.  ‘ He  is  sold  for  no 
fault,  any  more  than  we  are  done  with  him. 
He  can  learn  book-keeping,  and  is  an  excel- 
lent scholar.’ 

The  Revolution  freed  nearly  all  the  cler- 
gymen of  the  English  Church,  who  had  at- 
tached themselves  to  the  side  of  the  mother 
country,  from  their  clerical  services,  and 
most  of  them  eked  out  a precarious  sup- 
port for  many  years  by  receiving  pupils  into 
their  families,  and  setting  up  private  schools. 

The  earliest  law  for  general  education  was 
the  act  of  1825,  ‘to  provide  for  the  public 
instruction  of  youth  in  primary  schools,’  by 
which  a State  Superintendent  was  appointed 
to  digest  and  report  a system  ; and  County 
Commissioners,  to  divide  up  the  counties 
into  school  districts,  for  which  three  trustees 
were  to  be  elected  by  the  qualified  voters  ; 
and  Inspectors  for  the  visitation  of  the 
schools  and  examination  of  teachers.  Two 
reports  were  made  by  the  superintendent, 
which  were  occupied  with  the  details  of  the 
monitorial  system  and  the  plan  of  a central 
school  for  teachers,  which  at  that  date  was 


attracting  much  attention,  and  had  been 
officially  noticed  and  commended  by  Gov. 
Clinton  to  the  legislature  of  New  York.  The 
office  was  abolished  in  1827,  and  not  revived 
till  1865,  in  pursuance  of  a provision  of 
the  constitution  of  the  year  previous. 

The  avails  of  the  school  fund  continued 
to  be  distributed  through  the  County  Com- 
missioners, and  the  capital  was  increased  by 
the  amount  of  the  U.  S.  Surplus  Revenue 
Fund.  The  great  result  of  the  movement 
of  1825  was  the  permanent  establishment 
of  public  schools  in  the  city  of  Baltimore, 
which  in  1870  included  102  day  schools 
(1  college  for  boys,  2 high  schools  for  girls, 
37  grammar,  60  primary,  and  2 unclassified 
schools),  with  21,795  pupils,  under  511 
teachers,  besides  6 evening  schools,  and  13 
schools  for  colored  children — a total  of  121 
schools,  571  teachers,  and  24,673  scholars. 

The  act  ‘ to  establish  a uniform  system  of 
public  instruction’  of  1865,  vested  its  super- 
vision and  control  in  a State  Board  of  Edu- 
cation, and  in  a board  of  school  commission- 
ers for  the  city  of  Baltimore  and  each  county, 
embraced  a series  of  schools  from  the  neigh- 
borhood or  primary,  and  township  grammar, 
to  a county  high  school  and  a State  normal 
school,  and  directed  that  ‘ every  child  in  the 
State  between  the  ages  of  8 and  14  years, 
without  fixed  employment,  shall  attend 
school  at  least  six  months  in  each  year,  and 
that  no  child  under  the  age  of  14  years 
shall  be  employed  in  any  business,  unless 
such  child  has  attended  some  school  six 
months  of  the  year  preceding.’ 

In  1868  the  impulse  which  had  been 
given  to  school  agencies  was  arrested,  and  a 
reaction,  both  in  legislative  and  administra- 
tive activity,  followed  from  which  the  State 
has  not  yet  recovered.  Under  the  judicious 
management  of  the  superintendent  (Prof. 
Newell,  principal  of  the  State  Normal 
School),  further  reaction  has  ceased. 

By  the  census  of  1870,  out  of  a school 
population  of  244,454,  there  was  a school 
attendance  of  105,435,  and  114,100  persons 
over  10  years  of  agC  who  could  not  read, 
and  135,499  who  could  not  write.  Of  the 
whole  number  of  schools  (1,779)  returned, 
there  were:  1,487  public  (3  normal,  10 
high,  49  grammar,  159  graded,  and  1,266 
ungraded);  53  classical  academics  and  col- 
leges, including  two  universities;  19  pro- 
fessional and  special  schools  (1  law,  2 medi- 
cine, 4 theology,  1 agricultural,  3 com- 
mercial, 1 blind,  1 deaf  mutes,  6 art  and 
music) ; and  220  private  schools. 


412 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


MASSACHUSETTS. 

Massachusetts  had  by  the  first  national 
census  in  1V90,  a population  of  378,717, 
which  had  increased  in  1870  to  1,450,350, 
on  an  area  of  7,800  square  miles,  with  taxa- 
ble property  to  the  valuation  of  $1,417,- 
127,376 — second  only  to  the  Empire  State 
in  this  particular. 

Massachusetts  in  its  constitution  of  1780, 
wras  the  earliest  State  to  throw  the  protec- 
tion of  a fundamental  ordinance  around 
funds  appropriated  to  educational  purposes, 
and  partic  ilarly  of  Harvard  College,  ‘ in 
which  many  persons  of  great  eminence 
have,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  been  initiated 
into  those  arts  and  sciences  which  qual- 
ified them  for  public  w employment  both 
in  church  and  State;  and  whereas  the  encour- 
agement of  the  arts  and  sciences,  and  all 
good  literature,  tends  to  the  honor  of 
God,  the  advantage  of  the  Christian  re- 
ligion, and  the  great  benefit  of  this  and 
the  other  United  States  of  America,’  it  is 
declared  that  all  powers,  rights,  privileges, 
immunities,  and  facilities  shall  be  continued, 
and  all  gifts,  legacies,  &c.,  are  confirmed ; 
and  then  follows  a section  drawn  up  by 
John  Adams,  and  adopted  by  the  conven- 
tion unanimously. 

Wisdom  and  knowledge,  as  well  as  virtue,  dif- 
fused generally  among  the  body  of  the  people,  being 
necessary  for  the  preservation  of  their  rights  and 
liberties,  and  as  these  depend  on  spreading  the  op- 
portunities and  advantages  of  education  in  various 
parts  of  the  country,  and  among  the  different  or- 
ders of  the  people,  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  legis- 
latures and  magistrates,  in  all  future  periods  of  this 
commonwealth,  to  cherish  the  interest  of  literature 
and  the  sciences  and  all  seminaries  of  them,  espe- 
cially the  university  at  Cambridge,  public  schools, 
and  grammar  schools  in  the  towns ; to  encourage 
private  societies  and  public  institutions,  by  rewards 
and  immunities  for  the  promotion  of  agriculture, 
art,  sciences,  commerce,  trades,  manufactures,  and 
a natural  history  of  the  country ; to  countenance 
and  inculcate  the  principles  of  humanity  and 
general  benevolence,  public  and  private  charity, 
industry  and  frugality,  honesty  and  punctuality  in 
all  their  dealings;  sincerity,  good  humor,  and  all 
social  affections  and  generous  sentiments  among  the 
people. 

Among  tlie  articles  of  amendments  rat- 
ified by  the  people  in  1 857,  are  the  following : 
‘ No  person  shall  have  the  right  to  vote,  or  be 
eligible  to  office  under  the  constitution  of 
this  commonwealth,  who  shall  not  be  able 
to  read  the  constitution  in  the  English 
language  and  write  his  name,’  unless  pre- 
vented by  physical  disability  from  comply- 
ing with  the  requirement,  aud  unless  he 


already  enjoys  the  right  to  vote.  ‘All 
moneys  raised  by  taxation  in  town  and 
cities  for  the  support  of  public  schools,  and 
all  moneys  appropriated  by  the  State  for 
the  support  of  common  schools’  ‘shall 
never  be  appropriated  to  any  religious  sect 
for  the  maintenance  exclusively  of  its  own 
schools.’ 

The  earliest  legislation  of  Massachusetts 
respecting  schools,  and  ‘the  good  education 
of  children,’  bears  date  1642,  which,  with 
various  modifications  as  to  details,  kept  the 
following  objects  steadily  in  view,  viz. : the 
exclusion  of  ‘ barbarism  ’ from  any  family, 
by  making  it  the  duty  of  the  selectmen  of 
every  town,  in  the  several  precincts  and 
quarters  where  they  dwell,  to  have  a vigi- 
lant eye  over  their  brethren  and  neighbors,’ 
‘ to  see  that  they  teach  their  children  and 
apprentices  by  themselves  and  others  so 
much  learning  as  may  enable  them  to  read 
the  English  tongue,  and  the  capital  laws, 
upon  penalty  of  twenty  shillings  for  each 
neglect  therein,’  ‘to  learn  some  short  ortho- 
dox catechism  without  book,’  and  ‘ to  breed 
and  bring  them  up  in  some  honest  lawful 
calling,  labor,  or  employment,  either  in  hus- 
bandry, or  some  other  trade  profitable  for 
themselves  and  the  commonwealth,  if  they 
will  not,  or  can  not  train  them  up  in  learning 
to  fit  them  for  higher  employments ;’  and, 
should  parents  ‘continue  negligent  of  their 
duty  in  the  particulars  above  mentioned, 
whereby  children  and  servants  become  rude, 
stubborn  and  unruly,  the  selectmen,  with 
the  help  of  two  magistrates,  shall  take  such 
children  or  apprentices  from  them,  and  place 
them  with  some  masters  for  years,  boys  till 
they  come  to  twenty-one,  and  girls  to 
eighteen  years  of  age  complete,  who  will 
more  strictly  look  into  and  force  them  to 
submit  unto  government,  according  to  the 
rules  of  this  order,  if  by  fair  means  and 
former  instruction  they  will  not  be  drawn 
into  it.’  To  enable  parents  to  have  places 
where  their  children  and  apprentices  may  be 
sent  to  be  taught,  it  was  enacted  the  same 
year  (1642)  ‘that  every  township  within 
this  jurisdiction  of  fifty  householders,  shall 
appoint  one  within  their  town  to  teach  all 
such  children  as  shall  resort  to  him,  to  write 
and  read,  whose  wages  shall  be  paid  either 
by  the  parents  or  masters  of  such  children, 
or  by  the  inhabitants  in  general,  by  way  of 
supply,  as  the  major  part  of  those  who  order 
the  prudentials  of  the  town  shall  appoint; 
provided  those  who  send  their  children  be 


INTERIOR  VIEW  OF  A SCHOOL-HOUSE  IN  1770. 


CONTRABAND  SCHOOLS. 


COMMON  SCHOOLS  AND  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION. 


413 


not  oppressed  by  paying  much  more  than 
they  can  have  them  taught  in  other  towns.’ 
In  addition  to  this  elementary  school,  every 
town  of  one  hundred  families,  ‘ shall  set  up 
a grammar  school,  the  masters  thereof  being 
able  to  instruct  youths  so  far  as  they  may 
be  fitted  for  the  university,’  and  the  towns 
which  neglect  to  set  up  such  school  any 
one  year,  must  pay  five  pounds  per  annum  to 
the  next  nearest  school.  In  Plymouth 
Colony,  the  provision  for  schools  was  not 
so  early,  and  the  requirements  for  a gram- 
mar school  were  extended  in  1677  to  towns 
of  fifty  families,  and  impose  on  ‘ those  who 
have  the  more  immediate  benefit  thereof 
by  their  children’s  good  and  general  good, 
shall  make  up  the  residue  (over  the  twelve 
pounds  in  current  merchantable  pay  to  be 
raised  on  all  the  inhabitants  of  such  town) 
necessary  to  maintain  the  same,’  and  every 
town  of  seventy  families  which  neglected 
to  maintain  a grammar  schools  shall  ‘ allow 
unto  the  next  town  which  does,  the  sum  of 
five  pounds  collectable  by  constable  on  the 
warrant  of  any  magistrate  in  this  jurisdic- 
tion.’ 

On  this  basis  of  the  duty  of  parents  to 
give  their  children  at  least  an  elementary 
education,  and  of  every  town,  large  or  small, 
to  provide  the  place  and  teacher  where  their 
children  could  be  taught;  and  of  every 
large  town  to  maintain  a teacher  competent 
to  fit  the  same  for  the  university ; and  of 
the  State  to  encourage  such  university,  ‘ that 
learning  might  not  be  buried  in  the  graves 
of  the  fathers,’  and  that  some  of  their  sons 
might  be  fitted  every  year  for  higher  em- 
ployment in  church  and  state,  the  system  of 
public  instruction  in  Massachusetts  has  been 
built  up  and  extended  to  meet  the  wants  of 
successive  generations.  The  town  grammar 
school  feature,  occasionally  suspended  in 
some  towns,  and  superseded  by  the  academy 
and  private  school  in  others,  has  kept  the 
common  school  up  to  the  requirements  of 
the  rich  and  the  educated,  and  saved  the 
district  schools  from  becoming  common  in 
the  worse  sense,  or  being  regarded  as  the 
schools  exclusively  of  the  poor,  or  of  those 
only  who  knew  what  constituted  the  con- 
ditions of  a good  education  in, respect  to 
house,  studies  and  teachers,  but  of  all,  rich 
and  poor,  the  more  or  the  less  intelligent, 
in  the  city  as  well  as  in  the  country. 

The  first  revision  of  the  school  laws  after 
the  revolution  was  in  1789,  by  which  it  is 
provided  ‘ that  towns  of  fifty  families  arc  re- 
25* 


quired  to  sustain  schools  wherein  children 
are  taught  to  read  and  write,  and  instructed 
in  the  English  language,  arithmetic,  orthog- 
raphy, and  decent  behavior,  for  a term  equal 
to  one  school  of  six  months  in  each  year; 
every  town  of  one  hundred  families,  twelve 
months ; every  town  of  one  hundred  and 
fifty  families,  eighteen  months ; and  even- 
town  of  two  hundred  families,  twelve 
months,  and  in  addition  thereto  sustain  a 
school  wherein  is  taught  the  Latin,  Greek, 
and  English  languages  for  twelve  months  in 
each  year.’  It  is  also  ‘made  the  duty  of 
the  president,  professors  and  tutors  of  the 
University  at  Cambridge,  preceptors  and 
teachers  of  academies,  and  all  other  in- 
structors of  youth,  to  take  diligent  care, 
and  to  exert  their  best  endeavors  to  impress 
on  the  minds  of  children  and  youth  com- 
mitted to  their  care  and  instruction,  the 
principles  of  piety,  justice  and  a sacred  re- 
gard to  truth,  love  to  their  country,  human- 
ity and  universal  benevolence,  sobriety,  in- 
dustry and  frugality,  chastity,  moderation 
and  temperance,  and  those  other  virtues 
which  arc  the  ornament  of  human  society, 
and  the  basis  upon  which  the  republican 
constitution  is  structured ; and  it  shall  be 
the  duty  of  such  instructors  to  endeavor  to 
lead  those  under  their  care  into  a particular 
understanding  of  the  tendency  of  the  before- 
mentioned  virtues  to  preserve  and  perfect  a 
republican  constitution,  and  to  secure  the 
blessings  of  liberty  as  well  as  to  promote 
their  future  happiness,  and  the  tendency  of 
the  opposite  vices  to  slavery  and  ruin.’ 

By  the  act  of  1789,  ‘in  consequence  of 
the  dispersed  situation  of  the  inhabitants 
of  several  towns,’  the  children  and  youth 
can  not  be  collected  in  any  one  place  for 
their  instruction,’  such  towns  were  author- 
ized ‘in  town  meeting  called  for  that  pur- 
pose to  determine  and  define  the  limits  of 
school  districts.’  In  this  provision  and  the 
supplementary  law  of  1800  authorizing  dis- 
trict taxation  for  school-houses,  originated 
the  district  system,  which  Mr.  Mann  pro- 
nounced the  most  ‘ disastrous  feature  ’ of 
the  school  legislation  of  Massachusetts ; and 
from  the  deteriorating  influence  of  which 
the  State  has  only  quite  recently  escaped 
into  a graded  system  for  the  whole  town. 
The  act  of  1789  excludes  from  the  town 
grammar  school  all  children  ‘ who  have  not 
in  some  other  way  learned  to  read  the  Eng- 
lish language  by  spelling  the  same,’  and 
admits  as  teachers  only  those  who  arc 


414 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


university  graduates,  or  have  a certificate  of 
qualification  from  a learned  minister  of  the 
town,  and  give  satisfactory  evidence  of 
good  moral  character.’  ‘ Ministers  and  se- 
lectmen are  required  to  see  that  the  youth 
regularly  attend  the  school,  and  once  at 
least,  every  six  months,  visit  and  inspect  the 
schools,  inquire  into  the  regulations  and 
discipline  thereof,  and  the  proficiency  of 
the  scholars  therein.’  ‘ That  the  greatest 
attention  may  be  given  to  children  in  the 
early  stages  of  life,  to  the  establishing  of 
just  principles  in  their  tender  minds,’  and 
right  habits  of  reading ; ‘ no  person  shall 
keep  school  without  a proper  certificate  from 
the  selectmen,  or  a committee  duly  ap- 
pointed by  each  town  or  district,  and  the 
minister,  if  there  be  one  in  the  place,  on  the 
forfeiture  of  twenty  shillings  to  the  informer 
and  the  poor  of  the  place.’  Whether  under 
master  or  mistress,  ‘ a sense  of  piety  and 
virtue,  and  decent  behavior,’  as  well  as  read- 
ing, and  writing  if  contracted  for,  were  made 
the  staple  of  primary  instruction. 

In  1825  the  legislature  appointed  com- 
missioners 4 to  digest  and  prepare  a system 
for  the  establishment  of  one  or  more  institu- 
tions for  instruction  in  the  practical  arts  and 
sciences  for  that  class  of  persons  who  do  not 
desire,  or  are  unable  to  obtain,  a collegiate 
education.’  This  proposition  grew  out  of 
the  discussions  which  followed  the  establish- 
ment of  Mechanics’  Institutes  in  England, 
Fellenberg’s  Schools  at  Hofwyl,  and  the  Ren- 
sellaer  School  at  Troy — and  the  want,  long 
and  widely  felt,  of  some  essential  modifica- 
tion of  the  studies  of  the  academies  and 
colleges  of  the  country.  The  report  of  the 
commissioners  in  1826,  and  the  supplement- 
ary report  of  1827,  anticipates  by  a quarter 
of  a century  the  whole  movement  for  the 
‘ new  education,’  4 the  agricultural  and 
mechanical  art  colleges,’  and  4 the  scientific 
schools.’ 

In  1826  towns  were  authorized  to  choose 
a school  committee  to  superintend  the 
schools,  to  visit  and  inspect  the  town  and 
district  schools,  to  examine  and  approve 
teachers,  to  determine  class  books,  and  pro- 
vide the  same  for  such  whose  parents  may  be 
unable  to  pay  for  the  same ; and  for  the  first 
time  to  make  returns  thereafter  each  year  to 
the  Secretary  of  State  (whose  duty  it  is 
made  to  furnish  appropriate  blanks)  of  the 
number,  state,  and  cost  of  each  school. 

In  1827  a select  committee  of  the  House, 
to  whom  was  referred  a memorial  of  James 


G.  Carter,  praying  for  aid  to  enable  him  to 
establish  a 4 Seminary  for  the  instruction  of 
School  Teachers,’  reported  favorably ; but 
the  bill  not  becoming  a law  by  the  want  of 
one  vote  in  the  Senate,  Mr.  Carter  estab- 
lished such  a seminary  in  Lancaster,  as  a 
private  enterprise,  in  the  same  year;  and  in 
1830  a similar  seminary  was  established  at 
Andover,  with  the  expectation  that  Mr.  Gal- 
laudet,  of  Hartford,  would  become  its  prin- 
cipal, but  was  opened  under  the  direction 
of  Rev.  S.  S.  Hall,  who  had  been  a teacher 
of  teachers  in  a private  seminary  in  Con- 
cord, Vermont,  from  1822,  and  whose  lec- 
tures read  to  his  pupil-teachers  were  pub- 
lished in  1829,  under  the  title  of  4 Lectures 
on  School-Keeping ,’  almost  the  first  contri- 
bution to  this  department  of  American 
literature. 

In  1827  the  school  laws  were  thoroughly 
revised,  by  which,  among  other  modifica- 
tions, 4 in  each  town  of  fifty  families  the 
teacher  or  teachers  must  be  employed,  must 
be  of  good  morals,  and  competent  to  in- 
struct children  in  orthography,  reading, 
writing,  English  grammar,  geography,  arith- 
metic, and  good  behavior,  for  at  least  six 
months  in  the  year ;’  and  in  towns  of  one 
hundred  families,  the  following  branches 
must  be  added,  history  of  the  United  States, 
book-keeping  by  single  entry,  geometry, 
surveying,  and  algebra ; and  in  every  city 
or  town  of  four  thousand  inhabitants  the 
master  shall  be  able  to  teach,  in  addition, 
the  Latin  and  Greek  languages,  history, 
rhetoric,  and  logic.’  All  towns  are  author- 
ized to  raise  by  tax  any  amount  of  money 
they  may  think  necessary  for  the  support  of 
schools.  Each  town  may,  in  addition  to 
the  school  committee,  appoint  one  person 
for  each  district  in  the  town,  a resident  of 
the  district,  to  be  called  a prudential  com- 
mittee, or  they  may  authorize  the  districts 
to  choose  their  own  committee.  The  com- 
mittee are  forbidden  to  prescribe  books 
favoring  any  particular  religious  sect. 

In  1829  the  first  public  effort  to  educate 
the  blind  was  made  in  Boston,  by  the  incor- 
poration of  the  New  England  Asylum  for 
the  Blind,  and  turning  over  to  its  use  any 
unexpended  balance  of  the  State’s  appropri- 
ation for  deaf  mutes. 

In  1830  the  American  Institute  of  In- 
struction was  formed  at  Boston,  composed 
of  members  from  all  parts  of  the  country, 
and  incorporated  by  the  legislature  of  Mas- 
sachusetts in  1831,  and  in  1835,  through 


COMMON  SCHOOLS  AND  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION. 


415 


the  influence  of  James  G.  Carter,  (who  more 
than  any  other  one  man  was  the  mover  in 
all  the  advanced  legislation  of  the  State 
from  1830  to  1838),  was  aided  by  an  annual 
grant  of  $350  to  meet  the  expense  of  the 
publication  of  the  annual  volumes,  which 
now  amount  to  42. 

In  1834  provision  was  made  for  a State 
School  Fund  (out  of  the  sale  of  lands  in 
Maine,  and  claims  of  the  State  on  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States  for  military 
services,  to  which  have  since  been  added 
other  sources),  which  was  originally  limited 
to  $1,000,000,  but  from  time  to  time  the 
maximum  was  raised,  until  in  1872  the 
capital  was  $2,233,366.  In  the  same  year 
the  employment  of  children  under  the  age 
of  fifteen  years,  innny  manufacturing  estab- 
lishment was  forbidden,  unless  such  child 
had  attended  some  public  or  private  school 
taught  by  a teacher  qualified  according  to 
law,  at  least  three  of  the  twelve  months  next 
preceding,  on  a forfeiture  of  $50  for  each 
offense,  for  the  use  of  the  common  schools 
in  the  town.  This  provision  has  been  modi- 
fied from  time  to  time,  until  now  the  main 
object  of  school  attendance,  the  elementary 
instruction  of  such  children,  is  secured. 

In  1836  the  school  laws  were  revised,  and 
appear  on  the  statutes  under  the  title  of 
‘Public  Instruction.’  In  this  revision  the 
school  committee  are  required  to  include  in 
their  annual  school  returns  the  number  and 
attendance  in  all  private  schools  and  acade- 
mies. ‘ No  apportionment  of  the  income  of 
the  school  fund  can  be  paid  to  any  town 
which  does  not  make  the  return  required  by 
law,  or  raise  by  taxation,  for  the  wages  of 
teachers  only,  a sum  equal  to  one  dollar  for 
each  person  belonging  to  such  town  between 
the  ages  of  4 and  16.’  This  sum  has  been 
increased  until  it  now  stands  at  $1.50  for 
each  person  between  5 and  15. 

In  1837  the  legislature  authorized  the 
expenditure  of  $20  for  each  district  for  the 
purchase  of  a district  school  library.  To 
supply  the  want  of  books  suitable  for  this 
purpose,  the  State  Board  caused  to  be  pre- 
pared a selection  of  books,  entitled  ‘ The 
School  Library,’  consisting  of  two  scries, 
one  for  children  10  and  12  years  of  age  and 
under,  and  the  other  for  advanced  scholars 
and  their  parents.  This  action  of  the  Board, 
however,  met  with  considerable  opposition, 
as  being  meant  to  control  the  reading  facili- 
ties of  the  public,  and  the  enterprise,  after 
reaching  thirty  volumes,  was  abandoned  by  j 


them.  To  encourage  districts  in  the  pur- 
chase of  school  libraries,  the  State  appropri- 
ated to  each  district  of  sixty  children  be- 
tween the  ages  of  4 and  15  years,  the  sum 
of  $15  towards  the  purchase  of  the  same; 
and  for  districts  having  over  sixty  children, 
the  sum  was  increased  proportionately  to 
the  number.  In  1843,  any  town  or  city  in 
the  commonwealth  was  authorized  to  raise 
and  appropriate  to  school  libraries  a sum 
equivalent  to  $15  to  each  grouping  of  sixty 
children,  which  in  1851  was  extended  to 
maintaining  a public  library  for  the  use  of 
the  inhabitants  of  the  town,  and  providing 
.the  same  with  suitable  rooms  under  proper 
regulations  for  its  government ; and  to  ap- 
propriate annually  a sum  not  exceeding  fifty 
cents  for  each  of  its  rateable  polls  in  the 
year  next  succeeding  that  in  which  such  ap- 
propriation is  made. 

Social  libraries  may  be  established  by 
seven  or  more  proprietors  associating  them- 
selves into  a corporation  for  the  purpose  of 
establishing,  extending,  or  enlarging  such 
library.  According  to  the  returns  of  1872, 
there  were  60  city  and  town  libraries,  with 
an  aggregate  of  500,000  volumes,  beside 
265  social  libraries,  with  643,866  volumes. 

In  1837,  school  districts  were  authorized 
to  raise  money  to  establish  and  maintain  a 
common  school  library  and  apparatus  for 
the  use  of  the  children  therein,  to  the 
amount  of  $50  for  the  first  year  and  $10  for 
each  succeeding  year.  This  provision  has 
been  modified  until  now  all  towns  and  cities 
may  establish  libraries  by  tax. 

In  the  same  year,  in  place  of  a State 
Superintendent,  as  asked  for,  a Board  of 
Education  was  instituted,  to  consist  of 
the  Governor,  Lieutenant-Governor,  and  ten 
persons,  holding  their  offices  respectively 
for  eight  years,  whose  duty  it  was  made 
‘ to  submit  to  the  legislature  in  a printed 
form  annually  an  abstract  of  the  annual 
school  returns  made  by  the  town  commit- 
tees; ‘to  appoint  a secretary,  who,  under 
their  direction,  shall  collect  information  of 
the  actual  condition  and  efficiency  of  the 
common  schools,  and  other  means  of  popu- 
lar education,  and  to  diffuse  as  widely  as 
possible  through  every  part  of  the  common- 
wealth information  as  to  the  most  approved 
and  successful  methods  of  arranging  the 
studies  and  conducting  the  education  of  the 
young,  to  the  end  that  all  children  who  de- 
pend upon  common  schools  may  have  the 
best  education  which  they  can  be  made  to 


416 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


impart ; and  to  submit  annually  to  the  legis- 
lature a detailed  report  of  all  its  doings, 
with  such  observations  as  their  experience 
and  reflection  may  suggest  upon  the  con- 
dition and  efficiency  of  our  system  of  popu- 
lar education,  and  the  most  practicable 
means  of  improving  and  extending  it.’  Of 
this  board,  Horace  Mann,  at  the  time  Presi- 
dent of  the  Senate,  was  made  Secretary. 

In  1838  the  school  committee  are  re- 
quired ‘ to  make  annually  a detailed  report 
of  the  condition  of  the  several  public  schools, 
designating  particular  improvements  and  de- 
fects in  the  methods  or  means  of  education, 
to  be  read  in  open  town  meeting,  or  be 
printed  and  distributed  for  the  use  of  the 
inhabitants,  deposited  in  the  office  of  the 
clerk  of  the  town,  and  an  attested  copy 
transmitted  to  the  secretary  with  the  official 
return  required  by  law.’  The  committee 
must  also  select  and  contract  with  the  teach- 
ers in  the  town  and  the  districts,’  unless  the 
town  shall  determine  otherwise  in  respect  to 
the  districts;  must  enter  in  a record-book 
all  their  proceedings,  and  deliver  over  the 
same,  at  the  expiration  of  the  year,  to  their 
successors  in  office ; shall  fill  up  all  the 
blanks  and  answer  the  inquiries  in  the  form 
of  return  prescribed  by  the  State  Board, 
and  cause  the  school  register  prescribed  by 
said  Board  to  be  faithfully  kept  in  all  the 
town  and  district  schools.’  The  committee 
thus  charged  with  new  and  important  duties 
are  required  to  be  paid  ‘ one  dollar  each  per 
day,  and  such  additional  compensation  as 
the  town  may  allow.’  In  the  same  year  the 
secretary,  in  addition  to  his  other  duties,  is 
required  ‘ to  attend  in  each  county  a meet- 
ing of  teachers,  school  committees,  and 
friends  of  education  generally,  and  diligently 
apply  himself  to  the  object  of  collecting  in- 
formation of  the  condition  of  the  public 
schools  of  such  county,  of  the  manner  in 
which  school  committees  fulfill  the  duties  of 
their  office,  and  the  condition  of  the  dis- 
tricts in  respect  to  teachers,  pupils,  books, 
apparatus,  and  methods  of  education,  in 
order  to  furnish  requisite  material  for  the 
report  of  the  Board.’ 

In  the  same  year,  the  establishment  of 
special  institutions  for  qualifying  teachers 
for  common  schools,  first  systematically  pre- 
sented by  Thomas  H.  Gallaudet  and  James  G. 
Carter  in  periodicals  in  1824-5,  and  issued 
in  pamphlet  form  in  the  year  following,  and 
subsequently  advocated  almost  every  year  in 
educational  conventions  and  addresses,  and 


particularly  after  1835  by  Rev.  Charles 
Brooks,  was  secured  by  the  offer  of  the  sum 
of  $10,000,  by  the  Hon.  Edmund  Dwight, 
of  Boston,  then  a member  of  the  State 
Senate  and  of  the  Board  of  Education,  on 
the  condition  that  a like  sum  should  be  ap- 
propriated by  the  State  for  the  same  object. 
The  offer  was  accepted,  and  the  sum  of 
$10,000  appropriated  by  the  State,  and  both 
sums  placed  at  the  disposition  of  the  Board 
of  Education  ; and  three  schools  were  opened 
at  Lexington,  Bridgewater,  and  Barre. 

In  1839  every  school  averaging  50  schol- 
ars was  required  to  employ  a female  assistant, 
and  contiguous  districts  were  authorized  to 
associate  for  the  purpose  of  maintaining  a 
Union  school  for  the  older  children  of  such 
associating  districts.  This  (and  a similar  Act 
in  Connecticut  of  the  same  year)  is  the  germ 
of  the  whole  system  of  Union  and  Graded 
schools,  which  now  prevails  in  every  State. 

In  1840  a vigorous  attempt  was  made  in 
the  legislature  to  reverse  the  policy  of  a State 
provision  for  educating  teachers,  by  return- 
ing to  Mr.  Dwight  the  gift  made  by  him  to 
the  State  for  this  purpose,  and  to  abandon 
all  State  supervision  of  schools ; and  at  one 
period  it  was  anticipated  by  Gov.  Everett, 
and  Mr.  Mann,  that  the  proposition  would 
succeed  by  a small  majority  in  both  Houses. 

In  1841  the  town  of  Springfield  appro- 
priated the  sum  of  $1,000  as  a salary  for 
the  Superintendent  of  Public  Schools,  to  be 
selected  and  appointed  by  the  town  com- 
mittee. This  office  was  filled  by  the  ap- 
pointment of  S.  S.  Green,  afterwards  Professor 
in  Brown  University,  and  was  an  important 
step  in  the  improvement  of  school  super- 
vision in  Massachusetts.  Several  other  towns 
followed  the  example  of  Springfield.  But  in 
Lowell  the  right  of  the  town  to  appoint  such 
officer  was  contested,  which  led  to  the  pas- 
sage of  an  Act  in  1854  requiring  the  school 
committee  to  appoint  a superintendent 
wherever  the  town  or  city  shall  so  deter- 
mine, and  gradually  the  practice  of  appoint- 
ing a superintendent  has  extended  to  all  the 
cities  and  many  large  towns.  In  Boston, 
after  the  subject  had  been  discussed  for 
years  in  the  School  Committee  and  City 
Council,  the  office  was  created  in  1851,  and 
filled  by  the  appointment  of  Nathan  Bishop, 
at  that  time  occupying  the  same  position  in 
Providence  since  1839,  the  earliest  officer 
devoting  his  whole  time  to  the  work,  in  the 
United  States. 

In  1842  the  sum  of  $6,000  annually  for 


COMMON  SCHOOLS  AND  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION. 


417 


three  years  was  appropriated  to  continue  the 
Normal  Schools  which  were  for  the  first 
time  designated  State  institutions,  and  the 
policy  of  district  scIiqoI  libraries  was  extend- 
ed to  towns  and  cities. 

In  1845  an  important  decision  was  made 
by  the  Supreme  Court,  by  which  the  right 
of  all  the  towns  to  vote  such  sums  of  money 
for  the  support  of  town  schools,  and  to  make 
the  public  schools  as  good,  as  long,  and  as 
numerous  as  in  the  exercise  of  an  honest 
discretion  they  may  deem  it  expedient,  was 
affirmed.  In  this  case  the  town  of  New- 
buryport  had  provided  for  the  support  of 
all  the  schools,  including  the  town  grammar 
school,  required  by  law,  and  also  voted 
to  raise  money  for  the  support  and  did  sup- 
port a Female  High  School  for  the  purpose 
of  teaching  book-keeping,  algebra,  geometry, 
hygiene,  mental,  moral,  and  natural  philoso- 
phy, the  Latin  and  French  languages,  and 
other  higher  branches  than  were  taught  in 
the  grammar  schools  of  the  town.  The 
court  held  this  to  be  a town  school  within 
the  meaning  of  the  revised  statutes,  and  the 
money  for  its  support  could  be  legally  raised 
by  tax. 

In  1846,  Teachers’  Institutes  which  had 
been  held  by  Mr.  Mann  for  the  first  time  in 
1845,  by  aid  of  $1,000  given  by  Hon. 
Edmund  Dwight,  were  provided  for  by  an 
appropriation  of  $2,000  from  the  school 
fund,  since  increased  to  $3,600. 

In  1847,  cities  and  towns  were  authorized 
to  appropriate  money  for  the  support  of 
schools  for  the  instruction  of  adults  in  read- 
ing, writing,  English  grammar,  arithmetic, 
and  geography ; and  in  the  same  year  the 
offer  of  Theodore  Lyman  to  aid  in  the  es- 
tablishment of  an  institution  for  the  instruc- 
tion, employment,  and  reformation  of  juve- 
nile offenders,  was  accepted,  and  the  State 
Reform  School  at  Westborough  was  begun ; 
and  an  annual  appropriation  made  to  fur- 
nish books  to  the  inmates  of  the  State 
Prison,  which  was  afterwards  extended  so  as 
to  secure  instruction  in  reading  and  writing 
to  all  prisons  and  houses  of  correction. 

In  1848,  wherever  a suitable  site  for  a 
school-house  can  not  be  secured  by  volun- 
tary purchase,  the  same  may  be  condemned 
for  public  uses,  and  the  owner  properly  in- 
demnified. In  the  same  year  an  appropria- 
tion was  made  for  training  and  teaching 
idiotic  children  of  indigent  parents  for  three 
years,  which  resulted  in  the  establishment 
of  the  institution  for  that  class  at  South 
Boston  iu  1851. 


In  1849,  all  willful  interruptions  and  dis- 
turbances of  schools  were  punishable  by  fine 
and  imprisonment,  and  provision  was  made 
for  the  preservation  of  all  school  reports  and 
other  documents  in  the  school  libraries;  and 
the  State  Library  was  made  the  office  of  the 
Board  of  Education,  and  the  secretary  made 
librarian,  with  instructions  to  provide  for 
the  display  of  apparatus,  &c.  A copy  of 
Barnard’s  School  Architecture  was  furnished 
to  each  town,  and  an  annual  appropriation 
of  $150  was  made  to  the  State  Teachers’  As- 
sociation, and  similar  sums  were  afterwards 
voted  to  this  and  to  the  county  associations. 

In  1850,  physiology  and  hygiene  were 
added  to  the  branches  to  be  taught,  and 
teachers  were  required  to  be  examined  into 
their  abilities  to  teach  the  same.  Towns 
were  authorized  to  abolish  school  districts, 
and  take  possession  of  the  property  of  the 
same,  and  provide  for  the  erection  of  school- 
houses  at  the  common  expense  of  the  town. 
In  the  same  year,  cities  and  towns  were 
authorized  ‘ to  make  all  needful  provision 
and  arrangements  concerning  habitual  tru- 
ants, and  children  not  attending  school, 
without  any  regular  lawful  occupation,  grow- 
ing up  in  ignorance,  between  the  ages  of  6 
and  15  years.’  The  Board  of  Education 
was  authorized  to  furnish  a copy  of  either 
Webster’s  or  Worcester’s  large  Dictionary 
of  the  English  Language  to  every  school  dis- 
trict, and  every  school,  except  primary.  In 
the  same  year  provision  was  made  for  an 
Agricultural  College,  which  did  not  take 
form  and  location  till  Congress  made  in 
1862  the  Agricultural  and  Mechanical  Col- 
lege land  grant. 

In  1851  the  Board  of  Education  was 
authorized  to  employ  two  or  more  suitable 
persons  to  visit  the  towns  and  school  dis- 
tricts, for  giving  and  receiving  information 
in  the  manner  of  the  secretary  of  the  Board; 
and  to  publish  for  general  distribution  selec- 
tions from  the  reports  of  the  Board. 

In  1853,  the  legislature  established  a sys- 
tem of  State  scholarship  ‘ to  aid  in  qualify- 
ing principal  teachers  for  high  schools,’  by 
assisting  to  educate  and  train  forty-eight 
young  men,  ‘ of  irreproachable  moral  char- 
acter, free  from  any  considerable  defect  of 
sight  and  hearing,  and  of  good  health  and 
constitution,’  in  the  different  colleges  of  the 
State.  Before  the  details  of  the  system 
could  be  perfected  by  actual  experience, 
particularly  in  the  direction  of  practical 
training,  and  in  the  final  step  of  inducting 


418 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


these  teacher  graduates  into  the  schools, 
first  as  assistant,  and  afterwards  as  principal, 
the  law  was  repealed,  and  the  most  benefi- 
cent measure  was  lost  for  a quarter  of  a 
century,  at  least. 

In  1857,  towns  were  authorized  to  estab- 
lish and  maintain  day  or  evening  schools 
for  the  education  of  persons  over  fifteen 
years  of  age — and  thus  legalized  the  prac- 
tice of  evening  schools  already  introduced 
in  several  cities  (in  Boston  in  1836,  in  New 
Bedford  in  1848,  in  Lowell  in  1853). 

In  1870,  after  nearly  fifty  years  of  sug- 
gestion, discussion,  and  isolated  experiments, 
drawing  was  included  by  act  of  the  legis- 
lature (May  16)  ‘ among  the  branches  re- 
quired to  be  taught  in  the  public  schools,’ 
and  ‘any  city  and  town  having  more  than 
ten  thousand  inhabitants  were  required  to 
make  provision  for  free  instruction  in  indus- 
trial or  mechanical  drawing  to  persons  over 
fifteen  years  of  age,  in  day  or  evening 
schools,  under  the  direction  of  the  school 
committee.’  Thus  was  consummated  one 
of  the  suggestions  of  the  commissioners  ap- 
pointed by  the  legislature  in  1825,  that 
drawing  should  be  made  part  of  the  curri- 
culum of  their  proposed  State  institution  for 
instruction  in  the  practical  arts  and  sciences ; 
and  of  the  slate  and  blackboard  exercises 
presented  by  Josiah  Holbrook  and  William 
A.  Alcott  from  1830  to  1842,  and  of  Mary 
T.  Peabody  (Mrs.  Horace  Mann)  in  her 
Primer  of  Drawing,  and  of  Mr.  Barnard  in 
his  Manual  of  Methods  for  Common  School 
Teachers  in  1839-41 ; and  of  Mrs.  William 
Minot  in  her  first  instructions  to  a class  in 
the  Franklin  school  in  1839,  and  to  all  the 
teachers  of  the  primary  schools  of  Boston 
in  1841-42. 

In  1871  the  legislature  appropriated  $10,- 
000  out  of  the  income  of  the  school  fund 
for  the  salaries  and  expenses  of  special 
agents  of  the  Board  of  Education,  the  ob- 
ject being,  first,  to  ‘ secure  the  services  of  a 
competent  agent  to  give  aid  and  direction 
to  a more  systematic  and  thorough  course 
of  instruction  in  drawing  in  the  Normal 
Schools;  to  visit  the  cities  and  towns  re- 
quired by  the  law  of  1870  to  maintain 
schools  or  classes  for  instruction  in  mechan- 
ical drawing;  to  give  information  and  assist 
school  committees  in  the  formation  of  such 
classes,  and  in  the  management  of  suitable 
Courses  of  instruction  in  them ; and  to  ad- 
vise and  aid  a practical  method  for  the  edu- 
cation of  teachers  in  drawing  for  special 


schools  and  for  the  common  schools  in  this 
branch.’  The  second  object  was  the  em- 
ployment of  competent  persons  to  act  as 
special  agents  of  certain  designated  districts 
in  cooperation  with  the  labors  of  the  general 
agent,  with  the  view  of  reaching  all  the 
towns  in  the  commonwealth,  annually,  by  a 
direct  and  thorough  system  of  inspection, 
and  independent  of,  and  at  the  same  time 
in  cooperation  with,  that  of  the  town  com- 
mittees. It  was  to  do,  in  part,  in  Massachu- 
setts the  work  of  county  superintendents  in 
the  system  of  Pennsylvania,  Illinois,  and 
several  other  States.  This  feature  was  part 
of  the  original  school  law  prepared  by  Mr. 
Barnard  in  1844  for  Rhode  Island. 

The  first  object  was  secured  by  the  em- 
ployment of  Mr.  Walter  Smith,  art  master 
in  one  of  the  prominent  schools  (at  Leeds) 
in  connection  with  the  English  department 
of  art  and  science,  as  professional  adviser 
and  lecturer  in  art  education,  with  the  title 
of  State  Director  of  Art  Education. 

In  1872,  the  fifth  State  Normal  School 
was  located  at  Worcester,  and  $60,000  ap- 
propriated for  a building  on  a site  appropri- 
ated for  its  use, — a sum  which  measures  the 
progress  of  public  opinion  towards  these  in- 
stitutions, the  first  institution,  in  1838,  not 
receiving  a dollar  towards  such  expenditure, 
and  the  three  only  $5,000,  after  an  experi- 
ence of  four  years  of  their  utility.  They  are 
now  regarded  as  indispensable  in  any  sys- 
tem of  public  instruction. 

The  statistics  of  public  schools  and  State 
expenditures  for  educational  purposes  in 
1871  were  as  follows:  total  amount  of 
taxes  paid  to  maintain  public  schools, 
$5,462,852 ; and  total  expense,  exclusive  of 
collegiate  and  professional  education  $6,- 
297,010;  $22.63  for  each  person  between 
the  ages  of  5 and  15  years.  Among  the 
items  are — $3,272,335  for  the  wages  of 
teachers;  $122,086  for  town  and  city  super- 
vision and  printing  reports ; number  of 
public  schools  5,076  (including  181  high 
schools),  with  273,661  pupils;  number  of 
normal  schools  (State  and  city)  6,  with 
1,100  pupils;  teachers’  institutes  held,  7, 
with  an  attendance  of  908  teachers.  Among 
the  charges  on  the  income  of  the  State 
School  Fund  were  $3,400  for  secretary ; 
$4,224  for  agents  ; $10,627  for  printing  re- 
port and  expenses  of  board  ; $41,427,  State 
Normal  Schools ; $3,000,  Institutes ; $800, 
State  Teachers’  Association  ; $225,  County 
Associations ; $500,  American  Institutes. 


COMMON  SCHOOLS  AND  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION. 


419 


MICHIGAN. 

Michigan  was  settled  as  early  as  1650, 
organized  as  a territory  in  1805,  and  admit- 
ted a State  in  1837,  with  an  area  of  56,451 
square  miles,  and  a population  in  1830  of 
31,639,  which  had  increased  in  1870  to 
1,184,049,  and  taxable  property  to  the  value 
of  8272,242,917. 

The  constitution  adopted  in  1835  ordains 
the  appointment  of  a superintendent  of 
public  instruction,  consecrates  the  proceeds 
of  all  land  grants  for  educational  purposes, 
to  such  purposes  and  no  other,  provides  for 
a common  school  in  each  school  district  for 
at  least  three  months  in  the  year,  and  the 
establishment  of  libraries,  at  least  one  in  each 
township,  and  a university  for  the  State.’ 
Under  these  provisions,  that  of  a State  Su- 
perintendent and  township  libraries  being  in 
advance  of  other  States,  the  system  of  public 
instruction  was  organized,  and  these  cardinal 
features  were  not  materially  altered  by  the 
Constitution  of  1850  ; except  the  legislature 
is  enjoined  to  provide  within  five  years  for 
the  establishment  of  a ‘ system  of  primary 
schools,  in  which  a school  shall  be  kept  with- 
out charge  for  tuition,  for  at  least  three 
months  in  each  year  in  every  school  district, 
and. all  instruction  conducted  in  the  English 
language.’  The  university  is  placed  under 
the  charge  of  a Board  of  Regents,  one  for 
each  judicial  district,  elected  at  the  same 
time,  and  for  the  same  term,  as  the  judge  of 
that  circuit.  A State  Board  of  Education 
is  also  created,  of  which  the  Superintendent 
is  member  and  secretary,  and  to  which  the 
State  Normal  School  is  committed.  To 
these  State  officials  the  law  has  added, 
County  Superintendents,  one  for  each 
county,  elected  by  the  people  of  the  county ; 
Township  Inspectors,  three  for  each  con- 
gressional township  ; District  Boards  for  the 
local  management  of  the  schools ; and 
Boards  of  Education  for  the  cities  and  large 
villages. 

The  system  of  public  instruction  in 
Michigan  started  under  favorable  auspices — 
the  early  settlers  having  come  from  States 
where  common  schools  had  been  the  main 
reliance  of  the  people  for  the  education  of 
their  children,  and  having  located  in  neigh- 
borhoods, they  enjoyed  the  facilities  of  at 
once  organizing  schools  after  the  old  type. 
The  framers  of  the  first  constitution,  and  of 
the  early  legislation,  were  graduates  of  the 
academies  and  colleges  of  New  York  and 
New  England,  and  into  the  educational 


movement  from  the  start,  as  soon  as 
agitated  elsewhere,  were  * introduced  the 
agencies  and  institutions  which  have  proved 
useful  in  the  older  States.  A School  Journal 
was  started  in  1838;  a school  convention 
was  called  in  the  year  following;  and  was 
soon  followed  by  county  teachers’  associations 
and  the  State  Teachers’  Association  in  1853  ; 
a Teachers’  Institute  was  held  in  1846, 
and  every  year  since  there  has  been  several 
such  brief  professional  courses,  and  a State 
Normal  School  has  been  in  operation  since 
1859;  the  permanent  university  was  opened 
to  receive  pupils  within  two  years  after  the 
State  had  adopted  a constitution,  and  was 
allowed,  with  the  assistance  of  the  State, 
and  in  anticipation  of  its  special  endow- 
ments, to  get  its  foundations  laid,  and  its 
different  schools  organized  before  denomi- 
national institutions  were  chartered  to  draw 
off  the  pupils  and  enlist  the  interest  of 
localities  in  rivalry,  if  not  in  antagonism. 
Under  these  advantages  the  munificent  pro- 
visions of  Congress  have  been  better  cher- 
ished and  applied  up  to  that  time  than  in 
the  other  Western  States,  and  her  example 
has  had  a powerful  influence  in  inaugura- 
ting better  methods  of  management. 

The  system  of  public  instruction  em- 
braces: (1,)  Primary  schools — so  extended 

and  so  expansive  in  their  organization  as  to 
meet  the  wants  of  5,000  rural  districts, 
where  the  sparseness  of  the  population  ren- 
ders only  one  school  for  pupils  of  all  ages 
possible,  and  at  the  same  time,  by  allowing 
of  gradation  in  256  villages  and  cities,  to 
fill  up  all  the  educational  demands  below 
the  university  and  special  schools — doing 
away  with  the  necessity  of  incorporated 
academies  and  college  preparatory  schools. 
This  higher,  or  secondary  institution  is  not 
yet  fully  developed,  but  the  germ  and  ca- 
pacity is  in  the  system,  and  is  partially 
worked  out  in  Detroit  and  other  cities. 
According  to  the  superintendent’s  report, 
there  were  273,682  pupils,  under  11,014 
teachers  (8,221  females),  whose  wages 
amounted  to  81,398,328;  in  school-houses 
which  cost  $6,234,797.  The  total  school 
expenditure  for  the  year  1870  was  $3,154,- 
221.  Of  this  $175,000  was  income  of  the 
Primary  School  Funds  (capital  $2,700,834, 
with  468,713  acres  unsold),  and  the  balance 
was  State,  town,  city,  and  district  property 
taxation,  the  rate  bills  paid  by  parents  up 
to  1869  having  been  abolished.  Of  the 
teachers  engaged  in  the  schools  nearly  1,000 


420 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


are  graduates  of  State  Normal  Schools  or 
higher  educational  institutions,  and  2,005 
attended  the  16  institutes  which  were  held 
in  as  many  different  and  widely  separated 
localities  in  1870. 

(2,)  The  Union  and  High  Schools  al- 
though belonging  to  secondary  institutions, 
are  returned  under  the  primary  schools.  Of 
the  semi-public  schools — the  incorporated 
academies,  and  colleges,  and  the  private 
classical  schools,  no  returns  are  made. 

(3,)  The  University,  with  its  professional 
schools,  is  part  of  the  system  of  public  in- 
struction, and  in  1870  reported  1,126 
students,  viz.,  477  in  the  department  of 
science,  literature,  and  the  arts;  340,  of 
medicine  and  surgery ; 309,  of  the  law. 
The  expenses  of  the  institution  for  the  year 
were  $70,167,  met  by  the  income  of  the 
University  Fund  ($564,443,  with  200  acres 
unsold),  and  an  appropriation  from  the  State 
treasury.  The  State  has  recently  assigned 
the  avails  of  a special  tax  in  aid  of  the 
university ; all  the  schools  of  the  institution 
are  open  to  all  citizens  of  the  State  without 
distinction  of  race  or  sex. 

(4,)  State  Agricultural  College  at  Lansing 
— founded  in  1855,  in  pursuance  of  the 
constitutional  requirement  of  1850,  on  a 
farm  of  676  acres,  and  with  a special  fund, 
not  yet  realized,  for  its  support,  but  with  an 
annual  appropriation  of  $30,000  from  the 
State  treasury  towards  its  expenses,  in  addi- 
tion to  over  $100,000  paid  towards  its  build- 
ings and  equipment  in  1870.  There  were 
129  students,  of  whom  10  were  females. 

(5,)  State  Normal  School  at  Ypsilanti, 
with  90  pupil-teachers  in  the  training  de- 
partment. This  school  was  founded  in 
1849,  on  an  endowment  of  a portion  of  the 
salt  spring  lands  and  swamp  lands,  out  of 
which  a capital  of  $67,616  has  been  realized, 
leaving  land  unsold,  which  it  is  estimated 
will  increase  the  capital  to  $300,000. 

(6,)  Other  Special  Schools  are  the  insti- 
tutions for  deaf  mutes  and  blind  at  Flint, 
founded  in  1854 ; the  State  Reform  School 
at  Lansing,  opened  in  1856. 

(7,)  The  public  library  feature  of  the 
system  of  public  instruction  ordained  in  the 
constitution  has  not  been  developed  satis- 
factorily in  most  townships.  In  Detroit 
alone  has  it  become  a prominent  institution, 
numbering  20,000  volumes  in  1872. 

The  aggregate  expenditure  by  the  State, 
from  funds  and  property  taxation,  in  1870 
exceeded  $4,000,000. 


MINNESOTA. 

Minnesota  was  organized  as  a Territory  in 
1849,  and  admitted  as  a State  in  1850,  with 
an  area  of  83,531  square  miles  and  a popula- 
tion in  1860  of  172,413,  which  had  increased 
in  1870  to  439,706,  with  taxable  property 
to  the  value  of  $84,135,332. 

The  Constitution  of  1850  provides  for  a 
general  and  uniform  system  of  public  schools 
in  each  township  by  taxation  or  otherwise, 
and  a university  for  the  State. 

The  State  has  received  from  Congress 
2,969,790  acres  for  schools,  46,080  for  a 
university,  and  120,000  for  a college  of  agri- 
culture and  the  mechanic  arts.  The  State 
Auditor  for  1872  reports  the  permanent 
school  fund  already  realized  at  $2,532,351, 
and  the  avails  of  other  educational  lands 
sold  at  $500,000  more. 

The  authorities  for  administration  are : 

(1,)  State  Superintendent  appointed  by 
the  Governor  and  Senate  at  a salary  of  $2,- 
500,  who  must  meet  with  the  county  super- 
intendents for  discussions  of  all  matters 
relating  to  the  schools,  and  hold  teachers’ 
institutes  as  far  as  practicable  in  the  dif- 
erent  counties,  and  encourage  county  con- 
ventions of  teachers. 

(2,)  County  Superintendents  for  such 
counties  as  elect  so  to  do,  through  the  Coun- 
ty Commissioners,  who  examine  teachers 
after  thirty  days’  notice  of  the  time  and 
place,  and  issue  three  grades  of  certificates 
and  revoke  such  license  for  adequate  cause ; 
visit  all  the  schools  in  the  county,  and  con- 
duct in  each  county  one  institute  for  the  in- 
struction of  teachers  each  year;  encourage 
teachers’  associations,  and  disseminate  in- 
formation respecting  improved  methods  of 
teaching,  school  construction  and  equip- 
ment, and  report  annually. 

(3,)  District  Trustees — composed  of  di- 
rector, treasurer,  and  clerk,  elected  by  the 
voters  in  districts  and  sub-districts  created 
by  the  County  Commissioners,  to  have 
charge  of  all  school  matters  in  such  dis- 
tricts, subject  to  the  action  of  the  State  and 
County  Superintendents. 

(4,)  Board  of  Education  for  independent 
school  districts  (cities,  villages,  &c.,  having 
over  500  inhabitants),  composed  of  six  mem- 
bers, two  elected  each  year  for  a term  of 
three  years,  with  power  to  appoint  a district 
superintendent  (to  visit  schools,  and  assist 
teachers  in  the  classification  and  promotion 
of  the  pupils),  and  district  examiners,  to 
examiue  candidates  for  the  office  of  teacher, 
&c. 


COMMON  SCHOOLS  AND  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION. 


421 


In  1872  the  State  disbursed  $171,881  for 
the  ‘State  Institutions,’  viz.,  $26,212  for 
Normal  Schools;  $10,000  for  Insane  Asy- 
lum; $20,000  for  deaf  mutes  and  blind; 
$12,009  for  State  Reform  School;  $12,506 
for  soldiers’  orphans;  and  $331,161  for  State 
Prison; — total,  $171,981. 

The  national  census  for  1870  returns  12,- 
747  persons  over  10  years  of  age  who  can 
not  read,  and  24,413  who  could  not  write. 

MISSISSIPPI. 

Mississippi  was  organized  as  a Territory  in 
1798,  and  admitted  as  a State  in  1817,  with 
an  area  of  47,156  square  miles  and  a popu- 
lation in  1*820  of  75,458,  which  had  increased 
to  827,822  in  1870,  with  taxable  property 
estimated  at  $177,288,892. 

By  act  of  Congress  in  1803,  section  16  in 
each  township  is  reserved  for  the  support  of 
schools,  and  36  sections  for  the  use  of  Jef- 
ferson College,  chartered  by  the  territorial 
legislature  in  1801,  and  two  town  lots  in  the 
town  of  Natchez,  and  an  out  lot  not  exceed- 
ing 30  acres,  for  the  same  college.  In  1819 
another  tow’nship,  or  a quantity  equivalent 
thereto,  was  donated  to  the  State  for  the  use 
of  a seminary  of  learning.  It  was  stated  in 
a special  message  of  Governor  McRae  to  the 
legislature  in  1856,  that  the  total  amount  of 
the  Seminary  Fund  in  the  treasury  of  the 
State,  and  for  which  the  State  was  respon- 
sible, was  nearly  $1,200,000.  In  1870  the 
legislature  appropriated  $50,000  a year  for 
ten  years  to  the  support  of  the  university. 

The  Constitution  of  1817  contains  a clause 
from  the  ordinance  of  1785:  ‘Religion,  mo- 
rality and  knowledge  being  necessary  to  good 
government,  the  promotion  of  liberty,  and 
the  happiness  of  mankind,  schools  and  the 
means  of  education  shall  forever  be  encour- 
aged.’ 

The  Constitution  of  1868  provides  for  the 
election  by  the  people  of  a superintendent 
of  public  education,  at  the  same  time  and 
manner  as  the  governor,  to  hold  his  office  for 
a term  of  four  years  and  until  his  successor 
shall  be  elected,  and  whose  dutv  it  was  to  sub- 
mit to  the  legislature  for  its  adoption  within 
twenty  days  after  its  first  session  under  the 
constitution,  a uniform  system  of  free  public 
schools.  It  also  provides  for  a Common 
School  Fund  out  of  the  consolidation  of  the 
congressional  township  fund,  the  swamp 
lands,  escheats,  fines  for  penal  offenses,  and 
authorizes  a poll  tax,  not  to  exceed  two  dol- 
lars per  capita.  No  religious  sect  or  sects 
shall  ever  control  any  part  of  the  school  or 
university  fund. 


The  system  of  free  public  schools  adopted 
by  the  legislature  in  1869  provides  for:  (1,) 
State  Superintendent;  (2,)  State  Board, 
composed  of  the  State  Superintendent,  the 
Secretary  of  State  and  the  Attorney  General, 
whose  duties  are  confined  to  the  investment 
of  the  school  funds ; (3,)  County  Superin- 
tendents, of  which  there  are  70,  and  (4,) 
District  Boards  in  each  county,  who  have 
the  local  management  of  schools.  Each 
county  is  made  a school  district,  which  can 
be  divided  into  sub-districts  for  the  manage- 
ment of  local  schools.  A State  Normal 
School  exists  at  Holly  Springs,  and  a Teach- 
ers’ Institute  must  be  held  annually  in  each 
Congressional  district.  In  1870  there  were 
98,600  pupils  enrolled  out  of  a school  popu- 
lation of  304,762,  in  3,450  public  schools, 
under  3,520  teachers.  According  to  the 
census  there  were  291,718  persons  over  10 
years  of  age  who  could  not  read,  and  313,- 
313  who  could  not  write. 

MISSOURI. 

Missouri  was  first  settled  in  1763  and  ad- 
mitted into  the  Union  in  1820,  having  an 
area  of  67,380  square  miles,  and  a popula- 
tion in  1820  of  66,586  (10,222  slaves), 
which  had  increased  in  1870  to  1,721,295 
(118,071  colored),  with  a valuation  of  tax- 
able property  of  $556,129,969. 

The  constitution  of  1820  provides  for  the 
security  of  school  lands  (section  1 6 in  each 
township,  or  1,199,139  acres,  and  36  sec- 
tions, or  46,080  acres,  for  a university),  and 
enjoins  ‘the  establishment  of  one  or  more 
schools  in  each  township,  as  soon  as  practi- 
cable and  necessary,  where  the  poor  shall  be 
taught  gratis.’  But  little  progress  was  made 
outside  of  St.  Louis  until  after  the  constitu- 
tion was  revised  in  1865. 

In  St.  Louis,  under  the  Territorial  legisla- 
ture, ‘ a Board  of  Trustees  for  schools  in  the 
town  of  St.  Louis,’  was  organized  in  1817  ; 
but  this  Board  did  little  more  than  legally 
assert  the  claims  of  the  city  to  certain 
out-lots,  which  were  more  vigorously  prose- 
cuted by  the  new  Board  constituted  in  1833, 
when  these  claims  were  converted  into  a fund 
which  already  amounts  to  over  $1,000,000, 
and  yielded  in  1871  an  income  of  $53,000. 
The  first  school  was  opened  in  1838,  and 
the  first  building  was  erected  in  1842  at  a 
cost  of  $10,000;  and  in  1871  the  buildings 
owned  by  the  city  and  occupied  by  the  pub- 
lic schools  were  valued  at  $2,000,000,  the 
schools  having  increased  from  two  in  1841, 
with  350  pupils,  to  sixty-eight  in  1871,  with 


422 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


an  enrolled  attendance  of  31,221  pupils, 
under  559  teachers,  and  maintained  at  a 
cost  of  $723,362.  The  schools  consist  of  one 
Normal  School  for  female  teachers ; one 
High  School  for  boys  and  girls ; one  inter- 
mediate school  for  boys  and  girls ; twenty- 
seven  district  schools  in  which  pupils  are 
classified  according  to  age  and  attainments 
in  the  primary  and  grammar  divisions;  six 
separate  schools  for  colored  scholars ; six- 
teen evening  schools  culminating  in  a higher 
industrial  school ; and  a public  school  library 
of  10,000  volumes. 

The  first  general  law  was  passed  in  1820, 
but  repealed  in  1825  by  an  act  ‘for  estab- 
lishing and  governing  common  schools’ 
through  commissioners  of  the  school  land 
in  each  township,  appointed  by  the  county 
commissioner  and  trustees  in  each  district, 
which  shall  be  laid  out  and  constituted  by 
the  same  county  officers.  Under  this  act, 
in  a few  townships,  schools  were  opened,  but 
nothing  effectual  was  done  until  1837,  when 
a State  fund  was  instituted  out  of  the  pro- 
ceeds of  the  saline  lands  and  the  State’s 
proportion  of  the  United  States  surplus 
revenue.  This  fund  has  increased  to  $2,- 
253,000  in  1872. 

In  1853  the  office  of  Superintendent, 
which  had  been  associated  with  that  of  Sec- 
retary of  State,  was  made  independent  and 
elective  by  the  people,  and  commissioners 
were  appointed  for  each  county.  Under 
this  new  act  the  schools  were  multiplied, 
but  the  system  did  not  attain  any  efficiency 
until  the  revision  of  the  constitution,  and 
the  school  law  in  pursuance  thereof,  in 
1865.  By  the  constitution  of  that  year 
the  Legislature  must  maintain  ‘ common 
schools  for  the  gratuitous  instruction  of  all 
persons  between  the  ages  of  5 and  21  years, 
and  establish  separate  schools  for  children 
of  African  descent.’  Their  supervision  is 
vested  in  a Board  of  Education,  of  which 
Board  the  Superintendent  is  made  Presi- 
dent.’ 1 No  township  can  receive  any  por- 
tion of  the  public  fund  unless  a free  school 
shall  have  been  kept  therein  for  not  less 
than  three  months  during  the  year  for  which 
the  distribution  is  made  ; and  every  child 
of  sufficient  mental  and  physical  ability  can 
be  required  to  attend  the  public  schools  be- 
tween the  ages  of  5 and  18  for  a term 
equivalent  to  sixteen  months,  unless  edu- 
cated by  other  means.’  ‘To  supply  any  de- 
ficiency in  the  public  school  fund  to  sustain 
a free  school,  at  least  four  months  in  every 


year,  a property  tax  may  be  levied  in  each 
county,  township,  or  school  district,  as  the 
General  Assembly  shall  provide.  In  the 
distribution  of  the  State  fund,  any  inequality 
in  the  county,  town,  or  city  local  funds  may 
be  corrected.’ 

Under  the  operation  of  the  law  of  1865, 
the  schools  have  increased  from  4,840  to 
7,547;  the  teachers  from  6,262  to  7,881, 
and  children  in  attendance  from  169,270  to 
280,472.  But  with  this  increase  there  is 
yet  a great  work  to  be  done  in  Missouri. 
According  to  the  census  of  1870,  out  of 
577,803  between  the  ages  of  5 and  18  years, 
only  324,348  attended  any  school  in  the 
year  preceding;  and  there  were  146,771 
persons  over  10  years  of  age  who  could  not 
read,  and  222,411  (206,827  natives  and  over 
130,000  whites)  who  could  not  write. 

The  State  Auditor’s  report  for  1872  gives 
a few  items  of  disbursements  for  educational 
purposes:  Superintendent,  assistant,  and 

contingent  expenses,  $6,348  ; blind  asylum, 
$27,500;  deaf  mute  asylum,  $29,500;  State 
school  moneys  paid  to  the  counties,  $355,- 
427 ; Normal  Schools  (Teachers’  Institutes, 
&c.),  $17,000  ; Agricultural  College,  $8,500 ; 
township  funds  (16th  section),  $2,271,582; 
seminary  fund  (university  or  the  36  sec- 
tions), $108,700 ; Congressional  Agricultural 
College  grant,  330,000  acres,  with  640  acres 
given  by  Boone  County. 

NEBRASKA. 

Nebraska  was  organized  as  a Territory  in 
1854,  and  admitted  as  a State  in  1867,  with 
an  area  of  75,995  square  miles,  and  a popu- 
lation in  1870  of  122,993,  and  taxable  prop- 
erty of  $56,584,616.  The  Constitution  of 
1867  provides  that  all  ‘educational  funds 
accruing  out  of  the  sale  of  all  lands  or  other 
property  granted  or  intrusted  to  the  State 
for  educational  and  religious  purposes,  shall 
forever  be  preserved  inviolate  and  undimin- 
ished, and  the  income  thereof  shall  be  ap- 
plied to  the  specific  objects  of  the  original 
grants  or  appropriations,  and  no  religious 
sect  or  sects  shall  ever  have  any  exclusive 
right  or  control  of  any  part  of  the  school 
funds  of  the  State.’  The  legislature  must 
secure  a thorough  and  efficient  system  of 
common  schools  throughout  the  State. 

The  school  lands  were  estimated  by  a 
committee  of  the  Constitutional  Convention 
to  exceed  S, 000, 000  acres,  which,  if  sold  at 
the  minimum  rate  recommended,  would  give 
a permanent  fund  estimated  by  the  same 
committee  at  $15,000,000. 


COMMON  SCHOOLS  AND  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION. 


423 


The  system  now  in  operation  under  the 
school  law  of  1866  is  administered  (1,)  by  a 
State  Superintendent ; (2,)  40  County  Super- 
intendents, one  for  each  county,  elected  by 
the  people,  subject  to  the  rules  and  instruc- 
tions of  the  State  Superintendent;  (3,)  trus- 
tees for  the  several  districts.  Teachers  are 
examined  by  the  County  Examiners,  and 
receive  three  grades  of  certificates  run- 
ning for  different  periods  of  time,  according 
to  their  qualifications.  The  law  requires  a 
County  Institute  organized  under  the  Coun- 
ty Superintendent,  and  an  Institute  for  a 
wider  territory  by  the  State  Superintendent. 

In  1870  there  were  1,032  organized  school 
districts,  with  41,063  children  between  the 
ages  of  5 and  21  years,  of  whom  23,158  at- 
tended school  under  1,080  teachers,  whose 
wages  amounted  to  $145,975.  The  cost 
of  school-houses  and  value  of  school  lots  is 
returned  at  $445,538,  and  the  total  expendi- 
ture for  all  purposes  for  the  year  was  $363,- 
524. 

NEVADA. 

Nevada  was  organized  as  a Territory  in 
1861,  and  admitted  as  a State  in  1864,  with 
an  area  of  81,539  square  miles,  and  a popu- 
lation in  1863  of  43,000,  which  in  1870  as 
given  by  the  census,  stood  at  42,491,  with 
taxable  property  valued  at  $25,740,973. 

The  Constitution  of  1864  enjoins  the 
legislature  ‘ to  encourage,  by  all  suitable 
means,  the  promotion  of  intellectual,  literary, 
scientific,  mining  mechanical,  agricultural 
and  moral  improvements,  provide  for  the 
election  of  a superintendent  of  public  instruc- 
tion, and  the  establishment  of  a uniform  sys- 
tem of  common  schools,  by  which  a school 
shall  be  established  in  each  school  district 
for  at  least  six  months  in  each  year ; and  any 
school  district  neglecting  to  establish  and 
maintain  such  school,  or  which  shall  allow 
instruction  of  a sectarian  character  therein, 
shall  be  deprived  of  its  portion  of  the  inter- 
ests of  the  public  school  fund  during  such 
neglect  or  infraction.  The  legislature  is  an- 
thorizcd  to  pass  such  laws  as  shall  secure  a 
general  attendance  of  the  children  at  school. 
The  16th  and  36th  sections  in  every  town- 
ship, the  30,000  acres  for  each  senator  and 
representative  in  Congress  by  act  of  1862, 
the  500,000  acres  granted  to  new  States  in 
1841,  all  escheats  and  fines  forpenal  offenseR, 
shall  be  held  and  used  for  educational  pur- 
poses, the  interest  thereof  only  to  bo  applied 
as  directed  in  the  laws  donating  the  same. 
‘The  legislature  shall  provide  for  a State 


university,  which  shall  embrace  departments 
of  agriculture,  mechanic  arts  and  mining, 
and  is  authorized  to  establish  normal  schools 
and  schools  of  different  grades,  from  the 
primary  school  to  the  university,  ‘ in  which 
no  sectarian  instruction  shall  be  imparted  or 
tolerated.’  A special  tax  of  one  half  of  one 
mill  on  the  dollar  of  all  taxable  property, 
must  be  provided  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
university  and  common  schools.  The  gover- 
nor, Secretary  of  State  and  Superintendent 
are  constituted  a Board  of  Regents  to 
manage  the  university  funds  and  affairs. 

The  school  law  of  1865,  and  amended  in 
1867,  makes  it  the  duty  of  the  State  Super- 
intendent to  convene  an  institute  of  teachers 
annually,  and  visit  each  county  for  the  pur- 
pose of  addressing  public  assemblies  on  sub- 
jects pertaining  to  common  schools,  and 
consulting  county  and  other  school  officers. 
In  1870  there  were  2,883  pupils  put  of 
3,952  children  between  the  ages  of  6 and 
18  years,  under  53  teachers  ; and  727  per- 
sons over  10  years  of  age  who  can  not  read, 
and  872  who  can  not  write. 

NEW  HAMPSHIRE. 

By  the  first  national  census  in  1790,  New 
Hampshire  had  a population  of  141,899. 
which  had  increased  in  1870  to  318,300,  on 
an  area  of  8,280  square  miles,  and  with 
taxable  property  to  the  value  of  149,065,290. 

The  first  settlements  within  the  present 
limits  of  New  Hampshire  were  made  from 
Massachusetts  at  Dover  and  Portsmouth  in 
1623,  and  down  to  1680  all  the  settlements 
were  treated  as  belonging  to  the  county  of 
Norfolk  ; and  for  brief  periods  afterwards  it 
was  united  to  Massachusetts,  and  the  school 
policy  of  that  colony  prevailed  generally  in 
its  legislation  as  an  independent  province. 
Tn  the  first  constitution  of  New  Hampshire, 
adopted  in  1784,  the  language  introduced 
by  John  Adams  into  the  second  section  of 
the  article  on  education  in  the  constitution 
of  Massachusetts,  relating  to  the  encourage- 
ment of  literature,  the  sciences,  and  semi- 
naries of  learning,  was  followed  literally. 

In  1789  a general  school  law  was  passed, 
repealing  all  former  acts  on  the  subject,  and 
providing:  (1,)  That  the  selectmen  of  the 
several  towns  and  parishes  shall  assess  an- 
nually the  inhabitants  of  the  same  according 
to  their  polls  and  rateable  estate,  in  a sum 
to  be  computed  at  the  rate  of  five  pounds 
for  every  twenty  shillings  of  their  propor- 
tion for  public  taxes  for  the  time  being,  ‘to 
be  applied  to  the  sole  purpose  of  keeping  an 


424 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


English  grammar  school  or  schools  for  teach- 
ing reading  and  writing  and  arithmetic  with- 
in the  towns  and  parishes  for  which  the 
same  shall  be  assessed ; except  such  town  be 
a shire  or  half-shire  town,  in  which  case, 
the  school  by  them  kept  shall  be  a grammar 
school  for  the  purpose  of  teaching  the  Latin 
and  Greek  languages,  as  well  as  reading, 
writing  and  arithmetic  aforesaid ; and  in 
failure  to  assess,  collect  and  apply  this  tax 
in  the  manner  set  forth,  the  selectmen  must 
pay  out  of  their  individual  estates,  for  the 
benefit  of  the  town  schools,  a sum  equal  to 
that  in  which  they  may  be  found  delin- 
quent,’ on  the  requisition  of  the  town  clerk, 
whose  duty  it  is  made  to  look  after  this 
matter.  (2,)  ‘No  person  shall  be  deemed 
qualified  to  keep  a town  public  school,  un- 
less he  shall  produce  a certificate  from  some 
able  and  reputable  schoolmaster  and  learned 
minister,  or  preceptor  of  some  academy,  or 
president  of  some  college,  that  he  is  quali- 
fied to  keep  such  school.’ 

These  simple  and  salutary  provisions, 
coupled  with  another  dating  back  to  1691, 
empowering  the  towns  to  build  suitable 
school-houses  by  tax  on  the  rateable  estates 
of  the  inhabitants,  rigidly  enforced  would 
have  kept  up  a system  of  public  instruction 
on  a uniform  basis  over  the  state,  when,  un- 
fortunately, in  1805  the  towns  were  author- 
ized to  divide  their  territory  into  districts ; 
and  school  districts  thus  constituted  were 
authorized  to  provide  school  accommoda- 
tion, appoint  a local  committee,  and  in  gen- 
eral to  manage  the  public  school  in  their 
own  way.  The  lack  of  intelligent,  vigilant, 
and  responsible  town  inspectors  over  the 
district  schools  in  which  the  local  manage- 
ment was  left  to  themselves,  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  academies  in  the  large  centers 
of  population  and  business,  which  met  the 
wants  of  the  educated,  were  followed  with 
the  same  real  or  relative  deterioration  which 
characterized  the  common  schools  of  New 
England,  generally. 

The  subject  of  school  improvement  at- 
tracted attention  as  early  as  1830,  in  the 
lyceum  movement  conducted  by  Josiah  Hol- 
brook, and  was  continued  by  county  com- 
mon school  conventions  and  associations 
begun  in  1836.  The  first  state  convention 
was  called  in  1843;  the  first  teachers’  insti- 
tute held  in  1845  ; the  office  of  state  com- 
missioner of  common  schools  was  instituted 
by  the  Legislature  in  June,  1846;  and  the 
duty  of  the  State  in  respect  to  the  super- 


vision of  schools,  which  it  makes  obligatory 
on  the  towns,  has  since  been  recognized  in 
some  form,  and  at  present  by  a State  Board 
constituting  the  Governor  and  council,  and 
the  Superintendent  of  public  instruction 
acting  through  county  commissioners,  or 
rather  through  a commissioner  for  each  of 
the  eight  counties  into  which  the  State  is 
divided.  A private  Normal  school  was  in- 
stituted in  1845  at  Reed’s  Ferry  by  Prof. 
Wm.  Russell,  and  a State  Normal  school  es- 
tablished in  1870  at  Plymouth. 

To  supply  the  want  of  the  old  town  gram- 
mar school,  an  act  was  passed  in  1837  giv- 
ing to  the  town  of  Portsmouth,  and  any 
other  town  which  chose  to  adopt  the  pro- 
visions of  the  act,  authority  to  establish  two 
high  schools,  one  for  males  and  the  other 
for  females,  and  provide  for  a graded  course 
of  studies  in  connection  with  the  district 
schools.  The  same  authority  was  given  to 
central  districts  by  the  Act  of  1848. 

In  1872  there  were  2,452  common  schools 
taught  in  2,284  districts,  located  in  232 
towns,  with  a registered  attendance  of  72,672 
pupils,  under  3,826  teachers  (3,241  females). 
The  whole  amount  raised  for  school  pur- 
poses was  $468,527,  of  which  $11,565  was 
paid  the  superintendents  of  town  commit- 
tees for  their  services.  The  buildings  and 
sites  of  school-houses  were  valued  at  $1,- 
870,000.  According  to  the  census  of  1870 
there  were  7,618  persons  over  ten  years  of 
age  who  could  not  read,  and  9,926  who 
could  not  write. 

Various  attempts  have  been  made  since 
1846  to  protect  children  under  fifteen  years 
of  age  employed  in  factories  and  other 
manufacturing  establishments  from  excessive 
labor,  and  secure  to  all  children  elementary 
instruction,  which  culminated  in  1871  in 
‘ An  Act  to  compel  children  to  attend 
school,’  which  ordains  that  all  parents, 
guardians,  or  masters  of  any  child  between 
the  ages  of  eight  and  fourteen,  residing 
within  two  miles  of  a public  school,  shall 
send  such  child  at  least  twelve  weeks  in  each 
year,  six  of  which  must  be  consecutive,  un- 
less such  child  shall  be  excluded  from  such 
attendance  on  the  ground  of  physical  or 
mental  inability  to  profit  by  such  attend- 
ance ; or  is  instructed  in  the  same  period  in 
a private  school  or  at  home,  under  penalties 
for  violation,  $10  for  the  first  and  $20  for 
each  subsequent  offense,  to  be  recovered  as 
in  an  action  of  debt.  A penalty  attaches  to 
school  officers  for  not  executing  the  law. 


COMMON  SCHOOLS  AND  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION. 


425 


NEW  JERSEY". 

New  Jersey  was  first  settled  in  1627,  and 
adopted  its  first  constitution  as  a State  in 
1776,  with  an  area  at  that  time  of  8,320 
square  miles,  and  a population  in  1790  of 
184,139,  which  in  1870  had  increased  to 
906,096,  with  a valuation  of  taxable  proper- 
ty of  8624,868,971. 

The  constitution  of  1776  contains  no 
allusion  to  schools  or  education  ; nor  prior  to 
the  colonial  period  was  there  any  legislation 
respecting  common  schools.  In  1816  an 
act  to  create  a fund  for  the  support  of  free 
schools  was  adopted,  and  the  first  distribu- 
tion of  its  income  took  place  under  the  act 
of  1829,  passed  ‘to  establish  common 
schools.’  By  this  act  towns  were  authorized 
to  raise  money  to  support  schools  by  tax, 
and  must  raise  in  this  way  a sum  sufficient 
to  entitle  it  to  any  portion  of  the  income 
of  the  school  fund ; but  it  was  not  till  ten 
years  later  that  towns  were  compelled  to 
raise  a specified  sum  every  year,  nor  till 
1871  that  the  schools  were  made  free  by  a 
State  school  tax  of  2 mills  on  the  valuation. 

The  first  educational  convention  in  the 
State  was  held  in  1828,  at  Trenton,  and 
from  that  time  the  subject  of  school  im- 
provement was  agitated  in  county  and  state 
meetings  until  1838,  when  a large  meeting 
of  delegates  from  every  part  of  the  State 
was  held  at  Trenton,  presided  over  by  Chief 
Justice  Hornblower,  and  the  address  of 
which  to  the  people  of  the  State  was  drawn 
up  by  Rt.  Rev.  Bishop  Doane.  From  this 
rousing  address  we  make  a brief  extract : 

We  address  you  as  the  sovereign  people,  and  we 
say  that  it  is  your  duty  and  your  highest  interest  to 
provide  and  maintain,  within  the  reach  of  every 
child,  the  means  of  such  an  education  as  will  qualify 
him  to  discharge  the  duties  of  a citizen  of  the 
Republic;  and  will  enable  him,  by  subsequent  exer- 
tion, in  the  free  exercise  of  the  unconquerable  will, 
to  attain  the  highest  eminence  in  knowledge  and 
power  which  God  may  place  within  his  reach.  We 
utterly  repudiate  as  unworthy,  not  of  freemen  only, 
but  of  men,  the  narrow  notion  that  there  is  to  be  an 
education  for  the  poor  as  such.  Has  God  provided 
for  the  poor  a coarser  earth,  a thinner  sky,  a paler 
air?  Does  not  the  glorious  sun  pour  down  his 
golden  tlood  as  cheerily  upon  the  poor  man’s  hovel 
as  upon  the  rich  man’s  palace?  Have  not  the  cot- 
ter’s children  as  keen  a sense  of  all  the  freshness, 
verdure,  fragrance,  melody  and  beauty  of  luxuriant 
Nature  as  the  pale  sons  of  kings?  Or  is  it  on  the 
mind  that  God  has  stamped  the  imprint  of  a baser 
birth,  so  that  the  poor  man’s  child  knows  with  an 
inborn  certainty  that  his  lot  is  to  crawl  and  not  to 
climb?  It  is  not  so.  God  has  not  dono  it.  Man 
can  not  do  it.  Mind  is  immortal.  Mind  is  im- 
perial. It  bears  no  mark  of  high  or  low,  of  rich  or 
poor.  It  heeds  no  bound  of  time  or  place,  of  rank 


or  circumstance.  It  asks  but  freedom ; it  requires 
but  light.  It  is  heaven-born,  and  aspires  to  heaven. 
Weakness  does  not  enfeeble  it.  Poverty  can  not  re- 
press it.  Difficulties  do  but  stimulate  its  vigor. 
And  the  poor  tallow-chandler’s  son  that  sits  up  all 
the  night  to  read  the  book  which  an  apprentice 
lends  him,  lest  the  master’s  eye  should  miss  it  in 
the  morning,  shall  stand  and  treat  with  kiugs,  shall 
add  new  provinces  to  the  domain  of  science,  shall 
bind  the  lightning  with  a hempen  cord,  and  bring  it 
harmless  from  the  skies.  The  common  school  is 
common,  not  as  inferior,  not  as  the  school  for  the 
poor  men’s  children,  but  as  the  light  and  air  and 
water  are  common. 

The  office  of  State  Superintendent  was 
created  in  1846.  The  first  County  Teachers’ 
Association  was  formed  for  Essex  County  in 
1847,  and  the  State  Teachers’  Association 
was  formed  in  1853.  The  first  Teachers’ 
Institute  was  held  at  Sommerville  in  1851, 
and  provision  was  made  for  their  being  held 
by  the  State  for  the  first  time  in  1854.  The 
State  Normal  School,  after  years  of  agita- 
tion was  established  in  1858.  Special 
authority  to  the  large  cities  to  establish 
graded  schools  was  given  to  the  city  of 
Patterson  in  1836,  and  subsequently  extend- 
ed and  exercised  by  most  of  the  large  cities. 

The  school  authorities  are  : (1,)  The  State 
Board  of  Education,  composed  of  the  Gov- 
ernor, Attorney-General,  Comptroller,  Sec- 
retary of  State,  President  of  the  Senate, 
Speaker  of  the  Assembly,  and  the  Trustees 
of  the  State  Normal  School ; (2,)  the  Super- 
intendent of  Public  Instruction,  who  is  ap- 
pointed by  the  Board,  of  which  he  is  secre- 
tary, and  who,  with  the  Principal  of  the 
Normal  School,  constitutes  a Board  of  Ex- 
amination; (3,)  County  Superintendents, 
appointed  by  the  Board,  who,  with  the  City 
Superintendents,  elected  by  the  City  Boards 
of  Education,  constitute  the  State  Associa- 
tion of  School  Superintendents ; (4,)  Town- 
ship Board  of  School  Trustees. 

The  means  to  support  common  schools 
in  1871  were:  (1,)  the  income  (835,000)  of 
the  school  fund  (capital  8792,190)  and  State 
appropriation  (865,000  to  make),  8100,000 ; 
(2,)  township  school  tax,  844,467 ; district 
school  tax,  818,144;  surplus  revenue,  831,- 
654 ; two  mill  State  school  tax,  81,168,803  ; 
appropriation  for  the  State  Normal,  and  Far- 
num  Schools,  811,200; — total,  for  all  pur- 
poses, 82,263,070.  Total  valuation  of  school 
buildings  and  grounds,  84,966,788. 

Out  of  258,227  children  between  the 
ages  of  5 and  18  years,  161,683  were  en- 
rolled in  public  schools;  of  the  number  en- 
rolled, 15,594  attended  ten  months,  21,801 
eight  months,  26,570  six  months,  33,158 
four  and  63,429  less  than  four  months. 


426 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


NEW  YORK. 

New  York,  settled  as  early  as  1609,  had 
by  the  first  national  census  of  1792,  on  an 
area  of  46,000  square  miles  a population  of 
340,120,  which  had  increased  in  1870  to 
4,382,759,  with  taxable  property  to  the 
value  of  $1,967,001,185. 

In  the  first  constitution  of  1777  there  is 
no  reference  to  schools ; in  that  of  1822,  the 
proceeds  of  all  State  lands  are  appropriated 
to  a common  school  fund ; and  in  the  third 
of  1846,  the  capital  of  several  educational 
funds  at  that  time  existing,  are  declared  in- 
violate, and  their  revenues  must  be  applied 
to  the  objects  to  which  they  are  donated. 

In  1784,  the  first  session  after  the  term- 
ination of  the  war,  an  act  was  passed  to 
alter  the  name  of  Kings  College,  in  the  city 
of  New  York,  to  Columbia  College,  and  to 
erect  a university.  This  act  was  superseded 
in  1787  by  another,  which  instituted  the 
Regents  of  the  University,  and  provides  for 
the  incorporation  by  them  of  colleges  and 
academies.  To  this  board  has  been  given 
from  time  to  time,  duties  which  cover  the 
common  schools. 

The  first  act  for  the  encouragement  of  com- 
mon schools  was  drafted  by  Adam  Comstock, 
a native  of  Connecticut,  in  1795,  by  which 
$50,000  were  annually  appropriated  for  five 
years  to  the  several  cities  and  towns,  ‘ in 
which  the  children  of  the  inhabitants  resid- 
ing in  the  State  shall  be  instructed  in  the 
English  language  (taught  English  grammar), 
arithmetic,  mathematics,  and  such  other 
branches  of  knowledge  as  are  most  useful 
and  necessary  to  complete  a good  English 
education.’  The  boards  of  supervisors  were 
required  to  raise  by  tax  a sum  equal  to  one 
half  of  that  appropriated  by  the  State,  to  be 
applied  in  like  manner.  At  the  end  of  four 
years  the  appropriation  was  not  renewed, 
and  notwithstanding  the  efforts  of  Jedediah 
Peck,  a native  of  Connecticut,  and  others, 
no  efficient  legislation  took  place  till  1812. 

In  1811,  on  the  recommendation  of  Gov. 
Tompkins,  a commission,  with  Mr.  Peck 
chairman,  was  appointed  to  report  a plan 
for  establishing  a system  of  common  schools, 
which  was  done  in  1812,  after  the  commis- 
sioners had  conferred  with  friends  of  educa- 
tion in  different  parts  of  the  State,  and 
studied  the  rise  and  progress  of  similar  sys- 
tems in  neighboring  States.  The  following 
are  the  outlines  of  their  plan : ‘ That  the 
several  towns  in  the  State  be  divided  into 
school  districts,  by  three  commissioners, 


elected  by  the  citizens  qualified  to  vote  for 
town  officers ; that  three  trustees  be  elected 
in  each  district,  to  whom  shall  be  confided 
the  care  and  superintendence  of  the  school 
to  be  established  therein ; that  the  interest 
of  the  school  fund  be  divided  among  the 
different  counties  and  towns,  according  to 
their  respective  population,  as  ascertained 
by  the  successive  census  of  the  United 
States ; that  the  proportions  received  by  the 
respective  towns  be  subdivided  among  the 
districts  into  which  such  towns  shall  be 
divided,  according  to  the  number  of  children 
in  each,  between  the  ages  of  5 and  15  years; 
that  each  town  raise  by  tax  annually  as  much 
money  as  it  shall  have  received  from  the 
school  fund ; that  the  gross  amount  of 
moneys  received  from  the  State  and  raised 
by  the  towns  be  appropriated  exclusively  to 
the  payment  of  the  wages  of  the  teachers; 
and  that  the  whole  system  be  placed  under 
the  superintendence  of  an  officer  appointed 
by  the  Council  of  Appointment.’ 

These  features  were  embodied  in  the  act 
of  1812,  and  under  the  careful  administra- 
tion of  Gideon  Hawley,  a native  of  Con- 
necticut, as  superintendent,  the  system  went 
into  operation,  to  gather  strength  and  ex- 
pansion from  year  to  year,  and  contribute 
by  its  beneficent  results  to  the  establishment 
and  improvement  of  common  schools  in 
other  States. 

In  1839,  the  superintendent  (John  C. 
Spencer)  was  authorized  to  appoint  a County 
Board  of  School  Visitors  to  serve  gratuitous- 
ly in  their  several  counties,  and  so  favorably 
received  were  the  reports  of  these  school 
visitors,  that  in  1841  the  legislature,  by  a 
nearly  unanimous  vote,  provided  for  the  ap- 
pointment by  the  Board  of  Supervisors  for 
each  county,  biennially,  of  a County  Super- 
intendent, charged  with  the  general  super- 
vision of  the  interests  of  the  several  schools 
under  his  jurisdiction.  No  previous  act  had 
imparted  such  general  activity  to  school 
affairs  as  this;  but  in  1847  the  office  was 
abolished,  and  the  supervision  of  the  schools, 
examination  of  teachers,  the  appointment 
and  disbursement  of  the  school  fund,  were 
intrusted  to  a single  officer  in  each  town. 
In  1857,  the  operation  of  town  supervision 
proving  unsatisfactory,  provision  was  made 
for  the  appointment  of  School  Commission- 
ers in  districts.  There  were  135  city  aud 
district  commissioners  in  1871. 

The  law  of  1812  provided  for  the  support 
of  schools  out  of  the  income  of  the  school 


COMMON  SCHOOLS  AND  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION. 


427 


fund  and  a tax  upon  the  towns  equal  to  its 
distributive  share  of  the  school  money,  at 
first  optional,  but  afterwards  obligatory, 
through  the  county  tax.  In  1814,  the  trus- 
tees of  the  district  were  authorized  to  sup- 
ply any  deficiency  in  the  means  to  pay  the 
wages  of  teachers,  by  collecting  it  from  the 
parents  or  patrons  of  the  school  in  propor- 
tion to  the  attendance  of  their  children.  In 
1849,  the  rate  bills  were  abolished,  leaving 
the  deficiency,  after  applying  the  public 
money  to  the  payment  of  teachers’  wages, 
to  be  made  up  by  district  taxation.  This 
act  was  submitted  to  the  people,  and  ap- 
proved by  a vote  of  249,872  in  its  favor, 
and  91,151  against  it.  In  1850  the  Free 
School  Act,  as  it  was  called,  was  repealed ; 
but  being  again  submitted  to  the  people,  the 
act  itself  was  sustained.  In  1851  the  law 
vras  repealed,  and  the  State  taxation  of 
$800,000  was  levied,  to  be  distributed  with 
the  school  moneys  in  the  support  of  schools, 
instead  of  the  county  tax,  equal  in  amount  to 
the  annual  distribution  from  the  school  fund. 
In  1856,  to  the  State  tax  of  $800,000,  a 
levy  of  three-fourths  of  a mill  upon  every 
dollar  of  real  and  personal  estate  was  made, 
which  has  since  been  increased  to  one  and 
one-fourth  of  a mill,  yielding  in  1872  the 
net  sum  of  $2,565,672. 

To  secure  the  services  of  well  qualified 
teachers,  and  to  exclude  the  incompetent 
and  immoral,  was  a primary  object  with  the 
commissioners  who  reported  the  original 
school  law  of  1811.  This  they  aimed  to 
effect  by  the  appointment  of  inspectors  to 
whom  the  examination  of  all  candidates  was 
given,  and  without  whose  certificate  no 
teacher  could  be  legally  employed.  This 
mode  tested  the  attainments  of  candidates, 
but  provided  no  way  in  advance  of  actual 
experience  of  acquiring  the  requisite  knowl- 
edge whereby  better  qualifications  could  be 
had  of  principle^  and  methods  of  teaching. 
To  remedy  this,  Gov.  Clinton  in  1825  and 
in  1826  recommended  a ‘seminary  for  the 
education  of  teachers  in  those  useful  branches 
of  knowledge  already  introduced  in  all  our 
common  schools,’  and  in  1828  he  urges  the 
establishment  in  each  county  of  a Monitorial 
High  School  (after  the  model  of  one  in  Liv- 
ingston County,  under  the  charge  of  C.  C. 
Felton — afterwards  President  of  Harvard 
College),  ‘ in  which  better  methods  of  teach- 
ing shall  be  at  once  taught  and  exemplified.’ 
In  1826,  Mr.  John  C.  Spencer,  from  the 
Literature  Committee  of  the  Senate  (to 


whom  the  recommendations  of  the  Governor 
had  been  referred),  recommended  that  the 
income  of  the  Literature  Fund  should  be 
divided  among  the  academies,  not  in  pro- 
portion to  the  number  of  classical  students, 
but  to  the  number  of  ‘persons  instructed  in 
each,  who  shall  have  been  licensed  as  teach- 
ers of  public  schools  by  the  proper  board.’ 
In  1827,  Mr.  Spencer,  from  the  same  com- 
mittee, reported  an  act  by  which  the  Litera- 
ture Fund  was  increased  for  the  avowed  pur- 
pose in  the  preamble  ‘ of  promoting  the 
education  of  teachers,’  ‘the  incompetency 
of  the  great  mass  of  whom  is  radical  and 
defeats  the  whole  system,  and  the  hopes  and 
wishes  of  all  who  feel  an  interest  in  dissem- 
inating the  blessings  of  education.’ 

In  1834,  a portion  of  the  income  of  the 
Literature  Fund  was  set  apart  ‘to  be  dis- 
tributed by  the  regents  to  such  academies, 
subject  to  their  visitation,  as  will  provide  for 
the  education  of  teachers  for  the  common 
schools.’  Under  this  provision,  one  academy 
was  selected  in  each  of  the  eight  senatorial 
districts,  in  which  was  erected  a department 
devoted  to  this  particular  work,  known  as 
the  Teachers’  Department;  and  in  1838,  by 
an  act  appropriating  the  income  of  the 
United  States  Deposit  Fund  for  the  pur- 
poses of  education,  $28,000  was  appropriated 
to  the  several  academies  on  condition  that 
‘ the  academies  receiving  any  of  its  distribu- 
tive share  equal  to  $700  should  establish 
aud  maintain  a department  for  the  instruc- 
tion of  common  school  teachers.’  Under 
this  provision  the  number  of  academies  with 
this  special  course  for  teachers  was  increased 
to  fifteen ; and  in  1871,  under  a revision  of 
the  previous  legislation  on  the  subject  in 
1855,  ‘the  science  of  common  school  teach- 
ing’ was  taught  to  ‘teachers’  classes’  in  87 
academics,  with  a total  attendance  of  1,494 
pupil  teachers. 

In  1840,  Prof.  Potter,  of  Union  College 
(afterwards  Bishop  Potter,  of  Pennsylvania), 
in  a special  report  founded  on  a personal 
visit  to  the  academics  having  teachers’  de- 
partments, recommends  ‘the  establishment 
of  one  institution  at  the  capital,  devoted  ex- 
clusively to  the  education  of  teachers.’  The 
same  recommendation  was  indorsed  by  the 
superintendent  (John  C.  Spencer),  in  his  re- 
port to  the  legislature  of  that  year.  In 
1844,  the  committee  on  colleges,  academics, 
and  common  schools,  in  the  House  of  Rep- 
resentatives, through  the  chairman  (Mr. 
Ilulburt),  after  visiting  the  Normal  Schools 


428 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


of  Massachusetts  reported  a bill  to  establish 
a Normal  School  at  Albany  ‘for  the  instruc- 
tion and  practice  of  teachers  for  common 
schools  in  the  science  of  education  and  in 
the  art  of  teaching,’  appropriating  $10,000 
annually  for  five  years  for  its  support.  This 
school,  in  a building  furnished  gratuitously 
by  the  city  of  Albany,  went  into  operation 
in  December,  1844;  and,  after  a successful 
trial  of  four  years,  received  in  1848  from 
the  state  a special  appropriation  to  provide 
permanent  accommodations,  and  an  annual 
appropriation  of  $12,000  for  its  support. 
In  1863,  aid  was  extended  to  the  Training 
School  at  Oswego,  which  was  formally  recog- 
nized a State  Normal  School  in  1866;  and 
in  1864,  provision  was  made  for  six  other 
institutions  located  in  different  parts  of  the 
State.;  the  citizens  of  Brockport,  Fredonia, 
Cortland,  Potsdam,  Geneseo,  and  Buffalo 
having;  furnished  suitable  buildings  at  an  ag- 
gregate  expense  of  $500,000.  The  value 
of  the  grounds,  buildings,  and  equipment 
of  the  State  Normal  Schools  is  estimated 
$829,739,  and  the  annual  expense  to  main- 
tain them,  at  $150,000.  With  the  Normal 
pupils  are  large  schools  and  classes  of 
children  whose  exercises  are  made  subsidiary 
to  the  main  object  of  the  institution.  In 
1872,  there  were  5,807  students  in  attend- 
ance on  the  different  departments  of  the  8 
Normal  schools. 

In  1839,  Francis  Dwight  secured  the  con- 
solidation of  all  the  school  districts  in 
Geneva,  and  inaugurated  the  union  or  graded 
system  in  New  York  ; and  in  1840  issued 
the  first  number  of  the  District  School 
Journal,  a copy  of  which  the  superintendent 
obtained  authority  to  send  to  every  school 
district. 

By  the  Union  Free  School  Act  of  1853, 
cities  and  villages  divided  into  districts  were 
enabled  to  consolidate  for  the  purpose  of 
maintaining  graded  schools,  and  for  making 
them  free  in  advance  of  the  general  free 
school  act  of  1867.  Under  the  operation 
of  this  act,  more  than  ninety  academies  in- 
cluded within  the  limits  of  such  districts 
were  absorbed  into  the  general  system,  be- 
coming the  High  Schools  of  the  united  dis- 
tricts. The  whole  number  of  such  schools  in 
1870  was  694. 

In  1835,  the  first  legislative  provision  for 
school  libraries  was  made.  To  James  Wads- 
worth of  Geneseo,  a native  of  Connecticut, 
belongs  the  credit  of  originating  the  system 
of  district  school  libraries.  In  1811,  in  a 


letter  addressed  to  one  of  the  commissioners 
appointed  by  Gov.  Tompkins  to  report  to 
the  legislature  a system  for  the  organization 
and  establishment  of  common  schools,  Mr. 
Wadsworth  (after  giving  the  outline  of  the 
system  of  common  schools  actually  adopted), 
suggested  that  ‘ it  should  be  made  the  duty 
of  the  State  Commissioner  to  send  to  the 
school  inspector  of  each  town  a “ Lancaster 
Manual,”  containing  observations  on  teach- 
ing and  school  government,  and  thus  diffuse 
throughout  the  State  the  latest  and  most 
practical  information  as  to  approved  meth- 
ods.’ In  1832  he  was  instrumental  in  secur- 
ing the  distribution  of  a copy  of  “ Hall’s 
Lectures  on  School  Teaching,”  to  each 
school  district  (9,000),  and  in  1833  recom- 
mended the  incorporation  into  the  school  act 
of  a provision  authorizing  a majority  of  the 
voters  ‘ to  raise  by  a tax  on  the  property  of 
each  district  $15  or  $20  as  a commence- 
ment of,  and  $5  or  $10  annually,  as  a peren- 
nial spring,  to  purchase  and  sustain  a school 
library,’  until  1835,  when  the  foundation  of 
the  district  school  library  was  laid  by  the 
passage  of  an  act  giving  the  authority  as 
above  suggested.  To  secure  a beginning  in 
this  direction,  Mr.  Wadsworth  offered  to  pay 
one-fourth  of  the  $20  to  all  districts  in  Avon 
and  Geneseo,  and  then  offered  $20  to  the 
first  five  districts  in  Henrietta  which  should 
adopt  the  same,  and  employed  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Page  to  give  lectures  on  the  subject,  in  all 
towns  of  Livingston  County,  and  in  other 
sections.  In  1838  he  labored  to  secure 
the  appropriation  of  a portion  of  the  income 
of  the  United  States  Deposit  Fund  for  the 
same  purpose,  and  through  the  exertions  of 
the  Hon.  G.  W.  Patterson,  who  was  then 
Speaker  of  the  House,  and  the  Hon.  D.  D. 
Barnard,  chairman  of  the  committee,  this 
was  accomplished,  and  $55,000  w’as  annually 
appropriated  for  the  purpose.  To  his  labors 
in  this  direction  should  be  added  the  publi- 
cation, at  his  expense,  of  The  School  and 
the  Schoolmaster — the  first  prepared  by 
Prof.  Alonzo  Porter,  and  the  last  by  George 
B.  Emerson  of  Boston,  and  the  distribution 
of  over  15,000  copies,  one  to  each  school 
district,  and  to  towTn  and  county  school 
officers.  Mr.  Wadsworth  also  paid  the  ex- 
pense of  the  American  edition  of  Cousin’s 
Report  on  the  School  System  of  Prussia 
in  1834,  and  aided  J.  Orville  Taylor  in  the 
publication  of  the  Common  School  Advocate 
from  1835  to  1838. 

The  common  schools  are  situated  in 


COMMON  SCHOOLS  AND  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION. 


429 


11,350  districts,  taught  in  houses  which, 
with  their  sites,  are  valued  at  $23,468,266, 
accommodating  1,028,147  children  in  attend- 
ance some  portion  of  the  year  (to  which 
should  he  added  5,807  in  normal  schools, 
30,370  in  academies,  3,194  in  colleges, 
135,433  in  private  schools),  taught  by  28,217 
teachers  (21,668  females).  The  average 
daily  attendance  of  children  attending  the 
common  schools  is  placed  at  493,648. 

The  means  for  the  support  of  schools  for 
the  year  1872  were  derived  from  the  follow- 
ing sources,  viz.,  The  Common  School 
Fund  ($3,004,513),  $170,000  ; United  States 
Deposit  Fund  ($4,414,520),  income  $165,- 
000;  State  school  tax  (1^  per  cent,  on  the 
valuation),  $2,610,784 ; by  local  tax,  $6,552,- 
994,  making  a total  of  $10,874,910.  Among 
the  items  of  expenditure  we  find,  for  the 
wages  of  common  school  teachers,  $6,5 10,- 
164;  district  school  libraries,  $30,917; 
school  apparatus,  $179,156;  colored  schools, 
$678,582;  school  construction  and  furni- 
ture, $1,982,547 ; incidental  expenses, 
$1,164,142;  appropriation  for  academies, 
$44,646 ; teachers’  classes  in  academies, 
$15,345;  Teachers’  Institutes,  $16,171; 
Normal  Schools,  $128,723;  Cornell  Univer- 
sity, $25,000 ; Indian  schools,  $6,837 ; su- 
perintendent of  public  instruction,  $18,127  ; 
regents  of  universities,  $6,349 ; printing 
registers  for  school  districts,  $13,000.  To 
these  items  should  be  added  the  following 
not  included  in  the  aggregate  above  given  : 
deaf  and  dumb  institution,  $103,923 ; 
institution  for  the  blind  at  New  York, 
$39,903  ; institution  for  the  blind  at  Batavia, 
$40,500 ; state  asylum  for  idiots,  $50,000 ; 
orphan  asylums,  $9,000;  school  commis- 
sioners’salaries,  $90,187 ; state  reformatory 
at  Elmira,  $198,000. 

The  enormous  sums  expended  for  the 
common  schools  of  New  York  will  be  real- 
ized in  the  fact  that  from  1850,  when  the 
school  expenditure  was  $1,607,684,  to  1872, 
when  the  total  expenditure  was  $9,607,903 
— a period  of  22  years — the  aggregate  ex- 
penditure was  nearly  $106,146,344. 

In  1825,  orphans  in  special  asylums  were 
first  recognized  as  entitled  to  the  distribu- 
tion share  of  any  money  appropriated  to 
common  schools,  which  is  now  made  the 
basis  of  the  special  appropriation  in  their 
behalf  to  the  amount,  in  1871,  of  $472,760. 

In  1866,  the  superintendent  was  charged 
with  providing  schools  for  the  Indian 
children,  which  in  1871  numbered  1,073,  in 
27  schools,  at  a cost  of  $8,559. 

20* 


The  system  of  common  schools  rests  on  territorial 
subdivisions  of  the  State  known  as  School  Districts, 
whose  boundaries  are  defined  and  altered  by  the 
School  Commissioner,  and  on  Union  Free  School 
Districts,  formed  with  special  powers  under  the  act 
of  1853,  and  the  City  Districts  created  by  special 
acts. 

The  officers  intrusted  with  the  administration  of 
the  system,  beginning  at  the  lowest  point,  are: 

1.  District  Trustees — composed  of  one  or  three,  as 
the  district  may  decide.  The  three  act  as  a board, 
and  the  sole  trustee  has  the  same  power  as  a board 
of  three.  These  powers  and  duties  are:  to  call 
meetings;  to  make  out  tax  lists  and  warrants;  to 
purchase  sites,  and  build  or  hire  school-houses;  to 
insure  district  property;  to  have  the  custody  and 
safe  keeping  of  the  school-house  and  other  property ; 
to  contract  with  and  employ  teachers,  and  pay 
them ; and  generally  to  attend  to  all  the  business  of 
the  district.  They  must  make  in  October  of  every 
jrear,  a return  in  form  and  substance  as  required  by 
law.  to  the  School  Commissioner,  as  the  basis  of  all 
school  statistics,  and  such  other  information  as  the 
State  Superintendent  may  from  time  to  time  require. 
There  is  also  a district  clerk,  collector,  and  librarian. 

2.  Town  Clerk  for  each  town — is  required  to  keep 
in  his  office  all  books,  maps,  papers,  and  records 
touching  schools;  to  record  in  a book  the  certificate 
of  apportionment  of  school  moneys;  to  notify  the 
trustees  of  the  filing  of  such  certificate;  to  obtain 
from  trustees  their  annual  reports;  to  furnish  the 
School  Commissioner  with  the  names  and  post-office 
address  of  all  district  officers ; to  distribute  to  trus- 
tees all  books  and  blanks  forwarded  to  him  for  their 
use ; to  file  and  record  the  final  accounts  of  super- 
visors ; to  preserve  the  supervisor’s  bond ; to  file 
and  keep  the  description  of  district  boundaries ; and 
when  called  upon,  to  take  part  in  the  erection  or 
alteration  of  a school  district.  The  supervisor  for 
each  town  receives  all  moneys  destined  for  school 
purposes  in  the  town,  and  disburses  according  to 
law  and  the  special  direction  of  the  State  Superin- 
tendent. 

3.  School  Commissioners — elected  for  certain  dis- 
tricts originally  established  by  boards  of  supervisors, 
but  now  determined  by  law  to  the  number  of  112 
for  the  State.  They  have  power,  and  it  is  their 
duty,  to  see  that  the  boundaries  of  districts  are  cor- 
rectly described;  to  visit  and  examine  the  schools; 
to  advise  with  and  counsel  the  trustees;  to  look 
after  the  condition  of  the  school-houses,  and  con- 
demn such  as  are  entirely  unfit  for  use ; to  recom- 
mend studies  and  text-books ; to  examine  and 
license  teachers ; to  examine  charges  against  teach- 
ers. and,  on  sufficient  proof,  annul  their  certificates; 
and  when  required  by  the  Superintendent,  to  take 
and  report  testimony  in  cases  of  appeal.  It  is  also 
their  duty,  annually,  to  apportion  and  divide  among 
the  districts  the  school  moneys  apportioned  to  their 
respective  counties  by  the  Superintendent  of  Public 
Instruction. 

4.  Department  of  Public  Instruction. — The  head  of 
this  department  is  the  State  Superintendent,  which 
office  was  originally  independent,  but  in  1822  as 
such,  was  abolished  and  its  duties  assigned  to  the 
Secretary  of  State,  who  performed  them  through  a 
special  clerk  or  deputy,  until  1854,  when  it  was 
again  separated  and  instituted  into  the  Department 
of  Public  Instruction.  The  superintendent  is  elected 
by  joint  ballot  of  Senate  und  Assembly.  Ilo  holds 


430 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


office  for  three  years ; has  general  superintendence 
of  the  public  schools,  visits  them,  inquires  into  their 
management,  and  advises  and  directs  in  regard  to 
their  course  of  instruction  and  discipline.  He  ap- 
portions and  distributes  the  public  moneys  appro- 
priated by  the  State  for  the  support  of  schools ; ex- 
amines the  supplementary  apportionments  made  to 
all  the  districts  by  the  School  Commissioners,  and 
sees  that  to  each  district  is  set  apart  its  proportion- 
ate share,  and  that  the  same  is  expended  by  the 
trustees,  and  paid  by  the  supervisors  of  towns,  ac- 
cording to  law.  He  gives  advice  and  direction  to 
school  officers,  teachers,  and  inhabitants  upon  all 
questions  arising  under  the  school  laws.  He  estab- 
lishes rules  and  regulations  concerning  appeals. 
He  hears  and  decides  all  appeals,  involving  school 
controversies,  that  are  brought  before  him,  and  his 
decision  is  final.  He  is-  charged  with  the  general 
control  and  management  of  Teachers’  Institutes  in 
the  several  counties  of  the  State;  is  authorized  to 
employ  teachers  and  lecturers  for  the  institutes,  and 
to  pay  them,  and  to  certify  the  accounts  for  ex- 
penses incurred  by  the  commissioners  in  conducting 
the  same.  He  is  required  by  the  law  to  visit  the 
institutes,  and  to  advise  and  to  direct  concerning 
their  proper  management.  He  establishes  rules  and 
regulations  concerning  district  school  libraries;  he 
makes  appointments  of  State  pupils  to  the  institu- 
tions for  the  instruction  of  the  deaf  and  dumb  and 
for  the  blind,  upon  the  certificate  of  the  proper  local 
officers;  and  he  visits  and  examines  into  the  con- 
dition and  management  of  these  institutions.  He  is 
chairman  of  the  executive  committee  of  the  State 
Normal  School  at  Albany,  and  apportions  among 
the  counties  the  number  of  pupils  to  which  each  is 
entitled.  He  is  one  of  the  board  for  the  selection 
of  the  places  in  which  to  establish  any  additional 
Normal  Schools.  After  the  schools  are  established, 
he  has  general  supervision  and  direction  of  them; 
he  appoints  the  local  board  to  manage  them ; he 
approves  the  rules  for  their  government;  he  directs 
the  form  of  their  reports;  and  all  payments  for 
their  support  are  paid  upon  his  certificate.  He  ap- 
proves the  course  of  study ; the  number  of  teachers 
and  their  wages  are  subject  to  his  approval ; he  can 
cause  one  or  more  of  the  schools  to  be  composed 
of  males,  and  one  or  more  of  females,  in  his  discre- 
tion; and  he  decides  upon  the  manner  in  which 
pupils  shall  be  admitted  from  the  several  parts  of 
the  State.  He  has  similar  powers  over  the  Oswego 
Normal  School,  and  six  similar  schools  since  estab- 
lished. He  has  charge  of  all  the  Indian  schools  in 
the  State,  employs  local  agents  to  superintend  them, 
visits  them,  and  directs  concerning  the  erection  and 
repair  of  their  school-houses,  and  determines  the 
branches  of  instruction  to  be  pursued  in  the  schools. 
He  is,  ex-officio , a Regent  of  the  University  and 
chairman  of  the  committee  on  teachers’  classes  in 
academies.  He  is  also,  ex-officio , a member  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees  of  the  Idiot  Asylum,  and  the 
Cornell  University.  Ho  receives  and  compiles  the 
abstracts  of  the  reports  from  all  the  school  districts 
in  the  State,  setting  forth  their  condition  and  pro- 
ceedings, and  the  account  of  receipts  and  expendi- 
tures for  each  year.  He  makes,  annually,  to  the 
legislature  a report  of  the  condition  of  all  the  schools 
and  institutions  under  his  supervision,  and  recom- 
mends such  measures  as,  in  his  judgment,  will  con- 
tribute to  their  welfare  and  efficiency. 


NORTH  CAROLINA. 

North  Carolina  was  first  settled  in  1653, 
and  in  1720  had  on  an  area  of  45,000 
square  miles  a population  of  393,751 
(100,573  slaves),  which  in  1870  had  in- 
creased to  1,071,361  (391,650  colored), 
with  $624,868,971  taxable  property. 

The  first  official  allusion  to  the  want  of 
schools  in  North  Carolina  is  believed  to 
have  been  made  by  Governor  Johnston,  a 
native  of  Scotland,  in  his  address  to  the 
Legislature,  in  Edenton,  in  1736;  and  the 
first  effectual  act  for  the  encouragement  of 
literature  was  a law  passed  in  1762,  for  the 
erection  of  a school-house  in  the  town  of 
Newbern.  A similar  law  applicable  to  the 
town  of  Edenton  was  passed  next  year. 

In  1770,  an  act  for  founding,  establishing, 
and  endowing  Queens  College  in  the  town 
of  Charlotte,  Mecklenberg  County,  was  re- 
pealed by  royal  proclamation,  and  its 
re-enactment  in  the  year  following  met  with 
the  same  fate.  In  1776  this  county,  in  ad- 
vance of  the  Continental  Congress  at  Phila- 
delphia, declared  the  State  forever  absolved 
from  allegiance  to  the  British  Crown,  and  in 
the  year  following  incorporated  ‘ the  Presi- 
dent and  Fellows  of  Liberty  Hall,  in  the 
County  of  Mecklenberg,’  with  the  following 
preamble  : 1 Whereas,  the  proper  education 
of  youth  in  this  infant  community  is  highly 
necessary,  and  would  answer  the  most  valu- 
able and  beneficial  purposes  to  this  State 
and  the  good  people  thereof;  and  whereas, 
a very  promising  experiment  hath  been 
made  at  a seminary  in  the  County  of  Meck- 
lenberg, and  a number  of  youths  there 
taught  have  made  great  advancements  in 
the  knowledge  of  the  learned  languages, 
and  in  the  rudiments  of  the  arts  and 
sciences,  in  the  course  of  a regular  and 
finished  education,  which  they  have  since 
completed  at  various  colleges  in  different 
parts  of  America ; and  whereas,  the  sem- 
inary aforesaid,  and  the  several  teachers 
who  have  successively  taught  and  presided 
therein,  have  hitherto  been  almost  wholly 
supported  by  private  subscriptions,  in  order 
therefore,  that  said  subscriptions  and  other 
gratuities  may  be  legally  possessed  and  duly 
applied,  and  the  said  seminary,  by  the 
name  of  Liberty  Hall,  may  become  more 
extensively  and  generally  useful,  for  the  en- 
couragement of  liberal  knowledge  in  lan- 
guages, arts,  and  sciences,  and  for  diffusing 
the  great  advantages  of  education  upon 
more  liberal,  easy,  and  generous  terms,’  <fcc. 


COMMON  SCHOOLS  AND  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION. 


431 


The  institution  was  born  in  stormy  times, 
and  the  enterprise,  after  the  trustees  made 
several  ineffectual  attempts  to  get  a presi- 
dent from  Princeton  College,  and  sufficient 
funds,  was  abandoned. 

In  the  State  Constitution,  framed  at 
Halifax  in  December,  1776,  they  provided 
‘ that  a school  or  schools  shall  be  established 
by  the  Legislature  for  the  convenient  in- 
struction of  youth,  with  such  salaries  to  the 
maters,  paid  by  the  public , as  may  enable 
them  to  instruct  at  low  prices ; and  all 
useful  learning  shall  be  encouraged  in  one  or 
more  universities.’  The  establishment  of 
public  schools  was  thus  expressly  enjoined 
upon  the  Legislature;  and  the  order  in 
which  the  public  school  and  the  university 
is  mentioned,  shows  the  connection  and  de- 
pendence which  the  framers  of  the  Consti- 
tution thought  should  exist  between  them. 
The  language  was  mandatory, — ‘ schools 
shall  be  established  by  the  Legislature.’ 
The  schools  were  to  be  fit,  ‘ convenient,’ 
accessible  to  all;  and  the  salaries  to 
the  masters  were  to  be  ‘ paid  by  the  public' 
They  provided,  first,  in  the  organic  law,  for 
the  instruction  of  the  children  of  the  peo- 
ple at  the  public  charge  ; and  secondly,  for 
‘ one  or  more  universities,’  in  which  ‘ all 
useful  learning  ’ should  be  encouraged. 
In  1789,  the  University  of  North  Carolina 
was  established  and  endowed,  but  no  pro- 
vision was  made  for  common  schools. 
Speaking  of  this  period.  Judge  Murphey,  in 
an  address  in  1827,  remarks  : 

‘The  number  of  our  literary  men  has 
been  small  when  compared  with  our  popu- 
lation ; but  this  is  not  a matter  of  surprise 
when  we  look  on  the  condition  of  the  State 
since  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War. 
When  the  war  ended,  the  people  were  in 
poverty,  society  in  disorder,  morals  and 
manners  almost  prostrate.  Order  was  to  be 
restored  to  society,  and  energy  to  the  laws, 
before  industry  could  repair  the  fortunes  of 
the  people ; schools  were  to  be  established 
for  the  education  of  youth,  and  congrega- 
tions formed  for  preaching  the  gospel,  be- 
fore the  public  morals  could  be  amended. 
Time  was  required  to  effect  these  objects ; 
and  the  most  important  of  them,  the  educa- 
tion of  youth,  was  the  longest  neglected. 
Before  this  university  went  into  operation 
in  1794,  there  was  not  more  than  three 
schools  in  the  State,  in  which  the  rudiments 
of  a classical  education  could  be  acquired. 
The  most  prominent  and  useful  of  these 


schools  was  kept  by  Dr.  David  Caldwell,  of 
Guilford  County.  He  instituted  it  shortly 
after  the  close  of  .the  war,  and  continued  it 
for  more  than  thirty  years.  The  usefulness 
of  Dr.  Caldwell  to  the  literature  of  North 
Carolina  will  never  be  sufficiently  appre- 
ciated; but  the  opportunities  of  instruction 
in  his  school  were  very  limited.  There  was 
no  library  attached  to  it ; his  students  were 
supplied  with  a few  of  the  Greek  and  Latin 
classics,  Euclid’s  Elements  of  Mathematics 
and  Martin’s  Natural  Philosophy.  Moral 
Philosophy  was  taught' from  a syllabus  of 
lectures  delivered  by  Dr.  Witherspoon  in 
Princeton  College.  The  students  had  no 
books  on  history  or  miscellaneous  literature. 
There  were,  indeed,  very  few  in  the  State, 
except  in  the  library  of  lawyers  who  lived 
in  the  commercial  towns.  I well  remember, 
that  after  completing  my  course  of  studies 
under  Dr.  Caldwell,  I spent  nearly  two  years 
without  finding  any  book  to  read  except 
some  old  works  on  theological  subjects. 
At  length  I accidentally  met  with  Voltaire’s 
history  of  Charles  the  Twelfth  of  Sweden, 
an  odd  volume  of  Smollett’s  Roderick  Ran- 
dom, and  an  abridgement  of  Don  Quixote. 
These  books  gave  me  a taste  for  reading, 
which  I had  no  opportunity  of  gratifying 
until  I became  a student  in  this  university 
in  the  year  1876.  Few  of  Dr.  Caldwell’s 
students  had  better  opportunities  of  getting 
books  than  myself ; and  with  these  slender 
opportunities  of  instruction,  it  is  not  sur- 
prising that  so  few  became  eminent  in  the 
liberal  professions.  At  this  day,  when 
libraries  are  established  in  all  our  towns, 
when  every  professional  man,  and  every 
respectable  gentleman  has  a collection  of 
books,  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  the  incon- 
veniences under  which  young  men  labored 
thirty  or  forty  years  ago.’ 

The  following  extract  from  the  number 
of  the  North  Carolina  Journal  for  the  22d 
of  June,  1795,  seems  to  present  a brighter 
picture  of  the  advance  of  public  education, 
but  it  will  be  seen  that  the  limited  number 
of  academies  named,  and  the  great  im- 
portance attached  to  the  fact  that  they  were 
able  to  prepare  youths  for  an  entrance  into 
college — itself  at  that  time  hardly  in  ad- 
vance of  the  high  schools  of  the  present 
day,  denote  no  very  high  degree  of  literary 
attainments,  and  would  hardly  in  our  times 
be  esteemed  worthy  of  a newspaper  article. 

‘ We  have  the  pleasure  to  announce  to 
the  public  that  the  Academy  at  Thyatira, 


432 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


erected  and  conducted  by  Dr.  McCorkle ; 
the  Warrenton  Academy,  under  the  man- 
agement of  the  Rev.  Mr.  George ; and  the 
Chatham  and  Newbern  academies,  are  all 
in  a very  flourishing  state.  The  high  repu- 
tation and  great  experience  of  the  gentle- 
men who  have  the  direction  of  these  sem- 
inaries will  insure  their  establishment  and 
success,  and  furnish  annually  a large  number 
of  students  prepared  to  enter  at  once  at  the 
university  upon  the  higher  branches. 

From  1*789  to  1825,  though  the  ‘ old- 
field  ’ or  English  schools  were  multiplied, 
and  a few  academies  and  high  schools  were 
established,  no  provision  was  made  for  com- 
mon schools.  In  1816,  Hon.  Archibald  D. 
Murphey,  of  the  county  of  Orange,  then  a 
member  of  the  State  Senate,  made  an  able 
and  highly  interesting  report  to  that  body 
on  the  subject  of  public  instruction,  urging 
the  establishment  of  common  schools,  and 
also  of  an  institution  for  the  deaf  and 
dumb.  The  report  concluded  with  a resolu- 
tion authorizing  the  speakers  of  the  two 
houses  to  appoint  three  persons  to  digest  a 
system  of  public  instruction,  and  submit  the 
same  to  the  next  General  Assembly.  The 
report  and  resolution  were  adopted ; and 
subsequently,  and  it  is  presumed  under  this 
resolution,  Duncan  Cameron  and  Peter 
Browne,  Esqrs.,  and  the  Rev.  Joseph  Cald- 
well, the  President  of  the  University,  were 
charged  with  this  duty.  The  committee 
never  met,  but  a report  was  prepared  by 
their  chairman,  and  laid  before  the  Assem- 
bly. In  1818,  Mr.  Murphey  made  another 
report,  more  in  detail  and  more  practical. 

‘In  1825,  the  Legislature  passed  the  first 
act  on  the  subject, — ‘An  Act  to  create 
a fund  for  the  establishment  of  common 
schools.’  To  Bartlett  Yancey,  of  the  county 
of  Caswell,  is  due  the  high  distinction  of 
having  conceived  and  penned  the  first  act 
for  the  establishment  and  promotion  of  com- 
mon schools.  This  act  set  apart  for  the  pur- 
pose certain  stocks,  the  vacant  and  unap- 
propriated swamp  lands,  the  tax  on  auc- 
tioneers, retailers  of  ardent  spirits,  &c.. — 
‘ the  parings  of  the  treasury,’  as  they  were 
called  by  Mr.  Yancey  himself.  But  the 
funds  accumulated  slowly,  and  the  friends 
of  the  system  went  to  work  by  tongue  and 
pen  to  increase  the  fund,  and  thus  obtain 
means  for  starting  the  schools.  Foremost 
among  these  was  the  Rev.  Joseph  Caldwell, 
a scholar,  a philosopher,  a statesman,  and  a 
Christian.  He  wrote,  and  caused  to  be  pub- 


lished at  his  own  expense,  in  1832,  a series 
of  ‘ Letters  on  Popular  Education,  addressed 
to  the  People  of  North  Carolina ;’  in  which 
he  examined  the  whole  subject  with  great 
care,  showed  the  importance  of  educating 
all  the  children  of  the  State,  and  urged  the 
people  to  instruct  their  representatives  to 
take  early  and  effectual  steps  in  this,  their 
highest  temporal  concern. 

‘In  1836,  another  act  was  passed,  organ- 
izing ‘a  Board  of  Literature,’ — providing 
for  draining  the  swamp  lands,  and  still 
further  increasing  the  school  fund.  The 
public  mind  now  began  to  be  generally 
aroused  on  the  subject;  and  several  able 
papers,  advocating  public  instruction,  were 
presented  to  the  Legislature  in  1838, — one 
by  the  president  and  directors  of  the  litera- 
ry fund,  and  one  by  Mr.  W.  W.  Cherry,  of 
Bertie,  being  a report  of  his  as  chairman  of 
the  committee  on  education.  In  1837  the 
State  received  on  deposit  from  the  General 
Government,  under  the  deposit  act  of  1836, 
the  sum  of  $1,433,757.39,  which  was  in- 
vested for  the  benefit  of  common  schools, 
and  increased  the  permanent  fund  to  about 
$1,732,000,  exclusive  of  swamp  lands. 

In  1838,  a bill  drawn  by  Mr.  W.  W. 
Cherry,  providing  for  laying  off  the  State 
into  school  districts,  and  for  submitting  the 
question  of  ‘ school  ’ or  ‘no  school ’ to  the 
people  of  the  respective  counties,  was  passed. 
The  act  embraced  the  present  plan  of  re- 
quiring each  county  to  raise  one  dollar  for 
every  two  dollars  distributed  by  the  literary 
board.  In  1839  nearly  all  the  counties 
adopted  the  system  ; and  in  1841  it  was  put 
into  full  operation. 

In  1852,  C.  II.  Wiley  was  appointed 
State  Superintendent,  and  on  the  breaking 
out  of  the  war  of  secession,  in  1861,  had 
inaugurated  a system  of  common  schools 
which  was  adapted  to  the  social  and  politi- 
cal habits  of  the  people,  but  perished  in  the 
disturbances  which  followed. 

In  the  constitution  of  1868  it  is  made 
the  duty  of  the  legislature  ‘ to  establish  a 
general  and  uniform  system  of  public 
schools,  free  to  all  the  children  of  the  State 
between  the  ages  of  6 and  21.  In  1869  a 
system  was  inaugurated  which  is  yet  labor- 
ing with  the  difficulties  of  a disorganized 
society — social  and  industrial,  and  with  de- 
tails of  organization  foreign  to  the  general 
policy  and  habits  of  the  people.  Out  of 
99,114  persons  between  6 and  21  years, 
29,303  were  estimated  to  be  in  1,398  public 
schools. 


COMMON  SCHOOLS  AND  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION. 


433 


OHIO. 

Ohio  remained  a portion  of  the  territory 
northwest  of  the  River  Ohio,  in  which  the 
old  Congress  of  the  Confederation  began  in 
1787,  its  beneficent  policy  of  incorporating 
‘schools  and  the  means  of  education’  among 
the  organic  elements  of  civil  society,  and 
laid  the  foundation  of  numerous  States  of  im- 
perial dimensions  and  industrial  resources,  in 
impartial  freedom,  morality,  and  knowledge, 
until  1799,  when  it  was  organized  as  a dis- 
tinct territory,  and  admitted  into  the  United 
States  in  1802,  with  an  area  of  39,964 
square  miles,  and  a population  in  1800  of 
45,365,  which  had  increased  in  1870  to 
2,665,260,  with  a taxable  property  returned 
to  the  value  of  $1,167,731,097. 

In  the  plan  of  settlement  in  1785,  the  pub- 
lic lands  were  surveyed  into  townships  of  six 
miles  square,  containing  36  sections  of  one 
mile  square  of  640  acres  each,  one  of  which 
was  reserved  for  public  schools.  The  act  of 
Congress  passed  April  30,  1802,  ‘to  enable 
the  people  of  the  eastern  division  of  the 
Territory  Northwest  of  the  river  Ohio,  to 
form  a constitution  and  State  government, 
and  for  the  admission  of  such  State  into  the 
union,  provides  that  section  numbered  16  in 
every  township,  and  where  such  section  has 
been  sold,  granted,  or  disposed  of,  other 
lands  equivalent  thereto  and  most  contiguous 
to  the  same,  shall  be  granted  to  the  inhab- 
itants of  such  townships,  for  the  use  of 
schools.’  Other  special  tracts  were  granted 
to  the  State,  or  reserved  from  ordinary  pur- 
chase, were  vested  in  the  legislature  in  trust 
for  schools.  The  entire  land  surface  of  Ohio 
was  .25,576,969  acres,  the  land  grants  and 
reservations  for  schools  amounted  to  710,500, 
exclusive  of  two  townships  reserved  for  a 
university.  In  spite  of  these  beneficent  pro- 
visions, and  of  the  school  habits  of  many  of 
the  families  among  the  original  settlers,  the 
institution  of  public  schools  in  a new  country, 
in  sparsely  populated  townships,  with  scanty 
resources,  where  roads  and  dwellings  were 
6f  immediate  physical  necessity,  was  slow. 
The  constitution  of  1802  enjoins  that  ‘ re- 
ligion, morality,  and  knowledge  being  essen- 
tially necessary  to  good  government  and  the 
happiness  of  mankind,  schools  and  the  means 
of  instruction  shall  forever  be  encouraged  by 
legislative  provision,  not  inconsistent  with 
the  right  of  conscience.’  Notwithstanding  re- 
peated and  urgent  recommendations  by  suc- 
cessive governors  in  their  annual  messages, 
the  visible  benefits  of  such  schools  as  the 


first  settlers  from  New  England  established 
by  voluntary  subscription  for  their  children, 
and  the  labors  of  a few  men  like  Ephraim 
Cutter,  Caleb  Attwater  and  Nathan  Guilford, 
it  was  not  till  1825  that  a general  school  law 
was  passed.  In  this,  the  principles  of  taxa- 
tion are  recognized,  but  no  efficient  plan  of 
supervision  and  providing  good  teachers  was 
adopted.  In  1831  the  teachers  and  active 
friends  of  schools  organized  an  association 
called  the  college  of  teachers,  which  began 
in  their  annual  gatherings  the  work  of  school 
agitation.  In  1835,  the  legislature  required 
school  returns  from  the  county  auditors,  and 
Prof.  Calvin  E.  Stowe,  of  the  Lane  Theolog- 
ical Seminary  at  Cincinnati,  who  was  about 
to  visit  Europe,  was  appointed  to  report  on 
the  elementary  school  systems  of  Prussia  and 
other  European  States,  which  was  made,  and 
printed  in  1837,  and  produced  a profound 
impression,  not  only  in  Ohio,  but  in  other 
States.  In  1836,  Samuel  Lewis,  of  Cincin- 
nati (a  native  of  Massachusetts)  was  appoint- 
ed State  Superintendent  with  a salary  of 
$500.  With  experience  as  a public  speaker, 
with  much  study  of  the  schools  of  Cincin- 
nati, and  a participant  in  the  discussions  of 
the  College  of  Teachers,  ]^Ir.  Lewis  made  great 
pecuniary  and  personal  sacrifices,  and  entered 
on  the  work  of  official  exploration  of  schools 
and  agitation  of  jeducational  topics  among 
the  people,  in  the  spring  of  1 83  7.  He  found, 
‘out  of  Cincinnati  there  were  no  public 
schools  worthy  of  the  name,  practically  open 
to  rich  and  poor,  and  nearly  half  of  the  or- 
ganized school  districts  were  without  school- 
houses,  and  that  not  one-third  of  the  whole 
number  would  be  appraised  at  $50  each.’ 
Mr.  Lewis’s  report  on  the  deficiencies  of 
public  schools  in  Ohio,  and  Prof.  Stowe’s 
glowing  picture  of  elementary  instruction  in 
Prussia,  carried  triumphantly  through  the 
legislature,  in  spite  of  bitter  opposition,  an 
act,  which  made  the  office  of  superintendent 
permanent,  created  a State  School  Fund, 
imposed  a county  tax  of  two  mills  for  the 
support  of  schools,  and  authorized  district 
taxation  for  school-houses,  required  reports 
from  school  teachers,  and  town  and  county 
officers,  gave  incorporated  towns  and  cities 
a board  of  education^  with  power  to  estab- 
lish a public  school  of  a higher  grade,  and 
provided  county  examinations  for  candidates 
for  the  office  of  teacher.  This  was  the  begin- 
ning of  a state  system  with  some  elements 
of  vitality  and  efficiency  in  its  organization. 
Mr  Lewis  entered  on  its  administration  in 


434 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


May,  1838,  by  issuing  the  Common  School 
Director,  and  announcing  his  intention  to 
visit  every  county,  and  inviting  school  offi- 
cers, teachers,  and  friends  of  education  to 
meet  him,  and  as  editor  and  lecturer,  ‘ with 
his  office  and  head-quarters  in  the  saddle,’  he 
did  a work  for  1838,  for  practical  results, 
second  to  that  of  no  other  laborer  in  the 
educational  field,  before  or  since.  In  1839, 
after  making  a third  report,  and  a special 
report  on  a State  university  for  teachers,  Mr. 
Lewis  resigned,  with  health  impaired,  with- 
out a dollar  of  compensation  for  three  years 
hard  work,  his  entire  salary  having  been  ex- 
hausted in  travel  and  other  expenses  of  his 
office,  but  with  the  consciousness  that  he  had 
increased  the  number  of  schools  reported 
from  4,336  to  7,225,  and  the  value  of  school- 
houses  from  $61,890  to  $206,445,  and  had 
laid  the  foundations  of  a system,  which  in 
1872  reported  11,565  school-houses  erected 
at  a cost  of  $17,168,196,  which  accommo- 
dated 694,348  pupils  in  enrolled  attendance, 
who  employed  22,061  teachers,  and  required 
the  expenditure  for  the  year  of  $7,150,856. 

The  system  has  been  wrought  up  to  its 
present  degree  of  efficiency  mainly  through 
the  teachers  of  the  State  acting  through  the 
State  Teachers’  Association.  In  no  other 
State  have  the  teachers  engineered  their 
own  work  so  successfully  as  in  Ohio  ; and 
yet  the  census  of  1870  shows  an  amount  of 
illiteracy  in  the  population  over  10  years 
old  sufficiently  alarming,  viz.,  92,720  who 
can  not  read,  and  173,172  who  can  not 
write. 

In  January  18, 1843,  in  Columbus,  a plan 
of  school  improvement  was  presented  by 
Henry  Barnard  of  Connecticut,  to  the  West- 
ern College  of  Teachers,  and  to  members  of 
the  Legislature — afterwards  at  Cincinnati 
and  Sandusky — which  resulted  in  the  pas- 
sage of  an  Act  to  facilitate  the  consolida- 
tion of  school  districts,  and  the  organization 
of  Union  Schools ; the  holding  of  a Teach- 
ers’ institute  at  Sandusky ; the  bringing  of 
Dr.  A.  D.  Lord  from  Kirtland  to  become  the 
principal  of  the  High  School  and  Superin- 
tendent of  Public  Schools  of  Columbus  ; to 
the  publication  of  a school  journal  at  the 
Capital,  and  a series  of  measures  which  led 
finally  to  the  employment  of  Lorin  P.  An- 
drews, as  the  agent  of  the  Ohio  Teachers’ 
Association.  The  first  Teachers’  Institute 
was  held  at  Sandusky,  under  the  auspices  of 
Chief  Justice  Lane,  at  the  suggestion  of 
Mr.  Barnard,  by  Hon.  Salem  Town. 


The  following  items,  taken  from  official 
documents  for  1872,  show  the  magnitude 
of  the  educational  expenditures  of  Ohio ; 
State  Commissioner,  clerks,  &c.,  $5,169; 
local  management  and  county  superintend- 
ents, $129,615;  school  sites,  buildings,  and 
equipment,  $1,428,964  ; teachers’  wages — 
primary  schools,  $3,898,156 ; teachers’ 
wages — high  schools,  $321,406;  total 
$4,219,563;  contingent  expenses,  $1,639,- 
214 ; total  for  common  school  purposes, 
$7,383,856 ; institution  for  deaf  and  dumb, 
$63,405;  institution  for  blind,  $111,816; 
institution  for  idiots  and  feeble  minded, 
$52,722  ; State  home  for  soldiers’  orphans, 
$114,009;  reform  farm  school  for  boys, 
$45,000  ; industrial  school  for  girls,  $26,553. 

OREGON. 

Oregon  was  organized  a Territory  in  1848, 
and  admitted  a State  in  1859  with  an  area 
of  95,274,  and  a population  in  1860  of  52,- 
405,  which  had  increased  in  1870  to  90,923, 
with  $31,798,510  of  taxable  property. 

By  the  constitution  of  1857,  the  governor 
is  made  superintendent  of  public  instruction 
for  the  term  of  five  years,  after  which  the 
legislative  assembly  may  provide  by  law  for 
his  successor.  The  proceeds  of  all  lands 
granted  to  the  State  for  educational  purposes, 
except  the  university  land,  all  money  which 
may  accrue  to  the  State  by  escheat  or  for- 
feiture, exemptions  from  military  duty,  from 
the  sale  of  the  500,000  acres  reserved  by  act 
of  1841,  and  of  the  five  per  centum  of  net 
proceeds  of  the  sales  of  the  public  lands  on 
the  admission  of  the  State  into  the  Union, 
shall  constitute  an  irreducible  fund  for  the 
support  of  common  schools  in  each  school 
district,  and  the  purchase  of  suitable  libraries 
and  apparatus  therefor.  The  school  lands 
amount  to  4,475,966  acres. 

In  the  act  of  1862,  provision  is  made  for 
the  election  of  a school  superintendent  for 
each  county,  and  for  three  directors  for  each 
district. 

According  to  the  census  of  1870  there 
were  18,096  persons,  out  of  a school  popu- 
lation of  29,400  attending  school,  and 
1,047  persons  over  10  years  of  age  who 
could  not  read,  and  2,064  who  could  not 
write.  The  same  census  returns  637  schools 
of  all  kinds,  of  which  4 were  public  high 
with  502  pupils,  590  common  schools  with 
27,000  pupils,  16  academies  with  1,600 
pupils,  2 colleges  with  298  pupils,  1 school 
of  medicine,  1 agricultural  college  and  2 
commercial  schools. 


COMMON  SCHOOLS  AND  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION. 


435 


PENNSYLVANIA. 

Pennsylvania  was  first  settled  in  1638, 
and  by  the  first  national  census  of  1790,  on 
an  area  of  46,000  square  miles,  had  a popu- 
lation of  434,373,  which  in  1870  had  in- 
creased to  3,521,790,  with  taxable  property 
to  the  value  of  $1,243,367,852. 

The  first  constitution  adopted  in  1776  had 
no  provision  respecting  schools,  and  that  of 
1798  enjoined  ‘ the  legislature  as  soon  as  con- 
veniently may  be,  to  provide  by  law  for  the 
establishment  of  schools  throughout  the 
State,  in  such  manner  that  the  poor  shall  be 
taught  gratis.”  In  1838,  an  attempt  in  the 
convention  which  framed  the  constitution  of 
that  year,  to  amend  this  provision  so  ‘ as  to 
provide  by  law  for  the  establishment  of  com- 
mon schools  throughout  the  State,  in  such  a 
manner  that  all  persons  resi  ling  therein  may 
enjoy  the  benefits  of  education,’  failed,  leav- 
ing the  provision  as  in  1798. 

The  first  general  school  law  was  passed  in 
1819,  expressly  ‘to  provide  for  the  poor 
gratis,’  in  which  with  minute  definition  of 
such  as  are  entitled  to  the  benefit  of  this 
act,  viz.,  ‘ of  children  between  the  ages  of  five 
and  twelve  years,  whose  parents  are  unable 
to  pay  for  their  schooling,  and  excluding  all 
children  whose  education  is  otherwise  pro- 
vided.’ A list  of  these  children,  made  out 
by  the  assessors  of  each  township,  corrected 
by  the  commissioners  of  the  county,  is  sent  to 
teachers  of  schools  within  the  township,  with 
instructions  to  enter  against  the  names  of 
such  children  on  this  list  as  apply  for  tuition, 
the  number  of  days  they  may  attend  or  be 
taught,  and  send  in  their  bill  for  the  same  to 
the  county  commissioner. 

The  first  act,  under  which  any  demonstra- 
tion of  what  public  schools  could  become, 
was  special  for  the  city  and  county  of  Phil- 
adelphia, by  which  a broad  and  beneficent 
system  of  public  instruction  has  been  devel- 
oped, was  adopted  in  1818.  By  this  act,  in 
1871,  414  schools  (viz.,  1 Boy’s  Central 
High  School  or  College,  1 High  and  Normal 
School  for  Girls,  58  Grammar  schools,  142 
Intermediate  schools,  186  primary  schools 
and  26  night  schools),  with  87,428  scholars, 
1,668  teachers  (79  male  and  1,589  female 
teachers,  supported  at  a cost  of  $1,370,705. 
The  valuation  of  school  property  in  1872 
exceeded  $3,000,000. 

The  first  provision  for  general  education 
for  the  State  was  made  in  1831,  which  the 
supplementary  acts  of  1834,  1835,  1836  and 
1837  has  developed  into  an  efficient  system 


of  public  schools,  for  which  much  is  due  to 
the  wise  organization  and  administration, 
and  the  judicious  publications  of  Thomas  H. 
Burrowes  of  Lancaster,  who  became  the  first 
Superintendent  of  Public  Schools  as  Secre- 
tary of  State  in  1834.  This  office  was  made 
independent  in  1857.  County  Superintend- 
ence were  first  organized  in  1854,  and  the 
first  State  Normal  School  in  1857.  The 
State  Teachers’  Association  was  organized 
in  1852;  the  first  School  Journal  was  pub- 
lished in  1836,  and  the  Pennsylvania  School 
Journal  in  1852;  the  first  Teachers’ Insti- 
tute was  held  in  1849,  and  the  attendance 
has  increased  from  3,704  teachers  in  1866 
to  11,890  in  1871. 

The  following  items  from  the  Report 
of  the  Superintendent  (J.  P.  Wickersham) 
for  1872,  illustrate  the  magnitude  of  the 
operations  of  the  system  of  common  schools: 
The  total  expenditure  was  $8,345,072.  This 
sum  supported  15,999  schools  in  2,029 
cities  and  towns;  paid  18,368  teachers,  for 
834,313  pupils,  in  buildings  which  with 
their  grounds  and  equipments  have  an  esti- 
mated value  of  $18,689,624  ; and  employed 
in  the  district  management  and  county  su- 
perintendence, 13,541  persons. 

To  the  above  expenditures  for  common 
schools  in  cities,  villages  and  rural  districts 
should  be  added  $475,245  paid  to  thirty- 
seven  institutions  (existing  asylums  mainly 
under  religious  denominations)  for  the  sup- 
port and  instruction  of  3,527  soldiers’  or- 
phans, which  has  already  cost  the  State 
$3,467,543  ; $54,000  for  the  instruction  of 
the  mute,  $70,000  for  the  instruction  of  the 
blind ; $28,000  for  training  feeble  minded 
children;  $10,000  for  friendless  children; 
$71,900  for  juvenile  offenders;  $11,500  for 
Lincoln  University;  $25,00  to  the  Univer- 
sity of  Pennsylvania. 

The  following  outline  of  the  system  of 
common  schools  in  operation  in  1871  is 
taken  mainly  from  the  Report  of  the  Super- 
intendent for  that  year : 

(\,)  Districts  and  District  Officers. — Eacli  township, 
borough,  and  city  is  made  by  law  a school  district. 
The  districts  thus  formed  arc  the  only  ones  except  a 
small  number  of  what  are  called  ‘ independent  dis- 
tricts,’ with  a single  school,  formed  out  of  parts  of 
adjacent  counties,  otherwise  badly  accommodated 
with  schools.  Outside  of  cities  and  boroughs,  the 
school  districts  have  from  one  to  thirty  schools,  the 
average  number  being  about  seven.  Thu  power  of 
levying  and  collecting  taxes,  building  and  furnish- 
ing school-houses,  employing  and  paying  teachers, 
soleeting  toxt-books,  and  managing  the  schools  gen- 
erally, is  vested  in  a board  of  six  directors,  two  of 
whom  are  elected  annually  ut  the  regular  local  elec- 


436 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


tions.  The  courts  have  power  to  remove  directors 
for  the  non-performance  of  duty,  and  the  State 
Superintendent  can  refuse  to  pay  a district  its  quota 
of  the  annual  State  appropriation,  if  its  directors  do 
not  keep  the  schools  ‘open  according  to  law.’ 

(2,)  Superintendents  fur  Towns , Cities,  and  Coun- 
ties.— The  directors  of  a district  are  authorized  by 
law  to  appoint  and  pay  a District  Superintendent, 
and  to  require  the  Teachers  in  their  employ  to  hold 
a District  Institute.  Each  board  is  compelled  to 
make  an  annual  report  to  the  State  Superintendent 
through  the  agency  of  the  proper  County  Superin- 
tendent, who  must  approve  it,  accompanied  by  a 
sworn  statement  to  the  effect  that  the  schools  of  the 
district  have  been  kept  open  and  in  operation  ac- 
cording to  law,  and  specifically  declaring  that  no 
teacher  has  been  employed  during  the  year  who  did 
not  hold  a valid  certificate,  and  that  the  accounts  of 
the  district  have  been  legally  settled.  Failing  to 
make  such  a statement  works  a forfeiture  of  the 
State  appropriation. 

The  school  directors  of  each  county,  and  of  each 
city  and  borough  having  over  7,000  inhabitants,  as 
may  choose  to  do  so,  meet  in  convention  triennially, 
at  the  call  of  the  State  Superintendent,  to  elect  a 
superintendent  and  fix  his  salary.  The  directors 
fix  the  salary  of  the  office  absolutely,  but  they  are 
limited  in  their  choice  of  a person  to  fill  it,  to  per- 
sons having  certain  scholastic  and  professional 
qualifications,  of  the  sufficiency  of  which  the  State 
Superintendent  is  to  judge  before  he  issues  the  com- 
mission. The  State  Superintendent  pays  the  sal- 
aries of  the  County  Superintendents  and  fills  all 
vacancies  in  the  office  by  appointment. 

The  duties  of  the  superintendents  of  counties, 
cities,  and  boroughs  are  to  examine  and  certificate 
teachers,  visit  schools,  give  instruction  to  the  teach- 
ers, hold  institutes,  and  supervise  generally  the 
school  interests  intrusted  to  their  care.  They  make 
monthly  and  annual  reports  to  the  School  Depart- 
ment. 

(3,)  Teachers  and  their  Certificates. — No  person 
can  be  employed  to  teach  in  a common  school  who 
does  not  hold  a legal  certificate  in  one  of  the  forms 
which  are  granted  as  follows : 

A provisional  certificate,  which  is  a mere  license 
to  begin  to  teach.  It  is  good  only  in  the  county 
where  issued,  and  for  a single  year.  A scale  of 
figures  from  one  to  five  is  used  in  filling  up  this  cer- 
tificate, to  denote  degrees  of  proficiency  in  the  sev- 
eral branches. 

A professional  certificate,  which  is  a license  to 
teach  in  the  county  where  issued  for  the  term  of 
the  Superintendent  granting  it,  and  for  one  year 
thereafter.  It  is  granted  to  any  good  teacher  who 
can  pass  an  examination  in  orthography,  reading, 
writing,  arithmetic,  geography,  grammar,  history  of 
the  United  States,  and  the  theory  of  teaching. 

A permanent  certificate,  which  is  granted  by  this 
department  to  teachers  holding  professional  certifi- 
cates, whose  application  therefor  is  indorsed  by  the 
proper  superintendent,  the  proper  board  or  boards 
of  directors,  and  by  a county  committee  of  teachers 
elected  by  ballot  for  this  purpose  at  the  Teachers’ 
Institute.  This  certificate  is  good  permanently  in 
the  couuty  whore  issued,  and  for  one  year  in  any 
other  county. 

A State  certificate,  which  is  issued  to  teachers 
who  pass  an  examination,  in  a prescribed  course, 
before  the  Board  of  Examiners  of  the  State  Normal 


Schools.  This  certificate  is  permanently  good  in 
any  part  of  the  State. 

(4,)  State  Normal  Schools. — The  State  is  divided 
into  twelve  Normal  School  districts.  To  uine  of 
these  the  State  has  appropriated  $15,000  each 
towards  the  erection  of  buildings  for  Normal  School 
purposes.  The  balance  of  the  money  required  for 
their  erection  either  has  been  or  must  be  raised  by 
local  contributions.  The  buildings  when  erected  do 
not  belong  to  the  State,  but  to  the  stockholders  or 
contributors,  who,  however,  can  not  dispose  of  them 
or  use  them  for  any  other  purpose,  without  the  con- 
sent of  the  State  authorities.  The  State  has  appro- 
priated considerable  money  to  the  several  schools 
for  the  purchase  of  apparatus.  No  school  can  be 
recognized  as  a State  Normal  School  until  it  has 
been  found  by  the  State  authorities  to  conform  to 
the  requirements  of  law,  and,  when  recognized,  its 
charges,  course  of  study,  and  disciplinary  regula- 
tions must  be  approved  by  the  State  Superintend- 
ent. The  State  furnishes  diplomas  for  all  graduates 
of  Normal  Schools,  and  the  State  Superintendent  is 
chairman  of  the  board  that  conducts  the  examina- 
tion of  the  graduating  classes.  The  State  pays 
each  student,  who  is  attending  a Normal  School  for 
the  purpose  of  becoming  a teacher,  fifty  cents  a 
week  towards  his  expenses,  and  gives  him  a gra- 
tuity of  fifty  dollars  at  graduation.  All  appropria- 
tions to  State  Normal  Schools  are  paid  by  the  State 
Superintendent.  A diploma  of  the  first  degree, 
given  at  a State  Normal  School,  exempts  the  holder 
from  examination  in  any  part  of  the  State  for  a 
term  of  two  years  after  graduation ; but  at  the  ex- 
piration of  that  time  he  must  either  submit  to  an 
examination,  or  present  to  the  Board  of  Examiners 
of  the  Normal  School  where  he  graduated,  an  ap- 
plication for  a diploma  of  the  second  degree,  in- 
dorsed by  the  board  or  boards  of  directors  for  whom 
he  has  taught,  and  by  the  proper  superintendent. 
This,  if  granted,  makes  him  a teacher  lor  life. 

(5,)  State  School  Department. — This  department 
consists  of  the  State  Superintendent,  who  is  ap- 
pointed by  the  Governor,  with  the  consent  of  the 
Senate,  and  holds  his  office  for  three  years,  and  ap- 
points his  subordinate  officers,  which  consisted  in 
1871  of  a deputy  superintendent,  two  inspectors  of 
Soldiers’  Orphan  Schools,  four  clerks,  and  a mes- 
senger. The  work  of  the  School  Department,  with 
respect  to  the  several  educational  agencies  of  the 
State,  is  briefly  as  follows : , 

With  respect  to  Teachers : — It  prepares  and  fur- 
nishes certificates  for  all  the  eighteen  thousand 
teachers,  and  grants  directly  certificates  to  such  of 
them  as  have  reached  the  higher  grades  of  the  pro- 
fession. 

With  respect  to  School  Directors  and  Comptrollers : 
— It  gives  advice  and  instruction  concerning  their 
duties  to  the  thirteen  thousand  school  directors  and 
comptrollers,  furnishes  them  blanks,  receives  and 
tabulates  their  reports,  reviews  their  accounts, 
judges  whether  they  havo  kept  their  schools  open 
according  to  law,  and  if  so,  pays  them  the  State  ap- 
propriation for  their  respective  districts. 

With  respect  to  County  Superintendents: — It  calls 
conventions  for  the  election  of  County  Superintend- 
ents in  the  several  counties,  receives  the  returns 
and  judges  of  their  legality,  commissions  the  per- 
sons elected,  removes  the  disqualified,  pays  their 
salaries,  provides  blanks  for  recording  and  tabu- 
lating their  work,  and  receives  and  publishes  their 
reports. 


COMMON  SCHOOLS  AND  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION. 


437 


"With  respect  to  City  and  Borough  Superintend- 
ents ; — it  holds  about  the  same  relation  to  the  City 
and  Borough  Superintendents  as  it  does  to  County 
Superintendents,  except  in  the  matter  of  the  direct 
payment  of  salaries. 

With  respect  to  Teachers'  Institutes : — It  furnishes 
the  Teachers’  Institutes — one  being  held  in  each 
county — with  blanks  for  reports;  receives,  tabu- 
lates, and  publishes  their  reports,  and  renders  all 
the  assistance  possible  in  their  management. 

With  respect  to  State  Normal  Schools : — It  inves- 
tigates the  claims  of  Normal  Schools  to  State  recog- 
nition, executes  all  legal  forms  necessary  to  their 
becoming  State  institutions,  examines  and  approves 
their  courses  of  study,  their  governmental  regula- 
tions and  their  charges  to  students,  visits  them,  ap- 
points the  times  of  examining  their  graduating 
classes,  and  assists  at  the  examinations;  furnishes 
diplomas  for  their  graduates,  receives  and  publishes 
their  reports,  and  pays  them  their  State  appropria- 
tions. 

With  respect  to  the  Soldiers'  Orphan  Schools: — 
It  has  almost  complete  control  of  the  forty  different 
-institutions  in  which  soldiers’  orphans  (3,600)  are 
maintained  and  instructed;  the  accommodations, 
the  persons  employed,  the  food,  clothing,  instruction, 
aud  discipline  of  the  children  being  subject  to  the 
direction  of  the  State  Superintendent. 

With  respect  to  Colleges  and  Academies: — It  re- 
ceives. tabulates,  and  publishes  all  reports  made  by 
colleges  and  academies,  as  required  by  law. 

Besides  all  this,  the  department  makes  an  annual 
report  to  the  legislature,  containing  full  information 
concerning  the  condition  of  the  system  of  public  in- 
struction in  the  State,  and  proposing  plans  for  its 
improvement;  to  give  advice  appertaining  to  their 
school  interests  to  every  citizen  who  asks  it,  and  to 
decide  all  questions  relating  to  those  interests,  with- 
out expense  to  the  parties  presenting  them. 

To  carry  out,  with  the  necessary  system,  the 
multiplied  details  of  this  immense  work,  the  depart- 
ment prepares  and  issues,  to  the  different  school 
agencies  and  officers  throughout  the  State,  some 
thirty-five  kinds  of  blank-books  and  forms,  and  is 
compelled  to  use  twenty-five  kinds  of  blank-books 
in  which  to  keep  its  own  records.  Its  correspond- 
ence reaches  full  fifteen  thousand  letters  per  annum. 

With  all  the  expenditures  by  the  State 
anrl  municipalities,  and  with  all  the  activity 
and  cooperation  of  school  officers  and  the 
people,  the  statistics  of  adult  illiteracy  and 
nou-attendancce  of  children  of  school  age 
are  truly  formidable  and  alarming.  The  na- 
tional census  of  1870,  returns  131,728  per- 
sons, ten  years  and  over,  who  can  not  read, 
and  222,536  who  can  not  write,  and  of  the 
latter,  126,803  are  natives.  The  Superin- 
tendent in  his  report  for  1872  remarks  : ‘ It 
is  to  be  feared  that  the  number  of  illiterates, 
both  of  youth  (31,512  between  the  ages  of 
10  and  21  years)  and  those  of  mature  age 
(190,829),  is  much  below  the  actual  number. 
The  number  reported  should  be  doubled, 
and  more  than  doubled,  who  are  growing  . 
up  in  ignorance. 


RHODE  ISLAND. 

Rhode  Island  was  first  settled  in  1631, 
and  in  1790  had  a population  of  69,122, 
which  in  1870  had  increased  to  217,353, 
with  an  area  of' 1,306  square  miles,  and  a 
valuation  of  $213,570,350  taxable  property. 

Under  the  settled  policy  of  its  founders 
during  the  colonial  period  of  its  history,  the 
people  tolerated  no  legislative  interference 
with  religious  belief  or  practice,  or  with  the 
education  of  children,  which,  like  religion, 
was  considered  strictly  a parental  and  individ- 
ual duty.  In  some  towns,  donations  in  lands 
were  made  by  individuals  for  the  support  of 
Free  Schools — the  endowed  grammar  schools 
of  England.  Soon  after  the  adoption  of 
the  federal  constitution,  the  subject  of  public 
schools  was  agitated  in  the  pulpits;  and  in 
1798  a committee  of  the  Providence  Asso- 
ciation of  Mechanics  and  Manufacturers  ap- 
pointed a committee  ‘ to  inquire  into  the 
most  desirable  method  for  the  establishment 
of  free  schools.’  On  the  recommendation  of 
this  committee,  a memorial  and  petition 
drawn  up  by  John  Howland,  of  Providence, 
was  presented  to  the  General  Assembly,  and 
in  1800  ‘an  Act  to  establish  Free  Schools’ 
was  passed,  but  which  met  with  violent  op- 
position, and  was  repealed  in  1803,  before 
any  town  but  Providence  had  acted  on  its 
provisions.  That  town  was  excepted  in  the 
repeal.  In  1825  the  town  of  Newport  was 
authorized  to  raise  money  by  tax  for  the 
support  of  a free  school,  and  to  apply  to  it 
the  avails  of  certain  lands  which  had  been 
bequeathed  to  the  town  for  this  purpose. 

In  1828,  after  many  years  of  agitation  ‘an 
act  to  establish  public  schools’  was  passed, 
by  which  ‘ all  money  paid  into  the  general 
treasury  by  managers  of  lotteries  or  their 
agents,  by  auctioneers  for  duties  accruing  to 
the  State,  &c.,’  was  set  apart  for  the  ex- 
clusive purpose  of  keeping  public  schools. 
Each  town  was  empowered  to  raise  money 
by  tax  not  exceeding  in  any  one  year  twice 
the  amount  received  from  the  State  (which 
was  by  law  not  to  exceed  $10,000  in  any 
one  year),  provided  special  notice  was  in- 
serted in  the  warrant  for  the  town  meeting 
that  such  a tax  would  be  acted  on,’  and  such 
towns  could  appoint  a school  committee  to 
manage  the  schools  set  up  under  this  act. 

| The  town  of  Providence  was  authorized  by 
special  law  to  assess  and  collect  any  amount 
of  tax  for  free  schools,  and  in  1836  took 
the  necessary  steps  to  put  the  public  schools 
] on  a basis  of  organization,  and  with  an 


438 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


outfit  of  school-houses,  and  material  appli- 
ances, and  with  a superintendent  (Nathan 
Bishop,  the  first  city  superintendent  of 
public  schools  in  the  United  States),  and  a 
corps  of  Well  qualified  teachers  for  each 
grade  of  school  from  the  primary  to  the 
high  (for  both  sexes),  which  in  five  years 
placed  its  system  of  public  instruction  in 
advance  of  all  other  cities  in  the  country. 

Under  this  act  (of  1828),  supplemented 
by  special  acts  from  year  to  year  to  enable 
a few  districts  to  build  school-houses  by 
tax,  and  a revision  of  the  law  in  1839,  by 
which  the  annual  State  appropriation  was 
increased  to  125,000,  and  the  power  of  the 
towns  to  raise  money  by  tax  was  extend- 
ed to  double  the  sum  received  from  the 
State,  and  by  six  acts  ‘ in  addition  to  and 
amendments  thereof’  down  to  1843,  feeble 
and  altogether  unsatisfactory  beginnings 
were  made  to  establish  public  schools.  In 
1843,  Wilkins  Updike,  a member  of  the 
House  from  South  Kingston,  introduced  a 
bill  for  a public  act  (drawn  up  by  Henry 
Barnard  of  Connecticut),  ‘ for  ascertaining 
the  condition  of  the  public  schools  in  this 
State,  and  for  the  improvement  and  better 
management  thereof.’  The  bill  simply  pro- 
vided for  the  appointment  of  an  agent  ‘ to 
visit  and  examine  the  public  schools,  the 
qualifications  of  teachers,  and  their  mode 
of  instruction,  and  the  actual  condition  and 
efficiency  of  the  schools  and  popular  educa- 
tion generally,  and  make  report  to  the  legis- 
lature, with  such  plan  as  his  observations 
and  experience  may  suggest.’  The  bill  was 
explained  by  Mr.  Updike,  and  in  the  even- 
ing before  a convention  of  the  two  houses, 
by  Mr.  Barnard,  who  had  then  just  returned 
from  a tour  of  observation  and  pioneer 
work  into  every  State  in  the  Union,  and  on 
the  following  morning  it  became  a law  with- 
out a dissenting  voice ; and  before  Mr. 
Barnard  could  leave  the  town  the  governor 
had  issued  a commission  appointing  him  to 
the  office  created  by  the  act.  The  position 
was  at  once  respectfully  and  firmly  declined; 
but  on  the  urgent  solicitation  of  Mr.  Up- 
dike, Hon.  E.  It.  Potter,  Dr.  Wayland,  Mr. 
Kingsbury,  and  public  men  of  both  politi- 
cal parties,  (and  the  State  was  widely  and 
bitterly  divided  by  the  ‘Dorr  War’  and  the 
two  constitutions),  Mr.  Barnard  reconsidered 
his  decision,  and  on  the  5th  of  December 
entered  on  his  work  of  school  inspection 
and  educational  conference  and  agitation  in 
Rhode  Island.  A citizen  of  another  State, 


in  a State  proverbially  jealous  of  any  inter- 
ference from  abroad  in  her  domestic  institu- 
tions, and  constitutionally  opposed  to  all 
State  interference  in  matters  which  belong 
to  the  towns,  and  going  among  men  and 
into  families  boastful  of  their  individual 
liberty  to  do  as  they  pleased  in  matters  of 
religion  and  education,  and  suspicious  of 
all  ‘ college  learnt  men,’  the  agent  needed 
all  the  cooperation  solicited  by  Governor 
Fenner  in  announcing  his  appointment  to 
the  people  of  Rhode  Island. 

In  pursuance  of  an  act  ‘ to  provide  for  ascertain- 
ing the  condition  of  the  public  schools  of  this  State, 
and  for  the  improvement  and  better  management 
thereof,’  I have  secured  the  services  of  Henry 
Barnard,  who  has  had  several  years  experience  in 
the  discharge  of  similar  duties  in  a neighboring 
State,  and  has  observed  the  working  of  various 
systems  of  public  instruction  in  this  country  and  in 
Europe.  Mr.  Barnard  will  enter  immediately  on 
the  duties  of  his  office.  His  great  object  will  be  to 
collect  and  disseminate  in  every  practicable  way 
information  respecting  existing  defects  and  desira- 
ble improvements  in  the  organization  and  adminis- 
tration of  our  school  system,  and  to  awaken,  en- 
lighten, and  elevate  public  sentiment,  in  relation  to 
the  whole  subject  of  popular  education.  With  this 
view,  he  will  visit  all  parts  of  the  State,  and  ascer- 
tain, by  personal  inspection,  and  inquiries  of 
teachers,  school  committees,  and  others,  the  actual 
condition  of  the  schools,  with  their  various  and 
deeply  interesting  statistical  details.  He  will  meet, 
in  every  town,  if  practicable,  such  persons  as  are 
disposed  to  assemble  together,  for  the  purpose  of 
stating  facts,  views,  and  opinions,  on  the  condition 
and  improvement  of  the  schools,  and  the  more  com- 
plete and  thorough  education  of  the  people.  He 
will  invite  oral  and  written  communications  from 
teachers,  school  committees,  and  all  others  inter- 
ested in  the  subject,  respecting  their  plans  and  sug- 
gestions for  advancing  the  intellectual  and  moral 
improvement  of  the  rising,  and  all  future  genera- 
tions, in  the  State.  The  results  of  his  labors  and 
inquiries,  will  be  communicated  in  a report  to  the 
General  Assembly.  In  the  prosecution  of  labors 
so  delicate,  difficult,  and  extensive,  Mr.  Barnard 
will  need  the  sympathy  and  cooperation  of  every 
citizen  of  the  State.  With  the  most  cordial  ap- 
proval of  the  object  of  the  legislature,  and  entire 
confidence  in  the  ability,  experience,  and  zeal  of 
the  gentleman  whom  I have  selected  to  carry  it 
out,  I commend  both  to  the  encouragement  and  aid 
of  all  who  love  the  State,  and  would  promote  her 
true  and  durable  good,  however  discordaut  their 
opinions  may  be  on  other  subjects. 

The  plan  of  operations  was  to  acertain  by 
personal  inspection  and  official  reports  the 
actual  condition  of  the  schools,  and  arouse 
and  enlist  the  people  in  the  thorough 
and  entire  change  not  only  of  opinion,  but 
of  habits  in  regard  to  schools  and  educa- 
tion. 

To  effect  this  change,  in  the  courso  of  three 


COMMON  SCHOOLS  AND  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION. 


439 


years,  eleven  hundred  school  meetings  were 
held  in  the  thirty-three  different  towns — 
one  at  least,  in  every  large  neighborhood. 
One  hundred  and  fifty  of  these  meetings 
were  continued  through  the  day  and  evening; 
one  hundred  through  two  evenings  and  a 
day;  fifty  through  two  days  and  three 
evenings ; and  twelve  as  teachers’  meetings 
through  the  week. 

In  addition  to  these  meetings  and  ad- 
dresses, having  reference  mainly  to  legal 
organization  and  administration,  upward  of 
two  hundred  meetings  of  teachers  and  pa- 
rents were  held  for  lectures  and  discussion 
on  the  best  methods  of  teaching  the  studies 
ordinarily  pursued  in  common  schools,  and 
for  public  exhibitions  and  examinations  of 
schools  or  of  classes  of  pupils  in  certain 
branches  or  studies,  such  as  arithmetic,  read- 
ing, etc.  Besides  these  formal  meetings, 
experienced  teachers  were  employed  to  visit 
particular  towns  and  sections  of  the  State 
which  were  known  to  be  particularly  indif- 
ferent or  opposed  to  public  schools,  and  con- 
verse freely  with  parents  by  the  way-side 
and  by  the  fireside  on  the  condition  and 
importance  of  these  schools.  By  means  of 
these  agencies  a public  meeting  was  held 
within  three  miles  of  every  home  in  Rhode 
Island,  and  it  was  believed  that  three  or 
more  members  of  every  family  in  the  State 
was  directly  reached  and  favorably  impressed 
in  regard  to  the  educational  movement  in- 
augurated in  1843. 

To  confirm  the  work  begun  by  the  living 
voice,  the  printed  page  was  freely  resorted 
to.  Besides  hundreds  of  volumes  of  elab- 
orate treatises,  100,000  pamphlets  and  tracts, 
containing  at  least  sixteen  pages  of  educa- 
tional matter  each,  were  distributed  gratu- 
itously throughout  the  State ; and  in  one  year 
not  an  almanac  was  sold  in  Rhode  Island 
without  at  least  sixteen  pages  of  educational 
reading  attached,  including  numerous  wood 
cuts  devoted  to  schools  as  they  were,  and  as 
as  they  should  be.  Upward  of  1,200  vol- 
umes on  schools  and  school  systems  and 
the  theory  and  practice  of  teaching  were 
purchased  by  teachers,  or  added  to  public 
and  private  libraries;  and  at  least  thirty 
volumes  of  educational  literature  were  placed 
within  the  reach  of  the  school  committees  of 
each  town,  and  made  accessible  to  teachers. 

With  this  preparation  of  the  public  mind, 
a bill  for  the  modification  of  the  school  sys- 
tem was  introduced  into  the  Legislature, 
and  its  various  provisions  explained  by  the 


agent  to  the  members.  After  undergoing 
various  changes  in  that  body,  the  bill  was 
printed  with  remarks  explanatory  of  the 
general  scope  as  well  as  of  the  minute  de- 
tails, and  distributed  broadcast  over  the 
State ; and  not  uutil  the  subject  had  been 
repeatedly  discussed  before  the  legislature 
and  the  people,  was  any  attempt  made  to 
press  final  action,  so  that  when  it  did  be- 
come a law  in  1855,  it  was  thoroughly  un- 
derstood and  went  at  once  into  operation 
without  friction  or  serious  opposition,  and 
no  attempt  was  made  to  weaken  its  most 
efficient  provisions.  To  facilitate  its  intro- 
duction, forms  of  proceeding  from  the  first 
organization  of  the  school  district  to  laying 
and  collecting  taxes,  specimen  of  school 
registers,  district  and  town  school  returns, 
regulations  as  to  classification,  studies, 
books,  examination  of  teachers  and  schools, 
were  attached  and  distributed  to  every 
school  officer. 

To  facilitate  the  construction  of  spacious, 
attractive  and  convenient  school-houses,  the 
importance  of  these  structures  and  equip- 
ment, their  seating,  ventilation  and  heating, 
was  fully  explained  to  parents  and  school 
officers,  plans  were  widely  distributed,  and 
every  cooperation  desired  by  builders  or 
committees  was  given  by  the  State  Commis- 
sioner, so  that  within  five  years,  a complete 
revolution  passed  over  this  department  of 
the  field,  and  no  State  in  the  Union  was  so 
well  furnished  with  commodious  and  health- 
ful structures  for  school  purposes. 

To  keep  teachers  up  to  their  work,  insti- 
tutes, conventions,  associations  (State,  coun- 
ty and  town)  were  resorted  to,  a monthly 
educational  journal  was  published,  and  trea- 
tises on  methods  and  discipline  were  brought 
within  their  reach  for  purchase  or  perusal. 
When  the  agent  closed  his  work  in  1 849,  in 
place  of  unregulated,  antagonistic,  insuffi- 
cient, in  number,  and  poorly  equipped  pri- 
vate schools,  a system  of  public  instruction 
was  in  quiet  operation  in  every  town,  reach- 
ing every  neighborhood,  taught  by  teachers 
of  ascertained  qualifications,  supported  by 
tax,  and  visited  by  intelligent  and  interested 
school  officers. 

One  of  the  most  effective  agencies  in  this 
reformatory  movement,  in  enlisting  teachers, 
parents  and  school  others  in  a system  of 
common  efforts  was  the  Rhode  Island  Insti- 
tute of  Instruction,  established  in  1844,  and 
which  in  1873  held  its  twenty  ninth  anni- 
versary in  a scries  of  meetings,  in  the  larg- 


440 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


est  public  ball  in  Providence,  with  a crowded 
attendance  of  teachers  and  school  officers, 
from  all  sections  of  the  State. 

Evening  schools,  which  proved  an  assen- 
tial  feature  of  the  plan  of  supplementary 
instruction  in  1845,  was  taken  up  system- 
atically in  1867  by  Mr.  Samuel  Austin, 
through  whose  activity  the  Rhode  Island 
Educational  Union  was  instituted,  and  whose 
untiring  agent  he  has  been  since,  as  well  as 
a worker  in  this  field  all  his  life.  In  twenty 
towns  in  1872,  sixty  evening  schools  have 
been  maintained,  with  an  average  of  one 
hundred  pupils.  The  legislature  in  1871 
made  a special  appropriation  in  aid  of  these 
efforts,  and  several  towns,  as  well  as  many 
mill  proprietors  and  corporations  now  re- 
gard these  schools,  with  their  reading-rooms, 
lectures,  and  other  facilities  of  instruction,  as 
essential  to  the  moral  and  intellectual  well- 
being of  manufacturing  communities. 

The  school  authorities  are:  (1,)  Board  of 
Education,  which  is  not  merely  advisory,  but 
has  the  immediate  charge  of  the  State  Nor- 
mal School,  and  the  expenditure  of  such 
sums  as  the  Legislature  may  appropriate 
( ‘3,000  in  1871)  for  evening  schools;  (2,) 
State  Commissioner  of  Common  Schools, 
with  the  usual  duties ; (3,)  Town  School 
Committee — elected  for  three  years  with  the 
appointment  of  a superintendent  for  each 
town  and  city — membership  to  this  com- 
mittee is  open  to  men  and  women;  (4,) 
district  officers,  who  employ  teachers. 

The  support  of  common  schools  is  de- 
rived from  : (1,)  The  State  treasury — $90,- 
000  in  1872,  derived  from  income  of  State 
School  Fund  ($250,000)  and  general  tax; 
(2,)  Town  treasury — $309,578  town  tax, 
and  $24,490  registry  tax;  (3,)  District 
treasuries — $59,722  district  taxation. 

The  number  of  towns  and  cities  (36)  are 
divided  into  423  districts,  in  which  were  kept 
682  summer  schools,  attended  by  26,912 
pupils,  and  719  winter  schools  attended  by 
28,702  pupils — 612  female  and  93  male 
teachers  in  the  summer,  and  579  female  and 
177  male  teachers  in  the  winter.  The  aver- 
age attendance  in  public  and  private  schools 
(8,000)  was  38,000  out  of  42,000  between 
the  age  of  five  and  fifteen  years. 

The  national  census  of  1870  returns  15,- 
416  persons,  ten  years  and  over,  who  can 
not  read,  and  21,821  who  can  not  write. 
The  State  board  recommend  an  act  to  en- 
force attendance  upon  some  school,  public 
or  private,  of  all  children  of  school  age. 


SOUTH  CAROLINA. 

South  Carolina,  when  first  settled  in  1670, 
was  organized  ‘ as  the  County  of  Carteret  in 
Carolina,’  and  was  constituted  a separate 
royal  government  in  1727.  The  first  State 
constitution  was  framed  in  1776,  and  the 
population  in  1790,  on  an  area  of  34,800 
square  miles,  was  249,073  (107,094  slaves), 
which  had  increased  in  1870  to  705,606 
(415,814  colored),  with  taxable  property  to 
the  value  of  $183,913,337. 

The  earliest  efforts  to  establish  schools  in 
the  State  was  at  Charleston  in  1710,  and  was 
confined  to  the  English  model  of  a free 
school,  an  endowed  school,  ‘ with  a teacher 
to  teach  the  Latin  and  Greek  languages.’ 
Similar  ‘free  schools’  were  instituted  in 
other  parishes,  ‘ for  instruction  in  grammar 
and  other  sciences,’  and  provision  was  made 
in  several  instances  ‘ for  an  usher  to  teach 
writing,  arithmetic,  accounts,  surveying, 
navigation  and  practical  mathematics.’  The 
constitution  of  1779,  and  the  revision  of 
1785,  1798  and  1839  are  silent  in  respect  to 
schools  and  education.  The  policy  of  the 
State  was  to  leave  elementary  education  to 
parents,  and  of  the  poor  in  particular,  to 
private  and  parochial  efforts,  and  to  associa- 
tions, such  as  the  Hibernian,  the  German,  and 
other  national  societies.  In  1811  the  State 
instituted  a fund,  the  income  of  which  w7as 
to  secure  to  every  citizen  the  benefits  of  edu- 
cation, but  in  the  act  itself  was  the  secret  of 
its  own  failure,  a provision  that  ‘ if  the  fund 
should  prove  inadequate  for  all  applicants, 
preference  should  be  given  to  the  poor.’  The 
fund  originally  provided  w7as  small,  and  was 
entirely  absorbed  by  the  preferred  class. 
The  rich  were  excluded,  and  the  schools,  so 
far  as  they  were  independent  institutions,  de- 
generated into  pauper  schools.  No  one  who 
could  help  it,  would  accept  an  education 
which  could  only  be  granted  as  a charity,  or 
a declaration  of  pauperism.  The  same  ex- 
periment had  been  tried  in  Pennsylvania  and 
in  the  city  of  New  York,  as  well  as  in  Vir- 
ginia. The  evil  was  not  remedied  by  increas- 
ing the  appropriation,  the  confession  of 
pauperism  was  still  required.  In  1843,  and 
again  in  1846,  and  subsequently  by  corre- 
spondence in  this  and  all  the  adjoining  States, 
Mr.  Barnard  of  Connecticut,  at  the  request 
of  Gov.  Allston,  Mr.  McCarter  and  others, 
‘ set  forth  the  practical  working  of  public 
schools,  resting  on  the  basis  of  all  other 
public  institutions,  avowedly  open  to  all 
classes  and  actually  resorted  to  by  the  chil- 


COMMON  SCHOOLS  AND  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION. 


441 


dren  of  the  rich  and  poor,  and  having  all 
the  conditions  of  a good  school  in  school- 
houses,  classification  as  to  studies,  teachers 
of  tested  qualifications,  and  intelligent  and 
constant  inspection.  With  these  conditions, 
the  success  of  public  schools  in  Nashville 
and  New  Orleans,  demonstrated  that  these 
institutions  could  succeed  in  Charleston  and 
all  other  large  cities  and  villages  at  the 
South,  as  well  as  in  New  England  ; and  with- 
out these  conditions,  they  never  had  or 
would  succeed  any  where,  no  matter  by  what 
name  they  were  called — common,  free,  or 
elementary.  The  public  school  in  this 
country  and  in  this  age  of  the  world,  must 
have  those  elements  which  make  a good 
school,  or  parents  who  know  what  a good 
education  is,  and  desire  it  for  their  children, 
will  have  nothing  to  do  with  it.  If  it  is  the 
best  school  of  its  grade,  the  majority  of 
parents  will  send,  while  there  will  always 
be  families  in  every  community  who  will 
prefer,  from  conditions  of  health,  or  apti- 
tudes, or  other  causes,  to  send  their  children 
to  private  schools.’ 

In  1854  the  initiatory  steps  were  taken — 
and  on  the  4th  of  July,  1856,  under  the  lead 
of  the  Hon.  C.  C.  Memminger  and  Jefferson 
Bennett,  a common  school  was  opened  in 
Charleston,  which  revolutionized  public  senti- 
ment in  that  city,  and  was  fast  doing  it  for 
the  whole  State,  when  the  mad  passions  of 
men  consummated  another  revolution,  which 
for  the  time  shut  up  schools  of  every  kind 
and  grade.  But  before  1861,  two  public 
schools  existed  in  Charleston,  one  embracing 
the  usual  classes  and  grades  below  a high 
school,  and  the  other  a high  school  for  girls, 
and  a normal  school  for  female  teachers  for 
the  whole  State,  were  in  operation  under 
teachers  who  had  held  similar  positions  in 
Hartford  and  Boston,  which  would  compare 
favorably  in  all  the  requisites  of  good  schools 
— structures  and  equipment,  regularity  of 
attendance,  classification  by  attainments, 
range  of  studies,  teachers — male  and  female, 
of  high  personal  character,  intelligent  and 
constant  inspection,  and  the  atmosphere  of 
public  appreciation.  A demonstration  more 
complete  of  Mr.  Barnard’s  doctrine  could 
not  be  made,  and  every  credit  belongs 
especially  to  Mr,  Memminger  for  his  constant, 
judicious  and  personal  labors  in  inaugu- 
rating and  consummating  the  work. 

In  the  constitution  of  1868,  provision  is 
made  for  the  appointment  of  a State  Super- 
intendent, as  had  been  recommended  by 


Gov.  Manning  in  1853,  and  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  ‘ a liberal  and  uniform  system  of 
free  public  schools  throughout  the  State,  one 
of  winch  shall  he  kept  open  at  least  six 
months  in  each  year  in  each  school  district.’ 
The  general  assembly  must  also  ‘provide  for 
the  compulsory  attendance,  at  either  public 
or  private  schools,  of  all  children  between 
the  ages  of  six  and  sixteen  years  not  phy- 
sically disabled,  for  a term  equivalent  to 
twenty -five  weeks  ; ’ a saving  clause  is  added 
‘that  no  law  to  the  effect  shall  be  passed 
until  a system  of  public  schools  has  been 
thoroughly  and  completely  organized,  and 
facilities  afforded  to  all  the  inhabitants  of  the 
State  for  a free  education  of  their  children.’ 
When  to  this  provision  we  add  another 
clause,  that  ‘ the  state  normal  school,  the  agri- 
cultural college,  and  all  public  schools,  col- 
leges and  universities  supported  in  whole  or 
in  part  by  the  public  funds,  shall  be  free  and 
open  to  all  the  children  and  youth  of  the 
State,  without  regard  to  race  or  color,’  it  is 
pretty  certain  that  the  law  of  compulsory 
attendance  is  not  likely  to  be  passed  in  this 
generation,  and  if  passed  will  remain  in- 
operative on  the  statute  book. 

In  1868  the  educational  department  of 
the  State  was  organized  and  a Superintendent 
appointed,  but  up  to  1871,  this  officer  could 
report  only  meagre  statistical  returns.  In 
1870,  a general  system  was  organized  and 
appropriations  and  taxation  made  for  its  sup- 
port— $37,500  for  the  university  at  Columbia, 
$10,000  for  the  blind  and  deaf  mutes,  $15,- 
000  for  the  State  orphan  asylum,  $150,000 
for  free  common  schools,  besides  $50,000 
from  the  capitation  tax.  These  are  large 
amounts,  and  under  favorable  conditions  as 
to  public  opinion,  and  a concentration  of 
population  in  villages,  great  immediate  re- 
sults might  be  anticipated.  The  law  pro- 
vides for  the  usual  county  and  district  of- 
ficers, and  it  remains  to  be  seen  if  the  slow 
process  of  school  habits  can  be  fostered  by 
their  judicious  action,  and  if  time  will  soften 
the  asperities  engendered  by  civil  strife  and 
social  revolution. 

In  1840,  the  national  census  returned  20,- 
615  white  persons  over  20  years  of  age  who 
could  not  read  and  write;  and  in  1870,  ac- 
cording to  the  same  authority,  there  were 
265,892  persons  over  10  years  of  age  who 
could  not  read,  and  280,370  could  not  write, 
and  out  of  a school  population  of  233,915 
between  the  ages  of  5 and  18,  there  was  a 
school  attendance  of  only  38,249. 


442 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


TENNESSEE.  % 

Tennessee  was  originally  settled  in  1765 
from  North  Carolina,  of  which  it  remained 
an  integral  portion  till  1796,  when  it  was 
ceded  to  the  United  States  and  admitted  into 
the  Union  with  an  area  of  45,600  square 
miles,  and  a population  in  1790  of  35,798, 
which  had  increased  in  1870  to  1,268,520 
(322,338  colored),  and  taxable  property  to 
the  value  of  $254,673,792. 

The  laws  and  constitution  (1776)  of  North 
Carolina  extended  over  Tennessee  till  1796, 
and  after  that  time  the  only  legislation  re- 
specting schools  was  in  1785,  to  incorporate 
Davidson  Academy  at  Nashville  and  Martin 
Academy  in  Washington  county,  and  in  1794, 
Blount  College  at  Knoxville,  and  Greenville 
College  in  Green  county. 

The  constitution  of  1796,  as  amended  in 
1835,  enjoins  on  the  general  assembly  ‘to 
cherish  literature  and  science,’  ‘ knowledge, 
learning,  and  virtue  being  essential  to  the 
preservation  of  republican  institutions,’  and 
to  preserve  inviolate  the  funds  realized  out 
of  land  and  other  appropriations  for  the  sup- 
port of  common  schools. 

Down  to  1825,  the  educational  legislation 
of  the  State  was  confined  to  incorporating 
colleges  and  academies;  and  by  the  act  of 
1817,  ‘all  academies  were  considered  as 
schools  preparatory  to  the  introduction  of 
students  into  the  colleges  of  this  state.’ 

In  1823,  the  first  provision  for  public 
schools  was  made  by  devoting  certain  lands 
‘ to  a perpetual  and  exclusive  fund  for  the 
establishment  and  promotion  of  common 
schools  in  each  and  every  county  in  the 
state.’  In  1827,  certain  other  sources  of 
revenue  were  added,  and  the  whole  was  de- 
signed to  be  protected  by  the  constitutional 
provision  of  1835,  but  proved  ineffectual 
against  the  executive  and  legislative  neces- 
sities in  the  early  stages  of  the  war  of 
secession,  at  which  time  the  fund  had  ac- 
cumulated to  the  sum  of  $1,500,000. 

In  1867,  a new  system  was  inaugurated, 
but  in  the  political  revulsion  which  followed, 
its  efficient  features  were  stricken  out,  and 
the  State  is  now  trying  to  see  how  a 
vigorous  administration  can  be  established 
without  authority  in  the  law,  or  will  in  the 
hearts  of  the  people,  while  the  astounding 
fact  in  the  census  of  1870  confronts  the 
statesmen  of  Tennessee  that  290,549  per- 
sons over  10  years  of  age  cannot  read,  and 
364,697  can  not  write. 

In  1873,  the  legislature  reconsecrated  the 
permanent  school  fund  (estimated  to  be 


$2,112,000)  to  its  original  purpose,  and  ap- 
propriated the  income  (at  six  per  cent.),  and 
the  avails  of  a capitation  tax  of  one  dollar, 
and  a property  tax  of  one  mill  on  the  State 
valuation,  to  public  schools.  Provision  is 
also  made  for  a State  superintendent,  county 
superintendent,  one  for  each  county,  and 
three  directors  for  each  district. 

TEXAS. 

Texas  was  settled  in  1792,  and  admitted 
as  a State  in  1845,  with  an  area  of  237,321 
square  miles,  and  a population  in  1850  of 
212,592,  which  had  increased  in  1870  to 
808,579  (253,475  colored)  and  taxable 

property  to  the  value  of  $149,734,929. 

In  the  constitution  of  1845  it  is  made  the 
duty  of  the  legislature  to  make  suitable  pro- 
vision for  the  support  and  maintenance  of 
public  schools,  and  as  early  as  possible  to 
establish  a system  of  free  schools  through- 
out the  State.  It  creates  a school  fund  out 
of  all  funds,  lands,  and  other  property  before 
set  apart  for  the  support  of  schools,  includ- 
ing the  alternate  sections  of  land  reserved 
by  the  State  for  railroad  purposes,  and  of 
any  other  lands  which  may  be  derived  from 
the  United  States  government,  and  also  em- 
powers the  legislature  to  levy  a tax  for  edu- 
cational purposes  from  year  to  year  through- 
out the  State,  and  reserves  all  sums  arising 
from  taxes  collected  from  ‘ Africans,  or  per- 
sons of  African  descent,’  for  the  exclusive 
maintenance  of  a system  of  public  schools 
for  the  children  of  such  Africans  among 
whom  public  schools  may  be  encouraged. 
It  further  authorizes  the  appointment  of  a 
superintendent  of  public  instruction.  But 
with  all  this  wise  constitutional  enactment 
no  efficient  law  was  put  on  the  statute  book 
down  to  1862,  when  the  war  disorganized 
society  still  more,  and  the  census  of  1870 
showed  189,423  persons  over  10  years  who 
could  not  read,  and  221,703  who  could  not 
write.  By  the  constitution  of  1869,  and 
the  school  law  of  April,  1871,  school  officers 
were  created  with  all  the  machinery  for  ad- 
ministration, but  the  great  work  of  awaken- 
ing parental  interest,  and  creating  a public 
opinion  has  not  yet  been  attempted. 

The  first  report  of  the  State  Superintend- 
ent for  1871  is  devoted  mainly  to  an  exposi- 
tion of  difficulties  in  organizing  a compul- 
sory system  over  a vast  area,  with  a sparse 
population,  and  without  the  inheritance  of 
good  school  habits.  The  only  encouraging 
feature  is  the  existence  of  a permanent 
School  Fund  to  the  value  of  $2,267,971, 
yielding  $136,096  August  31,  1871. 


COMMON  SCHOOLS  AND  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION. 


443 


VERMONT. 

Vermont  was  settled  in  1724  largely  from 
the  State  of  Connecticut,  and  was  admitted 
a3  one  of  the  United  States  in  1791,  with 
an  area  of  10,212  square  miles,  and  a pop- 
ulation in  1790  of  85,416,  which  had  in- 
creased in  1871  to  330,551,  and  a valuation 
for  taxable  purposes  of  $102,548,528. 

The  constitution  of  1793  declares  that 
‘ a competent  number  of  schools  should  be 
maintained  in  each  town  for  the  instruction 
of  youths,  and  that  one  or  more  grammar 
schools  should  be  incorporated  and  sup- 
ported in  each  county  in  this  State.’  Prior 
to  this  date,  schools  had  been  maintained  in 
each  neighborhood,  and  by  a general  law 
passed  in  1782,  provision  was  made  for  the 
division  of  towns  into  convenient  school 
districts,  and  the  appointment  of  trustees  in 
each  town  for  the  general  superintendence 
of  the  schools,  to  whom  was  committed  the 
power  of  raising  one-half  of  the  money  re- 
quired to  build  school-houses  and  support 
the  schools  by  a tax  on  the  grand  list,  and 
the  other  half,  either  on  the  list  or  the  pupils 
of  the  schools,  as  the  districts  might  order. 

In  1825,  the  State  made  provision  for  a 
State  School  Fund,  to  be  reserved  until  the 
capital  should  yield  an  income  sufficient  to 
keep  a free  common  school  in  each  district  for 
a period  of  two  months,  but  after  the  lapse 
of  twenty  years  the  accumulations  seemed 
so  slow  and  the  necessities  of  the  State  re- 
quiring a State  House,  the  law  was  repealed, 
and  the  capital,  amounting  at  that  time  to 
$250,000,  was  borrowed  and  converted  into  a 
granite  structure ; and  the  schools  were  kept 
open  quite  as  long  each  year  in  the  old 
ways,  which  according  to  the  census  of  1840 
had  reduced  the  amount  of  illiterary  rela- 
tively below  that  of  every  State  but  one  in 
the  Union.  In  1837,  the  share  of  the 
United  States  surplus  revenue  deposited 
with  Vermont  was  distributed  among  the 
several  towns,  and  the  annual  interest 
($40,000)  to  be  divided  in  the  same  manner 
as  a three  per  cent,  assessment  on  the  grand 
list  for  the  support  of  schools  in  the  same. 

In  1845,  a State  Superintendent  (Gov. 
Eaton)  was  appointed,  and  teachers  insti- 
tutes were  held  for  the  first  time  under  his 
auspices  in  1846.  Since  1856,  State  super- 
vision has  been  exercised  by  a Board  of 
Education,  acting  through  a secretary  ; and 
town  supervision  has  been  administered  by 
a single  officer.  In  1870,  the  town  superin- 
tendents in  each  county  were  required  to 


meet  the  secretary  at  such  place  and  time 
(in  March  or  April)  each  year  as  he  may 
designate,  to  agree  on  a uniform  standard  of 
examination  for  all  candidates  for  positions 
as  teachers,  make  preliminary  arrangements 
for  the  annual  session  of  the  institute  for  the 
county,  and  confer  generally  on  the  interests 
of  education.  Each  town  superintendent 
must  hold  two  public  examinations  of  can- 
didates, and  the  State  Superintendent  must 
do  the  same  at  the  county  institutes. 

In  1866,  State  Normal  Schools  were  in- 
stituted, of  which  there  are  now  three,  at 
Randolph,  Johnson,  and  Castleton,  to  each 
of  which  $1,000  is  appropriated. 

The  report  of  the  secretary  (John  M. 
French)  for  1872,  is  a document  of  566 
pages — full  and  instructive  as  to  the  condi- 
tion of  the  schools,  and  the  difficulties  of 
getting  the  old  district  system  on  to  the 
higher  plane  of  a true  system  of  graded 
schools.  Towns  are  now  (since  1870) 
authorized  to  abolish  the  district  system, 
and  place  all  the  public  schools  under  the 
management  of  six  directors,  one-third 
elected  each  year  for  a term  of  three  years. 
This  board  may  provide  for  the  instruction 
of  all  the  scholars  of  the  town,  in  all  the 
branches,  higher  as  well  as  elementary,  of  a 
thorough  education,  in  a series  of  schools, 
located  for  the  convenience  of  families,  and 
adapted  to  the  different  stages  of  advance- 
ment of  groups  of  pupils,  under  teachers 
best  qualified  for  each  stage.  Towns  are 
also  authorized  to  establish  central  schools 
for  the  advanced  pupils  of  all  the  districts. 

The  following  are  among  the  statistical 
items  for  1871-2:  Towns  and  cities,  250; 
organized  school  districts,  2,160;  fractional 
districts,  464;  families,  67,162;  families 
without  children  of  school  age,  46,018  ; chil- 
dren between  five  and  twenty,  84,946 ; 
children  attending  common  schools,  70,904  ; 
children  attending  academies,  etc.,  4,913; 
common  schools,  2,503 ; male  teachers, 
671 ; female  teachers,  3,544;  teachers  with- 
out experience,  861  ; teachers  teaching  in 
same  district,  939  ; teachers,  State  Normal 
graduates,  377 ; teachers  who  board  round, 
1,313;  school-houses,  3,399,  and  estimated 
value  of  same,  $1,265,387  ; wages  and  board 
of  teachers,  $397,1 65 ; amount  distributed 
by  State,  $1 16,678  ; amount  raised  by  town 
tax,  $69,380  ; amount  by  district  tax,  $346,- 
051;  total,  $526,000.  Census  of  1870  re- 
turned 15,185  persons  over  10  years  of  age 
could  not  read,  and  17,700  could  not  write. 


444 


EDUCATION'  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


VIRGINIA. 

Virginia  was  first  settled  in  1607,  and 
adopted  its  first  constitution  in  1776,  having 
in  1790  a population  of  748,308  (293,427 
slaves).  Its  original  area  of  61,352  square 
miles  • was  reduced  by  the  separation  and 
organization  of  a portion  of  its  territory 
into  . a new  State  called  West  Virginia  to 
'38,350  square  miles,  with  a population  in 
1870  of  1,225,163  (512,841  colored),  and 
taxable- property  to  the  value  of  $365,439,- 
917.  The  constitution  of  1776  contained 
no  reference  to  education,  but  in  a bill  for 
the  more  general  diffusion  of  knowledge 
prepared  by  Wythe  and  Jefferson  in  1779, 
there  is  the  following  preamble  : 

Whereas  it  appeareth  that  however  certain  forms 
of  government  are  better  calculated  than  others  to 
protect  individuals  in  the  free  exercise  of  their 
natural  rights,  and  are  at  the  same  time  themselves 
better- guarded  against  degeneracy,  yet  experience 
hath  shown,  that  even  under  the  best  forms  those 
intrusted  with  power  have  in  time,  and  by  slow 
operations,  perverted  it  into  tyranny ; and  it  is  be- 
lieved the  most  effectual  means  of  preventing  this 
would  be  to  illuminate,  as  far  as  practicable,  the 
minds  of  the  people  at  large,  and  more  especially 
thereby  of  the  experience  of  other  ages  and 
countries,  they  may  be  enabled  to  know  ambition 
under  all  its  shapes,  and  prompt  to  exert  their 
natural  powers  to  defeat  its  purposes ; and  whereas 
it  is  generally  true  that  the  people  will  be  happiest 
whose  laws  are  best,  and  are  best  administered,  and 
that  laws  will  be  wisely  formed  and  honestly  ad- 
ministered in  proportion  as  those  who  form  and  ad- 
minister them  are  wise  and  honest ; whence  it  be- 
comes'expedient  for  promoting  the  public  happiness, 
that  those  persons  whom  nature  hath  endowed  with 
genius  and  virtue  should  be  rendered,  by  liberal  ed- 
ucation, worthy  to  receive,  and  able  to  guard  the 
sacred  deposit  of  the  rights  and  liberties  of  their 
fellow-citizens,  and  that  they  should  be  called  to 
the  charge  without  regard  to  wealth,  birth,  or  other 
accidental  condition  or  circumstance.  But  the  in- 
digence of  the  greater  number,  disabling  them  from 
so  educating  at  their  own  expense  those  of  their 
children  whom  nature  hath  fitly  formed  and  disposed 
to  become  useful  instruments  of  the  public,  it  is 
better  that  such  should  bo  sought  for  and  educated 
at  the  common  expense  of  all,  than  that  the  happi- 
ness of  all  should  be  confided  to  the  weak  or  wicked. 

The  admirable  code  of  which  the  above 
is  the  preamble,  was  not  adopted,  and  the 
first  general  school  law  was  passed  in  1796, 
with  the  following  preamble  : 

Whereas  it  appeareth  that  the  great  advantages 
which  civilized  and  polished  nations  enjoy,  beyond 
the  savage  and  barbarous  nations  of  the  world,  are 
principally  derived  from  the  invention  and  use  of 
letters,  by  means  whereof  the  knowledge  and  ex- 
perience of  past  ages  are  recorded  and  transmitted, 
so  that  man,  availing  himself  in  succession  of  the 
accumulated  wisdom  and  discoveries  of  his  prede- 
cessors, is  enabled  more  successfully  to  pursue  and 


improve  not  only  those  arts  which  contribute  to  the 
support,  convenience,  and  ornament  of  life,  but 
those  also  which  tend  to  illumine  and  ennoble  his 
understanding  and  his  nature.. 

And  whereas,  upon  a review  of  the  history  of 
mankind,  it  seemeth  that  however  favorable  repub- 
lican government,  founded  on  the  principles  of 
equal  liberty,  justice,  and  order,  may  be  to  human 
happiness,  no  real  stability  or  lasting  permanency 
thereof  can  be  rationally  hoped  for  if  the  minds  of 
the  citizens  be  not  rendered  liberal  and  humane,  and 
be  not  fully  impressed  with  the  importance  of  those 
principles  from  whence  these  blessings  proceed; 
with  a view  therefore  to  lay  the  first  foundations  of 
a system  of  education  which  may  tend  to  produce 
those  desirable  purposes. 

In  1810  the  Literary  Fund  was  instituted, 
and  in  1816  the  directors  were  instructed  to 
report  to  the  General  Assembly  a system  of 
public  education  to  comprehend  a university, 
and  such  additional  colleges,  academics,  and 
schools  as  shall  djffuse  the  benefits  of  edu- 
cation throughout  the  commonwealth.  The 
report  embodied  a scheme  similar  in  its 
main  features  to  that  of  1779,  which  passed 
the  House  but  was  lost  in  the  Senate.  In 
1818  an  act  was  passed  which  appropriated 
$45,000  of  the  revenue  to  the  primary  edu- 
cation of  the  poor,  and  $15,000  a year  to 
endow  and  support  a university,  to  be  styled 
‘ The  University  of  Virginia .’ 

On  the  basis  of  this  law,  and  a special 
act  of  1819,  Mr.  Jefferson  was  successful  in 
establishing  an  institution  of  higher  learn- 
ing, which  educated,  down  to  1870,  8,000 
students  for  Virginia,  and  exerted  a power- 
ful influence  on  the  organization,  studies 
and  discipline  of  American  colleges  gener- 
ally. 

The  system  of  primary  education  on  the 
basis  of  the  Literary  Fund  in  1811.  and  the 
act  of  1818,  did  not  accomplish  even  its 
narrow  and  ill-aimed  object,  the  primary  in- 
struction of  the  poor.  Governor  Campbell, 
in  1839  proclaimed  its  failure,  and  that  the 
utter  ignorance  of  the  white  adults  in  that 
year  was  greater  than  in  1817,  as  evidenced 
by  the  register  of  marriage  licenses;  and 
this  statement  was  confirmed  bv  the  na- 
tional census  of  1840,  which  returned  58,- 
787  persons  over  twenty  years  of  age,  out  of 
the  free  white  population,  who  could  not 
read  and  write.  Well  might  Governor  Mc- 
Dowell say  to  the  Legislature  in  1843:  ‘This 
plan  of  common  education,  which  reaches 
only  28,000  out  of  the  51,000  poor  chil- 
dren, and  gives  them  only  sixty  days  tuition, 
is  a costly  and  delusive  nullity,  which  ought 
to  be  abolished,  and  another  and  better  one 
established  in  its  place.’  Various  plans  of 


COMMON  SCHOOLS  AND  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION. 


445 


modification  and  substitution  was  suggested 
and  discussed,  but  they  were  set  aside  in 
the  frenzy  of  political  excitement ; and  the 
national  census  of  1870  returns  the  illiteracy 
of  the  poor  whites,  with  the  frightful  ad- 
dition of  the  entire  colored  population,  over 
ten  years  of  age,  at  390,913,  who  could  not 
read,  and  445,893  who  could  not  write — and 
of  the  latter  uumber,  444,623  were  natives. 

The  constitution  of  1867,  ordains  the 
outline  of  a system,  which  if  it  can  be  ac- 
cepted cordially  by  the  people,  and  admin- 
istered firmly,  but  kindly,  by  officers  who 
have  their  confidence,  will  in  one  generation 
do  more  for  popular  education  than  has  been 
realized  since  Rev.  Mr.  Copeland,  in  1621, 
first  moved  for  the  establishment  of  a ‘ Free 
School’  in  the  Colony  of  Virginia,  twenty- 
six  years  before  4 Brother  Purmont  was  en- 
treated to  become  schoolmaster  for  the 
teaching  and  nurturing  of  children’  in  Boston. 

Under  the  constitution  of  1867,  and  the 
school  law  of  1870,  a ‘new  system  is  now 
being  administered  by  W.  H.  Ruffner,  whose 
second  annual  report,  dated  Nov.  1,  1872,  is 
an  admirable  document,  in  two  parts.  Part 
I.  is  devoted  to  a statistical  and  expository 
record  of  the  work;  Part  II.  is  an  exposi- 
tion of  the  general  principles  and  methods 
of  the  system  and  institutions  established 
by  the  earlier  and  later  legislation  of  Vir- 
ginia. Both  documents  should  have  a wide 
circulation  and  find  thoughtful  readers,  and 
henceforth  many  ‘doers  of  the  word.’  The 
results  of  1872,  compared  with  those  of 
1871,  and  especially  with  any  year  of  the 
former  system  are  very  encouraging;  3,695 
public  schools,  with  166,337  pupils,  under 
3,853  teachers,  examined  and  visited  by  91 
city  and  county  superintendents,  and  main- 
tained at  an  expense  of  $993,318,  is  a hope- 
ful exhibition  of  two  years  work  under  such 
difficulties  as  exist  in  this  as  in  the  other 
Southern  States.  To  this  number  of  public 
schools  should  be  added  856  private  schools 
(648  primary,  187  academies,  and  21  col- 
leges), with  20,497  pupils. 

In  the  statistical  summary  of  the  Super- 
intendent, and  Auditor’s  Report,  appear  the 
following  items:  Capital  of  Literary  Fund, 
$1  ,596,069 ; pay  of  public  school  teachers 
and  treasurers,  $643,066 ; county  superin- 
tendents, 845,295  ; central  office,  $(3,490;  dis- 
trict expenses,  $289,467  ; University  of  Vir- 

finia,  $15,000 ; Virginia  Military  Institute, 
15,000;  Deaf,  Mute,  and  Blind  School, 
$40,000.  Aid  ($28,900)  from  the  Peabody 
Fund  was  given  to  three  Normal  Schools,  <kc. 
27* 


WEST  VIRGINIA. 

West  Virginia  was  detached  from  the  ter- 
ritory of  ‘ Old  Virginia,’  the  people  refusing 
to  be  put  out  of  the  United  States  by  the 
war  of  secession,  and  was  admitted  as  a State 
in  December,  1862,  with  an  area  of  23,000 
square  miles  and  a population  in  1860  of 
393,221,  which  had  increased  to  442,014  in 
1870,  with  taxable  property  to  the  amount 
of  $140,538,273. 

The  Constitution,  as  amended  in  1863, 
creates  a school  fund  out  of  the  State’s  pro- 
portion of  the  4 literary  fund  ’ of  Virginia  and 
other  sources,  for  the  support  of  free  schools 
throughout  the  State  and  for  no  other  pur- 
pose whatever.’  The  Legislature  is  directed 
to  ‘ provide  as  soon  as  practicable  for  the 
establishment  of  a thorough  and  efficient 
system  of  free  schools,’  for  the  election  of  a 
State  Superintendent,  for  township  taxation 
for  free  schools,  for  the  proper  care  of  the 
blind,  deaf  mutes,  and  insane,  and  the  organ- 
ization of  such  institutions  of  learning  as 
the  best  interests  of  general  education  in 
the  State  may  demand. 

The  system  of  free  schools  established  in 
1865,  provide  for  *.  (1,)  A general  superin- 
tendent of  free  schools  ; (2,)  county  superin- 
tendents, elected  by  the  people,  for  two 
years;  (3,)  township  commissioners,  three 
for  each  township,  one  elected  each  year  for 
a term  of  three  years ; (4,)  district  trustees, 
appointed  by  the  township  board,  from  the 
residents  of  the  district  for  which  the  school 
is  provided  ; (5,)  State  Board  of  the  School 
Fund,  for  the  management  of  any  fund  set 
apart  for  the  support  of  free  schools. 

In  1871,  there  were  2,357  public  schools, 
with  87,330  pupils  enrolled  under  2,303 
teachers  in  2,113  school-houses,  estimated  to 
have  cost  $2,257,744.  The  total  expend- 
iture for  the  year,  for  all  objects,  exceeded 
$565,000. 

Dr.  Sears  applied  $18,000  in  aid  of  nor- 
mal instruction  in  the  State  University,  State 
Normal  School  at  Fairmount,  and  the  teach- 
ers’ department  in  Marshall  College,  as  w'ell 
as  to  the  establishment  of  the  graded 
schools,  and  to  the  Teachers’  Institutes. 

Institutes  were  held  at  twenty  different 
points  with  manifest  advantage  to  teachers, 
and  to  the  school  interest,  of  the  localities 
where  held. 

The  support  of  schools  falls  mainly  on  a 
capitation  tax  of  one  dollar  on  each  male 
inhabitant,  over  twenty-one  years,  and  a tax 
of  ten  cents  on  every  one  hundred  dollars 
of  taxable  property. 


446 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


WISCONSIN. 

Wisconsin  was  detached  from  the  Terri- 
tory of  Michigan  and  organized  an  inde- 
pendent Territory  in  1836,  and  admitted  a 
State  in  1848,  with  a population  in  1850,  on 
an  area  of  53,954  square  miles,  of  305,391, 
which  had  increased  in  1870  to  1,054,670, 
with  $333,447,568  taxable  property. 

By  the  constitution  of  1848,  the  super- 
vision of  public  instruction  is  invested  in  a 
State  Superintendent,  to  be  chosen  by  the 
qualified  electors  of  the  State  ; the  proceeds 
of  all  lands  donated  by  the  United  States  to 
the  State  for  educational  purposes  are  se- 
cured inviolably  (1,)  for  the  maintenance  of 
common  schools  in  each  school  district,  and 
the  purchase  of  suitable  libraries  and  appa- 
ratus; (2,)  for  the  maintenance  of  academies 
and  normal  schools,  and  (3,)  for  a state 
university  ; each  town  and  city  is  required 
to  raise  by  a tax,  annually,  for  the  support  of 
free  common  schools  therein,  a sum  not  less 
than  one-half  the  amount  received  by  each 
town  or  city  for  school  purposes,  from  the 
income  of  the  school,  fund. 

The  first  school  law  dates  from  1849,  by 
which  all  the  territory  in  the  organized 
towns  is  divided  into  school  districts,  the 
affairs  of  which  are  managed  by  three  dis- 
trict officers,  subject  to  the  general  super- 
vision of  the  town  school  superintendent. 

In  1 857,  twenty-five  per  cent,  of  the  in- 
come of  all  swamp  and  overflowed  lands 
granted  to  the  State  were  constituted  a 
normal  school  fund,  the  avails  of  which  was 
first  applied  to  colleges  and  academies  which 
supported  normal  classes,  but  in  1865,  the 
entire  sales  constitute  a special  fund  for  the 
support  of  State  Normal  Schools,  of  which 
five  are  now  located.  The  capital  of  the 
Normal  Fund  is  now  about  $1,000,000;  and 
the  Common  School  Fund,  $2,500,000.  * 

According  to  the  last  official  report  (of 
Samuel  Fallowes)  for  1872,  there  were  5,103 
districts  (excluding  cities),  with  423,717 
persons  of  the  school  age  (4  to  20),  and  the 
whole  number  of  all  ages  attending  public 
schools,  270,292;  private  schools,  18,020; 
academies  and  colleges,  2,831 ; benevolent 
institutions,  1,200  ; or  an  aggregate  attend- 
ance for  1872,  of  292,343. 

The  number  of  school -houses  returned 
was  4 920,  with  accommodations  for  312,- 
612,  valued  at  $3,295,268.  The  productive 
capital  of  the  school  fund  is  $2,482,771, 
and  the  aggregate  expenditure  for  schools, 
$2,174,154. 


From  this  brief  but  comprehensive  survey 
of  the  historical  development  of  public  in- 
struction, and  especially  of  common  schools 
in  the  different  States,  it  appears  that : 

1.  The  universal  education  of  the  people 
is  now  regarded  among  the  primary  objects 
of  legislation,  and  a system  of  common  or 
public  schools  is  now  ordained  in  the  consti- 
tution or  fundamental  law,  and  organized 
and  administered  by  legally  constituted  au- 
thorities in  every  State  and  Territory. 

2.  In  every  State  there  is  a department 
of  public  instruction,  under  either  a board 
or  a single  officer,  charged  with  the  super- 
vision of  this  great  interest,  and  in  commu- 
nication with  the  subordinate  officers  in  the 
remotest  and  smallest  corporation  into 
which  the  territory  may  be  divided. 

3.  For  the  accommodation  and  support  of 
public  schools,  permanent  funds,  amounting 
in  the  aggregate  to  over  $100,000,000  are 
set  apart;  and  all  property,  real  and  personal, 
is  subject  to  state  and  local  taxation,  and 
was  assessed  in  1871  to  the  amount  of  over 
$75,000,000  for  public  school  purposes. 

4.  To  provide  local  accommodations  and 
material  facilities  for  public  schools,  within 
the  last  twenty-five  years,  upwards  of  $100,- 
000,000  have  been  invested  in  school-houses 
and  their  equipment. 

5.  To  realize  an  adequate  return  from  this 
immense  expenditure,  more  than  100  state 
and  city  normal  and  training  schools  have 
been  established,  and  a system  of  examina- 
tion and  instruction  instituted,  more  or  less 
efficient,  to  exclude  incompetent  teachers ; 
and  to  improve  the  qualifications  of  persons 
actually  engaged  in  the  work  of  instruction, 
more  than  500  institutes  arc  now  held  an- 
nually, in  which  over  50,000  teachers  spend 
from  three  to  five  days  in  professional 
studies  and  exercises. 

6.  Notwithstanding  this  legislation  and 
these  expenditures,  the  non-school  attend- 
ance and  the  adult  illiteracy  of  the  country  is 
alarming,  the  national  census  of  1870  return- 
ing 4,528,084  persons,  ten  years  of  age  and 
over,  who  can  not  read,  and  5,658,144  who 
can  not  write ; and  of  the  last  number 
4,880,371  are  native  born. 

7.  The  national  census  of  1870  returns 
125,056  public  schools  of  different  grades, 
with  183,198  (109.024  females)  teachers; 
6,228,060  pupils  (about  equally  divided  as 
to  sex) ; and  a total  expenditure  of  $64,- 
030,673,  of  which  sum  $58,855,507  came 
from  taxation. 


Table. — Population , Taxable  Property , Schools , Illiteracy , 


COMMON  SCHOOLS  AND  ELEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION. 


447 


1 


•y 


S 

I 


s'  s'  5 s'  6 s' : 


448 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


II.  SECONDARY  INSTRUCTION. 

The  first  public  schools  of  the  American 
colonies  were  the  free  endowed  grammar 
schools  and  subscription  grammar  schools ; 
schools  for  secondary  education.  Public  pri- 
mary or  elementary  common  schools  were 
of  later  date,  both  in  chronological  order, 
and  as  being  a logical  result  of  their  prede- 
cessors of  higher  grade. 

The  first  school  laws,  those  of  Connecti- 
cut and  Massachusetts,  which  were  subse- 
quent to  the  establishment  by  individuals  or 
towns  of  the  classes  of  schools  they  referred 
to,  recognized  all  three  grades  of  education- 
al institutions,  both  what  are  at  present 
termed  common  or  elementary,  and  also 
secondary  or  superior;  that  is  to  say,  com- 
mon or  neighborhood  schools,  grammar 
schools,  and  colleges. 

The  class  of  secondary  schools,  since  the 
very  earliest  period  of  their  establishment, 
has  been  far  less  cherished  and  supported, 
either  by  public  opinion  or  by  legal  provis- 
ions, than  either  of  the  other  two  classes. 
Almost  universally,  the  academy,  the  en- 
dowed school,  the  grammar  school,  has  been 
wholly  left  to  the  support  of  those  wealthier 
or  more  learned  classes  who  have  been  ta- 
citly assumed  to  have  the  only  use  for  them ; 
and  where  any  state  assistance  has  been  ex- 
tended to  them,  it  has  usually  been  in  the  ex- 
ceptional form  of  individual  acts  of  incorpo- 
ration or  individual  grants  of  money  or  land. 

It  may  be  observed  that  such  a co-equal 
public  recognition,  if  extended  to  the  class 
of  secondary  schools,  would  at  once  produce 
a definite  and  important  result,  in  throwing 
probably  half  of  what  may  be  termed  the 
present  secondary  course  of  study  back  with- 
in the  course  of  the  elementary  grade  of 
schools,  and  also  in  bringing  back  a large 
number  of  what  are  termed  colleges  into 
their  appropriate  grade  of  secondary  institu- 
tions. 

The  noticeable  and  important  fact  is  more- 
over thus  brought  out,  that  public  opinion 
in  the  United  States  has  never,  up  to  the 
present  time,  demanded  or  recognized  any 
universal  privilege  of  education  beyond  that 
in  the  merest  rudiments  of  it. 

This  neglect  has  of  course  caused  the  ex- 
isting almost  entire  deficiency  of  recorded 
statistics  of  schools  of  this  class.  Such  sta- 


tistics are  not  accessible  at  all,  except  in  the 
single  state  of  New  York,  and  even  there, 
only  from  such  secondary  institutions  as  are 
obliged  to  furnish  them  as  a condition  of 
their  receipt  of  a portion  of  the  literature 
fund.  This  remark  is  not  applicable  to  the 
grade  of  schools  known  as  public  high 
schools,  for  boys  or  girls,  or  both,  in  several 
of  our  larger  cities ; but  these  schools, 
few  in.  number  and  of  modern  origin,  are 
not  so  much  the  outgrowth  of  popular  feel- 
ling,  as  the  creations  of  a few  intelligent 
friends  of  public  education,  in  advance  of 
any  general  demand  for  this  class  of  institu- 
tions. Although  not  recognized  generally 
as  part  of  our  systems  of  public  instruction, 
schools  of  the  former  class  have  increased 
rapidly,  and  now  exist  in  almost  every  village 
in  the  land,  and  their  aggregate  number  i* 
1850,  according  to  the  census  of  that  year, 
will  be  seen  in  the  table  on  page  451. 

The  progress  of  this  class  of  schools,  in 
respect  to  studies,  books,  and  equipment 
generally,  and  methods  of  instruction  and 
discipline,  can  be  readily  measured  by  any 
one  who  will  look  into  the  best  academy  or 
public  high  school  in  his  neighborhood,  and 
then  read  the  following  communications — 
the  first  by  the  Hon.  Josiah  Quincy,  respect- 
ing one  of  the  earliest  institutions  of  the  class 
known  as  academies ; and  the  other  two 
by  eminent  public  men,  respecting  the  pub 
lie  schools,  and  particularly  the  Latin  school 
of  Boston,  as  it  was  prior  to  or  about  the 
beginning  of  the  present  century,  and  at 
that  time  pronounced  “ the  best  on  the 
American  continent.” 

“"Mr.  Barnard  : Bear  Sir — You  ask  brief- 
ly the  position  of  Phillips  Academy  as  to 
studies,  text-books,  methods,  and  discipline. 
That  academy  was  founded  in  the  year  1778, 
in  the  midst  of  the  war  of  the  Revolution, 
by  the  united  contributions  of  three  broth- 
ers— Samuel,  John,  and  William  Phillips — 
all  of  them  men  of  property  according  to 
the  scale  of  that  day,  and  all  of  a liberal  spirit 
toward  every  object,  religious,  moral,  or  ed- 
ucational. But  the  real  author  and  instiga- 
tor of  that  foundation  was  the  only  son  of 
the  first  of  the  above-named,  who  was  known 
during  the  early  period  of  his  life  by  the 
name  of  Samuel  Phillips,  Junior.  He  was, 
during  his  whole  life,  one  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished, exemplary,  and  popular  men  in 
Massachusetts;  active,  spirited,  influential, 
and  ready,  and  a leader  in  every  good  work,* 


ACADEMIES,  HIGH  SCHOOLS,  ETC. 


449 


and  he  had  the  control  of  the  hearts  of  his 
father  and  two  uncles,  and  was  undoubtedly 
the  influential  spirit  giving  vitality  to  the 
plan  of  that  institution.  There  was  only 
one  academy  in  the  state  at  that  time — Dum- 
mer  Academy  at  Newbury — which,  although 
it  had  sent  forth  many  good  scholars,  was 
then  going  to  decay  ; and  the  beautiful  and 
commanding  site  in  the  south  parish  of  An- 
dover which  that  institution  now  occupies, 
was  unquestionably  one  of  the  causes  of  the 
idea  of  the  institution  as  well  as  of  its  lo- 
cality. Eliphalet  Pearson  had  been  educa- 
ted at  Dummer  Academy,  was  distinguished 
for  his  scholarship  and  zeal  in  the  cause  of 
classical  learning;  Samuel  Phillips,  jr.,  had 
formed  an  intimacy  with  him  at  college,  though 
in  different  classes,  and  entertained  a high 
opinion  both  of  his  literary  attainments  and 
spirit  of  discipline.  Phillips  Academy  was 
projected  with  reference  to  his  becoming  its 
first  master;  and  his  aid  was  joined  with 
that  of  his  friend  Phillips  in  forming  the  con- 
stitution of  the  academy. 

u The  time  of  its  foundation  was  unques- 
tionably most  inauspicious  to  its  success, 
but  young  Phillips  was  of  a spirit  that 
quailed  before  no  obstacles.  It  was  designed 
to  be  a model  institution  of  the  kind,  and 
no  pains  were  omitted  to  secure  its  success ; 
and  notwithstanding  the  uncertainties  of  the 
political  aspect  of  the  time  and  the  perpetu- 
ally increasing  depreciation  of  paper  money, 
it  was  sustained  in  great  usefulness  and  pros- 
perity. I was  sent  to  that  academy  within 
a month  after  its  opening,  in  May,  1778, 
being  the  seventh  admission  on  its  catalogue. 
I had  just  then  entered  upon  my  seventh 
year,  and  was  thrust  at  once  into  my  Latin 
at  a period  of  life  when  noun,  pronoun,  and 
participle  were  terms  of  mysterious  mean- 
ing which  all  the  explanations  of  my  gram- 
mars and  my  masters  for  a long  time  vainly 
attempted  to  make  me  comprehend.  But  the 
laws  of  the  school  were  imperious.  They 
had  no  regard  for  my  age,  and  I was  for 
years  submitted  to  the  studies  and  discipline 
of  the  seminary,  which,  though  I could  re- 
peat the  former,  through  want  of  compre- 
hension of  their  meaning,  I could  not  possi- 
bly understand.  I was  sent  to  the  academy 
two  years  at  least  before  I ought  to  have 
been.  But  William  Phillips  was  my  grand- 
father; it  was  deemed  desirable  that  the 
founders  of  the  academy  should  show  confi- 
dence in  its  advantages;  I was,  therefore, 
sent  at  once,  upon  its  first  opening,  and  I 


have  always  regarded  the  severe  discipline 
to  which  I was  subjected,  in  consequence  of 
the  inadequacy  of  my  years  to  my  studies, 
as  a humble  contribution  toward  the  success 
of  the  academy. 

“The  course  of  studies  and  text-books  I do 
not  believe  I can  from  memory  exactly  re- 
capitulate ; I cannot,  however,  be  far  out 
of  the  way  in  stating  that  ‘ Cheever’s  Ac- 
cidence’ was  our  first  book  ; the  second, 
‘Corderius;’  the  third,  ‘Nepos;’  then,  if 
I mistake  not,  came  ‘Virgil.’  There  may 
have  been  some  intermediate  author  which 
has  escaped  my  memory,  but  besides  Virgil 
I have  no  recollection  of  any  higher  author. 

“ Our  grammar  was  ‘ Ward’s,’  in  which  all 
the  rules  and  explanations  are  in  Latin,  and 
we  were  drilled  sedulously  in  writing  this 
language  far  enough  to  get  into  the  univer- 
sity. Our  studies  in  Greek  were  very  slight 
and  superficial.  Gloucester’s  Greek  Gram- 
mar was  our  guide  in  that  language,  and  a 
thorough  ability  to  construe  the  four  Gos- 
pels was  all  required  of  us  to  enter  the  col- 
lege. 

“ These  are  the  best  answers  I can  give  to 
your  inquiries  on  the  subject  of  ‘ studies 
and  text-books,’  but  I am  not  confident  that 
my  memory  serves  me  with  exactness.  Our 
preparation  was  limited  enough,  but  suffi- 
cient for  the  poverty  and  distracted  state  of 
the  period. 

“ Of  ‘ methods  and  discipline,’  for  which 
you  inquire,  I can  only  say  that  the  former 
was  strict  and  exact,  and  the  latter  severe. 
Pearson  was  a convert  to  thorough  disci- 
pline ; monitors  kept  an  account  of  all  of  a 
student’s  failures,  idleness,  inattention,  whis- 
pering, and  like  deviations  from  order,  and 
at  the  end  of  the  week  were  bestowed  sub- 
stantial rewards  for  such  self-indulgences, 
distributed  upon  the  head  and  hand  with  no 
lack  of  strength  or  fidelity. 

“In  that  day  arithmetic  was  begun  at  the 
university.  The  degree  of  preparation  for  col- 
lege and  the  amount  of  the  studies  within  it 
are  not  worthy  of  remembrance  when  com- 
pared with  the  means  of  acquirement  now 
presented  to  the  aspiring  student. 

“Your  other  inquiries  I should  be  happy 
to  make  the  subject  of  reply,  but  long  ces- 
sation of  familiarity  with  the  objects  to  which 
they  relate  makes  me  dubious  of  my  power 
to  add  any  thing  important  to  their  history. 
My  knowledge  of  the  common  schools  of 
Boston  was  obtained  only  during  the  vaca- 
tions of  the  academy,  and  had  chief  refer- 


450 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


ence  to  improvement  in  my  wilting.  Their 
advantages  were  few  enough  and  humble 
enough  ; the  education  of  females  very  slight, 
and  limited  to  reading,  writing,  and  the  ear- 
lier branches  of  arithmetic. 

“The  interests  of  schools  and  of  education 
were,  thirty  years  ago,  subjects  of  my  thought 
and  writing ; but  the  lapse  of  time  and  the 
interposition  of  other  objects  and  new  du- 
ties deprive  me  of  the  power  of  aiding  your 
researches  on  these  subjects,  which  are,  how- 
ever, easily  and  far  better  satisfied  by  the 
active  men  of  the  day.  Wishing  you  all 
success  in  these  wise  and  noble  pursuits, 

“ I am,  very  truly, 

“Your  friend  and  servant, 

“Josiah  Quincy.” 
“Boston,  Dec.  1st,  1860.” 

The  following  “Memorandum  of  an  emi- 
nent clergyman,  who  was  educated  in  the 
best  schools  of  Boston  just  before  the  Revo- 
lution,” we  copy  from  a volume  of  the 
“Massachusetts  Common  School  Journal,” 
vol.  xii.,  pp.  311,  312.  The  notes  are  by 
the  editor  of  the  Journal,  Wm.  B.  Fowle : 

“ At  the  age  of  six  and  a half  years,  I 
was  sent  to  Master  John  Lovell’s  Latin 
school.  The  only  requirement  was  reading 
well ; but,  though  fully  qualified,  I was  sent 
away  to  Master  Griffith,  a private  teacher, 
to  learn  to  read,  write  and  spell.  I learned 
the  English  Grammar  in  Dilworth’s  Spelling 
Book  by  heart.  Griffith  traced  letters  with 
a pencil,  and  the  pupils  inked  them. 

“ Entered  Lovell’s  school  at  seven  years. 
Lovell  was  a tyrant,  and  his  system  one  of 
terror.  Trouncing*  was  common  in  the 


* “ Trouncing  was  performed  by  stripping  the  boy, 
mounting  him  on  another’s  back,  and  whipping  him 
with  birch  rods,  before  the  whole  school.  James 
Lovell,  the  grandson  of  John,  once  related  to  us  the 
following  anecdote,  which  shows  the  utility  of  cor- 
poral punishment  1 It  seems  that  a boy  had  played 
truant,  and  blaster  John  had  publicly  declared  that 
the  offender  should  be  trounced.  When  such  a sen- 
tence was  pronounced,  it  was  understood  that  the 
other  boys  might  seize  the  criminal,  and  take  him 
to  school  by  force.  The  culprit  was  soon  seized  by 
one  party,  and  hurried  to  the  master,  who  inflicted 
the  punishment  without  delay.  On  his  way  home, 
the  culprit  met  another  party,  who  cried  out,  ‘ Ah, 
John  Brown,’  or  whatever  his  name  was,  ‘you’ll 
get  it  when  you  go  to  school!’  ‘No,  I shan’t,’ 
said  the  victorious  boy,  who  felt  that  he  had  got  the 
start  of  them,  ‘No,  I shan’t,  for  I've  got  it ,’  and,  as 
he  said  this,  ho  slapped  his  hand  upon  the  part  that 
liad  paid  the  penalty,  thus,  as  the  poet  says,  ‘ suit- 
ing the  action  to  the  word.’  " 


school.  Dr.  Cooper  was  one  of  his  early 
scholars,  and  he  told  Dr.  Jackson,  the  min- 
ister of  Brookline,  that  he  had  dreams  of 
school  till  he  died.  The  boys  were  so  afraid 
they  could  not  study.  Sam.  Bradford,  after- 
ward sheriff,  pronounced  the  P in  Ptolemy, 
and  the  younger  Lovell  rapped  him  over  the 
head  with  a heavy  ferule.* 

“We  studied  Latin  from  8 o’clock  till 
11,  and  from  1 till  dark.  After  one  or  two 
years,  I went  to  the  town  school,  to  Master 
Holbrook,  at  the  corner  of  West  street,  to 
learn  to  write ; and  to  Master  Proctor,  on 
Pemberton’s  Hill,  in  the  south-east  part  of 
Scollay’s  Building.  My  second,  third,  and 
fourth  year,  I wrote  there,  and  did  nothing 
else.  The  English  boys  alone  were  taught 
to  make  pens.  Griffith  was  gentle,  but  his 
being  a private  teacher  accounts  for  it. 

“ The  course  of  study  was,  grammar ; 
Esop,  with  a translation  ; Clarke’s  Introduc- 
tion to  writing  Latin ; Eutropius,  with  a 
translation  ; Corderius ; Ovid’s  Metamor- 
phoses; Virgil’s  Georgies  ; JEneid  ; Caesar; 
Cicero.  In  the  sixth  year  I began  Greek, 
and  for  the  first  time  attempted  English 
composition,  by  translating  Caesar’s  Com- 
mentaries. The  master  allowed  us  to  read 
poetical  translations,  such  as  Trappe’s  and 
Dryden’s  Virgil.  I was  half  way  through 
Virgil  when  I began  Greek  with  Ward’s 
Greek  Grammar. 

“ After  Cheever’s  Latin  Accidence,  we 
took  Ward’s  Lily’s  Latin  Grammer.  After 
the  Greek  Grammar,  we  read  the  Greek 
Testament,  and  were  allowed  to  use  Beza’s 
Latin  translation.  Then  came  Homer’s 
Iliad,  five  or  six  books,  using  Clarke’s 
translation  with  notes,  and  this  was  all  my 
Greek  education  at  school.  Then  we  took 
Horace,  and  composed  Latin  verses,  using 
the  Gradus  ad  Parnassum.  Daniel  Jones 
was  the  first  Latin  scholar  in  1771  or  1772, 


* “We  saw  this  done  by  another  Boston  teacher, 
about  thirty  years  ago,  and  when  we  remonstrated 
with  him  upon  the  danger  of  inflicting  such  a blow, 
upon  such  a spot,  ‘0,  the  caitiffs,’  said  he,  ‘it  is 
good  for  them !’  About  the  same  time,  another 
teacher,  who  used  to  strike  his  pupils  upon  the 
hand  so  that  the  marks  and  bruises  were  visible, 
was  waited  upon  by  a committee  of  mothers,  who 
lived  near  the  school,  and  had  been  annoyed  by  the 
outcries  of  tho  sufferers.  The  teacher  promised  not 
to  strike  the  boys  any  more  on  the  hand,  and  the 
women  went  away  satisfied.  But,  instead  of  in- 
flicting blows  upon  the  hand,  he  inflicted  them  upon 
tho  soles  of  the  feet,  and  made  the  punishment  more 
severe.” 


ACADEMIES,  HIGH  SCHOOLS,  ETC. 


451 


and  he  was  brother  to  Thomas  Kilby  Jones, 
who  was  no  scholar,  though  a distinguished 
merchant  afterward. 

“ I entered  college  at  the  age  of  fourteen 
years  and  three  months,  and  was  equal  in 
Latin  and  Greek  to  the  best  in  the  senior 
class.  Xenophon  and  Sallust  were  the  only 
books  used  in  college  that  I had  not  stud- 
ied. I went  to  the  private  school  from  1 1 
to  12  a.  m.,  and  to  the  public  from  3 to  5 

P.  M. 

“ The  last  two  years  of  my  school  life, 
nobody  taught  English  Grammar  or  Geog 
raphy,  but  Col.  Joseph  Ward  (son  of  Dea- 
con Joseph  Ward,  of  Newton,  West  Parish, 
blacksmith,)  who  was  self-taught,  and  set 
up  a school  in  Boston.  He  became  aid  to 
General  Ward  when  the  war  commenced, 
and  did  not  teach  after  the  war. 

“ I never  saw  a map,  except  in  Caesar’s 
Commentaries,  and  did  not  know  what  that 
meant.  Our  class  studied  Lowth’s  English 
Grammar  at  college.  At  Master  Proctor’s 
school,  reading  and  writing  were  taught  in 
the  same  room,  to  girls  and  boys,  from  7 to 
14  years  of  age,  and  the  Bible  was  the  only 
reading  book.  Dilwortli’s  Spelling  Book 
was  used,  and  the  New  England  Primer. 
The  master  set  sums  in  our  MSS.  but  did  not 
go  farther  than  the  Rule  of  Three. 

“Master  Griffith  was  a thin  man,  and 
wore  a wig,  as  did  Masters  Lovell  and 
Proctor,  but  they  wore  a cap  when  not  in 
full  dress.  James  Lovell  was  so  beaten  by 
his  grandfather  John,  that  James  the  father 
rose  and  said,  ‘ Sir,  you  have  flogged  that 
boy  enough.’  The  boy  went  off  determined 
to  leave  school,  and  go  to  Master  Proctor’s ; 
but  he  met  one  of  Master  Proctor’s  boys, 
who  asked  whither  he  was  going,  and  when 
informed,  warned  him  not  to  go,  for  he 
would  fare  worse.” 

non.  Edward  Everett,  in  an  address  at  the 
Annual  School  Festival  in  Faneuil  Hall  in 
1852,  gives  the  following  account  of  the 
educational  advantages  he  enjoyed  in  early 
life : — 

“ It  was  fifty-two  years  last  April  since  I 
began,  at  the  age  of  nine  years,  to  attend 
the  reading  and  writing  schools  in  North 
Bennett  street.  The  reading  school  was 
under  Master  Little,  (for  ‘Young  America’ 
had  not  yet  repudiated  that  title,)  and  the 
writing  school  was  kept  by  Master  Tileston. 
Master  Little,  in  spite  of  his  name,  was  a 
giant  in  stature — six  feet  four,  at  least — and 


somewhat  wedded  to  the  past.  He  struggled 
earnestly  against  the  change  then  taking 
place  in  the  pronunciation  of  w,  and  insisted 
on  saying  monoorAent  and  natur.  But  I ac- 
quired, under  his  tuition,  what  was  thought 
in  those  days  a very  tolerable  knowledge  of 
Lindley  Murray’s  abridgment  of  English 
grammar,  and  at  the  end  of  the  year  could 
parse  almost  any  sentence  in  the  ‘ American 
Preceptor.’  Master  Tileston  was  a writing 
master  of  the  old  school.  He  set  the  copies 
himself,  and  taught  that  beautiful  old  Boston 
handwriting,  which,  if  I do  not  mistake,  has, 
in  the  march  of  innovation,  (which  is  not 
always  the  same  thing  as  improvement,) 
been  changed  very  little  for  the  better. 
Master  Tileston  was  advanced  in  years,  and 
had  found  a qualification  for  his  calling  as  a 
writing  master,  in  what  might  have  seemed 
at  first  to  threaten  to  be  an  obstruction. 
The  fingers  of  his  right  hand  had  been  con- 
tracted  and  stiffened  in  early  life,  by  a bum, 
but  were  fixed  in  just  the  position  to  hold  a 
pen  and  a penknife — and  nothing  else.  As 
they  were  also  considerably  indurated,  they 
served  as  a convenient  instrument  of  disci- 
pline. A copy  badly  written,  or  a blotted 
page,  was  sometimes  visited  with  an  inflic- 
tion which  would  have  done  no  discredit  to 
the  beak  of  a bald  eagle.  His  long,  deep 
desk  was  a perfect  curiosity-shop  of  confis- 
cated balls,  tops,  penknives,  marbles  and 
Jews-harps — the  accumulation  of  forty  years. 
I desire,  however,  to  speak  of  him  with 
gratitude,  for  he  put  me  on  the  track  of  an 
acquisition  which  has  been  extremely  useful 
to  me  in  after  life — that  of  a plain,  legible 
hand.  I remained  at  these  schools  about 
sixteen  months,  and  had  the  good  fortune  in 
1804  to  receive  the  Franklin  medal  in  the 
English  department.  After  an  interval  of 
about  a year,  during  which  I attended  a 
private  school  kept  by  Mr.  Ezekiel  Webster, 
of  New  Hampshire,  and  on  an  occasion  of 
his  absence,  by  his  ever  memorable  brother, 
Daniel  Webster,  at  that  time  a student  of 
law  in  Boston,  I went  to  the  Latin  school, 
then  slowly  emerging  from  a state  of  extreme 
depression.  It  was  kept  in  School  street, 
where  the  Horticultural  Hall  now  stands. 
The  standard  of  scholastic  attainment  was 
certainly  not  higher  than  that  of  material 
comfort  in  those  days.  We  read  pretty 
much  the  same  books — or  of  the  same  class 
— in  Latin  and  Greek,  as  are  read  now,  but 
in  a very  cursory  and  superficial  manner. 

| There  was  no  attention  paid  to  the  pliiloso- 


452 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


phy  of  the  languages — to  the  deduction  of 
words  from  their  radical  elements — to  the 
niceties  of  construction — still  less  to  pros- 
ody. I never  made  a hexameter  or  pen- 
tameter verse  till,  years  afterward,  I had  a 
son  at  school  in  London,  who  occasionally 
required  a little  aid  in  that  way.  The  sub- 
sidiary and  illustrative  branches  were  wholly 
unknown  in  the  Latin  school  in  1805.  Such 
a thing  as  a school  library,  a book  of  refer- 
ence, a critical  edition  of  a classic,  a map,  a 
blackboard,  an  engraving  of  an  ancient 
building,  or  a copy  of  a work  of  ancient 
art,  such  as  now  adorn  the  walls  of  our 
schools,  was  as  little  known  as  the  electric 
telegraph.  If  our  children,  who  possess  all 
these  appliances  and  aids  to  learning,  do 
not  greatly  excel  their  parents,  they  will  be 
much  to  blame.” 

Academy  Life  in  Philadelphia  about  1760. 

Gray  don,  in  “ Memoirs  of  a Life  chief y 
passed  in  Philadelphia , within  the  last  sixty 
[1752-1811]  years,”  printed  in  Harrisburgh 
by  John  Wyeth,  1811.,  after  noting  his  first 
teacher  in  Bristol,  where  he  was  born,  as  a 
kind,  good-humored  Irishman,  by  the  name 
of  Pinkerton,  and  his  first  teacher  in  Phila- 
delphia, an  Englishman  (David  James 
Dove),  much  celebrated  in  his  day  both  as 
teacher  and  maker  of  a minor  kind  of  satir- 
ical poetry,  chronicles  his  admission  into 
the  principal  seminary  in  Pennsylvania, 
then  as  now  bearing  the  name  of  a university. 

“ I was  now  about  eight  years  of  age,  and 
my  first  introduction  was  to  Mr.  Kinnersley, 
the  teacher  of  English  and  Professor  of 
Oratory.  He  was  an  Anabaptist  clergyman, 
a large,  venerable  looking  man,  of  no  great 
general  erudition,  though  a considerable 
proficient  in  electricity  ; and  who,  whether 
truly  or  not,  has  been  said  to  have  had  a share 
in  certain  discoveries  in  that  science,  of  which 
Doctor  Franklin  received  the  whole  credit. 
The  task  of  the  younger  boys,  at  least,  con- 
sisted in  learning  to  read  and  to  write  their 
mother  tongue  grammatically  ; and  one  day 
in  the  week  (I  think  Friday)  was  set  apart 
for  the  recitation  of  select  passages  in  poetry 
and  prose.  For  this  purpose,  each  scholar, 
in  his  turn,  ascended  the  stage,  and  said  his 
speech,  as  the  phrase  was.  This  speech  was 
carefully  taught  him  by  his  master,  both 
with  respect  to  its  pronunciation,  and  the 
action  deemed  suitable  to  its  several  parts. 
Two  of  these  specimens  of  infantile  oratory, 
to  the  disturbance  of  my  repose,  I had  been 
qualified  to  exhibit : family  partiality,  no 


doubt,  overrated  their  merit : and  hence, 
my  declaiming  powers  were  in  a state  of 
such  constant  requisition,  that  my  orations, 
like  worn  out  ditties,  became  vapid  and 
fatiguing  to  me;  and  consequently  impaired 
my  relish  for  that  kind  of  acquirement. 
More  profit  attended  my  reading.  After 
vEsop's  fables,  and  an  abridgment  of  the 
Roman  history,  Telemachus  was  put  into 
our  hands;  and  if  it  be  admitted  that  the 
human  heart  may  be  bettered  by  instruc- 
tion, mine,  I may  aver,  was  benefited  by  this 
work  of  the  virtuous  Fenelon.  While  the 
mild  wisdom  of  Mentor  called  forth  my 
veneration,  the  noble  ardor  of  the  youthful 
hero  excited  my  sympathy  and  emulation. 
I took  part,  like  a second  friend,  in  the 
vicissitudes  of  his  fortune,  I participated  in 
his  toils,  I warmed  with  his  exploits,  I wept 
where  he  wept,  and  exulted  where  he 
triumphed. 

“ A few  days  after  I had  been  put  under 
the  care  of  Mr.  Kinnersley,  I was  told  by 
my  classmates  that  it  was  necessary  for  me 
to  fight  a battle  with  some  one  in  order  to 
establish  my  claim  to  the  honor  of  being  an 
academy  boy  ; that  this  could  not  be  dis- 
pensed with,  and  that  they  would  select  for 
me  a suitable  antagonist,  one  of  my  match , 
whom  after  school  I must  fight,  or  be  looked 
upon  as  a coward.  I must  confess  that  I 
did  not  at  all  relish  the  proposal.  Though 
possessing  a sufficient  degree  of  spirit,  or  at 
least  irascibility,  to  defend  myself  when  as- 
saulted, I had  never  been  a boxer.  Being 
of  a light  and  slender  make,  I was  not  cal- 
culated for  the  business,  nor  had  I ever  been 
ambitious  of  being  the  cock  of  a school. 
Besides,  by  the  laws  of  the  institution  I was 
now  a subject  of,  fighting  was  a capital 
crime ; a sort  of  felony  deprived  of  clergy, 
whose  punishment  was  not  to  be  averted  by 
the  most  scholar-like  reading.  For  these 
reasons,  both  of  which  had  sufficient  weight 
with  me,  and  the  last,  not  the  least,  as  I had 
never  been  a willful  transgressor  of  rules,  or 
callous  to  the  consequences  of  an  infraction 
of  them,  I absolutely  declined  the  proposal ; 
although  I had  too  much  of  that  feeling 
about  me,  which  some  might  call  false 
honor,  to  represent  the  case  to  the  master, 
which  would  at  once  have  extricated  me 
from  my  difficulty,  and  brought  down  con- 
dign punishment  on  its  imposers.  Matters 
thus  went  on  until  school  was  out,  when  I 
found  that  the  lists  were  appointed,  and  that 
a certain  John  Appowen,  a lad  who,  though 


PROFESSIONAL  SCHOOLS,  ETC. 


453 


not  quite  so  tall,  yet  better  set  and  older 
than  myself,  was  pitted  against  me.  With 
increased  pertinacity  I again  refused  the 
combat,  and  insisted  on  being  permitted  to 
go  home  unmolested.  On  quickening  my 
pace  for  this  purpose,  my  persecutors,  with 
Appowen  at  their  head,  followed  close  at 
my  heels.  Upon  this  I moved  faster  and 
faster,  until  my  retreat  became  a flight  too 
unequivocal  and  inglorious  for  a man  to  re- 
late of  himself,  had  not  Homer  furnished 
some  apology  for  the  procedure,  in  making 
the  heroic  Hector  thrice  encircle  the  walls 
of  Troy,  before  he  could  find  courage  to 
encounter  the  implacable  Achilles.  To  cut 
the  story  short,  my  spirit  could  no  longer 
brook  an  oppression  so  intolerable,  and 
stung  to  the  quick  at  the  term  coward  which 
■was  lavished  upon  me,  I made  a halt  and 
faced  my  pursuers.  A combat  immediately 
ensued  between  Appowen  and  myself,  which 
for  some  time  was  maintained  on  each  side 
with  equal  vigor  and  determination,  when, 
unluckily,  I received  his  fist  directly  in  my 
gullet.  The  blow  for  a time  depriving  me 
of  breath  and  the  power  of  resistance, 
victory  declared  for  my  adversary,  though 
not  without  the  acknowledgment  of  the 
party  that  I had  at  last  behaved  well,  and 
shown  myself  not  unworthy  of  the  name  of 
an  academy  boy.  Being  thus  established,  I 
had  no  more  battles  imposed  upon  me,  and 
none  that  I can  recollect,  of  my  own  pro- 
voking ; for  I have  a right  to  declare  that 
my  general  deportment  was  correct  and  un- 
offending, though  extremely  obstinate  and 
unyielding  under  a sense  of  injustice. 

“In  March,  1761,  I entered  the  Latin 
school,  and  became  the  pupil  of  Mr.  John 
Beveridge,  a native  of  Scotland,  who  retained 
the  smack  of  his  vernacular  tongue  in  its 
primitive  purity.  His  acquaintance  with 
the  language  he  taught,  was  I believe, 
justly  deemed  to  be  very  accurate  and  pro- 
found. But  as  to  his  other  acquirements, 
after  excepting  the  game  of  backgammon, 
in  which  he  was  said  to  excel,  truth  will  not 
warrant  me  in  saying  a great  deal.  11c 
was,  however,  diligent  and  laborious  in  his 
attention  to  his  school ; and  had  he  pos- 
sessed the  faculty  of  making  himself  be- 
loved by  the  scholars,  and  of  exciting  their 
emulation  and  exertion,  nothing  would  have 
been  wanting  in  him  to  an  entire  qualifica- 
tion for  his  office.  But  unfortunately,  he 
had  no  dignity  of  character,  and  was  no 
less  destitute  of  the  art  of  making  himself 


respected  than  beloved.  Though  not  per- 
haps to  be  complained  of  as  intolerably 
severe,  he  yet  made  a pretty  free  use  of  the 
ratan  and  the  ferule',  but  to  very  little  purpose. 
He  was,  in  short,  no  disciplinarian,  and  con- 
sequently very  unequal  to  the  management 
of  seventy  or  eighty  boys,  many  of  whom 
were  superlatively  pickle  and  unruly.  He 
was  assisted,  indeed,  by  two  ushers,  who 
eased  him  in  the  burden  of  teaching,  but 
who,  in  matters  of  discipline,  seemed  dis- 
inclined to  interfere,  and  disposed  to  con- 
sider themselves  rather  as  subjects  than 
rulers.  I have  seen  them  slily  slip  out  of 
the  way  when  the  principal  was  entering 
upon  the  job  of  capitally  punishing  a boy, 
who  from  his  size  would  be  likely  to  make 
resistance.  For  this  had  become  nearly  a 
matter  of  course ; and  poor  Beveridge,  who 
was  diminutive  in  his  stature  and  neither 
young  nor  vigorous,  after  exhausting  himself 
in  the  vain  attempt  to  denude  the  delin- 
quent, wTas  generally  glad  to  compound  for 
a few  strokes  over  his  clothes,  on  any  part 
that  was  accessible.  He  had,  indeed,  so 
frequently  been  foiled,  that  his  birch  at 
length  was  rarely  brought  forth,  and  might 
truly  be  said  to  have  lost  its  terrors — 
it  was  tanquam  gladium  in  vagina  repos- 
itum.  He  indemnified  himself,  however,  by 
a redoubled  use  of  his  ratan. 

“So  entire  was  the  want  of  respect  towards 
him,  and  so  liable  was  he  to  be  imposed 
upon,  that  one  of  the  larger  boys,  for  a 
wager,  once  pulled  off  his  wig,  which  he 
effected  by  suddenly  twitching  it  from  his 
head  under  pretense  of  brushing  from  it  a 
spider;  and  the  unequivocal  insult  was  only 
resented  by  the  peevish  exclamation  of 
hoot  mon  ! 

“Various  were  the  rogueries  that  were 
played  upon  him ; but  the  most  audacious 
of  all  was  the  following.  At  the  hour  of 
convening  in  the  afternoon,  that  being  found 
the  most  convenient,  from  the  circumstance 
of  Mr.  Beveridge  being  usually  a little  be- 
yond the  time;  the  bell  having  rung,  the 
ushers  being  at  their  posts,  and  the  scholars 
arranged  in  their  classes,  three  or  four  of 
the  conspirators  conceal  themselves  without, 
for  the  purpose  of  observing  the  motions  of 
their  victim.  He  arrives,  enters  the  school, 
and  is  permitted  to  proceed  until  he  is  sup- 
posed to  have  nearly  reached  his  chair  at 
the  upper  end  of  the  room,  when  instantly 
the  door  and  every  window-shutter  is  closed. 
Now,  shrouded  in  utter  darkness,  the  most 


454 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


hideous  yells  that  can  be  conceived  are  sent 
forth  from  at  least  three  score  of  throats ; 
and  Ovids,  and  Virgils,  and  Horaces, 
together  with  the  more  heavy  metal  of 
dictionaries,  whether  of  Cole,  of  Young,  or 
of  Ainsworth,  are  hurled  without  remorse 
at  the  head  of  the  astonished  preceptor, 
who,  on  his  side,  groping  and  crawling  under 
cover  of  the  forms,  makes  the  best  of  his 
way  to  the  door.  When  attained,  and  light 
restored,  a death-like  silence  ensues.  Every 
boy  is  at  his  lesson ; no  one  has  had  a hand 
or  a voice  in  the  recent  atrocity ; what  then 
is  to  be  done,  and  who  shall  be  chastised. 

Scevit  at^ox  Volscens,  nec  teli  conspicit  vsquam 
| Jluctorem,  nec  quo  se  ardens  immittere  possit. 

Fierce  Volscens  fonms  with  rnge,  and  gazing  round 

Descries  not  him  who  nim’d  the  fatal  wound  ; 

Nor  knows  to  fix  revenge. 

“ This  most  intolerable  outrage,  from  its 
succeeding  beyond  expectation,  and  being 
entirely  to  the  taste  of  the  school,  had  a 
run  of  several  days ; and  was  only  then  put 
a stop  to  by  the  interference  of  the  faculty, 
who  decreed  the  most  exemplary  punish- 
ment on  those  who  should  be  found  offend- 
ing in  the  premises,  and  by  taking  measures 
to  prevent  a further  repetition  of  the 
enormity. 

“The  ushers,  during  the  term  of  my 
pupilage,  a period  of  four  years  or  more, 
were  often  changed;  and  some  of  them,  it 
must  be  admitted,  were  insignificant 
enough  ; but  others,  were  men  of  sense  and 
respectability,  to  whom,  on  a comparison 
with  the  principal,  the  management  of  the 
school  might  have  been  committed  with 
much  advantage.  Among  these  was  Mr. 
Patrick  Allison,  afterwards  officiating  as  a 
Presbyterian  clergyman  in  Baltimore ; Mr. 
James  Wilson,  late  one  of  the  associate 
justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States;  and  Mr.  John  Andrews,  now 
Doctor  Andrews  of  the  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania. It  is  true  they  were  much 
younger  men  than  Mr.  Beveridge,  and 
probably  unequal  adepts  in  the  language  that 
was  taught;  but  even  on  the  supposition 
of  this  comparative  deficiency  on  their  part, 
it  would  have  been  amply  compensated  by 
their  judicious  discipline  and  instruction. 

“ With  respect  to  my  progress  and  that  of 
the  class  to  which  I belonged,  it  was  reputa- 
ble and  perhaps  laudable  for  the  first  two 
years.  From  a pretty  close  application,  we 
were  well  grounded  in  grammar,  and  had 
passed  through  the  elementary  books,  much 
to  the  approbation  of  our  teachers ; but  at 


length,  with  a single  exception,  we  became 
possessed  of  the  demons  of  liberty  and 
idleness.  We  were,  to  a great  degree,  im- 
patient of  the  restraints  of  a school ; and 
if  we  yet  retained  any  latent  sparks  of  the 
emulation  of  improvement,  we  were  unfor- 
tunately never  favored  with  the  collision  that 
could  draw  them  forth.  We  could  feelingly 
have  exclaimed  with  Louis  the  Fourteenth, 
mais  a quoi  sert  de  lire ! but  where’s  the 
use  of  all  this  pouring  over  books!  One 
boy  thought  he  had  Latin  enough,  as  he 
was  not  designed  for  a learned  profession  ; 
his  father  thought  so  too,  and  was  about 
taking  him  from  school.  Another  was  of 
opinion  that  he  might  be  much  better  em- 
ployed in  a counting-house,  and  was  also 
about  ridding  himself  of  his  scholastic 
shackles.  As  this  was  a consummation  de- 
voutly wished  by  us  all,  we  cheerfully  re- 
nounced the  learned  professions  for  the  sake 
of  the  supposed  liberty  that  would  be  the 
consequence.  We  were  all,  therefore,  to  be 
merchants,  as  to  be  mechanics  was  too 
humiliating;  and  accordingly,  when  the 
question  was  proposed,  which  of  us  would 
enter  upon  the  study  of  Greek,  the  gram- 
mar of  which  tongue  was  about  to  be  put 
into  our  hands,  there  were  but  two  or  three 
who  declared  for  it.  As  to  myself,  it  was 
my  mother’s  desire,  from  her  knowing  it  to 
have  been  my  father’s  intention  to  give  me 
the  best  education  the  country  afforded,  that 
I should  go  on,  and  acquire  every  language 
and  science  that  was  taught  in  the  institu- 
tion ; but  as  my  evil  star  would  have  it,  I 
was  thoroughly  tired  of  books  and  confine- 
ment, and  her  advice  and  even  entreaties 
were  overruled  by  my  extreme  repugnance 
to  a longer  continuance  in  the  college, 
which,  to  my  lasting  regret,  I bid  adieu  to 
when  a little  turned  of  fourteen,  at  the  very 
season  when  the  minds  of  the  studious 
begin  to  profit  by  instruction.  We  were  at 
this  time  reading  Horace  and  Cicero,  having 
passed  through  Ovid,  Yirgil,  Caesar  and  Sal- 
lust. From  my  own  experience  on  this  oc- 
casion, I am  inclined  to  think  it  of  much 
consequence,  that  a boy  designed  to  com- 
plete his  college  studies,  should  be  classed 
with  those  of  a similar  destination.” 

A picture  of  academy  life  prior  to  1800 — 
its  material  outfit  of  building  and  apparatus, 
its  teachers,  studies,  and  students,  in  Georgia 
and  Virginia,  has  already  been  given,  and 
does  not  differ  essentially  from  “the  beg- 
garly elements  ” above  described. 


ACADEMIES,  HIGH  SCHOOLS,  AND  SEMINARIES. 


455 


Public  High  Schools  — Endowed  Academies. 

In  the  original  organization  of  public  in- 
struction in  New  England,  provision  was 
made  for  a school  of  a higher  order  than 
the  common  district  or  neighborhood  school, 
where  the  mother  tongue,  penmanship  and 
arithmetic  were  taught  to  all,  so  that  “ so 
much  barbarism  as  a single  child  unable  to 
read  the  Holy  Word  of  God,  and  the  good 
laws  of  the  colony  could  not  exist.”  This 
school  in  Massachusetts  and  New  Hampshire 
was  a town  grammar  school  for  all  towns  of 
one  hundred  families.  In  Connecticut  the 
same  original  requisition  gave  place  in  1672 
to  a school  of  the  same  grade  for  the  head 
town  of  each  county,  and  to  diminish  the  ex- 
pense of  tuition,  and  ultimately  to  make  the 
instruction  gratuitous,  was  aided  by  grants 
of  public  lands,  and  to  some  extent  endowed 
by  individuals.  By  degrees  in  all  parts  of 
New  England,  where  there  was  a difficulty 
in  establishing  the  local  grammar  school, 
either  from  paucity  of  inhabitants,  or  want 
of  popular  appreciation  of  the  necessity  or 
the  advantages  of  instruction  of  this  grade, 
either  the  clergyman  in  his  own  house  fitted 
young  men  for  college,  or  a college  graduate 
at  his  own  risk  opened  a temporary  school 
for  pupils,  whose  parents  desired  for  them 
more  of  arithmetic  and  grammar  than  could 
be  obtained  in  the  district  school.  In  such 
places,  if  there  were  few  men,  or  even  one 
man  of  public  spirit  and  energy,  sooner  or 
later  an  academic  institution  would  spring 
up,  towards  the  support  of  which  donations 
or  bequests  would  be  made,  and  for  its  better 
management,  corporate  powers  and  grants 
of  public  lands  would  be  asked  and  obtained 
from  the  legislature.  In  Massachusetts  alone 
these  charters  and  land  grants  were  made 
originally,  as  a settled  policy — only  for  dis- 
tricts where  the  grammar  schools  could 
not  supply  the  wants  of  a higher  education, 
and  for  not  more  than  one  institution  in  a 
large  extent  of  territory  like  that  of  a county. 
By  degrees  this  policy  was  forgotten  and 
disregarded,  even  in  Massachusetts,  and 
charters  were  freely  granted,  and  the  Acad- 
emies came  to  rival  and  supersede  even  the 
Town  Grammar  schools — until  public  atten- 
tion was  arrested  to  the  fact,  first  by  James 
G.  Carter  in  1824.  From  that  time  strenu- 
ous efforts  have  been  made  by  the  friends  of 
public  schools  to  restore  the  earlier  and  better 
policy,  of  Public  High  Schools  for  boys  and 
girls  in  every  city  and  town  where  the  popula- 


tion was  sufficient  to  furnish  a quota  of 
scholars,  who  could  at  once  reside  with  their 
parents  and  get  the  advantages  of  the  higher 
education.*  To  provide  for  children  and 
youth  in  smaller  towns  and  in  more 
sparsely  populated  counties,  where  they  are 
obliged  to  go  away  from  home  for  a higher 
education,  Academies  and  Seminaries  have 
been  largely  endowed,  so  as  to  reduce  the 
cost  of  tuition  and  the  expense  of  residence. 
These  schools  are  becoming  few'er  in  number, 
but  the  few  are  better  endowed,  and  better 
equipped  for  the  work  of  classical  and  scien- 
tific teaching. 

Academies  out  of  New  England. 

Out  of  New  England  generally,  where  the 
township  plan  of  settlement  did  not  pre- 
vail, and  where  even  neighborhood  schools 
were  not  provided  for  or  made  obligatory  by 
law,  the  educational  wants  of  the  few 
families,  who  cared  for  higher,  as  wrell  as 
elementary  instruction  for  their  older  and 
younger  children,  could  be  most  readily  and 
economically  obtained  for  theYn  by  associated 
efforts,  which  soon  resulted  in  special  charters 
for  convenience  of  management;  and  hence 
all  over  the  country  the  policy  of  Academies, 
not  only  for  large  districts,  like  one  or  more 
counties,  but  for  all  large  towns  and  cities 
prevailed.  In  such  States,  the  demand  for 
educational  facilities  for  the  more  wealthy 
and  educated  families  being  thus  partially, 
and  in  some  cases  even  liberally  supplied,  it 
has  been  difficult  to  overcome  the  force  of 
habit,  and  inaugurate  a school  policy  large 
and  broad  enough  to  provide  at  once  for  ele- 
mentary and  higher  grades  of  schools  at  the 
public  expense  for  the  entire  community. 
Without  the  higherelement,  the  public  school 
inevitably  sinks  down  into  a class  institution 
— common,  not  only  because  it  is  rudiment- 
ary and  cheap,  but  because  it  is  poor  and 
only  for  the  poor. 

By  degrees  the  Graded  System  of  Public 
Schools,  presented  by  Mr.  Mann  and  Mr. 
Barnard,  and  particularly  by  the  latter  in 
addresses  delivered  before  the  Legislatures 
and  in  the  principal  cities  of  seventeen 
States  between  the  years  1842-1848,  and  in 
numerous  publications  on  this  subject,  of 
which  over  1,000,000  copies  have  been  print- 
ed and  distributed — was  established  in  all 
the  principal  cities  of  the  country,  where  are 

* According  to  the  Report  of  Mii**nchii*ctt*  Hoard  of  Edu- 
cation for  1870  High  School*  were' maintained  in  102  out  ofX)5 
town*  in  the  State,  embracing  8*2  |>er  cent  of  the  population, 

in  nearly  all  the  town*  having  over  2,000  inhabitants. 


456 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


now  found  the  best  specimens  of  our  Amer- 
ican system  of  Public  Instruction. 

Outside  of  the  Public  High  School,  the 
incorporated  and  endowed  Academies  and 
Seminaries,  until  quite  recently,  were  avow- 
edly denominational  in  the  religious  profes- 
sion of  their  teachers  and  the  general  influ- 
ence of  the  institution.  Recently,  several 
schools  of  the  secondary  class  have  been  es- 
tablished on  the  basis  of  corporate  powers, 
but  the  instruction  has  been  made  five  or 
cheap,  and  all  sectarian  preference  and  influ- 
ence has  been  disavowed  and  guarded 
against.  Of  this  class  are  the  Putnam  Free 
School  at  Newbury  port,  Mass.,  the  Free 
Academy  at  Norwich,  and  the  Morgan 
School  at  Clinton,  in  Connecticut. 

Female  Seminaries  and  Colleges. 

Although  variously  designated,  all  the  in- 
stitutions for  female  education  of  the  highest 
grade,  yet  established  in  this  country,  belong 
properly  to  the  department  of  secondary  in- 
struction, these  are  nearly  all  the  creation 
not  only  of  the  present  century,  but  of  the 
last  twenty-five  years.  But  before  noticing 
a few  of  the  more  prominent  institutions 
which  arc  fast  rising  into  grade  of  superior 
schools,  we  cite  from  a communication 
of  Rev.  William  Woodbridge,  an  account 
pf  the  education  of  girls  as  it  was  more 
than  one  hundred  years  ago. 

Girls  had  no  separate  classes,  though  generally 
sitting  on  separate  benches.  A merchant  from  Bos- 
ton, resident  in  my  native  town,  who  was  desirous 
to  give  his  eldest  daughter  the  best  education,  sent 
her  to  that  city,  one  quarter,  to  be  taught  needle- 
work and  dancing,  and  to  improve  her  manners  in 
good  and  genteel  company.  To  complete  this  educa- 
tion. another  qu  irter,  the  year  following,  was  spent 
at  Boston.  A third  quarter  was  then  allowed  her 
at  the  school. of  a lady  in  Hartford.  Another  female 
among  my  schoolmates  was  allowed  to  attend  the 
same  school  for  the  period  of  three  months,  to  attain 
the  same  accomplishments  of  needlework,  good 
reading,  marking,  and  polished  manners.  These 
are  the  only  instances  of  female  education,  beyond 
that  of  the  common  schools  before  described,  which 
I knew,  in  a town  of  considerable  extent,  on  Con- 
necticut river,  until  1776. 

You  inquire  how  so  many  of  the  females  of  New 
England,  during  the  latter  part  of  the  last  centurjq 
acquired  that  firmness,  and  energy,  and  excellence 
of  character  for  which  they  have  been  so  justly  dis- 
tinguished, while  their  advantages  of  school  educa- 
tion were  so  limited. 

The  only  answer  to  this  question  must  be  founded 
on  the  fact,  that  it  is  not  the  amount  of  knowledge, 
but  the  nature  of  that  knowledge,  and  still  more,  the 
manner  in  which  it  is  used,  and  the  surrounding  in- 
fluences and  habits,  which  form  the  character. 
Natural  logic — the  self-taught  art  of  thinking — 
was  the  guard  and  guide  of  the  female  mind.  The 


first  of  Watt’s  five  methods  of  mental  improvement* 
“ The  attentive  notice  of  every  instructive  object 
and  occurrence,”  was  not  then  in  circulation,  but 
was  exemplified  in  practice.  Newspapers  were 
taken  and  read  in  perhaps  half  a dozen  families,  in 
the  most  populous  villages  and  towns.  Books, 
though  scarce,  were  found  in  some  families,  and  freely 
lent;  and  in  place  of  a flood  of  books,  many  of 
which  are  trifling  or  pernicious,  there  were  a few, 
of  the  best  character.  They  were  thoroughly  read, 
and  talked  of,  and  digested.  In  town  and  village 
libraries,  there  were  some  useful  histories,  natural 
and  political.  Milton,  Watts’  Lyric  Poems,  Young’s 
Night  Thoughts,  Hervey’s  Meditations,  the  Tattler, 
and  Addison’s  Spectator,  were  not  scarce,  though 
not  generally  diffused.  Pamela,  Clarissa  Harlow, 
and  an  abridgement  of  Grandison,  were  in  a few 
hands,  and  eagerly  read;  and  the  Adventures  of 
Robinson  Crusoe,  was  the  chief  work  of  this  kind 
for  the  young. 

But  the  daily,  attentive  study  of  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures, the  great  source  of  all  wisdom  and  discretion, 
was  deemed  indispensable  in  those  days,  when  every 
child  had  a Bible,  and  was  accustomed  to  read  a 
portion  of  the  lesson  at  morning  prayers.  This 
study,  with  the  use  of  Watts’  Psalms  (a  book,  which 
with  all  the  defects  it  may  have,  contains  a rich 
treasure  of  poetry  and  thought,  as  well  as  piety,)  at 
home,  at  church,  and  in  singing  schools,  I regard  as 
having  furnished,  more  than  all  other  books  and  in- 
structions, the  means  of  mental  improvement,  for 
forty  years  of  the  last  century. 

When,  at  length,  academies  were  opened  for 
female  improvement  in  the  higher  branches,  a gen- 
eral excitement  appeared  in  parents,  and  an  emula- 
tion in  daughters  to  attend  them.  Many  attended 
such  a school  one  or  two  quarters,  others  a year, 
some  few  longer.  From  these  short  periods  of  at- 
tendance for  instruction  in  elementary  branches, 
arose  higher  improvements.  The  love  of  reading 
and  habits  of  application  became  fashionable ; and 
fashion  we  know  is  the  mistress  of  the  world. 

When  the  instruction  of  females  in  any  of  the  de- 
partments of  science  was  first  proposed,  it  excited 
ridicule.  The  man  who  devoted  his  time  and  heart 
to  th.e  work  was  regarded  as  an  enthusiast.  The 
cry  was — “What  need  is  there  of  learning  how  far 
off  the  sun  is,  when  it  is  near  enough  to  warm  us?” 
— “ What,  will  the  teacher  learn  his  pupils  to  make 
Almanacs?” — “When  girls  become  scholars,  who 
is  to  make  the  puddings  and  the  pies?”  But  these 
narrow  prejudices  have  almost  passed  away.  Many 
have  since  become  equally  enthusiasts  on  this  sub- 
ject, and  the  results  of  an  improved  sj'stem  of 
female  education  have  not  disappointed  their  hopes 
or  mine.  By  a true  discipline  of  mind,  and  ap- 
plication to  the  solid  branches  of  knowledge, 
our  well  educated  females  have  become  more 
agreeable  companions,  more  useful  members 
of  society,  and  more  skillful  and  faithful  teach- 
ers, without  disqualifying  themselves  for  domestic 
avocations. 

The  first  school  of  eminence  exclusively 
for  girls  was  the  Moravian  Seminary  at  Beth- 
lehem, Pennsylvania.  This  was  established 
as  early  as  1749,  but  was  not  opened  as  a 
boarding-school  until  1785.  It  enjoyed 
about  that  date  a national  reputation.  About 


ACADEMIES,  HIGH  SCHOOLS,  AND  SEMINARIES. 


457 


the  same  period  the  Academy  of  the  Visita 
tion,  at  Georgetown,  the  first  Catholic  Sem- 
inary for  girls  in  the  United  States,  was  es- 
tablished, and  at  this  date  there  are  upwards 
of  fifty  under  the  care  of  different  religious 
orders  in  the  different  dioceses. 

It  has  been  claimed  that  President  Dwight, 
in  his  school  at  Greenfield,  opened  in  1783, 
was  the  first  in  the  country  to  admit  pupils 
of  both  sexes  to  an  entire  equality  of  intel- 
lectual training  of  the  highest  order. 

When  that  famous  teacher,  Caleb  Bing- 
ham, removed  to  Boston,  in  1784,  he  did  so 
with  the  design  of  opening  there  a school 
for  girls,  who  were,  singularly  enough,  at 
that  time  excluded  from  the  public  schools. 
Mr.  Bingham’s  enterprise  was  successful, 
and  was  also  the  means  of  revolutionizing 
the  unfair  school  system  of  the  city,  and  of 
introducing  a plan  which,  though  imperfect, 
provided  some  public  instruction  for  girls. 
After  many  delays  and  defeats,  the  Girls’  High 
School,  in  1872,  was  left  to  occupy  alone  the 
largest,  most  costly,  and  best  equipped  school 
structure  in  the  United  States,  under  the  di- 
rection of  a principal  (Samuel  Eliot,  LL.  D.) 
who  was  recently  a college  president. 

In  1792,  Miss  Pierce  opened  a school  for 
girls  at  Litchfield,  Connecticut,  which  con- 
tinued in  operation  for  forty  years,  and  edu- 
cated large  numbers  of  young  ladies  from 
all  parts  of  the  country.  In  the  same  year, 
at  Philadelphia,  was  incorporated  the  first 
Female  Academy  in  this  country. 

From  about  1797  to  1800,  Rev.  William 
Woodbridge,  father  of  the  well-known  au- 
thor and  educator,  W.  C.  Woodbridge, 
taught  a young  ladies’  school,  at  first  at 
Norwich,  and  afterward  at  Middletown,  Ct. 
He  had  previously  (in  1779)  taught  a class 
of  young  ladies  in  New  Ilaven,  Ct.,  and  a 
Female  Academy  in  1789  at  Medford,  Mass. 

In  1816,  Mrs.  Emma  Willard  commenced 
her  endeavors  to  secure  for  women  the  op- 
portunity of  acquiring  a grade  of  education 
corresponding  to  that  which  colleges  furnish 
to  the  other  sex.  The  eminent  success  and 
excellence  of  her  celebrated  school  at  Troy 
arc  well  known ; and  an  important  conse- 
quence of  her  labors  was,  that  female  semi- 
naries were  admitted  to  receive  aid  from  the 
literature  fund  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
on  the  same  terms  with  the  male  academics. 

From  1818  to  1830,  Rev.  Joseph  Emerson 
conducted  a young  ladies’  school  of  high  rep- 
utation and  efficiency,  successively  at  Byfield 
and  Saugus,  Mass.,  and  Wethersfield,  Conn,  j 


In  1823,  George  B.  Emerson,  LL.  D.,  opened 
a young  ladies’  school  at  Boston,  probably 
with  a more  complete  outfit  than  any  which 
had  preceded  it.  Soon  after,  the  well-known 
school  of  Mr,  Kingsbury,  an  institution  of 
similar  grade  and  excellence,  was  opened  at 
Providence.  Miss  Z.  P.  Grant  and  Miss 
Mary  Lyon,  both  pupils  of  Rev.  J.  Emerson, 
were  associated  in  the  conduct  of  an  ex- 
cellent school  for  young  ladies  at  Ipswich, 
Mass.,  in  1821.  The  energetic  and  perse- 
vering labors  of  Miss  Lyon,  with  the  pur- 
pose of  establishing  a permanent  Protestant 
school  of  high  grade  for  young  ladies,  re- 
sulted in  the  establishment  of  the  celebrated 
seminary  at  South  Hadley,  which  was 
opened  in  1837.  In  1839  the  first  Normal 
School  for  female  teachers  was  opened  at 
Framingham. 

In  1822,  Miss  Catherine  E.  Beecher  open- 
ed a school  for  young  ladies  at  Hartford, 
Conn.,  which  she  conducted  with  eminent 
success  for  ten  years.  She  afterward  taught 
for  a short  period  at  Cincinnati,  but  her  la- 
bors for  female  education  have  subsequently 
consisted  in  various  publications,  and  in  the 
management  of  an  extended  scheme  for  a 
system  of  Christian  female  education,  in- 
cluding a national  board,  high  schools,  and 
normal  schools ; which  has  resulted  in  the 
establishment  of  several  valuable  institutions. 

In  1825,  at  Wilbraham,  Mass.,  was  open- 
ed the  first  of  the  Methodist  Conference 
seminaries — institutions  whose  plan  has  sub- 
stantially followed  that  of  the  Wilbraham 
Seminary,  which  was  drawn  up  by  Rev. 
Wilbur  Fiske,  its  first  principal,  and  ad- 
mitted young  women  as  well  as  young  men 
to  their  advantages.  Ten  years  later,  Ober- 
lin  College,  at  first  with  no  higher  range  of 
studies,  but  since  largely  increased,  extend- 
ed all  its  courses  to  females  as  well  as  males, 
and  fifty  years  later  Cornell  University,  with 
public  and  private  endowments  out  of  which 
$2,000,000  will  be  realized,  has  opened  all 
its  optional  classes  and  schools,  and  all  its 
degrees  to  aspirants  of  both  sexes  on  the 
same  conditions.  In  the  number  of  largely 
endowed  female  institutions  is  the  Packer 
Collegiate  Institute  at  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  which 
had  previously  existed  as  the  Brooklyn  Insti- 
tute, and  received  its  present  name  in  con- 
sequence of  the  munificent  gift  of  $85,000 
by  Mrs.  Harriet  L.  Packer  of  that  city;  and 
Vassar  Female  College  at  Poughkeepsie, 
N.  Y.,  for  which  the  vast  sum  of  $800,000  has 
I been  given  by  Matthew  Vassar,  of  that  city. 


458 


EDUpATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


III.  COLLEGES,  OR  SUPERIOR  INSTRUCTION. 

INTRODUCTION. 

At  the  close  of  the  Colonial  period  of  onr 
educational  history,  we  have  already  noticed 
the  fact  of  the  existence  of  seven  Colleges, — 
Harvard,  William  and  Mary,  Yale,  Nassau 
Hall,  Rutgers,  Brown,  and  Kings — all  of 
them  founded  on  a common  type,  all  of 
them  including,  as  an  essential  part  of  their 
curriculum,  the  study  of  Latin  and  Greek, 
with  special  reference  to  the  wants  of  the 
church,  while  they  were  all  avowedly  pre- 
paratory to  the  “ learned  professions  of  the- 
ology, law,  and  medicine  ” generally.  By 
degrees  the  term  University  came  to  be  ap- 
plied to  this  class  of  institutions — which, 
without  changing  in  any  essential  particular 
the  aims  or  studies  of  the  American  College, 
has  perverted  and  belittled  one  of  the  most 
significant  and  noblest  terms  in  the  annals 
of  human  culture.  We  have  yet  not  a sin- 
gle institution  which,  by  the  independent 
test  of  its  admission,  and  the  optional  range 
of  its  instruction,  based  on  a preliminary  in- 
stitutional drill  in  the  elementary  principles 
of  received  science,  is  entitled  to  the  desig- 
nation of  University  in  its  best  European 
sense.  Our  Universities,  so  called,  with  few 
honorable  exceptions,  can  not,  without  great 
latitude  of  construction,  be  admitted  into 
the  classification  of  American  Colleges;  and 
great  injury  has  been  done  to  higher  learn- 
ing in  this  country  by  the  indiscriminate 
incorporation  of  associations,  all  avowedly 
sectarian  in  their  constitution  and  aims,  with 
power  to  grant  academic  degrees,  under  the 
name  of  a college  or  university. 

Condition  of  American  Colleges  about  1800. 

The  following  account  of  all  the  Colleges 
in  operation  in  1796  is  taken  from  Winter- 
botham’s  Historical,  Geographical , Commer- 
cial and  Philosophical  View  of  the  United 
States , published  in  four  volumes  in  London 
in  1796.  The  information  was  obtained  by 
personal  inquiries,  and  from  such  sources  as 
Morse,  Webster,  Wirtherspoon,  <kc.  We 
have  added  a few  paragraphs  and  notes 
respecting  institutions  omitted  by  the  above 
author,  to  make  the  account  complete  to  the 
beginning  of  this  century. 

Massachusetts. — Harvard  University 

takes  its  date  from  the  year  1638.  Two 
years  before,  the  General  Court  gave  four 
hundred  pounds  for  the  support  of  a public 


school  at  Newtown,  which  has  since  been 
called  Cambridge.  This  year  (1638)  the 
Rev.  Mr.  John  Harvard,  a worthy  minister 
residing  in  Charlestown,  died,  and  left  a dona- 
tion of  seven  hundred  and  seventy-nine 
pounds,  for  the  use  of  the  fore-mentioned 
public  school.  In  honor  to  the  memory  of 
so  liberal  a benefactor,  the  General  Court, 
the  same  year,  ordered  that  the  school  should 
take  the  name  of  Harvard  College. 

In  1642,  the  college  was  put  upon  a more 
respectable  footing,  and  the  governor,  dep- 
uty  governor,  and  magistrates,  and  the  min- 
isters of  the  six  next  adjacent  towns,  with 
the  president,  were  erected  into  a corpora- 
tion for  the  ordering  and  managing  its  con- 
cerns. It  received  its  first  charter  in  1650. 

Cambridge,  in  which  the  university  is  sit- 
uated, is  a pleasant  village,  four  miles  west- 
ward from  Boston,  containing  a number  of 
elegant  seats,  which  are  neat  and  well-built. 
The  university  consists  of  four  elegant  brick 
edifices,  handsomely  inclosed.  They  stand 
on  a beautiful  green,  which  spreads  to  the 
north-west,  and  exhibit  a pleasing  view. 

The  names  of  the  several  buildings  are, 
Harvard  Hall,  Massachusetts  Hall,  Hollis 
Hall,  and  Holden  Chapel.  Harvard  Hall 
is  divided  into  six  apartments ; one  of  which 
is  appropriated  for  the  library,  one  for  the 
museum,  two  for  the  philosophical  appara- 
tus ; one  is  used  for  a chapel,  and  the  other 
for  a dining  hall.  The  library,  in  1791,  con- 
sisted of  upwards  of  thirteen  thousand  vol- 
umes ; and  is  continually  increasing  from  the 
interest  of  permanent  funds,  as  well  as  from 
casual  benefactions.  The  philosophical  ap- 
paratus belonging  to  this  university,  cost 
between  one  thousand  four  hundred,  and 
one  thousand  five  hundred  pounds  sterling, 
and  is  the  most  elegant  and  complete  of  any 
in  America. 

Agreeable  to  the  present  constitution  of 
Massachusetts,  his  Excellency  the  Governor, 
Lieutenant-governor,  the  Council  and  Senate, 
the  President  of  the  University,  and  the 
ministers  of  the  congregational  churches  in 
the  towns  of  Boston,  Charlestown,  Cam- 
bridge, Watertown,  Roxbury,  and  Dorches- 
ter, are,  ex  ojjiciis,  overseers  of  the  university. 

The  corporation  is  a distinct  body,  con- 
sisting of  seven  members,  in  whom  is  vested 
the  property  of  the  university. 

Harvard  University  has  a President,  Em- 
eritus Professor  of  Divinity, — Ilollisian  Pro- 
fessor of  Divinity, — Hancock  Professor  of 
Hebrew  and  other  Oriental  languages, — IIol- 


COLLEGES,  OR  SUPERIOR  INSTURCTION. 


459 


lis  Professor  of  Mathematics  and  Natural 
Philosophy — Hersey  Professor  of  Anatomy 
and  Surgery, — Hersey  Professor  of  the 
theory  and  practice  of  Physic, — Erving  Pro- 
fessor of  Chemistry  and  Materia  Medica, — 
four  tutors,  who  teach  the  Greek  and  Latin 
languages,  logic,  metaphysics,  and  ethics, 
geography,  and  the  elements  of  geometry, 
natural  philosophy,  astronomy,  and  history ; 
and  a preceptor  of  the  French  language. 

This  university,  as  to  its  library,  philo- 
sophical apparatus  and  professorships,  is  at 
present  the  first  literary  institution  on  the 
American  continent.  Since  its  first  estab- 
lishment, upwards  of  three  thousand  three 
hundred  students  have  received  honorary 
degrees  from  its  successive  officers ; about 
one-third  of  whom  have  been  ordained  to 
the  work  of  the  gospel  ministry.  It  has 
generally  from  one  hundred  and  thirty  to 
one  hundred  and  sixty  students. 

This  university  is  liberally  endowed,  and 
is  frequently  receiving  donations  for  the  es- 
tablishment of  new  professorships.  For- 
merly there  was  an  annual  grant  made  by  the 
legislature  to  the  president  and  professors, 
of  from  four  to  five  hundred  pounds,  which 
for  several  years  past  has  been  discontinued. 

[Williams  College  grew  out  of  the  avails 
of  land  and  other  property  left  by  will  of 
Col.  Ephraim  Williams,  dated  July  22, 1755, 
“for  the  support  of  a Free  School  in  a 
township  west  of  Fort  Massachusetts.”  The 
land  was  in  part  a grant  of  200  acres  made 
to  him  by  the  General  Court  of  Massachu- 
setts for  military  service  in  the  French  war 
from  1740  to  1748.  In  1785  a body  of 
trustees  to  maintain  a free  school  in  Wil- 
liamstown  was  incorporated  by  the  legisla- 
ture, a building  erected,  and  a school  opened 
in  the  same  in  1791,  with  two  departments 
— a grammar-school  or  academy,  with  a col- 
lege course,  and  an  English  free  school.  In 
1793  this  school,  by  act  of  the  legislature, 
became  Williams  College,  with  a grant  of 
$4,000  from  the  State  to  purchase  books  and 
philosophical  apparatus.  The  requirements 
for  entering  the  college  were,  ability  “ to 
read,  parse  and  construe,  to  the  satisfaction 
of  the  president  and  tutor,  Virgil’s  vEneid, 
Tully’s  Orations,  and  the  Evangelists,  in 
Greek  ; or  if  he  prefers  to  become  acquainted 
with  French,  he  must  be  able  to  read,  with 
a tolerable  degree  of  accuracy  and  fluency, 
Hudson’s  French  Scholars’  Guide,  Teie- 
muclius,  or  some  other  approved  French 
author.] 


Virginia.* — The  college  of  William  and 
Marv  was  founded  in  the  time  of  King 
William  and  Queen  Mary  [1692],  who  grant- 
ed to  it  twenty  thousand  acres  of  land,  and 
a penny  a pound  duty  on  certain  tobaccos 
exported  from  Virginia  and  Maryland,  which 
had  been  levied  by  the  statute  of  25  Car. 
II.  The  Assembly  also  gave  it,  by  tempo- 
rary laws,  a duty  on  liquors  imported,  and 
skius  and  furs  exported.  From  these  re- 
sources it  received  upwards  of  three  thou- 
sand pounds.  The  buildings  are  of  brick, 
sufficient  for  an  indifferent  accommodation 
of  perhaps  one  hundred  students.  By  its 
charter  it  was  to  be  under  the  government 
of  twenty  visitors,  who  were  to  be  its  legis- 
lators, and  to  have  a president  and  six 
professors,  who  were  incorporated : it  was 
allowed  a representative  in  the  General  As- 
sembly. Under  this  charter,  a professor- 
ship of  the  Greek  and  Latin  languages,  a 
professor  of  mathematics,  one  of  moral  phi- 
losophy, and  two  of  divinity,  were  estab- 
lished. To  these  were  annexed,  for  a sixth 
professorship,  a considerable  donation  by  a 
Mr.  Boyle  of  England,  for  the  instruction 
of  the  Indians,  and  their  conversion  to 
Christianity : this  was  called  the  professor- 
ship of  Brasserton,  from  an  estate  of  that 
name  in  England,  purchased  with  the  moneys 
given.  The  admission  of  the  learners  of 
Latin  and  Greek  filled  the  college  with 
children  ; this  rendering  it  disagreeable  to 
the  young  gentlemen  already  prepared  for 
entering  on  the  sciences,  they  desisted  from 
resorting  to  it,  and  thus  the  schools  for 
mathematics  and  moral  philosophy,  which 
might  have  been  of  some  service,  became 
of  very  little  use.  The  revenues,  too,  were 
exhausted  in  accommodating  those  who 
came  only  to  acquire  the  rudiments  of 
science.  After  the  present  revolution,  the 
visitors  having  no  power  to  change  those 
circumstances  in  the  constitution  of  the 
college  which  were  fixed  by  the  charter, 
and  being  therefore  confined  in  the  number 
of  professorships,  undertook  to  change 

* In  1619  n gift  of  500/.  wns  mnde  to  the  Virginia  Company 
to  aid  in  the  education  of  Indian  youths.  Collections  were 
tnken  up  in  the  Churches  of  England,  by  which  10,500/.  were 
realized,  and  the  company  appropriated  10,000  acres  of  land  at 
Henrico,  a little  below  the  present  site  of  Richmond.  Rev. 
Mr.  Copeland  wns  made  president,  and  George  Thorpe,  with 
50  tenants,  sent  over  in  1621  to  improve  the  land.  These  were 
all  slnin  by  the  Indians  in  the  great  massacre  of  1622,  and  the 
project  of  the  college  was  abandoned.  In  1666  an  attempt  wns 
made  in  the  Assembly  to  establish  a college  for  the  supp'y  of 
the  ministry  and  the  promotion  of  piety.”  In  1692  a charter 
was  obtained  from  the  government  in  England  through  the 
agency  of  Rev.  James  lllnir,  who  became  its  president,  nod  the 
assistance  of  Lieut.  Governor  Nicholson,  and  was  culled  after 
its  royal  founders,  Willium  and  Mary. 


4C0 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


the  objects  of  the  professorships.  They 
excluded  the  two  schools  for  divinity,  and 
that  for  the  Greek  and  Latin  languages,  and 
substituted  others;  so  that  at  present  they 
stand  thus — a professorship  for  law  and  po- 
lice ; anatomy  and  medicine  ; natural  phi- 
losophy and  mathematics;  moral  philoso- 
phy, the  law  of  nature  and  nations,  the 
fine  arts ; modern  lano-uao'es  ; for  the  Bras- 
serton. 

Measures  have  been  taken  to  increase 
the  number  of  professorships,  as  well  for 
the  purpose  of  subdividing  those  already 
instituted,  as  of  adding  others  for  other 
branches  of  science.  To  the  professorships 
usually  established  in  the  universities  of 
Europe,  it  would  seem  proper  to  add  one 
for  the  ancient  languages  and  literature  of 
the  north,  on  account  of  their  connection 
with  our  own  languages,  laws,  customs,  and 
history.  The  purposes  of  the  Brasserton 
institution  would  be  better  answered  by 
maintaining  a perpetual  mission  among  the 
Indian  tribes;  the  object  of  which,  besides 
instructing  them  in  the  principles  of 
Christianity,  as  the  founder  requires,  should 
be  to  collect  their  traditions,  laws,  customs, 
languages,  and  other  circumstances  which 
might  lead  to  a discovery  of  their  relation 
to  one  another,  or  descent  from  other  na- 
tions. When  these  objects  are  accomplished 
with  one  tribe,  the  missionary  might  pass 
on  to  another. 

The  college  edifice  is  a huge,  misshapen 
pile  ; “ which,  but  that  it  has  a root,  would 
be  taken  for  a brick-kiln.”  In  1787,  there 
were  about  thirty  young  gentlemen  mem- 
bers of  this  college,  a large  proportion  of 
which  were  law  students. 

The  academy  in  Prince  Edward  county 
has  been  erected  into  a college  by  the  name 
of  Hampden  Sydney  college.  It  has  been 
a flourishing  seminary,  but  is  now  said  to 
be  on  the  decline. 

Connecticut. — Yale  College  was  founded 
in  1700,  and  remained  at  Killingworth  until 
1707;  then  at  Saybrook  until  1716,  when 
it  was  removed  and  fixed  at  New  Haven. 
Among  its  principal  benefactors  was  Gov- 
ernor Yale,  in  honor  of  whom,  in  1718,  it 
was  named  Yale  College.  Its  first  building 
was  erected  in  1 7 1 7,  being  one  hundred 
and  seventy  feet  in  length,  and  twenty-two 
in  breadth,  built  of  wTood.  This  was  taken 
down  in  1782.  The  present  college,  which 
is  of  brick,  was  built  in  1750,  under  the 
direction  of  the  Rev.  President  Clap,  and 


is  one  hundred  feet  long  and  forty  feet  wide, 
three  stories  high,  and  contains  thirty-two 
chambers,  and  sixty-four  studies,  convenient 
for  the  reception  of  one  hundred  students. 
The  college  chapel,  which  is  also  of  brick, 
was  built  in  1761,  being  fifty  feet  by  forty, 
with  a steeple  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  feet  high.  In  this  building  is  the 
public  library,  consisting  of  about  two  thou- 
sand five  hundred  volumes ; and  the  philo- 
sophical apparatus,  which,  by  a late  hand- 
some addition,  is  now  as  complete  as  most 
others  in  the  United  States,  and  contains 
the  machines  necessary  for  exhibiting  ex- 
periments in  the  whole  course  of  experi- 
mental philosophy  and  astronomy.  The 
college  museum,  to  which  additions  are 
constantly  making,  contains  many  natural 
curiosities. 

This  literary  institution  was  incorporated 
by  the  General  Assembly  of  Connecticut. 
The  first  charter  of  incorporation  was  grant- 
ed to  eleven  ministers,  under  the  denomina- 
tion of  trustees,  in  1701.  The  powers  of 
the  trustees  were  enlarged  by  the  additional 
charter  of  1723.  And  by  that  of  1745,  the 
trustees  were  incorporated  by  the  name  of 
“ The  president  and  fellows  of  Yale  College, 
New  Haven.”  By  an  act  of  the  General 
Assembly  “ for  enlarging  the  powers  and 
increasing  the  funds  of  Yale  College,”  passed 
in  May,  1792,  and  accepted  by  the  corpora- 
tion, the  governor,  lieutenant-governor,  and 
the  six  senior  assistants  in  the  council  of 
the  State  for  the  time  being,  are  ever  here- 
after, by  virtue  of  their  offices,  to  be  trus- 
tees and  fellows  of  the  college,  in  addition 
to  the  former  corporation.  The  corpora- 
tion are  empowered  to  hold  estates,  con- 
tinue their  succession,  make  academic  laws, 
elect  and  constitute  all  officers  of  instruc- 
tion and  government  usual  in  universities, 
and  confer  all  learned  degrees.  The  imme- 
diate executive  government  is  in  the  hands 
of  the  president  and  tutors.  The  present 
officers  and  instructors  of  the  college  are, 
a president,  who  is  also  professor  of  eccle- 
siastical history,  a professor  of  divinity,  and 
three  tutors.  The  number  of  students,  on 
an  average,  is  about  130,  divided  into  four 
classes.  It  is  worthy  of  remark,  that  as 
many  as  five-sixths  of  those  who  have  re- 
ceived their  education  at  this  university, 
were  natives  of  Connecticut. 

The  funds  of  this  college  received  a 
very  liberal  addition  by  a grant  of  the 
General  Assembly,  iu  the  act  of  1792 


COLLEGES,  OR  SUPERIOR  INSTRUCTION. 


461 


before  mentioned ; which  will  enable  the 
corporation  to  erect  a new  building  for  the 
accommodation  of  the  students,  to  support 
several  new  professorships,  and  to  make  a 
handsome  addition  to  the  library. 

The  course  of  education  in  this  university 
comprehends  the  whole  circle  of  literature. 
The  three  learned  languages  are  taught, 
together  with  so  much  of  the  sciences  as 
can  be  communicated  in  four  years. 

In  May  and  September,  annually,  the 
several  classes  are  critically  examined  in  all 
their  classical  studies.  As  incentives  to 
improvement  in  composition  and  oratory, 
quarterly  exercises  are  appointed  by  the 
president  and  tutors,  to  be  exhibited  by 
the  respective  classes  in  rotation.  A pub- 
lic commencement  is  held  annually  on  the 
second  Wednesday  in  September,  which 
calls  together  a more  numerous  and  bril- 
liant assembly,  than  are  convened  by  any 
other  anniversary  in  the  State. 

About  two  thousand  two  hundred  have 
received  the  honors  of  this  university,  of 
whom  nearly  seven  hundred  and  sixty  have 
been  ordained  to  the  work  of  the  gospel 
ministry. 

[Wansey,  in  his  Journal  of  an  Excursion 
to  the  United  States  of  North  America  in 
1794,  thus  speaks  of  the  college:  I went 

over  to  the  college,  which  stands  in  the 
market-place.  It  consist  of  two  brick 
edifices,  one  hundred  feet  long  and  three 
stories  high.  It  was  founded  in  the  year 
1700;  it  was  but  in  bad  condition  when  I 
saw  it;  very  dirty,  particularly  the  library. 
The  books  were  numerous,  but  very  old  and 
in  bad  condition ; two  large  globes  of 
Senex’s,  a large  electrical  apparatus,  a good 
reflecting  telescope,  and  a cabinet  of  curios- 
ities, with  which  I was  much  entertained  ; 
viz.,  Indian  helmets,  curiously  woven  with 
feathers ; warlike  dresses  and  belts  of  wam- 
pum. Two  large  teeth  of  the  mammoth, 
found  on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio,  in  the 
shape  of  human  cheek  teeth ; I measured 
them  with  my  handkerchief,  and  applied  it  to 
a foot  rule,  and  found  their  dimensions  to 
be  twenty-two  inches  round  horizontally, 
and  twenty  inches  long  when  I measured 
longitudinally,  over  the  tops  and  between 
the  roots.  The  skins  of  two  beautifully 
spotted  snakes,  eighteen  feet  long,  from 
South  America;  an  Indian  calumet  or  pipe 
of  peace ; a young  alligator,  preserved  in 
spirits;  instruments  of  war  and  of  fishing, 
from  Nootka  Sound.  Cloth  made  at 
28* 


Otaheite.  A curious  frog,  with  a long  tail 
like  a lizard.  Several  pieces  of  asbestos 
found  in  that  neighborhood.  But  what 
most  particularly  struck  me,  was  a snake 
with  two  distinct  heads;  I asked  the  libra- 
rian whether  this  was  not  considered  as  a 
monster,  a lusus  naturce?  He  assured  me 
not,  and  that  in  that  neighborhood  they 
had  often  been  found  alive.  This  one  was 
preserved  in  spirits,  in  size,  color,  and  shape, 
like  our  flow  worm , about  eight  or  nine 
inches  long;  the  two  heads  were  of  the 
same  size,  and  every  way  perfect,  branching 
off  equally  from  the  trunk,  in  opposite  direc- 
tions, one  inch  and  a quarter  in  length.  1 
afterwards  saw  at  Philadelphia,  in  Peale’s 
museum,  two  others  of  this  sort,  only  that 
one  of  them  had  three  heads ; neither  of 
them  in  a straight  direction  with  the  body. 
I did  not  see  Dr.  Stiles,  the  president  of  the 
college,  he  was  gone  to  New  York  that  day. 
The  students  had  all  been  dismissed  to  their 
respective  homes,  three  months  before,  on 
account  of  the  epidemic  or  putrid  fever 
which  then  raged  in  the  town.] 

New  Jersey. — There  are  two  colleges  in 
New  Jersey;  one  at  Princetown,  called  Nas- 
sau Hall,  the  other  at  Brunswick,  called 
Queen’s  College. 

The  college  at  Princetown  was  first 
founded  by  charter  from  John  Hamilton, 
Esq.,  President  of  the  Council,  about  the 
year  1738,  and  enlarged  by  Governor 
Belcher  in  1747.  The  charter  delegates  a 
power  of  granting  to  “the  students  of  said 
college,  or  to  any  others  thought  worthy  of 
them,  all  such  degrees  as  are  granted  in 
either  of  the  universities,  or  any  other  col- 
lege in  Great  Britain.”  It  has  twenty-three 
trustees.  The  governor  of  the  State,  and 
the  president  of  the  college  are  ex  ofliciis, 
two  of  them.  It  has  an  annual  income  of 
about  nine  hundred  pounds  currency,  of 
which  two  hundred  pounds  arise  from 
funded  public  securities  and  lands,  and  the 
rest  from  the  fees  of  the  students. 

The  president  of  the  college  is  also  pro- 
fessor of  eloquence,  criticism  and  chronol- 
ogy. The  vice-president  is  also  professor 
of  divinity  and  moral  philosophy.  There  is 
also  a professor  of  mathematics  and  natural 
philosophy,  and  two  masters  of  languages. 
The  four  classes  in  college  contain  commonly 
from  seventy  to  one  hundred  students. 
There  is  a grammar-school  of  about  twenty 
scholars  connected  with  the  college,  under 
the  superintendence  of  the  president,  and 


462 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


taught  sometimes  by  a senior  scholar,  and 
sometimes  by  a graduate. 

Before  the  war,  this  college  was  furnished 
with  a philosophical  apparatus,  worth  five 
hundred  pounds,  which  (except  the  elegant 
orrery  constructed  by  Mr.  Rittenhouse)  was 
almost  entirely  destroyed  by  the  British 
array  in  the  late  war,  as  was  also  the  library, 
which  now  consists  of  between  two  and 
three  thousand  volumes. 

The  college  edifice  is  handsomely  built 
with  stone,  and  is  one  hundred  and  eighty 
feet  in  length,  fifty-four  in  breadth,  and 
four  stories  high,  and  is  divided  into  forty- 
two  convenient  chambers  for  the  accommo- 
dation of  the  students,  besides  a dining-hall, 
chapel,  and  room  for  the  library.  Its  situa- 
tion is  elevated,  and  exceedingly  pleasant 
and  healthful.  It  is  remarkable,  that  since 
the  removal  of  the  college  to  Princetown,  in 
1756,  there  have  been  but  five  or  six  deaths 
among  the  students.  The  view  from  the 
college  balcony  is  extensive  and  charming. 

The  college  has  been  under  the  care  of  a 
succession  of  presidents,  eminent  for  piety 
and  learning,  and  has  furnished  a number  of 
civilians,  divines  and  physicians,  of  the  first 
rank  in  America. 

The  charter  for  Queen’s  College,  at  Bruns- 
wick, was  granted  [1770]  just  before  the  war, 
in  consequence  of  an  application  from  a party 
of  the  Dutch  church.  Its  funds,  raised 
wholly  by  free  donations,  amounted,  soon 
after  its  establishment,  to  four  thousand 
pounds,  but  they  were  considerably  dimin- 
ished by  the  war.  The  grammar  school, 
which  is  connected  with  the  college,  con- 
sists of  between  thirty  and  forty  students, 
under  the  care  of  the  trustees.  The  college 
at  present  is  not  in  a very  flourishing  state. 

New  York. — Until  the  year  1745,  there 
was  no  college  in  the  province  of  New  York. 
The  state  of  literature,  at  that  time,  I shall 
give  in  the  words  of  the  state  historian : * 
“ Our  schools  are  in  the  lowest  order ; the 
instructors  want  instruction,  and  through  a 
long  and  shameful  neglect  of  all  the  arts  and 
sciences,  our  common  speech  is  extremely 
corrupt,  and  the  evidences  of  a bad  taste, 
both  as  to  thought  and  language,  are  visible 
in  all  our  proceedings,  public  and  private.” 
This  may  have  been  a just  representation 
at  the  time  when  it  was  written ; but  much 
attention  has  since  been  paid  to  education. 

Kings  College,  in  the  city  of  New  York, 
was  principally  founded  by  the  voluntary 

♦Smith's  History  of  New  York,  London,  1757. 


contributions  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  prov- 
ince, assisted  by  the  General  Assembly,  and 
the  corporation  of  Trinity  Church ; in  the 
year  1754,  a royal  charter  (and  grant  of 
money)  being  then  obtained,  incorporating 
a number  of  gentlemen  therein  mentioned, 
by  the  name  of  “ The  Governors  of  the 
College  of  the  Province  of  New  York,  in 
the  city  of  New  York,  in  America;  and 
granting  to  them  and  their  successors  for 
ever,  amongst  various  other  rights  and  priv- 
ileges, the  power  of  conferring  all  such  de- 
grees as  are  usually  conferred  by  either  of 
the  English  universities. 

By  the  charter  it  was  provided  that  the 
president  shall  alwTays  be  a member  of  the 
church  of  England,  and  that  a form  of  prayer 
collected  from  the  liturgy  of  that  church, 
with  a particular  prayer  for  the  college,  shall 
be  daily  used,  morning  and  evening,  in  the 
college  chapel ; at  the  same  time,  no  test  of 
their  religious  persuasion  was  required  from 
any  of  the  fellows,  professors,  or  tutors ; and 
the  advantages  of  education  were  equally 
extended  to  students  of  all  denominations. 

The  building,  which  is  only  one-third  of 
the  intended  structure,  consists  of  an  elegant 
stone  edifice,  three  complete  stories  high, 
with  four  stair  cases,  twelve  apartments  in 
each,  a chapel,  hall,  library,  museum,  ana- 
tomical theatre,  and  school  for  experimental 
philosophy. 

The  college  is  situated  on  a dry,  gravelly 
soil,  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  from 
the  bank  of  Hudson’s  river,  which  it  over- 
looks; commanding  a most  extensive  and 
beautiful  prospect  (now  solid  warehouses). 

Kings  College  is  now  called  Columbia 
College.  This  college,  by  an  act  of  the 
legislature  passed  in  the  spring  of  1787,  was 
put  under  the  care  of  twenty-four  gentlemen, 
who  are  a body  corporate,  by  the  name  and 
style  of  “ The  Trustees  of  Columbia  College 
in  the  city  of  New  York.”  This  body  pos- 
sess all  the  powers  vested  in  the  governors 
of  Kings  College  before  the  revolution,  or  in 
the  regents  of  the  university  since  the  revo- 
lution, so  far  as  their  power  respected  this 
institution.  No  regent  can  be  a trustee  of 
any  particular  college  or  academy  in  the 
State.  The  regents  of  the  university  have 
power  to  confer  the  higher  degrees,  and 
them  only. 

The  college  edifice  has  received  no  addi- 
tions since  the  peace.  The  funds,  exclusive 
of  the  liberal  grant  of  the  legislature, 
amount  to  between  twelve  and  thirteen  thou- 


COLLEGES,  OR  SUPERIOR  INSTRUCTION. 


463 


sand  pounds  currency,  the  income  of  which 
is  sufficient  for  present  exigencies. 

This  college  is  now  in  a thriving  state, 
and  has  about  one  hundred  students  in  the 
four  classes,  besides  medical  students.  The 
officers  of  instruction  and  immediate  gov- 
ernment are  a president,  professor  of  math- 
ematics and  natural  philosophy,  a professor 
of  logic  and  geography,  and  a professor  of 
languages.  A complete  medical  school  has 
been  lately  annexed  to  the  college,  and  able 
professors  appointed  by  the  trustees  in  every 
branch  of  that  important  science,  who  regu- 
larly teach  their  respective  branches  with 
reputation.  The  number  of  medical  stu- 
dents is  about  fifty,  but  they  are  increasing. 
The  library  and  museum  were  destroyed 
during  the  war.  The  philosophical  appara- 
tus is  new  and  complete. 

[Union  College,  at  Schenectady,  received 
its  charter  from  the  Regents  of  the  Univer- 
sity in  1795,  but  owing  to  inadequate  means 
and  the  short  administrations  of  its  first 
three  presidents,  John  Blair  Smith,  Jonathan 
Edwards  and  Jonathan  Marcy,  the  institution 
did  not  develope  into  a college  until  its  ad- 
ministration was  committed  to  Rev.  Elipha- 
let  Nott,  at  the  time  pastor  of  the  Presby- 
terian church  at  Albany.] 

Rhode  Island. — At  Providence  is  Rhode 
Island  College.  The  charter  for  founding 
this  seminary  of  learning  was  granted  by  the 
General  Assembly  of  the  State,  by  the  name 
of  the  “Trustees  and  Fellows  of  the  College 
or  University,  in  the  English  colony  of 
Rhode  Island  and  Providence  Plantations,”* 
in  1764,  in  consequence  of  the  petition  of 
a large  number  of  the  most  respectable 
characters  in  the  State.  By  the  charter,  the 
corporation  of  the  college  consists  of  two 
separate  branches,  with  distinct,  separate, 
and  respective  powers.  The  number  of 
trustees  is  thirty-six,  of  whom  twenty-two 
are  Baptists,  five  of  the  denomination  of 
Friends,  five  Episcopalians,  and  four  Con- 
gregationalists.  The  same  proportion  of  the 
different  denominations  to  continue  in  per- 
petuum.  The  number  of  fellows  (inclusive 
of  the  president,  wh  is  a fellow  ex  officio) 
is  twelve,  of  whom  eight  are  Baptists,  the 
others  chosen  indiscriminately  from  any 
denomination.  The  concurrence  of  both 
branches,  by  a majority  of  each,  is  neces- 
sary for  the  validity  of  an  act,  except  ad- 

•  Thi»  nnme  to  be  nltered  when  any  generou*  benefactor 
Brine*,  who  by  hi»  liberal  donation  shall  entitle  himself  to  the 
honor  of  giving  the  college  a name. 


judging  and  conferring  degrees,  which  ex- 
clusively belongs  to  the  fellowship  as  a 
learned  faculty.  The  president  must  be  a 
Baptist:  professors  and  other  officers  of 
instruction  are  not  limited  to  any  particu- 
lar denomination. 

This  institution  was  first  founded  at 
Warren,  in  the  county  of  Bristol,  and  the 
first  commencement  held  there  in  1769. 

In  the  year  1770,  the  college  was  removed 
to  Providence,  where  a large,  elegant  build- 
ing was  erected  for  its  accommodation,  by 
the  generous  donations  of  individuals,  most- 
ly from  the  town  of  Providence.  It  is 
situated  on  a hill  to  the  east  of  the  town ; 
and  while  its  elevated  situation  renders  it 
delightful,  by  commanding  an  extensive 
variegated  prospect,  it  furnishes  it  with  a 
pure,  salubrious  air.  The  edifice  is  of 
brick,  four  stories  high,  one  hundred  and 
fifty  feet  long,  and  forty-six  wide,  with  a 
projection  of  ten  feet  each  side.  It  has  an 
entry  lengthwise,  with  rooms  on  each  side. 
There  are  forty-eight  rooms  for  the  accom- 
modation of  students,  and  eight  larger  ones 
for  public  uses.  The  roof  is  covered  with 
slate. 

From  December,  1776,  to  June,  1782, 
the  college  edifice  was  used  by  the  French 
and  American  troops  for  an  hospital  and 
barracks,  so  that  the  course  of  education 
was  interrupted  during  that  period.  No 
degrees  were  conferred  from  1776  to  1786. 
From  1786,  the  college  again  became  reg- 
ular, and  is  now  very  flourishing,  contain- 
ing upwards  of  sixty  students. 

This  institution  is  under  the  instruction 
of  a president,  a professor  of  divinity,  a 
professor  of  natural  and  experimental 
philosophy,  a professor  of  mathematics  and 
astronomy,  a professor  of  natural  history, 
and  three  tutors.  The  institution  has  a 
library  of  between  two  and  three  thousand 
volumes,  containing  a valuable  philosophical 
apparatus.  Nearly  all  the  funds  of  the 
college  are  at  interest  in  the  treasury  of  the 
State,  and  amount  to  almost  two  thousand 
pounds. 

Pennsylvania. — The  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania, by  that  name,  was  chartered  in 
1779  by  an  act  which  annulled  the  charter 
of  the  Academy  and  Charitable  School,  ob- 
tained by  Franklin  in  1749,  and  enlarged 
into  a college  in  1755.  By  an  act  of  1789 
the  trustees  and  faculty  of  the  old  college 
were  reinstated,  and  by  an  act  of  1791  the 
two  institutions  were  united  in  the  Univer- 


464 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


sity  of  Pennsylvania.  Winterbotham, 
writing  in  1795,  says:  In  Philadelphia  is 

the  University  of  Pennsylvania,  founded  and 
endowed  by  the  legislature  during  the  war. 
Professorships  are  established  in  all  the  lib- 
eral arts  and  sciences,  and  a complete  course 
of  education  may  be  pursued  here  from  the 
first  rudiments  of  literature  to  the  highest 
branches  of  science. 

The  college  and  academy  of  Philadelphia 
was  founded  by  charter  between  thirty  and 
forty  years  ago,  and  endowed  by  subscrip- 
tion of  liberal  minded  persons.  Though 
this  institution  was  interrupted  in  its  prog- 
ress for  several  years  during  the  late  war, 
yet  being  re-established  since  the  peace,  it 
has  rapidly  recovered  its  former  state  of 
prosperity,  and  to  the  bench  of  professors 
has  lately  been  added  one  of  common  and 
federal  law,  which  renders  it  in  reality, 
though  not  in  name,  an  university.  An  act 
to  unite  these  two  institutions  has  passed  the 
legislature.  By  their  union  they  will  consti- 
tute one  of  the  most  respectable  semina- 
ries of  learning  in  the  United  States. 

Dickinson  College,  at  Carlisle,  an  hun- 
dred and  twenty  miles  westward  of  Phil- 
adelphia, was  founded  in  1783,  and  has  a 
principal,  three  professors,  a philosophical 
apparatus,  a library  consisting  of  nearly 
three  thousand  volumes,  four  thousand 
pounds  in  funded  certificates,  and  ten  thou- 
sand acres  of  land ; the  last,  the  donation 
of  the  State.  In  1787,  there  were  eighty 
students  belonging  to  this  college : this 
number  is  annually  increasing.  It  was 
named  after  his  excellency  John  Dickinson, 
author  of  the  Pennsylvania  Farmer’s  Let- 
ters, and  formerly  president  of  the  Supreme 
Executive  Council  of  this  State. 

In  1787,  a college  was  founded  at  Lancas- 
ter, sixty-six  miles  from  Philadelphia,  and 
honored  with  the  name  of  Franklin  college, 
after  his  excellency,  Dr.  Franklin.  This  col- 
lege is  for  the  Germans,  in  which  they  may 
educate  their  youth  in  their  own  language, 
and  in  conformity  to  their  own  habits.  The 
English  language,  however,  is  taught  in  it. 
Its  endowments  are  nearly  the  same  as 
those  of  Dickinson  College.  Its  trustees 
consist  of  Lutherans,  Presbyterians,  and  Cal- 
vinists, of  each  an  equal  number.  The 
principal  is  a Lutheran,  and  the  vice-princi- 
pal is  a Calvinist. 

Maryland. — In  1782,  a college  was  insti- 
tuted at  Chestertown,  in  Kent  county,  and 
was  honored  with  the  name  of  Washington 


College,  after  President  Washington.  It  is 
under  the  management  of  twenty-four 
visitors  of  governors,  with  power  to  supply 
vacancies  and  hold  estates,  whose  ’yearly 
value  shall  not  exceed  six  thousand  pounds 
current  money.  By  a law  enacted  in  1787, 
a permanent  fund  was  granted  to  this  insti- 
tution of  one  thousand  two  hundred  and 
fifty  pounds  a year,  currency,  out  of  the 
moneys  arising  from  marriage  licenses, 
fines,  and  forfeitures  on  the  eastern  shore. 

St.  Johns  College  was  instituted  in 
1784,  to  have  also  twenty -four  trustees, 
with  power  to  keep  up  the  succession  by 
supplying  vacancies,  and  to  receive  an 
annual  income  of  nine  thousand  pounds. 
A permanent  fund*  is  assigned  this  college, 
of  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty 
pounds  a year,  out  of  the  moneys  arising 
from  marriage  licenses,  ordinary  licenses, 
fines  and  forfeitures,  on  the  western  shore. 
This  college  is  at  Annapolis,  where  a build- 
ing has  been  prepared  for  it.  Very  liberal 
subscriptions  have  been  obtained  towards 
founding  and  carrying  on  these  seminaries. 
The  two  colleges  constitute  one  university, 
by  the  name  of  “the  University  of  Mary- 
land,” whereof  the  governor  of  the  State 
for  the  time  being  is  chancellor,  and  the 
principal  of  one  of  them  vice-chancellor, 
either  by  seniority  or  by  election,  as  may 
hereafter  be  provided  for  by  rule  or  by  law. 
The  chancellor  is  empowered  to  call  a meet- 
ing of  the  trustees,  or  a representation  of 
seven  of  each,  and  two  of  the  members  of 
the  faculty  of  each,  the  principal  being  one, 
which  meeting  is  styled,  “ The  Convocation 
of  the  University  of  Maryland,”  who  are 
to  frame  the  laws,  preserve  uniformity  of 
manners  and  literature  in  the  colleges, 
confer  the  higher  degrees,  determine  ap- 
peals, &c. 

The  Roman  Catholics  have  also  erected  a 
college  at  Georgetown,  [included  in  the 
cession  for  the  District  of  Columbia]  on  the 
Potomac  river,  for  the  promotion  of  general 
literature. 

In  1785,  the  Methodists  instituted  a 
college  at  Abingdon,  in  Harford  county, 
by  the  name  of  Cokesbury  College,  after 
Thomas  Coke,  and  Francis  Ashbury,  bishops 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  The 
college  edifice  is  of  brick,  handsomely 
built  on  a healthy  spot,  enjoying  a fine  air, 
and  a very  extensive  prospect. 

The  students,  who  are  to  consist  of  the 

* Repealed  by  Legislature  in  1804. 


FOUNDING  OF  DARTMOUTH  COLLEGE.  IN  1769.  EngroVtd  111  1839. 


COLLEGES,  OR  SUPERIOR  INSTRUCTION. 


465 


sons  of  traveling  preachers,  of  annual  sub- 
scribers, of  the  members  of  the  Methodist 
society  and  orphans,  are  instructed  in 
English,  Latin,  Greek,  Logic,  Rhetoric,  His- 
tory, Geography,  Natural  Philosophy  and 
Astronomy ; and  when  the  finances  of  the 
college  will  admit,  they  are  to  be  taught  the 
Hebrew,  French,  and  German  languages. 

The  college  was  erected,  and  is  supported 
wholly  by  subscription  and  voluntary  dona- 
tions. 

The  students  have  regular  hours  for  ris- 
ing, for  prayers,  for  their  meals,  for  study, 
and  for  recreation : they  are  all  to  be  in  bed 
precisely  at  nine  o’clock.  Their  recreations, 
(for  they  are  to  be  “ indulged  in  nothing 
which  the  world  calls  play”)  are  gardening, 
walking,  riding,  and  bathing,  without  doors ; 
and  within  doors,  the  carpenter’s,  joiner’s, 
cabinet-maker’s,  or  turner’s  business.  Suit- 
able provision  is  made  for  these  several 
occupations,  which  are  to  be  considered, 
not  as  matters  of  drudgery  and  constraint, 
but  as  pleasing  and  healthful  recreations 
both  for  the  body  and  mind.  Another  of 
their  rules,  which  though  new  and  singular, 
is  favorable  to  the  health  and  vigor  of  the 
body  and  mind,  is,  that  the  students  shall 
not  sleep  on  feather  beds  but  on  mattresses, 
and  each  one  by  himself.  Particular  atten- 
tion is  paid  to  the  morals  and  religion  of 
the  students. 

New  Hampshire. — The  establishment  of 
Dartmouth  College  [founded  by  Eleazer 
Wheelock,  D.  D.,  in  1769,  at  Hanover,  in 
Grafton  county,  with  special  view  to  the 
education  of  young  Indians]  in  the  western 
border  of  the  State,  has  proved  a great  ben- 
efit to  the  new  settlements,  and  to  the  neigh- 
boring State  of  Vermont.  During  the  late 
war,  like  all  other  seminaries  of  literature, 
it  lay  under  discouragement ; but  since  the 
peace  it  is  in  a more  flourishing  situation. 

Its  landed  interest  amounts  to  about 
eighty  thousand  acres,  of  which  twelve  hun- 
dred lie  contiguous,  and  are  capable  of  the 
best  improvement.  Twelve  thousand  acres 
are  situate  in  Vermont.  A tract  of  eight 
miles  square  beyond  the  northern  line  of 
Stuart  town,  was  granted  by  the  Assembly 
of  New  Hampshire  in  1789,  and  in  the  act 
by  which  this  grant  was  made,  “ the  presi- 
dent and  council  of  the  State  for  the  time 
being  are  incorporated  with  the  trustees  of 
the  college,  so  far  as  to  act  with  them  in  re- 
gard to  the  expenditures  and  application  of 
this  grant,  and  of  all  others  which  have  been 


or  may  be  hereafter  made  by  New  Hamp- 
shire.” 

The  revenue  of  the  college  arising  from 
the  lands,  amounts  to  one  hundred  and  forty 
pounds  per  annum.  By  contracts  already 
made  it  will  amount  in  four  years  to  four 
hundred  and  fifty ; and  in  twelve  years  to  six 
hundred  and  fifty  pounds.  The  income 
arising  from  tuition  money  is  about  six  hun- 
dred pounds  per  annum  more. 

The  first  building  erected  for  the  accom- 
modation of  the  students  was  a few  years 
since  burned.  A lottery  was  granted  by  the 
State  for  raising  the  sum  of  seven  hundred 
pounds,  which  has  been  applied  to  the  erec- 
tion of  a new  building,  much  more  conven- 
ient than  the  former ; it  was  constructed  of 
wood,  and  stands  in  an  elevated  situation, 
about  half  a mile  eastward  of  Connecticut 
river  in  the  township  of  Hanover,  com- 
manding an  extensive  and  pleasant  prospect 
to  the  west.  It  is  one  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  long,  fifty  feet  wide,  and  thirty-six  feet 
high,  and  contains  thirty-six  chambers  for 
students.  The  number  of  students  who 
were  graduated  in  the  first  nineteen  years, 
amounts  to  two  hundred  and  fifty-two, 
among  whom  were  two  Indians.  In  the 
year  1790,  the  number  of  undergraduates 
was  about  one  hundred  and  fifty. 

The  students  are  divided  into  four  classes. 
The  freshmen  study  the  learned  languages, 
the  rules  of  speaking  and  writing,  and  the 
elements  of  mathematics. 

The  sophomores  attend  to  the  languages, 
geography,  logic,  and  mathematics. 

The  junior  sophisters,  beside  the  lan- 
guages, enter  on  natural  and  moral  philoso- 
phy and  composition. 

The  senior  class  compose  in  English  and 
Latin ; study  metaphysics,  the  elements  of 
natural  and  political  law. 

The  principal  books  used  by  the  students 
are  Lowth’s  English  Grammar,  Perry’s  Dic- 
tionary, Pike’s  Arithmetic,  Guthrie’s  Geog- 
raphy, Ward’s  Mathematics,  Atkinson’s 
Epitome,  Hammond’s  Algebra,  Martin’s  and 
Enfield’s  Natural  Philosophy,  Ferguson’s 
Astronomy,  Locke’s  Essay,  Montesquieu’s 
Spirit  of  Laws,  and  Burlemaqui’s  Natural 
and  Political  Law. 

Besides  these  studies,  lectures  arc  read  to 
the  scholars  in  theology  and  ecclesiastical 
history. 

Kentucky. — The  legislature  of  Virginia, 
while  Kentucky  made  a part  of  that  State, 
made  provision  for  a college  in  it,  and  cn- 


466 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


dowed  it  with  very  considerable  landed 
funds;  and  a library  for  its  use  was  for- 
warded thither  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  John  Todd 
of  Virginia,  (after  obtaining  the  consent  of 
the  Rev.  Dr.  Gordon)  while  an  inhabitant 
of  the  Massachusetts  State.  This  library 
was  mostly  formed  in  the  following  manner : 
An  epistolary  acquaintance  having  com- 
menced between  Mr.  Todd  and  Dr.  Gordon, 
through  the  influence  of  their  common 
friend,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Samuel  Davis,  long 
since  deceased,  a letter  was  received  about 
the  end  of  1764,  or  beginning  of  1765,  from 
Mr.  Todd,  in  which  he  expressed  a desire 
of  obtaining  a library  and  some  philosophi- 
cal apparatus,  to  improve  the  education  of 
some  young  persons,  who  were  designed  for 
the  ministry.  Dr.  Gordon  being  then  set- 
tled at  London,  upon  application  obtained 
a few  annual  subscriptions,  with  several  do- 
nations of  money,  and  of  books,  which  were 
not  closed  till  after  March,  1769.  During 
that  period  he  received  in  cash,  including 
his  own  subscription,  eighty  pounds  two 
shillings  and  sixpence.  The  late  worthy 
John  Thornton,  Esq.,  contributed  fifty 
pounds  of  it,  by  the  hand  of  the  Rev.  Mr. 
(afterwards  Dr.)  Wilson,  who  also  gave  in 
books  ten  pounds.  Among  the  contribu- 
tors still  living,  beside  Dr.  Gordon  himself, 
are  the  Rev.  Mr.  Towle,  Messrs.  Fuller, 
Samuel,  and  Thomas  Statton,  Charles  Jer- 
dein,  David  Jennings,  Jonathan  Eade,  Jo- 
seph Ainsley,  and  John  Field  of  Thames 
street. 

Of  the  money  collected,  twenty-eight 
pounds  ten  shillings  was  paid  to  the  late 
Mr.  Ribright,  for  an  air-pump,  microscope, 
telescope,  and  prisms,  thorough  good,  but 
not  new.  Cases,  shipping,  freight,  insur- 
ance, &c.,  at  four  different  periods,  came 
to  eight  pounds  eleven  shillings  and  six- 
pence. The  forty-three  pounds  one  shilling 
was  laid  out  to  the  best  advantage  in  pur- 
chasing a variety  of  books,  which,  with  those 
that  were  given,  are  supposed  to  make  the 
main  part  of  the  Lexington  Library.* 

North  Carolina. — The  General  Assem- 
bly of  North  Carolina,  in  December,  1789, 
passed  a law  incorporating  forty  gentlemen, 
live  from  each  district,  as  trustees  of  the 
university  of  North  Carolina;  to  this  uni- 
versity they  gave,  by  a subsequent  law,  all 
the  debts  due  to  the  State  from  sheriffs  or 

* As  this  nccount  of  the  library  is  essentially  different  from 
that  given  by  Mr.  Morse,  and  every  other  writer  we  have  met 
with,  the  editor  thinks  it  right  to  inform  the  public,  that  he 
inserts  the  above  at  the  desire  of  the  Rev.  Dr.  Gordon  himself. 


other  holders  of  public  money,  and  which 
had  been  due  before  the  year  1783  ; they 
also  gave  it  all  escheated  property  within 
the  State.  Whenever  the  trustees  shall  have 
collected  a sufficient  sum  of  the  old  debts, 
or  from  the  sale  of  escheated  property,  the 
value  of  which  is  considerable,  to  pay  the 
expense  of  erecting  buildings,  they  are  to 
fix  on  a proper  place,  and  proceed  in  the 
finishing  of  them  ; a considerable  quantity 
of  land  has  already  been  given  to  the  uni- 
versity, and  the  General  Assembly,  in  De- 
cember, 1791,  loaned  five  thousand  pounds 
to  the  trustees,  to  enable  them  to  proceed 
immediately  with  the  buildings. 

[The  first  college  edifice  was  opened  at 
Chapel  Hill  for  the  reception  of  students  in 
Feb.,  1795,  under  the  faculty  composed  of 
Rev.  David  Kerr,  of  Trinity  College,  Dublin ; 
Professor  C.  H.  Harris,  in  the  mathematical 
chair,  a graduate  of  Princeton,  and  Prof. 
Joseph  Caldwell,  a native  of  New  Jersey 
and  a graduate  of  Princeton,  in  1791.  The 
latter  was  elected  the  first  president  in  1 804.] 

South  Carolina. — Gentlemen  of  fortune, 
before  the  late  war,  sent  their  sons  to  Eu- 
rope for  education.  During  the  late  war 
and  since,  they  have  generally  sent  them  to 
the  middle  and  northern  States.  Those  who 
have  been  at  this  expense  in  educating  their 
sons,  have  been  but  comparatively  few  in 
number,  so  that  the  literature  of  the  State 
is  at  a low  ebb.  Since  the  peace,  however, 
it  has  begun  to  flourish.  There  are  several 
respectable  academies  at  Charleston  ; one  at 
Beaufort,  on  Port  Royal  Island  ; and  several 
others  in  different  parts  of  the  State.  Three 
colleges  have  lately  been  incorporated  by 
law ; one  at  Charleston,  one  at  Winnsbor- 
ough,  in  the  district  of  Camden,  and  the 
other  at  Cambridge,  in  the  district  of  Ninety- 
six.  The  public  and  private  donations  for 
the  support  of  these  three  colleges  were 
originally  intended  to  have  been  appro- 
priated jointly,  for  the  erecting  and  support- 
ing of  one  respectable  college.  The  division 
of  these  donations  has  frustrated  this  design. 
Part  of  the  old  barracks  in  Charleston  has 
been  handsomely  fitted  up,  and  converted 
into  a college,  and  there  are  a number  of 
students  ; but  it  does  not  yet  merit  a more 
dignified  name  than  that  of  a respectable 
academy.  The  Mount  Sion  college,  at 
Winnsborough,  is  supported  by  a respectable 
society  of  gentlemen,  who  have  long  been 
incorporated.  This  institution  flourishes, 
and  bids  fair  for  usefulness.  The  college  at 


COLLEGES,  OR  SUPERIOR  INSTRUCTION. 


467 


Cambridge  is  no  more  than  a grammar 
school. 

[The  college  at  Charleston  graduated  its 
first  class  in  1794,  but  its  organic  connection 
with  the  grammar  school  repressed  its 
growth  to  meet  the  wants  of  a collegiate  ed- 
ucation, which  was  soon  liberally  provided 
for  in  the  South  Carolina  College,  chartered 
by  the  State  in  1801,  and  was  ever  afterwards 
the  favorite  institution  with  both  the  legis- 
lature and  the  people.] 

Georgia. — The  charter,  containing  their 
present  system  of  education,  was  passed  in 
the  year  1785.  A college,  with  ample  and 
liberal  endowments,  is  instituted  in  Louis- 
ville, a high  and  healthy  part  of  the 
country,  near  the  centre  of  the  State. 
There  is  also  provision  made  for  the  institu- 
tion of  an  academy  in  each  county  in  the 
State,  to  be  supported  from  the  same  funds, 
and  considered  as  parts  and  members  of  the 
same  institution,  under  the  general  super- 
intendence and  direction  of  a president 
and  board  of  trustees,  appointed,  for  their 
literary  accomplishments,  from  the  different 
parts  of  the  State,  invested  with  the  custom- 
ary powers  of  corporations.  The  institu- 
tions thus  composed  and  united  is  denom- 
inated, “The  University  of  Georgia.” 

That  this  body  of  literati,  to  wdiom  is  in- 
trusted the  direction  of  the  general  litera- 
ture of  the  State,  may  not  be  so  detached 
and  independent,  as  not  to  possess  the 
confidence  of  the  State;  and,  in  order  to 
secure  the  attention  and  patronage  of  the 
principal  officers  of  government,  the  gov- 
ernor and  council,  the  speaker  of  the  House 
of  Assembly,  and  the  chief  justice  of  the 
State,  are  associated  with  the  board  of  trus- 
tees, in  some  of  the  great  and  more  solemn 
duties  of  their  office,  such  as  making  the 
laws,  appointing  the  president,  settling  the 
property,  and  instituting  academies.  Thus 
associated,  they  are  denominated,  “ The 
Senate  of  the  University,”  and  are  to  hold 
a stated,  annual  meeting,  at  which  the  gov- 
ernor of  the  State  presides. 

The  Senate  appoint  a board  of  commis- 
sioners in  each  county,  for  the  particular 
management  and  direction  of  the  academy, 
and  the  other  schools  in  each  county,  who 
are  to  receive  their  instructions  from,  and 
are  accountable  to  the  Senate.  The  rector 
of  each  academy  is  an  officer  of  the  univer- 
sity, to  be  appointed  by  the  president, 
with  the  advice  of  the  trustees,  and  commis- 
sioned under  the  public  seal,  and  is  to  attend 


with  the  other  officers  at  the  annual  meeting 
of  the  Senate,  to  deliberate  on  the  general 
interests  of  literature,  and  to  determine  on  the 
course  of  instruction  for  the  year,  throughout 
the  university.  The  president  lias  the  gen- 
eral charge  and  oversight  of  the  whole, 
and  is  from  time  to  time  to  visit  them,  to  ex- 
amine into  their  order  and  performances. 

The  funds  for  the  support  of  their  insti- 
tution are  principally  in  lands,  amounting 
in  the  whole  to  about  fifty  thousand  acres, 
a great  part  of  which  is  of  the  best  quality, 
and  at  present  very  valuable.  There  are  also 
nearly  six  thousand  pounds  sterling  in  bonds, 
houses,  and  town  lots  in  the  town  of  Augusta. 
Other  public  property  to  the  amount  of 
one  thousand  pounds  in  each  county,  has 
been  set  apart  for  the  purposes  of  building 
and  furnishing  their  respective  academies. 

[Vermont. — In  the  first  organization  of 
the  State,  in  1777,  the  constitution  of  Ver- 
mont enjoined  on  the  Legislature  the  found- 
ing of  a University.  In  1785  the  Legisla- 
ture responded  to  a call  from  Dartmouth 
for  aid,  by  a grant  of  a township  of  land  to 
that  institution.  In  1791  the  charter  of  a 
State  University  was  granted  in  furtherance 
of  a donation  of  land  by  Ira  Allen  in  1789; 
a president  was  elected  with  a salary  of 
$600,  a professor  of  mathematics  with  a 
salary  of  $350,  and  a tutor  with  $300,  and 
from  a prospectus  issued  at  the  time  it  was 
calculated  that  a poor  scholar,  by  keeping 
school  six  months  each  winter  at  the  average 
price  of  $16,  could  pay  his  college  bills  and 
board,  and  leave  college  with  $32  in  his 
pocket.  The  college  asked  only  $12  a year 
for  each  student.  Small  as  this  sum  was, 
there  were  academies  in  the  State  which 
claimed  to  give  as  good  opportunities  for  the 
scholarship  required  by  the  times,  at  as  low, 
or  at  a lower  rate,  and  allow  the  students  to 
reside  at  home. 

Middlebury  College  was  chartered  in 
1800,  and  between  the  two  institutions 
a local  rivalry  sprung  up,  which  at  times 
passed  into  belligerent  legislation,  and  at  no 
time  rested  simply  on  offering  a better 
article  of  collegiate  culture  to  the  young 
aspirants  of  science.] 

To  the  above  account  by  Winterbotham, 
of  the  number,  and  general  organization  and 
condition  of  American  colleges  prior  to  1800, 
we  shall,  as  in  the  case  of  Common  Schools 
and  Academies,  throw  light  on  the  instruc- 
tion and  discipline  which  prevailed  in  them 
from  the  communications  of  students. 


468 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


(2.)  College  Studies  and  Discipline  about  1800. 

Judge  Story,  in  a letter  respecting  the 
studies  and  discipline  at  Harvard  between 
1794  and  1798,  writes  in  1840: 

“ You  express  a desire  to  obtain  some  gen- 
eral views  of  the  circumstances  under  which 
the  students  lived.  I believe  that  this  can 
be  best  done  by  giving  you  a brief  sketch  of 
the  state  of  college,  and  the  relation  which 
the  students  had  with  the  existing  college 
government.  Things  are  so  much  changed 
since  that  it  is  somewhat  difficult  to  realize 
all  the  influences  which  then  surrounded 
them.  In  the  first  place  as  to  the  course  of 
studies.  It  was  far  more  confined  and  limited 
than  at  present.  In  Greek  we  studied  Xeno- 
phon’s Anabasis  and  a few  books  of  the  Iliad; 
in  Latin,  Sallust  and  a few  books  of  Livy ; 
in  Mathematics,  Saunderson’s  Algebra  and  a 
work  on  Arithmetic;  in  Natural  Philosophy, 
Enfield’s  Natural  Philosophy  and  Ferguson’s 
Astronomy ; in  Rhetoric,  an  abridgment  of 
Blair’s  Lectures  and  the  article  on  Rhetoric 
in  the  ‘Preceptor’;  in  Metaphysics,  Watt’s 
Logic  and  Locke  on  the  Human  Understand- 
ing ; in  History,  Millot’s  Elements ; in  The- 
ology, Doddridge’s  Lectures;  in  grammatical 
studies,  Lowth’s  Grammar.  I believe  this  is 
near  the  whole,  if  not  the  whole,  course  of 
our  systematical  studies.  The  college  library 
was  at  that  time  far  less  comprehensive  and 
suited  to  the  wants  of  students  than  at  pre- 
sent. It  was  not  as  easily  accessible,  and, 
indeed,  was  not  frequented  by  them.  No 
modern  language  was  taught  except  French, 
and  that  only  one  day  in  the  week  by  a non- 
resident instructor. 

“ The  means  of  knowledge  from  external 
sources  was  very  limited.  The  intercourse 
between  us  and  foreign  countries  was  infre- 
quent, and  I might  almost  say  that  we  had 
no  means  of  access  to  any  literature  and 
science  except  the  English.  Even  in  respect 
to  this  we  had  little  more  than  a semi-annual 
importation  of  the  most  common  works,  and 
a few  copies  supplied  and  satisfied  the  market. 
The  English  periodicals  were  then  few  in 
number,  and  I do  not  remember  any  one 
that  was  read  by  the  students  except  the 
Monthly  Magazine  (the  old  Monthly),  and 
that  was  read  but  by  a few.  I have  spoken 
of  our  semi-annual  importations,  and  it  is  lit- 
erally true,  that  two  ships  only  plied  as  regu- 
lar packets  between  Boston  and  London,  one 
in  the  Spring  and  one  in  the  Autumn,  and 
their  arrival  was  an  era  in  our  college  life. 


“ In  respect  to  academical  intercourse  the 
students  had  literally  none  that  was  not 
purely  official,  except  with  each  other.  The 
different  classes  were  almost  strangers  to 
each  other,  and  cold  reserve  generally  pre- 
vailed between  them.  The  system  of  * fag- 
ging’ (as  it  was  called)  was  just  then  dying 
out,  and  I believe  that  my  own  class  was  the 
first  that  was  not  compelled  to  perform  this 
drudgery  at  the  command  of  the  Senior 
class  in  the  most  humble  services.  The  stu- 
dents had  no  connection  whatsoever  with 
the  inhabitants  of  Cambridge  by  private 
social  visits.  There  was  none  between  the 
families  of  the  president  and  professors  of 
the  college  and  the  students.  The  regime 
of  the  old  school  in  manners  and  habits  then 
prevailed.  The  president  and  professors 
were  never  approached  except  in  the  most 
formal  way,  and  upon  official  occasions;  and 
in  the  college  yard  (if  I remember  rightly) 
no  student  was  permitted  to  be  with  his  hat 
on  if  one  of  the  professors  was  there.” 

The  system  of  fagging  to  which  Judge 
Story  alludes  was  one  of  the  barbarisms 
which  prevailed  in  the  old  medieval  uni- 
versities,* and  which  still  prevails  in  the 
“ public  schools,”  the  great  endowed  board- 
ing schools  of  England,  from  which  our 
fathers  introduced  it  into  the  American 
college.  ' In  the  laws  for  the  government  of 
Yale  College,  printed  in  Latin,  in  1764, 
were  appended  in  good  plain  Saxon  English 
a code  of  college  customs,  entitled  Fresh- 
man Laws,  as  follows : 

“ It  being  the  duty  of  the  Seniors  to  teach  Fresh- 
men the  laws,  usages  and  customs  of  the  college,  to 
this  end  they  are  empowered  to  order  the  whole 
Freshman  class,  or  any  particular  member  of  it,  in 
order  to  be  instructed  or  reproved,  at  such  time  and 
place  as  they  shall  appoint;  when  and  where  every 
Freshman  shall  attend,  answer  all  proper  questions, 
and  behave  decently.  The  Seniors,  however,  are 
not  to  detain  a Freshman  more  than  five  minutes 
after  study-bell,  without  special  order  from  the  Presi- 
dent, Professor,  or  Tutor. 

“ The  Freshmen,  as  well  as  all  other  undergradu- 
ates, are  to  be  uncovered,  and  are  forbidden  to  wear 
their  hats  (unless  in  stormy  weather)  in  the  front 
door-yard  of  the  President’s  or  Professor’s  house,  or 
within  ten  rods  of  the  person  of  the  President,  eight 
rods  of  the  Professor,  and  five  rods  of  a Tutor. 

“The  Freshmen  are  forbidden  to  wear  their  hata 
in  college  yard  (except  in  stormy  weather,  or  when 
they  are  obliged  to  carry  something  in  their  hands), 
until  May  vacation ; nor  shall  they  afterwards  wear 
them  in  college  or  chapel. 

“No  Freshman  shall  wear  a gown,  or  walk  with 
a cane,  or  appear  out  of  his  room,  without  being 

* See  Bnrnnrd’i  “ Superior  Education  in  different  countries 
— Medieval  Universities,  1873." 


YALE  COLLEGE  IN  1764. 


470 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


completely  dressed,  and  with  his  hat ; and  whenever 
a Freshman  either  speaks  to  a superior,  or  is  spoken 
to  by  one,  he  shall  keep  his  hat  oft’  until  he  is  bid- 
den to  put  it  on.  A Freshman  shall  not  play  with 
an)*-  members  of  an  upper  class,  without  being 
asked ; nor  is  he  permitted  to  use  any  acts  of  famili- 
arity with  them,  even  in  study-time. 

“In  case  of  personal  insult,  a Junior  may  call  up 
a Freshman  and  reprehend  him.  A Sophomore  in 
like  cases  must  obtain  leave  from  a Senior,  and  then 
he  may  discipline  a Freshman,  not  detaining  hfm 
more  than  five  minutes,  after  which  the  Freshman 
may  retire,  even  without  being  dismissed,  but  must 
retire  in  a respectful  manner. 

“Freshmen  are  obliged  to  perform  all  reasonable 
errands  for  any  superior,  always  returning  an  account 
of  the  same  to  the  person  who  sent  them.  When 
called,  they  shall  attend  and  give  a respectful  answer; 
and  when  attending  on  their  superior,  they  are  not 
to  depart  until  regularly  dismissed.  They  are  re- 
sponsible for  all  damage  done  to  any  thing  put  into 
their  hands,  by  way  of  errand.  They  are  not 
obliged  to  go  for  the  undergraduates  in  study-time, 
without  permission  obtained  from  the  authority; 
nor  are  they  obliged  to  go  for  a graduate  out  of  the 
yard  in  study-time.  A Senior  may  take  a Fresh- 
man from  a Sophomore,  a Bachelor  from  a Junior, 
and  a Master  from  a Senior.  None  may  order  a 
Freshman  in  one  play-ground,  to  do  an  errand  in 
another. 

“ When  a Freshman  is  near  a gate  or  door,  belong- 
ing to  college  or  college  yard,  he  shall  look  around, 
and  observe  whether  any  of  his  superiors  are  com- 
ing to  the  same ; and  if  any  are  coming  within 
three  rods,  he  shall  not  enter  without  a signal  to 
proceed.  In  passing  up  or  down  stairs,  or  through 
an  entry  or  any  other  narrow  passage,  if  a Fresh- 
man meets  a superior,  he  shall  stop  and  give  way, 
leaving  the  most  convenient  side — if  on  the  stairs 
the  banister  side.  Freshmen  shall  not  run  in  col- 
lege yard,  or  up  or  down  stairs,  or  call  to  any  one 
through  a college  window.  When  going  into  the 
chamber  of  a superior,  they  shall  kuock  at  the  door, 
and  shall  leave  it  as  they  find  it,  whether  open  or 
shut.  Upon  entering  the  chamber  of  a superior, 
they  shall  not  speak  until  spoken  to;  they  shall 
reply  modestly  to  all  questions,  and  perform  their 
messages  decently  and  respectfully.  They  shall  not 
tarry  in  a superior’s  room,  after  they  are  dismissed, 
unless  asked  to  sit.  They  shall  always  rise  when- 
ever a superior  enters  or  leaves  the  room  where 
they  are,  and  not  sit  iri  his  presence  until  permitted. 

“ These  rules  are  to  be  observed  not  only  about 
college,  but  every  where  else  within  the  limits  of 
the  city  of  New  Haven.” 

Even  so  late  as  in  1800,  we  still  find  it 
laid  down  as  the  Senior’s  duty  to  inspect  the 
manners  and  customs  of  the  lower  classes, 
and  especially  of  the  Freshmen;  and  the 
duty  of  the  latter  to  do  any  proper  errand, 
not  only  for  the  authorities  of  the  college, 
but  also  within  the  limits  of  one  mile,  for 
resident  graduates  and  for  the  two  upper 
classes.  By  degrees  the  old  usage  sank 
down  so  far,  that  what  the  laws  permitted 
was  frequently  abused  for  the  purpose  of 
playing  tricks  upon  the  inexperienced  Fresh- 


men ; and  then  all  evidence  of  its  ever  hav- 
ing been  current  disappeared  from  the  college 
code.  The  Freshmen  were  formally  ex- 
empted from  the  duty  of  running  upon 
errands  in  1804. 

That  these  provisions  were  not  peculiar 
to  Yale,  but  belonged  to  this  class  of  insti- 
tutions in  that  and  an  earlier  age,  appears 
from  the  earliest  laws  for  the  government  of 
Harvard  College  drawn  up  by  President 
Dunstan  in  1640.  “They  (the  students) 
shall  honor,  4s  their  parents,  the  magistrates, 
elders,  trustees,  and  all  who  are  older  than 
themselves,  as  reason  requires,  being  silent 
in  their  presence,  except  when  asked  a ques- 
tion, not  contradicting,  but  showing  all 
those  marks  of  honor  and  reverence  which 
are  in  praiseworthy  use,  saluting  them  with 
a bow,  standing  uncovered,”  &c.  The  mode 
of  discipline  authorized  by  the  seventeenth 
rule  is  a recorded  proof  of  what  otherwise 
might  have  rested*  on  obscure  traditions 
only,  that  our  fathers,  with  their  cotempora- 
ries generally,  were  not  well  informed  upon 
the  characteristics  of  human  nature  and 
heart.  “ If  any  student  of  this  college, 
either  from  perverseness  or  from  gross  neg- 
ligence, after  he  shall  have  been  twice  ad- 
monished, he  shall  be  scourged  with  rods, 
if  not  an  adult;  but  if  an  adult,  his  case 
shall  be  taken  before  the  overseers,  that 
notice  may  be  publicly  taken  of  him  accord- 
ing to  his  deserts.”  “ No  scholar  shall  taste 
tobacco,  unless  permitted  by  the  president, 
with  the  consent  of  their  parents  or 
guardians,  or  on  good  reason  first  given 
by  a physician,  and  then  in  a sober  and 
private  manner.”  “None  shall  pragmat- 
ically intrude,  or  intermeddle  in  other 
men’s  affairs.” 

Mr.  Everett  in  an  address  at  Cambridge,  in 
1857,  gives  the  following  picture  of  college 
life  as  it  was  at  Harvard  in  1807  : 

“ Let  me  sketch  you  the  outlines  of  the 
picture,  fresh  to  my  mind’s  eye  as  the 
image  in  the  camera , which  the  precincts  of 
the  college  exhibited  in  1807.  The  Com- 
mon was  then  uninclosed.  It  was  not  so 
much  traversed  by  roads  in  all  directions ; 
it  was  at  once  all  road  and  no  road  at  all, — 
a waste  of  mud  and  of  dust,  according  to 
the  season,  without  grass,  trees,  or  fences. 
As  to  the  streets  in  those  days,  the  ‘ Appian 
Way  ’ existed  then  as  now ; and  I must 
allow  that  it  bore  the  same  resemblance 
then  as  now  to  the  Regina  Viarum , by 
which  the  consuls  and  proconsuls  of  Rome 


COLLEGES,  OR  SUPERIOR  INSTRUCTION. 


471 


went  forth  to  the  conquest  of  Epirus, 
Macedonia,  and  the  East. 

“ As  to  public  buildings  in  the  neighbor- 
hood of  the  university,  with  the  exception 
of  the  Episcopal  church,  no  one  of  the 
churches  now  standing  was  then  in  exist- 
ence. The  old  parish  church  has  disap- 
peared, with  its  square  pews,  and  galleries 
from  which  you  might  almost  jump  into  the 
pulpit.  It  occupied  a portion  of  the  space 
between  Dane  Hall  and  the  old  Presidential 
House.  I planted  a row  of  elm  and  oak 
trees  a few  years  ago  on  the  spot  where  it 
stood,  for  which,  if  for  nothing  else,  I hope 
to  be  kindly  remembered  by  posterity.  The 
wooden  building  now  used  as  a gymnasium, 
and,  I believe  for  some  other  purposes,  then 
stood  where  Lyceum  Hall  now  stands.  It 
was  the  county  court-house;  and  there  I 
often  heard  the  voice  of  the  venerable  Chief 
Justice  Parsons.  Graduates’  Hall  did  not 
exist ; but  on  a part  of  the  site,  and  behind 
the  beautiful  linden  trees  still  flourishing, 
was  an  old  .black  wooden  house,  the  resi- 
dence of  the  professor  of  mathematics.  A 
little  further  to  the  north,  and  just  at  the 
corner  of  Church  street,  which  was  not  then 
opened,  stood  what  was  dignified  in  the 
annual  college  catalogue  (which  was  printed 
on  one  side  of  a sheet  of  paper,  and  was  a 
novelty)  as  ‘ The  College  House.’  The 
cellar  is  still  visible.  By  the  students  this 
edifice  was  disrespectfully  called  ‘ Wiswall’s 
Den,’  or,  for  brevity,  ‘ the  Den.’  I lived  in 
it  in  my  freshman  year.  Whence  the  name 
of  ‘ Wiswall’s  Den’ was  derived,  I hardly 
dare  say ; there  was  something  worse  than 
4 old  fogy  ’ about  it.  There  was  a dismal 
tradition  that,  at  some  former  period,  it  had 
been  the  scene  of  a murder.  A brutal 
husband  had  dragged  his  wife  by  the  hair 
up  and  down  the  stairs,  and  then  killed  her. 
On  the  anniversary  of  the  murder — and 
what  day  that  was  no  one  knew — there  were 
sights  and  sounds — flitting  garments  drag- 
gled in  blood,  plaintive  screams,  stridor 
ferri  tractocque  catenas — enough  to  appall 
the  stoutest  sophomore.  But,  for  myself,  I 
can  truly  say,  that  I got  through  my  fresh- 
man year  without  having  seen  the  ghost  of 
Mr.  Wiswall  or  his  lamented  lady.  I was 
not,  however,  sorry  when  the  twelvemonth 
was  up,  and  I was  transferred  to  the  light, 
airy,  well-ventilated  room,  No.  20  Hollis ; 
being  the  inner  room,  ground-floor,  north 
entry  of  that  ancient  and  respectable  edifice. 

“ Such  was  the  physical  aspect  of  things 


within  the  university.  With  the  exception 
of  a medical  department,  of  which  the 
germ  only  existed,  all  the  professional 
schools  have  bee$  added  since  my  gradua- 
tion ; and  within  the  college  proper  the 
means  of  education  have  been  multiplied, 
and  the  standard  of  attainment  raised  in 
full  proportion  to  the  progress  of  the 
country  in  all  other  respects.  When  I en- 
tered college,  four  tutors  and  three  profess- 
ors formed  the  academic  corps , — men  never 
to  be  mentioned  but  with  respect  and  grati- 
tude ; but  composing  an  inadequate  faculty, 
compared  with  the  numerous  and  distin- 
guished body  by  which  instruction  is  now 
dispensed.  There  was  no  instruction  in 
any  of  the  modern  languages,  except  in 
French  to  those  who  chose  to  pay  for  it. 
The  professors  were  those  of  divinity,  math- 
ematics, and  Hebrew  ; and  this  venerable 
language  was,  I think,  required  to  be  studied 
by  every  student  whatsoever  his  destination 
in  life.  A classmate  of  mine  used  to  beat 
us  all  in  this  department,  though  I believe 
it  sometimes  happened  to  him  to  get  hold 
of  the  wrong  line  in  the  Latin  translation  at 
the  bottom  of  the  page  in  the  Hebrew 
psalter,  and  so  made  a misfit  all  the  way 
down.  I do  not  hesitate  to  assure  our 
younger  brethren  that  they  enjoy  far  greater 
advantages  in  the  means  and  encourage- 
ments  to  improvement,  and  more  important 
than  any  other,  a far  higher  standard  of  ex- 
cellence than  were  ever  enjoyed  by  their 
fathers.  And  this  in  any  department  of 
knowledge,  in  the  study  of  the  ancient  and 
modern  languages,  in  exact  science,  the 
kingdoms  of  nature,  in  ethics,  and  the  phi- 
losophy of  mind.” 

Dr.  Dwight,  in  a letter  written  in  1813, 
and  included  in  his  Travels  in  New  hmgland 
and  New  York,  published  in  1822,  gives  the 
following  summary  of  collegiate  and  superior 
education  in  New  England  in  1812 : 

o 

The  eight  Colleges  of  New  England  are  located 
and  designated  as  follows : 

Harvard  College,  now  styled  the  University,  in 
Cambridge. 

Yale  College,  at  New  Haven,  in  Connecticut. 

Dartmouth  College,  at  Hanover,  in  New  Hamp- 
shire. 

Brown  University,  at  Providence,  Rhodo  Island. 

Williams  College,  at  Williamstown,  Massachu- 
setts. 

The  University  of  Vermont,  at  Burlington  in  that 
State. 

Middlebury  College,  at  Middlobury  in  the  same 
State,  and 

Bowdoin  College,  at  Brunswick  in  the  District  of 
Maine. 


472 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


You  observe  that  some  of  these  seminaries  are 
styled  Universities,  and  some  of  them  Colleges. 
You  will  not  from  this  suppose  that  the  name  Uni- 
versity indicates  any  superior  importance,  or  any 
more  extensive  scheme  of  education,  The  Univer- 
sity at  Cambridge,  is,  in  some  respects,  the  most 
considerable  ; and  in  every  respect  the  University  of 
Vermont  is  the  least  of  all  these  literary  establish- 
ments. 

The  state  of  these  institutions  in  the  year  1812, 
was  the  following: 

The  University  of  Cambridge.  — A President; 
seven  Professors  Academical ; seven  Professors  Med- 
ical ; three  Tutors ; a Librarian  ; a Regent ; a Proc- 
tor ; an  instructor  in  the  French  language. 

The  Academical  Professors  are , 

Of  Theology;  of  Logic,  Metaphysics,  and  Ethics; 
of  Rhetoric  and  Oratory;  of  the  Hebrew,  other 
Oriental,  and  English  languages;  of  Latin  ; of  Mathe- 
matics and  Natural  Philosophy;  of  Greek;  and  of 
Natural  History. 

The  three  Tutors  teach, 

The  senior  Tutor,  Geography,  Geometry,  Natural 
Philosophy  and  Astronomy ; the  second,  Greek;  and 
the  third,  Latin. 

Of  the  Medical  Professorships , 

The  first  is  of  Anatomy  and  Surgery ; the  second, 
of  the  Theory  and  Practice  of  Medicine ; the  third, 
of  Chemistry  and  the  Materia  Medica;  and  the 
fourth,  of  Clinical  Medicine. 

The  two  remaining  ones  are  Assistants,  or  Ad- 
juncts, to  that  of  Anatomy  and  Surgery,  and  that 
of  Chemistry,  and  the  Materia  Medica. 

The  number  of  students  the  same  year,  was  281. 

Yale  College.  — A President;  five  Professor- 
ships Academical;  and  three  Medical. 

The  Academical  Professorships  are , 

Of  Theology;  of  Law,  Natural  and  Political;  of 
Mathematics  and  Natural  Philosophy  ; of  Chemistry 
and  Mineralogy ; and  of  Languages  and  Ecclesias- 
tical History. 

The  Medical,  are 

Of  Anatomy  and  Surgery ; of  the  Theory  and  Prac- 
tice of  Physic ; and  of  the  Materia  Medica  and  Botany. 

Here  also  is  one  Professorship  adjunct. 

Six  Tutors. 

The  particular  provinces  of  these  Instructors  have 
been  sufficiently  explained ; [two  assigned  to  each 
of  three  lower  classes,  to  conduct  the  three  daily 
recitations  in  each.] 

The  number  of  students  was  313. 

Dartmouth  College.  — A President;  five  Pro- 
fessorships Academical;  one  Medical;  and  two 
Tutors. 

The  Academical  Professorships,  are 

Of  Theology;  of  Civil  and  Ecclesiastical  His- 
tory ; of  Mathematics,  and  Natural  Philosophy ; of 
Languages;  and  of  Chemistry. 

The  Medical  Professorship,  is 

Of  Medicine. 

The  number  of  students  was  about  150. 

The  number  of  Medical  students,  exceeded  50.* 


* By  the  Catalogue  of  1821,  the  number  of  students  in  Dart- 


mouth College,  wus 

Under  Graduates 157 

Resident  do 8 

Medical  Students 65 


Brown  University  in  1811. — A President; 
three  Professorships  Academical;  and  two 
Medical. 

The  Academical  Professorships,  are 

Of  Law ; of  Moral  Philosophy,  and  Metaphysics ; 
and  of  Chemistry. 

The  Medical  Professorships,  are 

Of  Anatomy,  and  Surgery;  and  of  the  Materia 
Medica,  and  Botany. 

Two  Tutors;  and  a Preceptor  of  a Grammar 
school,  connected  with  the  University. 

The  number  of  students  was  128. 

Williams  College. — A President;  a Vice- 
President;  a Professor  of  Mathematics,  and  Nat- 
ural Philosophy;  two  Tutors. 

The  number  of  students  was  95. 

Middlebury  College,  1812.  — A President; 
three  Academical  Professors. 

One  of  Law;  one  of  Mathematics  and  Natural 
Philosophy  ; one  of  Languages ; two  Tutors. 

The  number  of  students  was  1 13. 

University  of  V ermont. — A President ; a Profes- 
of  Mathematics  and  Natural  Philosophy;  a Professor 
of  the  Learned  Languages;  a Medical  Professor. 

There  are  also  four  other  Professorships  on  paper. 

The  number  of  students  from  30  to  40. 

The  means  of  medical  instruction  in  New  Eng- 
land will  be  seen  sufficiently  in  this  account  of  its 
seminaries. 

The  Law  School,  heretofore  mentioned  in  the  de- 
scription of  Litchfield,  as  being  under  the  instruc- 
tion of  Judge  Reeve  and  James  Gould,  Esquire, 
would  not,  it  is  believed,  do  discredit  to  any 
country.  Law  is  here  taught  as  a science ; and  not 
merely,  nor  principally,  as  a mechanical  business; 
not  as  a collection  of  loose,  independent  fragments, 
but  as  a regular,  well-compacted  system.  At  the 
same  time  the  students  are  taught  the  practice  by 
being  actually  employed  in  it.  A court  is  consti- 
tuted ; actions  are  brought,  and  conducted  through 
a regular  process ; questions  are  raised,  and  the  stu- 
dents become  advocates  in  form. 

Students  resort  to  this  school  from  every  part  of 
the  American  Union.  The  number  of  them  is 
usually  about  40. 

Every  Theological  Professor  in  these  Seminaries 
is  destined  to  instruct  such  students  as  apply  to  him 
in  the  science  of  Theology.  But  the  Theological 
Seminary  at  Andover  has  already  engrossed  most 
of  the  young  men  in  New  England,  designed  for  the 
desk.  'Three  Professors,  one  of  Theology,  one  of 
Sacred  Literature,  and  one  of  Sacred  Rhetoric,  are 
already  established  here ; and  two  or  three  more 
will  probably  be  added  to  their  number  within  a 
short  time.  Fifty  students  may  be  considered  as  the 
average  number  for  three  years  past  As  this 
Seminary  is  richly  endowed,  and  as  the  gentlemen 
employed  in  its  instruction,  are  pursuing  their  busi- 
ness with  spirit  and  vigor,  there  are  the  best  reasons 
to  believe  that  it  will  hold  a high  rank  among  insti- 
tutions of  the  same  nature. 

There  are,  also,  in  New  England  the  following 
Medical  societies : 

The  Massachusetts  Medical  Society. 

The  Connecticut  Medical  Society. 

The  New  Hampshire  Medical  Society. 

The  objects  of  these  institutions  are  to  unite  the 


COLLEGES,  OR  SUPERIOR  INSTRUCTION. 


473 


gentlemen  of  the  Faculty  in  friendship,  and  in  one 
common  pursuit  of  medical  science;  to  discourage 
by  their  united  influence  empiricism  in  every  form ; 
to  furnish  a centre  of  correspondence  for  the  recep- 
tion and  publication  of  medical  discoveries ; and, 
universally,  to  elevate  and  improve  the  art  of  heal- 
ing. 

A Historical  Society  was  formed  at  Boston  in  the 
year  1791,  and  incorporated  in  the  year  1794,  by  the 
name  of  the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society.  The 
object  of  this  institution  is  to  collect  and  publish 
whatever  authentic  documents  may  illustrate  the 
past  and  present  state  of  this  country.  Twelve 
volumes  of  its  collections  for  this  purpose  have  been 
already  published ; which  in  a very  honorable  man- 
ner prove  the  utility7'  of  the  design. 

An  Agricultural  Society  has  been  formed  in  Con- 
necticut, and  another  in  Massachusetts.  A small 
collection  of  papers,  published  by  each,  has  been 
favorably  received. 

There  are,  also,  two  Philosophical  Societies  in  New 
England.  The  American  Academy  of  Arts  and 
Sciences  in  Massachusetts,  which  holds  its  sittings 
at  Boston;  and  the  Connecticut  Academy  of  Arts 
and  Sciences,  which  meets  in  New  Haven.  The 
latter  was  incorporated  in  the  year  1800.  The 
American  Academy  has  published  three  volumes. 
The  Connecticut  Academy  has  completed  one  volume 
of  Memoirs,  and  also  has  begun  the  publication  of 
a statistical  account  of  the  State.  Both  of  these  in- 
stitutions are,  it  is  believed,  advancing. 

I have  here  given  you  a summary,  and,  as  I be- 
lieve, an  exact  account  of  the  means  provided  and 
employed  for  the  purpose  of  diffusing  literature, 
science,  and  general  information  among  the  inhabi- 
tants of  New  England. 

It  ought,  however,  to  be  added,  that  in  a great 
part  of  the  towns  and  parishes,  there  are  social 
libraries  established.  In  some  places  they  are  con- 
siderable ; and  in  all,  are  of  material  use  to  the  little 
circles  in  which  they  exist..  The  information  which 
they  spread  is  of  importance.  They  also  excite  a 
disposition  to  read,  and  this  employment  naturally 
becomes  a substitute  for  trifling,  vicious,  and  gross 
amusements.  It  also  contributes  to  render  society, 
and  its  intercourse,  in  a good  degree,  intelligent  and 
refined,  while  thought  takes  place  of  sense  and  pas- 
sion ; civility,  of  coarseness ; and  information,  of 
scandal.  It  also  enables  parents  to  give  their  chil- 
dren better  instruction,  and  to  govern  them  more 
rationally,  and  at  the  same  time  it  renders  the  chil- 
dren more  dutiful  and  more  amiable. 

In  this  brief  historical  survey  of  the 
American  College  and  University,  founded 
on  cotemporaneous  exposition,  coupled  with 
other  facts  which  can  not  here  be  presented 
for  want  of  space  in  such  a summary,  it 
appears  that : 

1.  The  main  purpose  set  forth  in  their 
foundation  was  “ the  glory  of  God,”  “ Christ 
and  the  Church,”  “the  upholding  of  the 
Protestant  religion  by  a succession  of  a 
learned  and  orthodox  ministry,”  and  “ the 
qualifying  youth  for  public  employment  in 
church  and  civil  state.”  To  this  end  all  the 
earlier  colleges  were  avowedly  denomina- 


tional, and  all  the  later  (except  a few  based 
on  the  national  land  grants,  or  on  large 
individual  endowments),  are  practically  de- 
nominational in  the  constitution  of  the 
governing  body  by  which  the  teachers  are 
appointed  and  the  departments  and  subjects 
of  instruction  determined. 

2.  The  instruction  of  the  colleges,  even 
the  oldest  and  best,  down  to  1800  was  given 
by  the  president  and  at  most  two  professors, 
and  two  assistants,  in  theology  (dogmatic  and 
practical),  the  Latin  and  Greek  grammars, 
and  a little  reading  of  Latin  authors  and  less 
of  Greek,  a little  geography,  arithmetic, 
geometry,  and  logic,  with  disputations  and 
declamations,  and  no  natural  science. 

3.  Gradually  the  curriculum  of  instruc- 
tion was  modified  so  as  to  drop  the  ele- 
mentary studies,  and  include  medicine  and 
law,  first  by  special  professorships,  and  then 
by  independent  schools. 

4.  Still  later,  and  recently  with  amazing 
rapidity,  the  natural  sciences,  and  the  appli- 
cation of  mathematics  and  these  sciences  to 
agriculture  the  mechanic  arts  and  man- 
ufacturing purposes,  have  been  recognized 
as  legitimate  subjects  of  college  education. 

5.  Quite  recently  the  entire  circle  of 
language,  science,  and  the  arts  both  ideal 
and  industrial,  are  included  in  the  curriculum 
of  several  colleges ; but  as  yet  there  is  not  a 
single  institution  out  of  the  400  so  called 
colleges  and  universities  chartered  and  en- 
dowed for  purposes  of  superior  instruction, 
in  which  the  governing  board  and  teaching 
corps  are  brought  into  unity  of  organiza- 
tion, administration,  and  instruction,  and  in 
which  a broad  sweep  of  optional  studies  in 
every  department  of  existing  knowledge  and 
original  research  is  open  to  those,  and  to 
those  only,  who  shall  prove  themselves  qual- 
ified before  an  independent  board  of  ex- 
amination to  enter  on  such  studies. 

6.  Following  the  course  of  secondary 
schools,  the  advantages  of  superior  instruc- 
tion are  now  beginning  to  be  opened  to  both 
sexes  on  equal  terms. 

The  tables  appended  will  show,  not  strict- 
ly speaking,  only  our  institutions  of  superior 
instruction,  and  not  quite  all  which  call 
themselves  colleges  and  universities ; but 
nearly  all  which  are  chartered  by  the  legis- 
latures of  the  States  in  which  they  are 
located  “ to  confer  the  usual  academic,  col- 
legiate and  university  degress.”  Most  of 
them  should  be  classed  with  institutions 
of  secondary  instruction. 


474 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


IV.  PROFESSIONAL  AND  SPECIAL  EDUCATION. 

INTRODUCTION. 

Professional  and  Special  Schools  consti- 
tute a distinct  class  of  institutions  either  in 
the  studies  pursued,  or  the  persons  pursuing, 
and  while  they  are  not  always  supplement- 
ary to  the  colleges,  and  indeed  some  of 
them  hardly  supplementary  to  the  second- 
ary schools,  they  can  not  with  propriety  be 
considered  except  by  themselves.  Under 
this  head  we  specify  Military,  Theological, 
Medical,  and  Law  Schools  ; Normal 
Schools,  and  Teachers’  Institutes;  Agricul- 
tural, and  Commercial,  or  Business  Colleges 
and  Schools ; Scientific  Schools,  i.  e.,  for  in- 
struction in  physical  science,  applied  mathe- 
matics, Organic  and  Inorganic  Chemistry, 
Practical  Surveying,  Natural  History,  Geol- 
ogy and  Palaeontology,  Anthropology,  and 
Ethnology ; as  well  as  schools  of  Language 
and  Literature,  i.  e.,  Philology,  Linguistics, 
Oriental  and  Semitic  languages  and  Litera- 
ture, Modern  languages  and  Literature ; 
History,  Political  Economy,  Ethics,  and 
International  Law ; Schools  of  Engineering, 
Mining,  Metallurgy,  Technology  and  Archi- 
tecture ; Schools  of  Drawing,  Painting,  Sculp- 
ture, and  Music ; Schools  and  Asylums  for 
Orphans;  Schools  and  Colleges  for  Indians 
and  Freedmen ; Philanthropic  Schools  and 
Asylums,  viz.,  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb,  the 
Blind,  and  the  Idiotic,  and  with  some 
reference  also  to  attempts  to  instruct  the 
Insane  and  the  Inebriates;  and  finally  to 
Schools  and  Asylums  for  Juvenile  offenders 

Numerous  as  the  special  schools  and 
institutions  now  are  in  this  country,  num- 
bering in  all  very  nearly  1,000,  they  have 
all,  with  a single  exception  of  a Medical 
School  in  Philadelphia,  been  organized 
within  the  past  hundred  years,  and  with 
but  few  exceptions  since  the  commencement 
of  the  present  century,  and  the  most  im- 
portant in  the  past  half  century.  We  will 
consider  them  in  the  order  given  above.* 

I.  MILITARY  AND  NAVAL  SCHOOLS. 

The  experience  of  the  Revolutionary  war 
occasioned  a very  general  conviction  among 
the  officers  of  the  American  army,  of  the 
necessity  for  such  a provision  for  the  military 
education  of  native  officers  as  would  relieve 
the  United  States  from  a dependence  upon 

* For  detui'.s,  see  Barnard’s  Special  Schools,  Vol.  II.,  United 
States. 


professionally  trained  soldiers  of  foreign 
birth.  The  idea  of  a military  school  of 
some  kind,  to  be  connected  with  each  United 
States  arsenal,  was  entertained  at  the  close 
of  the  war,  among  the  officers. 

In  the  spring  of  1783,  General  Washing- 
ton requested  from  a number  of  leading  offi- 
cers, statements  of  their  views  on  all  subjects; 
connected  with  the  peace  establishment  of 
the  United  States  army.  In  reply  to  this 
request,  Colonel  Timothy  Pickering,  then 
quartermaster-general,  drew  up  an  able  and 
interesting  memoir,  which  contains,  it  is  be- 
lieved, the  first  suggestion  of  a single  central 
government  military  academy,  and  he  also 
suggested  West  Point  as  a proper  location 
for  it. 

President  Washington’s  annual  address  to 
Congress  of  December  3,  1793,  asks 
“ whether  a material  feature  in  the  improve- 
ment of  a sj^stem  of  national  defense  ought 
not  to  be  to  afford  an  opportunity  for  the 
study  of  those  branches  of  the  military  art, 
which  can  scarcely  ever  be  attained  by  prac- 
tice alone.” 

An  act  of  Congress  of  May  9,  1794,  au- 
thorized a corps  of  four  battalions  of  artil- 
lerists and  engineers,  to  each  of  which  were 
to  be  attached  eight  cadets.  This  was  the 
first  introduction  into  the  military  service  of 
the  United  States  of  this  term,  which  may 
be  defined  to  signify  a grade  of  officers  be- 
tween the  highest  non-commissioned  officer, 
a sergeant,  and  the  lowest  commissioned  one, 
an  ensign.  For  the  use  of  this  corps  and 
cadets,  the  secretary  of  war,  Colonel  Picker- 
ing, was  authorized  to  procure  the  necessary 
books  and  apparatus.  The  secretary,  in 
1796,  reports  that  this  organization  is  im- 
portant, and  should  be  as  stationary  as  prac- 
ticable, with  a view  to  instruction. 

President  Washington’s  last  annual  speech 
to  Congress,  December,  1796,  again  urged 
strongly  the  establishment  of  a military 
academy.  In  April,  1798,  the  corps  of  artil- 
lerists and  engineers  was  increased  by  an 
additional  regiment,  and  the  number  of 
cadets  enlarged  to  fifty-six.  In  July  follow- 
ing, four  teachers  were  by  Congress  author- 
ized to  be  employed  in  that  regiment  for  in- 
struction in  science  and  art.  Some  officers 
and  men  wore  collected  at  West  Point,  and 
a sort  of  military  school  opened,  which,  how- 
ever, acted  with  little  efficiency,  owing  to 
the  want  of  preparatory  training,  and  of  or- 
ganization. 

Secretary  of  War  McHenry,  in  a report 


PROFESSIONAL  AND  SPECIAL  EDUCATION. 


475 


on  the  organization  of  the  army,  made  dur- 
ing the  expectation  of  a war  with  France, 
dated  December  24,  1798,  lamented  the 
want  of  engineers  and  artillerists  trained  at 
home.  In  January,  1800,  the  same  officer 
laid  before  the  President,  who  transmitted 
it  to  Congress,  a plan  for  establishing  a mili- 
tary academy.  After  referring  to  the  im- 
perfect steps  already  taken  in  this  direction, 
he  proceeds  to  suggest  that  the  proposed 
academy  shall  consist  of  a “ fundamental 
school,”  to  instruct  in  such  departments  of 
science  as  are  necessary  in  common  in  all 
the  arms  of  the  military  force;  and  three 
special  schools,  one  of  engineers  and  artil- 
lerists, one  of  cavalry  and  infantry,  and  one 
of  the  navy.  The  institution  was  to  be  in 
charge  of  a director-general,  four  directors, 
twelve  professors,  and  nine  other  instructors. 
This  school,  so  far  as  Secretary  McHenry 
recommended  its  immediate  establishment, 
was  to  accommodate  annual  classes  of  one 
hundred  pupils  each,  for  courses  of  four  and 
five  years 

(1.)  Military  Academy  at  West  Point. 

The  Military  Academy  at  West  Point,  ac- 
cording to  Colonel  Williams’  report  in  1808, 
was  first  opened  in  1801,  as  a “mathemati- 
cal school  for  the  few  cadets  that  were  then 
in  service,’’  and  under  a private  citizen.  In 
1802,  an  act  of  Congress  separated  the  artil- 
lerists and  engineers,  distributing  the  cadets 
of  the  former  class  among  the  twenty  com- 
panies of  that  arm,  and  constituted  the  en- 
gineers the  Military  Academy,  making  it 
consist  of  seven  officers  and  ten  cadets. 

The  operations  of  the  school  continued  to 
be  deficient  in  order  and  efficiency  for  some 
years,  mainly  from  want  of  proper  and  ener 
getic  administration,  and  a well-adjusted 
course  of  study.  In  1812,  it  was  much  en- 
larged, and  its  organization  quite  changed. 
The  period  from  1817  to  1824,  however,  dur- 
ing which  a thorough  course  of  theoretical 
and  practical  studies,  properly  adapted  to  the 
military  profession,  was  for  the  first  time  in- 
troduced, marks  the  establishment  of  the 
academy  as  a military  and  scientific  school 
of  high  grade  and  value.  There  have  been 
several  modifications  of  the  course  of  stud- 
ies and  regulations  since  1818,  increasing 
the  studies,  and  raising  somewhat  the 
standard  of  admission  which  is  still,  how- 
ever, too  low.  In  1859,  the  course  of  study 
was  extended  to  five  years,  and  the  classes 
which  graduated  in  1859,  1860,  and  May, 


1861,  received  five  years  instruction.  But 
the  exigencies  of  the  war  demanded  a larger 
number  of  young  officers  who  had  a military 
training,  and  accordingly  the  class  next  in 
order  were  graduated  in  June,  1861,  and 
since  that  time  the  course  of  study  has  been 
only  four  years.  The  superintendent  of  the 
academy  is  always  an.  officer  of  not  lower 
rank  than  colonel,  a graduate  of  the  acad- 
emy w7ho  had  ranked  high  on  his  gradua- 
tion, and  who  has  seen  much  active  service. 
Beside  the  superintendent  there  were,  in 
1872,  49  professors,  instructors  and  other 
officers  employed  in  the  work  of  instruction. 
The  Academic  Board  is  composed  of  twelve 
' — ten  professors,  and  the  superintendent 
and  commandant  of  cadets. 

The  number  of  cadets  who  may  be  ap- 
pointed annually  is  one  from  each  Congres- 
sional district  and  territory,  and  ten  ap- 
pointed by  the  President,  at  large.  The 
applicants  must  not  be  under  seventeen  or 
over  twenty-one  years,  (except  volunteers  or 
regulars  in  the  late  war  who  had  served 
faithfully  not  less  than  one  year,  who  are 
eligible  till  they  are  twenty-five.  All  appli- 
cants must  be  unmarried,  and  are  not  al- 
lowed to  marry  before  graduation.  Each 
candidate  must  be  able  to  read  and  write 
the  English  language  correctly,  and  to  per- 
form with  facility  and  accuracy  the  various 
operations  of  the  four  ground  rules  of  arith- 
metic, of  reduction,  of  simple  and  com- 
pound proportion,  and  of  vulgar  and  deci- 
mal fractions  ; and  have  a knowledge  of  the 
elements  of  English  grammar,  of  descriptive 
geography,  particularly  of  the  United  States 
of  America,  and  of  the  history  of  the  United 
States.  They  are  examined  in  June,  but 
are  not  admitted  to  full  cadetship  until  the 
following  January,  when  they  are  required 
to  sign  an  agreement  that  they  will  serve  in 
the  army  of  the  United  States  for  eight 
years,  unless  sooner  discharged  by  compe- 
tent authority,  and  take  the  following  oath, 
the  phraseology  of  which  has  been  some- 
what modified  since  the  commencement  of 
the  late  civil  war : “ I solemnly  swear  that 
I will  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  and  bear  true  allegiance  to  the  Na- 
tional Government ; that  I will  maintain  the 
sovereignty  of  the  United  States,  paramount 
to  any  and  all  allegiance,  sovereignty,  or 
fealty  I may  owe  to  any  State,  county,  or 
country  whatsoever;  and  that  1 will  at  all 
times  obey  the  loyal  orders  of  my  superior 
officers,  and  the  rules  and  articles  governing 


476 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


tlie  armies  of  the  United  States.”  The  al- 
lowance to  the  cadet  by  the  Government  is 
about  $610  per  annum,  which  is  all  paid  out 
by  the  Treasurer  of  the  academy,  and 
charged  to  the  cadets,  no  money  being  al- 
lowed in  the  hands  of  the  cadets  during  the 
entire  course.  The  regulations  are  very 
rigid,  and  while  about  28  per  cent,  of  the 
applicants  for  admission  are  rejected,  the 
the  demerit  system  which  regulates  the 
class-standing  of  the  cadet  results  in  the 
dismission  of  nearly  forty  per  cent,  in 
the  four  years. 

(2.)  The  United  States  Naval  Academy. 

After  years  of  agitation  in  Congress,  go- 
ing back  to  the  Continental  Congress  of 
1775,  and  the  recommendations  of  nearly 
every  President,  and  the  secretary  in  charge 
of  naval  affairs,  the  Naval  Academy  at  An- 
napolis, Maryland,  was  organized  in  October, 
1845,  by  the  efforts  of  Hon.  George  Ban- 
croft, then  Secretary  of  the  Navy.*  Prior 
to  the  letter  of  Mr.  Bancroft,  which  concen- 
trated all  the  midshipmen  then  attached  to 
vessels  at  sea  under  a schoolmaster,  or  col- 
lected at  the  Naval  Asylums  at  Philadelphia, 
or  stationed  in  the  Navy  yards  of  Boston, 
New  York,  and  Norfolk,  much  was  done  to 
familiarize  the  young  aspirants  with  the 
practical  duties  of  their  profession.  During 
the  infancy  of  the  academy  several  plans  of 
an  experimental  character  were  tried,  which 
led  gradually  to  the  adoption  of  the  system 
of  instruction  now  in  operation.  Midship- 
men who  had  made  a cruise  at  sea,  were 
first  sent  to  the  academy  for  a term  of  nine 
months,  to  prepare  for  their  final  examina- 
tion, which  practice  was  continued  until 
1847.  In  that  year  a board  of  officers  re- 
commended a course  of  four  years  at  the 
academy,  viz.,  two  years  before,  and  two 
years  after  a cruise  at  sea.  This  plan  went 
into  operation,  but  it  was  soon  abandoned, 
owing  to  the  constant  demand  for  midship- 
men at  sea  during  the  Mexican  war,  and  it 
was  not  until  1851,  that  the  present  unin- 
terrupted course  of  four  years  at  the  acad- 
emy was  inaugurated. 

Candidates  are  appointed  upon  the  rec- 
ommendations of  members  and  delegates 
in  Congress,  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy, 
on  precisely  the  same  terms  as  candidates 
for  the  Military  Academy,  and  the  Presi- 
dent appoints  ten,  at  large,  as  in  the  course 
of  the  candidates  for  West  Point.  They 


are  admitted  between  the  20th  of  Septem- 
ber and  the  1 st  of  October  of  each  year, 
and  if  successful  in  the  preliminary  exam- 
ination, are  permitted  to  assume  the  naval 
uniform,  and  in  the  capacity  of  acting  mid- 
shipmen begin  their  career  on  the  school- 
ship  “Dale,”  a third  rate,  sailing  vessel  of 
675  tons,  now  stationed  at  Annapolis.  The 
requirements  for  admission  are  now  the  same 
as  at  West  Point,  and  the  ages  for  admis- 
sion from  16  to  18  years.  In  the  autumn 
of  1872  the  whole  number  was  260,  and 
this  included  a class  of  34  naval  engineers. 
During  the  summer  vacation  two  of  the 
classes  are  drafted  on  board  the  practice- 
ship,  to  make  a cruise  at  sea,  to  aid  them  in 
acquiring  the  duties  of  an  officer  and  a sail- 
or, and  becoming  familiar  with  the  rigging 
and  evolutions  of  a ship.  They  are  sub- 
jected to  eight  severe  examinations,  and  if 
successful  in  all,  they  receive  a midshipman’s 
warrant,  and  after  two  years  of  sea  service 
they  return  for  a final  examination,  which, 
if  successful,  gives  them  the  warrant  of 
passed  midshipman  ; and  further  promotion 
depends  for  its  speediness  upon  good  con- 
duct, the  existence  of  war,  naval  expendi- 
tures, <fec.  The  Superintendent  of  the  Naval 
Academy  is  selected  from  officers  not  below 
the  rank  of  commodore,  and  is  assisted  by 
an  executive  officer  and  twenty  professors, 
and  assistant  professors.  There  is  a valua- 
ble library  of  20,000  volumes,  and  scientific 
apparatus,  belonging  to  the  academy. 

Connected  with  the  Naval  Academy,  a 
special  course  of  instruction  for  a class  of 
assistant  engineers,  was  organized  in  1865, 
under  an  act  of  Congress  (July  4,  1864), 
and  suspended  in  1868,  to  be  again  instituted 
under  regulations  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy  issued  in  1871. 

(3.)  Slate,  Incorporated  and  Private  Schools. 

In  1820,  Captain  Alden  Partridge,  who 
was  one  of  the  earliest  graduates  of  the  Na- 
tional Military  Academy,  and  associated 
with  its  instruction  and  administration,  as 
assistant  professor,  professor,  and  superin- 
tent, from  1808  to  1815,  began  to  agitate 
the  subject  of  a union  of  military  and  sci- 
entific studies  with  the  ordinary  literary 
curriculum  of  the  American  College,  and  in 
September  of  that  year  opened  at  Norwich  the 
American  Literary,  Scientific,  and  Military 
Academy,  which  received  in  the  course  of 
the  four  years  following,  480  pupils,  repre- 
senting twenty-one  out  of  the  twenty-four 
States.  In  1824  the  institution  was  re- 


Banmrd's  Military  Schools,  p.  895. 


PROFESSIONAL  AND  SPECIAL  EDUCATION. 


477 


moved  to  Middletown,  Conn.,  and  after 
1828,  twelve  hundred  pupils  were  instruct- 
ed, for  periods  averaging  two  years,  in  such 
courses  as  they  had  the  privilege  of  electing 
— but  all  were  trained  in  the  theoretical 
part  of  military  science,  and  in  the  practical 
duties  of  the  soldier,  and  in  graduation  were 
qualified  to  discharge  the  duties  of  a com- 
pany officer,  and,  if  necessary,  to  command 
a battalion  in  any  corps  of  the  army.  Every 
year  a military  march  was  performed,  in 
some  cases  extending  to  several  hundred 
miles,  and  frequent  scientific  surveys,  and 
reconnaissances,  were  made  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  professor  of  civil  engineering. 
The  various  military  schools  which  subse- 
quently sprung  up  in  different  parts  of  the 
country  originated  for  the  most  part  with 
Captain  Partridge’s  pupils.  He  was  himself 
connected  with  the  Military  Institute  at  Ports- 
mouth, Va.,  in  1839,  and  with  the  Military 
College  at  Brandywine  Springs,  near  Wil- 
mington, in  the  State  of  Delaware,  in  1853, 
and  with  the  revival  of  the  Seminary  at 
Norwich,  Vt.,  after  the  incorporation  of  the 
Wesleyan  University  at  Middletown,  in 
which  the  Literary,  Scientific,  and  Military 
Institute  was  merged. 

The  most  successful  of  the  State  Mili- 
tary Institutes  is  that  at  Lexington,  Va., 
which  was  organized  by  Colonel  Francis  II. 
Smith,  a graduate  of  the  Military  Academy 
at  West  Point,  in  the  class  of  1813,  and 
professor  there  from  1834  to  1836.  The 
State  makes  an  annual  appropriation  of 
815,000  for  its  support,  on  the  basis  of  which 
36  cadets  are  admitted  without  charge,  in 
consideration  of  which  they  are  required  to 
teach  in  some  school  of  the  State  for  two 
years  after  graduation.  Any  commissioned 
officer  of  the  militia  of  the  State  of  Vir- 
ginia, can  become  a student  for  a period  not 
exceeding  ten  months,  and  receive  instruc- 
tion in  any  or  all  of  the  departments  of 
Military  science  taught  there,  without  charge 
for  tuition.  In  the  war  of  the  Rebellion  one 
tenth  of  the  Confederate  armies  was  com- 
manded by  the  students  of  this  school,  em- 
bracing three  major-generals,  thirty  briga- 
dier-generals, sixty  colonels,  fifty  lieutenant- 
colonels,  thirty  majors,  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  captains,  and  over  two  hundred 
lieutenants.  To  the  same  armies,  the  Mili- 
tary Institute  at  Frankfort,  Ky.,  the  Cadet 
corps  connected  with  the  State  arsenals  in 
Norfolk,  Richmond,  Charleston,  and  other 
Southern  cities,  and  the  State  Military  In- 
29* 


stitutes  in  Alabama  and  Louisiana,  furnished 
a large  number  of  subordinate  officers, 
which  facilitated  the  early  and  better  or- 
ganization of  the  confederate  forces. 

(4.)  Military  Tactics  in  State  Scientific  Schools. 

In  the  act  of  Congress  (July,  1862),  mak- 
ing grants  of  public  lands  to  the  several 
States  for  the  endowment  of  State  Schools 
of  Agriculture,  and  the  mechanic  arts,  it  is 
provided  that  military  tactics  shall  be  in- 
cluded in  the  system  of  instruction*;  and 
by  an  act  of  March,  1869,  the  President  is 
authorized  to  detail  an  army  officer  to  each 
institution,  to  instruct  in  such  tactics.  With 
these  two  provisions,  and  more  efficient 
legislation,  State  and  National,  a sys- 
tem of  military  instruction  associated  with 
scientific  studies  generally,  will  be  devel- 
oped, which  will  at  once  develop  the  physical 
powers  of  the  pupil,  and  train  up  a large 
body  of  well-educated  men,  ready  to  meet 
the  exigencies  of  the  public  service  as 
against  foreign  invasion,  or  domestic  in- 
surrection. 

II.  THEOLOGICAL  SCHOOLS  OR  SEMINARIES. 

Before  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  indeed 
for  some  years  after,  no  distinct  school  or 
institute  for  theological  training  was  known 
in  this  continent.  In  New  England,  New 
York,  New  Jersey,  and  Pennsylvania  the 
most  eminent  clergymen  of  the  Congrega- 
tionalist,  Presbyterian,  and  Reformed 
(Dutch)  churches,  and  later  of  the  Baptist 
and  Methodist  churches,  were  in  the  habit 
of  receiving  into  their  families  several 
students,  usually  graduates  of  the  colleges, 
who  served  an  apprenticeship  under  their 
direction  in  exegesis,  the  composition  and 
delivery  of  sermons,  and  in  the  observation 
and  practice  of  pastoral  duties.  Sometimes, 
if  the  clergyman  was  very  eminent  either  as 
a preacher  or  a theologian,  he  would  have  a 
considerable  number  of  students  in  his 
family  at  the  same  time,  and  his  instructions 
assumed  a more  formal  and  systematic 
character.  The  most  noted  of  these  gath- 
erings, suggestive  of  the  subsequent  organ- 
ization of  theological  schools,  were  Rev.  Dr. 
Bellamy’s  classes  at  his  home  in  Bethlem, 
Conn.,  and  a little  later  those  of  Dr.  Hop- 
kins in  Hadley,  and  Dr.  Emmons  in  Frank- 
lin, Mass. ; the  “ Log  College  ” of  Rev. 

• For  nn  nccount  of  the  system  adopted  in  the  Cornell  Uni- 
veriity  at  Ithncn,  N.  V..  the  State  Agricultural  College  at  Aim- 
herst,  Muss,  the  State  University  in  Louisiana,  see  Bernard's 
“ Military  Sedoolx."  In  the  mime  volume  will  he  found  no- 
tices of  various  private  military  schools,  by  E.  L.  Molineux. 


478 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


William  Tennent  at  Neshaminy,  Bucks  Co., 
Pa.,  opened  about  1728;  a preparatory 
school  opened  by  Rev.  John  Smith,  and 
afterward  conducted  by  Rev.  Dr.  Anderson, 
in  Western  Pennsylvania,  about  1778  ; the 
instruction  given  to  Baptist  theological 
students  in  the  early  years  of  the  present 
century  by  Rev.  Dr.  Staughton  at  Philadel- 
phia, and  by  Rev.  J.  Chaplin,  D.D.,  at 
Danvers,  Mass.  The  colleges,  too,  it  must 
be  remembered,  provided  for  more  theology 
than  they  now  do.  William  and  Mary 
College,  Virginia,  had  a Professorship  of 
Divinity  as  early  as  1693;  Harvard,  the 
Hollis  Professorship  of  Divinity  in  1721 ; 
and  Yale,  the  Livingston  Professorship  in 
1746.  The  college  of  New  Jersey  had  a 
Theological  Professor  in  1769,  Dartmouth 
College  in  1782,  and  Brown  University  in 
1791. 

The  first  independently  organized  Theo- 
logical Seminary  was  that  of  the  Reformed 
(Dutch)  Church  at  New  Brunswick,  founded 
in  1784  or  1785;  the  next  was  the  Seminary 
of  St.  Sulpice  (Roman  Catholic)  at  Balti- 
more, Md.,  founded  in  1791;  a year  later 
the  Associated  (Presbyterian)  Church 
founded  one  at  Canonsburg,  Pa.,  now  we 
believe  extinct.  In  1794  another  branch  of 
the  same  church  (now  United  Presbyterians) 
established  one  at  Xenia,  Ohio.  These 
were  all  the  theological  seminaries  in  the 
United  States  before  1800.  In  that  year 
the  very  large  Roman  Catholic  Seminary 
connected  with  Mt.  St.  Marys  College, 
Emmittsburgh,  Md.,  was  organized.  An- 
dover Theological  Seminary,  the  largest  and 
oldest  of  the  Congregationalists,  was  estab- 
lished at  Andover,  Mass,  in  1807,  and  the 
Moravian  Seminary  at  Bethlehem,  Pa.,  the 
same  year.  The  Cambridge  Divinity 
School,  Cambridge,  Mass.,  (Unitarian,)  was 
founded  in  1811.  The  Princeton  Theolog- 
ical Seminary  (Presbyterian)  dates  from 
1812;  the  Hamilton  Theological  Institute, 
Hamilton,  N.  Y.,  (Baptist,)  in  1820;  the 
General  Theological  Seminary  (Episcopal) 
at  New  York  City,  in  1817;  Hartwick 
Seminary  (Lutheran)  at  Hartwick,  N.  Y.,  in 
1816;  Mercersburg,  now  Lancaster,  Pa., 
Seminary  (German  Reformed)  in  1825;  the 
General  Biblical  Institute  (Methodist  Epis- 
copal) at  Concord,  N.  H.,  in  1 847 ; the 
Seminary  at  Lewiston,  Me.,  (Free  Will 
Baptist)  in  1830  ; the  Bible  Department  of 
Eureka  College  (Christian  or  Disciples), 
Eureka,  111.,  in  1852  ; and  the  Canton  Theo- 


logical School  at  Canton,  N.  Y.,  (Uuiversa- 
list)  in  1858.  There  are  now  (about)  120 
Theological  Seminaries  in  the  United  States, 
with  400  Professors  and  (about)  3,400 
students. 

III.  LAW  SCHOOLS. 

The  legal  profession  during  the  colonial 
period  were,  with  few  exceptions,  very 
poorly  qualified  for  the  practice  of  the  law. 
A fe,w  young  men  of  the  wealthier  classes 
visited  the  mother  country  and  entered  at 
the  Inner  or  Middle  Temple  in  London,  and 
having  been  admitted  to  the  bar  there, 
returned  to  the  colonies  and  practiced  their 
profession,  and  most  of  these  received 
students  in  their  offices,  who  gained  some 
practical  knowledge  of  law  in  the  course  of 
a long  apprenticeship,  but  very  few  were 
familiar  with  the  great  principles  which 
underlie  all  law,  or  their  practical  applica- 
tion to  the  cases  which  came  up  in  their 
practice.  Most  of  the  eminent  lawyers  of 
the  Revolutionary  period  (and  some  of  them 
were  men  of  great  ability)  were  educated 
abroad.  In  1784  the  first  law  school  in  the 
United  States  was  established  at  Litchfield, 
Conn.,  by  Judge  Reeve,  who  associated 
Judge  Gould  with  him  in  1798,  and  the  two 
maintained  the  school  together  till  1823, 
when  Judge  Reeve  died.  In  1827  Judge 
Gould  retired,  and  the  school  was  given  up. 
Messrs.  Reeve  and  Gould  were  both  men  of 
great  learning  and  tact,  and  by  their  in- 
structions seven  hundred  and  fifty  lawyers 
were  trained  in  the  legal  profession,  many 
of  whom  have  reflected  the  greatest  honor 
upon  it.  There  had  been  a Professorship 
of  Law  in  William  and  Mary  Colleges  estab- 
lished about  1730  ; Brown  University  had 
one  in  1790,  but  there  was  no  law  school 
connected  with  any  college  or  university  till 
1817,  when  the  Dane  Law  School  of  Har- 
vard University  was  established.  The  Yale 
Law  School  was  founded  in  1820,  and 
reorganized  in  1843.  In  1825  a law  school 
was  organized  as  a department  of  the 
University  of  Virginia,  and  in  1826  one  at 
Washington,  as  a department  of  the 
Columbian  College.  There  are  now  in  the 
United  States  40  law  schools,  with  140 
professors  and  nearly  2,000  students. 

IV.  MEDICAL  SCHOOLS. 

During  the  colonial  period  a few  physi- 
cians were  educated  abroad,  in  the  medical 
schools  of  Edinburgh,  London,  and  Paris, 
and  some  who  had  already  obtained  a 


PROFESSIONAL  AND  SPECIAL  EDUCATION. 


479 


medical  education  emigrated  to  the  colonies 
to  practice.  Among  the  latter  was  John 
Winthrop,  the  first  physician  of  the  New 
Haven  Colony,  and  more  than  one  of  the 
early  celebrities  of  New  York,  Philadelphia 
and  Boston.  Among  the  former  were  Dr. 
Shippen  and  Benjamin  Rush  of  Philadel- 
phia, Drs.  Bard  and  W.  P.  Smith  of  New 
York,  Drs.  John  Brockett  and  the  Elder 
Munson  of  New  Haven,  and  other  of  the 
New  England  Colonies.  But  the  greater 
part  of  the  physicians  of  that  period  re- 
ceived their  only  training  in  the  offices  and 
practice  of  the  more  eminent  members  of 
the  profession,  and  were  licensed  either  by 
the  legislature  or  where  these  existed  by 
county  or  colonial  societies  of  physicians. 
The  tendency  of  this  practice  of  licensing 
was  evident  in  the  gradual  lowering  of  the 
tone  and  culture  of  the  profession,  and  its 
more  eminent  members  lamented  it.  In 
1762,  Dr.  Shippen  of  Philadelphia  com- 
menced lecturing  on  Anatomy  to  a class  of 
young  men  who  were  studying  medicine, 
and  in  1765  he  succeeded  in  making  a 
sufficient  degree  of  interest  among  the 
physicians  of  the  city  to  organize  the 
Medical  Department  of  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania.  Attempts  were  made  soon 
after  to  organize  a medical  school  in  New 
York,  but  no  permanent  establishment  was 
effected  there  till  some  years  later.  In  1782 
or  1783,  the  Medical  Department  of  Har- 
vard University  was  established  in  Boston. 
In  1796,  the  Hanover  Medical  School,  a 
department  of  Dartmouth  College,  was 
founded.  Two  or  three  short  lived  schools 
were  set  up  in  New  York  City,  but  none 
which  had  much  reputation  till  the  incor- 
poration of  the  College  of  Physicians  and 
Surgeons  in  1807.  There  are  now  57 
medical  schools  or  colleges  of  the  regular 
practice  in  the  United  States,  with  about 
100  professors  and  6,000  students.  About 
1835  the  pupils  of  Hahnemann  began  to 
introduce  the  Homoeopathic  practice  into 
this  country,  and  there  arc  now  six  schools 
of  this  practice,  with  80  professors  and 
about  500  students.  There  are  also  four 
Eclectic  and  two  Botanic  Medical  schools, 
with  40  professors  and  nearly  500  students. 
Of  the  regular  medical  schools  four  are 
exclusively  for  women,  and  two  others 
admit  both  sexes.  Of  the  Homoeopathic 
schools,  one  is  for  women  and  one  admits 
both  sexes.  Under  the  general  head  of 
schools  of  medicine  must  be  named,  also, 


the  Dental  Schools  or  Colleges,  of  which 
there  are  nine,  with  70  teachers  and  about 
300  students ; and  the  Schools  or  Colleges 
of  Pharmacy,  of  which  there  are  sixteen, 
with  50  professors  and  about  600  students. 
The  tables  appended  give  full  particulars 
of  all  these  schools. 

V.  NORMAL  SCHOOLS  AND  TEACHERS’  INSTITUTES. 

Although  teaching  is  not  admitted  with  us 
to  the  rank  of  a learned  profession,  there  has 
long  been  a conviction  in  the  minds  of  the 
most  eminent  teachers  and  scholars  that  a 
process  of  careful  training  and  instruction 
in  the  art  of  teaching  was  necessary,  or  at 
least  desirable,  for  those  who  proposed  to 
follow  it  as  a calling.  Three  centuries  ago 
Richard  Mulcaster,  upper-master  of  St. 
Paul’s  school,  and  afterwards  head-master 
of  Merchant  Taylors’  school,  in  his  “ Posi- 
tions ” published  a plea  for  a college  for  the 
training  of  teachers,  including  a plan  which 
in  latter  times  has  been  but  little  amended. 
The  teachers  of  the  colonial  period,  as  we 
have  already  shown,  were  not  trained  to 
their  work  in  any  institution  designed 
specially  for  the  instruction  of  teachers,  and 
for  the  want  of  this  training,  while  many 
became  eminent  by  natural  aptitude,  the 
majority  were  less  successful  than  with  their 
remarkable  natural  qualities  they  should 
have  been. 

The  first  suggestion  in  this  country  looking 
toward  the  establishment  of  schools  analo- 
gous to  our  Normal  School,*  was  made  in 
the  Massachusetts  Magazine  for  June,  1789, 
in  an  article  by  Elisha  Ticknor,  advocating 
the  establishment  of  county  schools  “ to  fit 
young  gentlemen  for  college  and  school 
keeping.”  It  was  just  fifty  years  after 
(1839)  that  this  suggestion  bore  fruit  in  a 
resolution  which  authorized  the  establish- 
ment of  Normal  Schools  in  Massachusetts. 
In  1816,  Denison  Olmsted,  subsequently 
Professor  of  Mathematics  in  Yale  College, 
in  his  Master’s  Oration  proposed  the  estab- 
lishment by  the  State  of  Connecticut  of  an 
academy  to  train  schoolmasters  for  the  State 
common  schools.  In  1823,  the  Rev. 
Samuel  Read  Hall  opened  a select  school 
at  Concord,  Vt , in  which  he  advertised  to 
give  a course  of  instruction  adapted  to 
teachers.  In  1825,  two  series  of  articles 
were  published  almost  simultaneously,  one 
in  Hartford,  Conn.,  by  Rev.  Thomas  H. 

* See  Hiitory  of  Normal  School*  in  Barnard’*  American 
Journal  of  Education , Vol.  13,  p.  756. 


480 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


Gallaudet,  and  the  other  in  Boston  by 
James  G.  Carter,  Esq.,  proposing,  each 
without  any  knowledge  of  the  other’s  views, 
among  other  things  the  establishment  of  a 
seminary  or  institution  for  the  education  of 
teachers.  These  two  series  of  papers  were 
soon  after  published  in  pamphlet  form.  In 
1827,  Mr.  Carter,*  with  some  assistance  from 
the  town  of  Lancaster,  Mass.,  established 
there  a private  seminary  for  the  instruction 
of  teachers.  From  1830  to  1842  a sem- 
inary for  the  instruction  and  training  of 
teachers  was  maintained  in  connection  with 
Phillips  Academy,  Andover,  under  the 
charge  of  Rev.  Samuel  Read  Hall.*  In  the 
same  year,  (1826,)  W.  R.  Johnson,*  then  re- 
siding in  Germantown,  Penn.,  without  any 
knowledge  of  the  views  of  Messrs.  Gallaudet 
and  Carter,  published  a pamphlet  entitled 
“ Observations  on  the  Improvement  of  Sem- 
inaries of  Learning ,”  in  which  he  set  forth 
the  necessity  and  advantages  of  schools  for 
the  special  training  of  teachers.  The  same 
year  Governor  DeWitt  Clinton,  in  his  an- 
nual message  to  the  Legislature  of  New 
York,  commended  to  their  consideration  the 
education  of  competent  teachers,  and  in 
1826  recommended  the  establishment  of  a 
seminary  for  this  purpose,  in  which  the 
methods  of  Lancaster  should  be  adopted. 
For  several  years  following,  this  matter  occu- 
pied the  attention  of  the  committees  of 
education  in  the  New  York  Legislature, 
and  efforts  were  made  in  1835  to  provide 
normal  instruction  through  the  academies 
of  the  State  by  appropriations  for  that  pur- 
pose from  the  literature  fund,  but  these 
failing  in  producing  the  desired  result,  the 
State  Normal  School  in  Albany  was  estab- 
lished in  1844,  and  in  1867  provision  was 
made  for  four  more  in  different  parts  of  the 
State.  But  Massachusetts  preceded  New 
York  in  the  establishment  of  Normal  Schools 
by  five  years. 

^fter  twelve  years  of  agitation  in  Mas- 
sachusetts by  James  G.  Carter,  George  B. 
Emerson,  Charles  Brooks, f the  Secretary  of 
the  Board  of  Education,  Hon.  Horace  Mann, 
and  the  noble  gift  (Si 0,000)  of  Hon.  Edmund 
Dwight,  seconded  by  other  devoted  friends 
of  education,  three  Normal  Schools,  at  Lex- 
ington (afterward  removed  to  West  Newton, 
and  later  to  Framingham),  Westfield,  and 

* Barnard’s  Normal  Schools  and  other  Institutions  for  the 
Professional  Training  of  Teachers. 

t For  special  notice  of  the  labors  of  Rev.  Charles  Brooks- 
see  Barnard’s  American  Journal  of  Education , Vol.  I.,  p.  587  ; 
XVI.,  p.  89;  XVII.,  p.  721. 


Bridgewater,  the  first  exclusively  for  women, 
the  other  two  for  both  sexes,  were  established 
in  1839.  In  1854,  another,  also  for  women 
only,  was  established  at  Salem.  There  are 
now  in  the  United  States  between  eighty 
and  ninety  institutions  designated  Normal 
Schools,  aside  from  city  training  schools, 
and  normal  departments  in  colleges  and 
seminaries  which  profess  to  give  instruction 
in  the  art  of  teaching.  In  these  schools 
and  departments  there  are  about  475  teach- 
ers, and  nearly  12,000  pupil-teachers.  The 
location,  special  character,  and  attendance 
of  the  more  prominent  of  these  institutions 
will  be  found  in  the  table  appended. 

The  course  of  study  in  these  schools 
extends  over  two  or  three  years  for  those 
who  wish  to  graduate,  though  those  who 
are  qualified  to  do  so  can  enter  the  ad- 
vanced classes.  Generally  there  is  no  in- 
struction in  either  ancient  or  modern 
languages,  except  English ; but  in  some  of 
the  Western  Normal  Schools,  Latin,  Greek, 
and  German  are  optional  studies.  Aside 
from  the  languages  (which  are  pursued  by  a 
very  small  number)  the  course  comprises 
the  studies  of  our  best  High  Schools,  with 
extra  drilling  on  the  elementary  branches 
and  the  art  of  teaching.  The  instruction  in 
all  the  branches  is  twofold  in  its  character ; 
aiming  to  impart  a thorough  knowledge  of 
the  subjects  taught  to  the  teacher  pupils,  and 
displaying  also  the  best  methods  of  com- 
municating this  knowledge  to  children.  As 
theory  and  practice  should  go  together, 
experimental  and  model  schools  are  usually 
connected  with  the  Normal  Seminary  in 
which  the  students  learn  by  observation 
and  actual  practice  how  to  organize,  man- 
age, and  teach  ordinary  graded  schools. 

Normal  Schools  have  accomplished  a 
great  amount  of  good  in  raising  the  stand- 
ard of  qualifications  required  of  the 
teachers  of  our  public  schools,  and  the 
range  of  studies  taught  in  them,  and  there 
is  a fair  ground  of  hope  for  their  still 
greater  usefulness  in  the  future ; but  to  this 
end  certain  improvements  in  their  manage- 
ment are  necessary,  which  we  may  briefly 
indicate  here : 1st,  There  should  be  a 
materially  higher  and  uniform  standard  of 
attainment  required  for  admission  to  them. 
At  present  very  little  more  than  the  most 
elementary  knowledge  of  reading,  writing, 
arithmetic,  and  primary  geography,  gram- 
mar, and  history  are  demanded.  With  this 
advanced  standard  of  admission,  the  two  or 


PROFESSIONAL  AND  SPECIAL  EDUCATION. 


481 


three  years  course  would  be  of  much  greater 
service.  2d,  The  pupils  should  be  induced, 
if  possible,  to  remain  through  the  entire 
course,  as  whatever  may  be  their  previous 
scholarship,  they  can  not  in  a shorter  time 
acquire  the  best  methods  of  teaching  what 
they  may  know  very  well.  3d,  The  Ger- 
man language,  and  perhaps  also  a moderate 
knowledge  of  Latin  and  French  should 
form  a part  of  the  complete  course.  There 
should  also  be  a more  extensive  or  post 
graduate  course,  to  qualify  teachers  for  the 
higher  positions,  such  as  principals  of 
higher  schools  or  academies,  professors  in 
colleges,  similar  in  character  to  the  philo- 
logical and  pedagogical  seminaries  on  the 
continent  of  Europe,  and  at  least  one  for 
the  training  of  teachers  and  professors  of 
scientific  schools.  It  is  perhaps  too  early 
for  the  organization  of  training  schools  for 
the  technical  arts  and  trades,  such  as  for 
first-class  printers,  booksellers,  &c.,  like 
those  of  Leipsic  and  the  other  German 
cities.  4th,  The  faculty  of  instruction  is  in 
most  of  these  institutions  too  small  for  the 
number  of  pupils,  and  for  efficient  instruc- 
tion. 5th,  There  is  a great  necessity  for  en- 
dowments or  of  scholarships  to  reduce  the 
expense  of  the  prolonged  residence  of  poor 
but  promising  pupils.  6th,  There  should 
be  a better  defined  gradation  of  the  pupils 
and  a minimum  standard  of  attainment  pre- 
scribed in  each  grade,  failing  to  attain  which 
the  pupil  should  not  receive  the  diploma  of 
his  grade,  whether  as  a teacher  of  primary, 
intermediate,  grammar,  or  high  schools. 
7th,  The  examinations  should  be  by  papers, 
and  very  thorough  and  searching,  accom- 
panied by  trial-lessons  in  the  model  school, 
or  any  ordinary  public  school. 

Teachers'  Institutes  and  Associations. 

Another  less  perfect  but  highly  bene- 
ficial method  of  improving  teachers  in  their 
work  is  the  Teachers’  Institute.  A 
Teachers’  Institute  is  a voluntary  assembling 
of  the  teachers  of  a county,  assembly,  con- 
gressional or  judicial  districts  at  some 
central  point,  for  instruction  for  one,  two, 
three,  or  even  six  weeks,  by  competent  in- 
structors or  lecturers  in  the  best  methods  of 
teaching  the  studies  pursued  in  our  public 
schools.  The  exercises  are  also  varied  by 
singing,  readings,  and  recitations,  discussions 
on  school  topics,  and  the  reading  of  essays 
on  the  various  methods  of  imparting  in- 
struction, in  which  parents  and  citizens  take 
part. 


The  first  assembly  of  teachers  of  this 
kiud  was  held  at  Hartford,  Conn.,  in 
1839,  solely  at  the  expense  and  on  the 
suggestion  of  the  then  Secretary  of  the 
Board  of  Commissioners  of  Common 
Schools  in  Connecticut.*  It  was  remarka- 
bly successful,  and  was  repeated  in  the 
spring  of  1840.  The  beneficial  results  of 
these  gatherings  were  so  evident  that  they 
were  soon  adopted  and  provided  for  by  the 
Legislatures  of  most  of  the  Northern  and 
Western  States.  In  Pennsylvania  they 
were  held  in  each  county,  and  gatherings 
for  a longer  term  (from  six  to  twelve  weeks) 
under  the  title  of  Normal  Institutes,  were 
held  in  each  judicial  district.  These  as- 
semblages, though  not  fully  a substitute  for 
Normal  Schools,  yet  in  some  respects  exert 
even  a more  beneficial  influence.  They 
enlist  the  interest  and  sympathies  of  parents 
and  citizens,  as  well  as  of  the  children; 
bring  the  teachers  of  a county  or  district 
into  more  intimate  acquaintance  with  each 
other,  rouse  a healthy  spirit  of  emulation, 
and  develop  an  esprit  de  corps  among  the 
teachers  which  will  lead  to  better  views  of 
their  profession  and  greater  zeal  in  it. 
Probably  not  less  than  50,000  teachers 
annually  enjoy  the  benefits  of  this  inex- 
pensive course  of  instruction. 

Another  class  of  organizations  for  the 
advancement  of  the  teachers’  profession  is 
found  in  the  State  and  other  Teachers’  As- 
sociations. One  of  these  have  been  in 
existence  over  forty  years,  but  the  greater 
part  have  come  into  being  within  thirty 
years.  They  occupy  their  sessions  largely 
with  the  discussion  of  methods  and  systems 
of  teaching,  text-books,  apparatus,  period- 
icals, <fcc.,  but  find  some  leisure  for  the  pro- 
motion of  the  financial,  social,  and  moral 
advancement  of  the  profession.  Most  of 
these  associations  own  or  control  an  educa- 
tional periodical,  in  which  teachers  dis- 
cuss methods  of  instruction  with  great 
freedom,  and  with  constantly  increasing 
ability. 

VI.  SCHOOLS  OF  APPLIED  SCIENCES. 

1.  Agricultural  Schools  and  Colleges. 

There  have  not  been  wanting  for  the 
last  two  thousand  years  writers  who  have 
made  it  their  business  to  impart  instruction 
to  their  readers  in  regard  to  the  culture  of 
their  fields,  the  rearing  of  cattle,  the  suc- 
cession of  crops,  and  the  care  of  the  vine. 

• Bee  Barnard’s  American  Journal  of  Education,  V ol.  17, 
p.  804. 


482 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


The  writings  of  Cato,  Virgil’s  Georgies,  the 
Essays  of  Pliny,  Varro  and  Columella,  and 
later  Virgil  Polydore,  Sir  Anthony  Fitzher- 
bert,  Thomas  Tusser,  Barnaby  George, 
Walter  Blithe,  Richard  Westen,  Jethro 
Tull,  Arthur  Young,  and  Albrecht  von 
Thaer,  are  full  of  instruction  in  regard  to 
agriculture,  both  as  a science  and  an  art. 
The  first  suggestion  of  a school  or  college 
for  instruction  in  agriculture,  so  far  as  can 
now  be  ascertained,  was  made  by  Samuel 
Hartlib,  in  an  essay  published  in  1651. 
This  was  seconded  by  Abraham  Cowley  in 
1661,  in  a treatise  on  the  foundation  of  a 
Philosophical  College,  and  an  essay  on 
agriculture.  These  suggestions  bore  no 
fruit  for  nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty  years. 
An  attempt  was  made  to  establish  an  agri- 
cultural school  in  the  park  of  Chambord  in 
France,  by  the  Abbe  Rosier,  in  1775,  but 
owing  to  the  impending  revolution  in  France 
it  was  unsuccessful.  De  Fellenberg’s  Agri- 
cultural School  at  Hofwyl,  Switzerland,  pro- 
jected in  1799,  but  not  fully  organized  till 
1806  or  1807,  was  really  a Normal  School, 
with  its  course  of  lectures  on  agriculture 
forming  one  of  its  branches  of  instruction, 
and  its  practice  of  agricultural  labor  by  the 
pupils  of  the  school.  An  agricultural 
school  of  higher  order  and  more  directly 
devoted  to  instruction  in  both  the  science 
and  the  art,  was  that  founded  in  1799  by 
Prince  Schwartzenberg  at  Krumau,  in 
Bohemia,  and  which  is  still  in  existence. 
Albrecht  von  Thaer  founded  an  agricultural 
school  at  Celle,  in  Hanover,  in  1799,  which 
was  subsequently  transferred  to  Moglin, 
and  with  greatly  enlarged  facilities  became 
in  1810  the  Royal  School  of  Agriculture  in 
Prussia,  and  is  still  continued.  He  was 
Professor  of  Agriculture  in  the  University 
of  Berlin  from  1810  to  1828.  Its  course 
of  instruction  is  very  thorough,  and  its 
illustrative  collections  ample.  There  are 
now  more  than  four  hundred  agricultural 
schools  in  Europe,  about  thirty  of  them  of 
the  highest  grade,  among  which  the  most 
celebrated  are  those  of  Hohenheim  in 
Wurtemberg,  Schleissheim  in  Bavaria, 
Poppelsdorf,  Glasnevin  in,  Ireland,  Plagwitz 
in  Saxony,  and  Cirencester,  England.* 

In  the  United  States,  though  there  had 
been  much  discussion  and  the  desirableness 
of  agricultural  schools  was  generally  admit- 
ted, there  was  no  successful  effort  for  their 

* A full  description  of  the  schools  designated  will  be  found 
in  Barnard’s  Scientific  and  Industrial  Education.  Kkw 
York.  Stkiokr,  1872. 


establishment  till  about  1854,  though  the 
“ Cream  Hill  Agricultural  School  at  West 
Cornwall,  Conn,  a private  boarding  school 
for  boys,  in  which  agricultural  studies  were 
mingled  with  those  of  the  usual  course  of 
the  secondary  schools,  had  been  in  existence 
since  1845  ; and  there  had  been  an  annual 
course  of  about  30  lectures  on  agriculture 
given  in  Yale  College  since  1847.  The 
Michigan  State  Agricultural  College  at 
Lansing  was  projected  in  1850,  but  was  not 
opened  till  1857.  The  Farmers’  High 
School  of  Pennsylvania,  now  the  Pennsyl- 
vania Agricultural  College,  near  Bellefonte, 
Center  Co.,  Pa.,  was  projected  in  1854, 
opened  in  1856,  and  reorganized  in  1859. 
The  Farmers’  College,  at  College  Hill,  near 
Cincinnati,  and  the  Agricultural  College  at 
Cleveland,  Ohio,  both  commenced  their 
course  of  instruction  about  1856,  as  did 
also  the  Westchester  Farm  School,  a private 
institution,  under  the  charge  of  Messrs. 
Henry  S.  Olcott  and  Henry  C.  Vail.  The 
New  York  State  Agricultural  College  at 
Ovid,  after  a struggle  of  four  or  five  years, 
broke  down  completely,  and  finally  was 
succeeded  by  Cornell  University,  which  has 
a flourishing  agricultural  department. 
Maryland  founded  a State  Agricultural  Col- 
lege at  Hyattsville  in  1857.  Iowa  estab- 
lished a “State  Agricultural  College  and 
Model  Farm”  in  1858,  but  it  was  in  an 
embryonic  state  for  several  years.  These 
were,  we  believe,  all  the  agricultural  colleges 
or  schools  giving  direct  instruction  in  the 
science  of  agriculture  previous  to  1863. 

On  the  2d  of  July,  1862,  the  President 
of  the  United  States  signed  an  act  of  Con- 
gress known  as  the  Agricultural  College 

o O o 

Land  Grant,  which  provided  that  there 
should  be  granted  to  each  State  thirty 
thousand  acres  of  the  unsold  and  unreserved 
lands  of  the  United  States  for  each  Senator 
and  Representative  such  State  was  entitled 
to  in  Congress,  said  lands  to  be  sold  by  each 
State  or  its  assigns,  and  the  proceeds  of 
such  sale  to  constitute  a fund  which  should 
be  safely  invested,  the  interest  to  be  used  to 
aid  in  the  maintenance  “ of  at  least  one 
college  where  the  leading  object  shall  be, 
without  excluding  other  scientific  and  clas- 
sical studies,  and  including  military  tactics, 
to  teach  such  branches  of  learning  as  are 
related  to  agriculture  and  the  mechanic 
arts,  in  such  manner  as  the  Legislatures  of 
the  States  may  respectively  prescribe,  in 
order  to  promote  the  liberal  and  practical 


PROFESSIONAL  AND  SPECIAL  EDUCATION. 


483 


education  of  the  industrial  classes  in  the  sev- 
eral pursuits  and  professions  in  life.”  * 

The  passage  of  this  act  gave  a powerful 
impulse  to  the  organization  of  Agricultural 
Schools  or  Colleges.  In  1871  thirty -four 
States  had  accepted  the  national  grant,  and 
thirty  of  these  had  taken  measures  either 
for  the  endowment  of  an  agricultural  de- 
partment in  some  existing  institution  or  for 
the  establishment  of  a new  College  of 
Agriculture  and  the  Industrial  Arts.  In 
New  England,  four  of  the  States,  Vermont, 
New  Hampshire,  Connecticut,  and  Rhode 
Island  bestowed  their  share  of  the  national 
grant  on  already  existing  historic  institu- 
tions in  their  respective  bounds, — the 
University  of  Vermont,  Dartmouth  College, 
Yale  College,  and  Brown  University,  in 
each  of  which  departments  of  agriculture 
and  the  mechanic  arts  have  been  established. 
Maine  founded  a “ State  College  of  Agri- 
culture and  the  Mechanic  Arts  ” at  Orono ; 
and  Massachusetts,  dividing  her  grant,  gave 
one-third  to  the  Institute  of  Technology  at 
Boston,  and  two-thirds  to  a new  Agricultural 
College  founded  at  Amherst,  but  having  no 
direct  connection  with  the  existing  college 
there.  In  New  York,  after  some  experi- 
ments in  other  directions,  the  magnificent 
grant  of  990,000  acres  of  land  was  be- 
stowed as  an  endowment  upon  the  new  but 
already  flourishing  Cornell  University, 
wrhose  curriculum  embraces  the  widest  pos- 
sible diversity  of  studies.  In  Ohio,  In- 
diana, Illinois,  Kansas,  Minnesota,  Oregon, 
and  West  Virginia  new  institutions  have 
been  founded,  though  that  of  Minnesota 
was  subsequently  made  a part  of  the  State 
University  already  in  existence.  In  Indiana, 
the  Purdue  College,  and  in  Illinois,  the 
Illinois  Industrial  University  are  liberally 
endowed,  and  give  promise  of  becoming 
efficient  institutions.  Pennsylvania,  Michi- 
gan, Maryland,  and  Iowa,  have  bestowed 
their  grants  upon  Agricultural  Colleges 
already  existing  in  their  respective  States, 
greatly  to  their  advantage  and  usefulness. 
New  Jersey,  Delaware,  Virginia,  North 
Carolina,  Georgia,  Mississippi,  Louisiana, 
Tennessee,  Kentucky,  Missouri,  Wisconsin, 
and  California  have  intrusted  theirs  to 
literary  institutions  already  existing  to  form 
in  them  departments  of  Agriculture  and  the 

* The  credit  of  originating  and  conducting  thic  net  through 
Congreu  belong*  to  Hon.  J.  H.  Morrill,  on  it*  fir«t  introduction 
a member  of  the  House,  and  subsequently  of  the  Senate,  from 
Vermont.  In  1873  he  secured  nn  additional  act  by  which  a 
portion  of  the  land  sales  hereafter  is  assigned  annually  tv  the 
State  Agricultural  Colleges. 


Mechanic  Arts.  In  all,  theu,  there  are 
thirty  of  these  agricultural  colleges,  schools, 
or  departments  already  in  operation,  which 
have  received  the  national  grants,  and  sev- 
eral others,  in  which  agricultural  science 
forms  an  important  though  somewhat  sub- 
ordinate section  of  a scientific  course. 

The  course  of  study  in  agriculture  varies 
in  these  institutions  from  a variety  of 
causes.  In  some,  it  is  wholly  theoretical ; 
in  others,  theory  and  practice  of  agricul- 
ture are  mingled  in  diverse  proportions. 
In  some  the  highest  scientific  principles,  the 
analysis  of  soils  and  products,  the  adapta- 
bility of  natural  and  artificial  manures  to 
particular  soils,  the  geology,  mineralogy  and 
botany  of  particular  sections,  the  mathe- 
matics of  agriculture,  the  requirements  of 
temperature,  the  influence  of  locality  upon 
crops,  the  laws  of  forest  growth,  and  the 
sciences  of  draining  and  irrigation,  occupy 
the  time  of  the  student;  others,  wfith  an 
eye  to  more  immediate  results,  devote  their 
time  and  instruction  more  fully  to  practical 
details,  such  as  the  rearing  of  cattle,  sheep, 
and  swine ; the  diseases  to  which  each  are 
subject ; the  best  methods  of  fattening  and 
marketing  them ; the  culture  of  the  vine, 
and  of  small  fruits  ; of  the  different  grains  ; 
market  gardening ; the  cultivation  of  fruit, 
or  the  methods  of  silk,  hop,  or  tea  culture. 
Each  of  these  systems  has  its  advantages, 
and  the  accomplished  agriculturalist  should 
attain  a knowledge  of  all.  Agricultural 
schools,  it  will  be  seen  from  this  brief  re- 
view, are  yet  in  their  infancy  in  this  country, 
and  there  is  yet  great  room  for  progress  in 
their  management  and  instruction. 

2.  Commercial  Schools  or  Business  Colleges. 

These  are  entirely  of  modern  creation, 
the  oldest  of  them  having  been  organized 
in  18o0.  Considerably  more  than  one-half 
of  them,  and  among  the  number  those  most 
widely  advertised  and  most  largely  attended, 
are  private  enterprises,  adventure  schools  as 
they  would  be  termed  in  Great  Britain, 
started  purely  as  business  speculations. 
The  time  required  for  their  course  of  in- 
struction varies  from  thirty  days  to  two 
years.  They  give  instruction  in  penman- 
ship, book-keeping  in  all  its  branches,  busi- 
ness forms  and  technicalities,  and  some  of 
them  in  banking  and  finance,  exchange, 
insurance,  postal  regulations  and  service, 
custom-house  brokerage,  and  telegraphy. 
In  a very  few,  instruction  is  given  in  French 
and  German  to  an  extent  sufficient  for  busi- 


484 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


ness  correspondence.  Most  of  these  studies 
should  come  into  the  regular  course  of  our 
Grammar  or  Secondary  Schools,  and  these 
should  be  supplemented  by  evening  schools 
for  those  who  are  unable  to  attend  in  the 
daytime.  In  the  absence  of  this  legitimate 
school  instruction  they  have  undoubtedly 
proved  of  advantage  to  many  of  those  who 
sought  a business  training.  There  are  in  all 
about  ninety  of  these  commercial  schools. 
The  number  of  teachers  in  them  is  nearly 
or  quite  200,  and  of  students  about  8,000. 

3.  Scientific  Schools  Proper  * 

Under  this  head  we  include  Schools  of 
Technology  or  Science,  in  its  applications  to 
the  useful  arts  and  business;  Schools  of 
pure  Science,  as  higher  mathematics,  nat- 
ural history,  physical  science ; Schools  of 
Engineering,  civil  or  military ; Schools  of 
Mines  and  Mining  Engineering  ; Schools  of 
Philology  and  Linguistics ; Schools  of  Arch- 
itecture, and  Schools  of  the  Fine  Arts 
(drawing,  painting,  sculpture,  and  music.) 

The  first  of  these  scientific  schools  in  the 
order  of  time,  and  one  of  the  first  in  the 
order  of  merit,  is  the  Rensselaer  Polytechnic 
Institute  at  Troy.  This  institute  grew  out 
of  the  efforts  of  the  “ patroon,”  late  Stephen 
Van  Rensselaer,  to  promote  the  diffusion  of 
practical  science  among  the  farmers  and 
mechanics  of  the  State  of  New  York.  In 
1820  and  1821  he  had  caused  a geological 
and  agricultural  survey  of  the  counties  of 
Albany  and  Rensselaer  to  be  made  at  his  own 
expense,  and  had  also  procured  the  services  of 
the  late  Prof.  Aner  Eaton,  and  the  late  Profes- 
sor and  President  of  Amherst  College,  Dr. 
Edward  Hitchcock,  to  survey  a transverse 
section  from  Boston  to  Lake  Erie,  noting 
its  geological  structure,  the  varieties  of  soil 
and  analyzing  the  soils  and  crops  of  this 
section.  In  1823  and  1824  he  employed 
Prof.  Eaton  and  a number  of  competent 
assistants  to  traverse  the  State  on  the  line 
of  the  Erie  Canal  and  deliver  popular  lec- 
tures on  philosophy,  chemistry,  &c.,  with 
experiments.  In  the  autumn  of  1824  he 
founded  the  Rensselaer  Institute  at  Troy, 
for  the  purpose  at  first  of  giving  instruction 
in  Natural  History,  Geology,  and  Chemistry, 
as  well  as  in  the  higher  Mathematics  and 
Physics.  For  fifteen  years  he  sustained  this 
school  in  great  part  from  his  own  ample 
means,  giving  free  tuition  to  one  student 
from  each  county,  on  the  recommendation 


of  the  County  Clerk,  but  requiring  that 
these  students  should  teach  for  one  year  in 
their  own  counties.  After  Gen.  Van  Rensse- 
laer’s death,  Civil  Engineering  was  made  a 
prominent  feature  in  the  course  of  study, 
and  with  the  pecuniary  aid  of  the  Van 
Rensselaer  family,  it  continues  its  high 
position  as  a school  of  science  and  en- 
gineering. 

In  many  instances  the  schools  organized 
under  the  national  grants  of  lands,  or  re- 
ceiving aid  from  these  grants,  include  one 
or  more  of  these  classes  of  schools  with 
their  instruction  in  agriculture.  Instruction 
in  mechanics,  by  the  terms  of  the  act, 
is  included  in  all  or  nearly  all  of  them ; 
and  where  the  endowment  has  been  be- 
stowed upon  a scientific  school  already  in 
operation,  physical  science,  engineering, 
mining,  &c.,  have  also  been  included. 
There  are  a considerable  number  of  schools 
which  do  not  participate  in  these  national 
grants,  but  are  more  or  less  liberally  en- 
dowed from  other  sources.  Among  those 
most  largely  endowed  we  may  name 
Lehigh  University  at  South  Bethlehem, 
Penn.,  which  has  received  from  Hon.  Asa 
Packer,  in  all  about  one  million  dollars ; 
the  Stevens  Institute  of  Technology  at 
Hoboken,  N.  J.,  whose  endowment,  aside 
from  land  and  buildings,  is  $500,000;  the 
Scientific  Department  of  Lafayette  College, 
Easton,  Pa.,  amply  endowed  by  Mr.  Pardee ; 
the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology, 
largely  endowed  by  Dr.  Walker  and  others ; 
the  Worcester  Free  Institute,  endowed 
by  Messrs.  Boynton  and  Washburne ; the 
Lawrence  Scientific  School  of  Harvard 
University,  and  the  Street  School  of 
Fine  Arts  of  Yale  College ; the  Chand- 
ler Scientific  School  and  the  Thayer  En- 
gineering School  of  Dartmouth  College, 
are  among  the  most  conspicuous.  One  of  the 
most  remarkable  in  its  practical  efficiency 
for  the  free  education  of  the  working 
classes  in  mathematical  and  technical  science 
is  the  Cooper  Union  of  New  York.  This 
magnificent  foundation,  the  gift  of  a man 
of  the  people,  whose  days  were  spent  in 
hard  and  severe  labor  from  youth  to  old 
age,  provides  for  the  free  instruction  of 
large  classes  in  all  departments  of  practical 
mathematics,  in  the  various  branches  of 
mechanics,  in  chemical  technology,  the 
principles  of  natural  philosophy  and  physics, 
in  drawing  and  designing,  in  engraving,  in 
painting  and  architecture.  More  than  two 


* For  details,  see  Barnard's  Scientific  Schools,  Vol.  II. 


PROFESSIONAL  AND  SPECIAL  EDUCATION. 


485 


thousand  students,  of  both  sexes,  are  con- 
stantly attending  its  classes  and  lectures,  and 
great  numbers  are  necessarily  turned  away 
for  want  of  room  for  their  instruction.  The 
Rensselaer  Institute  at  Troy,  N.  Y.,  the 
Polytechnic  College  of  Philadelphia,  Cor- 
nell University,  the  Purdue  College  in 
Lafayette,  Indiana,  the  Illinois  Industrial 
University  at  Urbana,  111.,  and  the  Scien- 
tific Department  of  Washington  College, 
St.  Louis,  as  well  as  some  of  the  younger  of 
the  national  endowed  colleges,  are  giving 
courses  of  scientific  and  technical  instruc- 
tion which  will  prove  of  great  service.  As 
yet,  however,  very  few  of  our  scientific 
schools  are  prepared  to  give  the  best  prac- 
tical teaching.  Ten  or  twenty  years  hence, 
with  still  more  liberal  or  more  available 
endowments,  with  museums  and  cabinets 
replete  with  the  material  for  illustrative 
instructions,  and  above  all  with  thoroughly 
competent  instructors  in  the  highest  depart- 
ments of  scientific  research,  men  who 
have  dedicated  their  lives  to  science 
without  the  apprehension  of  an  old  age  of 
poverty,  we  may  expect  results  unsurpassed 
in  the  best  scientific  schools  of  Europe. 

Civil  Engineering  is  taught  in  quite  a 
number  of  our  scientific  schools,  and  is  be- 
coming a very  important  department  of 
higher  education;  Military  Engineering  is 
taught,  of  course,  in  the  Military  Academy 
at  West  Point,  and  Civil  Engineering  also 
with  great  thoroughness,  many  of  our  best 
civil  engineers  having  been  graduates  of 
this  academy,  and  of  the  State  military 
institutes  of  the  south  and  west.  Mining 
Engineering  and  Metallurgy  are  taught  in 
the  Columbia  College  School  of  Mines,  the 
Polytechnic  College  of  Philadelphia, 
Lehigh  University,  South  Bethlehem,  Pa., 
and,  we  believe,  in  one  of  the  St.  Louis 
scientific  schools.  Philology  is  only  made  a 
distinct  branch  of  instruction  at  Yale  Col- 
lege, New  Haven;  at  Cambridge,  and  at 
Lafayette  University,  Easton,  Pa.  Archi- 
tecture is  not  generally  taught  in  the  scien- 
tific schools,  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of 
Technology  being,  perhaps,  the  only  excep- 
tion, though  a department  of  it,  Landscape 
Gardening,  is  beginning  to  receive  attention 
in  some  of  them ; but  the  Institute  of 
American  Architects  in  New  York,  and 
other  similar  bodies  elsewhere,  have  estab- 
lished schools  for  instruction  in  this  branch. 
Drawing,  Painting  and  Sculpture  are  taught 
in  the  School  of  Fine  Arts  at  New  Haven, 


in  the  schools  of  the  American  Academy  of 
Design,  and  the  Cooper  Union  at  New 
York,  the  Brooklyn  Academy  of  Design, 
and  in  kindred  institutions  in  Boston,  Phil- 
adelphia, Baltimore,  Cincinnati,  St.  Louis 
and  Chicago.  Music  in  its  higher  develop- 
ments is  taught  in  the  Peabody  Institute 
at  Baltimore,  and  in  the  Conservatories  of 
Music  found  in  most  of  our  large  cities, 
which  depend  mainly  on  the  reputation  of 
some  eminent  private  teachers. 

Some  departments  of  Natural  History  are 
taught  successfully  at  Cambridge  in  connec- 
tion with  the  magnificent  Museum  of  Com- 
parative Zoology,  collected  by  the  indefati- 
gable labors  of  Prof.  Agassiz,  but  for  the 
most  part  the  prosecution  of  these  studies 
is  most  profitably  conducted  in  connection 
with  the  institutes  and  academies  of  natural 
science,  of  which  we  may  mention  the 
Boston  Natural  History  Society,  the  Essex 
Institute  of  Natural  History  at  Salem,  the 
State  Natural  History  Rooms  at  Albany, 
the  Metropolitan  Museum  so  auspiciously 
begun  in  New  York,  the  Lyceum  of  Natural 
History  in  the  same  city,  the  American 
Academy  of  Natural  Sciences  in  Philadel- 
phia, and  for  this  and  technology  the 
Franklin  Institute  in  the  same  city,  the 
Smithsonian  collections  at  Washington,  and 
lesser  but  considerable  collections  at  Wil- 
liams College  and  Amherst  College,  Mass., 
Cornell  and  Rochester  Universities,  New 
York,  in  Cincinnati,  Chicago,  St.  Louis,  and 
elsewhere. 

VII.  ORPHAN  ASYLUMS  AND  SCHOOLS. 

In  all  the  ages  since  the  Christian  Era 
there  has  been  manifested  a tenderness 
toward  the  orphan,  and  foundations  for  the 
care  and  education  of  children  bereft  of 
one,  or  both  parents  have  been  established 
throughout  Christendom  in  great  numbers. 
The  Roman  Catholic  Church,  both  in  Europe 
and  the  United  States  has  been  partic- 
ularly regardful  of  these  children,  and 
has  established  its  asylums  wherever  there 
was  a sufficient  number  of  orphans  who 
could  be  gathered  into  them.  The  Mora- 
vians, Lutherans,  and  Reformed  Churches 
on  the  Continent,  and  Churchmen  and  Dis- 
senters in  England  vied  with  each  other  in 
promoting  the  same  good  work.  One  of 
the  largest  Orphan  Houses  in  Europe  to-day 
is  that  of  George  Muller,  one  of  the  Ply- 
mouth Brethren,  at  Ashley  Downs  near 
Bristol.  It  is  of  great  extent,  supported 
wholly  by  voluntary  charity,  no  contribu- 


486 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


tions  being  ever  directly  solicited,  and 
furnishes  care,  food,  lodging,  clothing,  and 
education  annually  to  nearly  3,000  orphans. 

In  the  United  States,  Orphan  Asylums 
were  established  by  the  Moravians  in  Penn- 
sylvania and  Georgia  early  in  the  eighteenth 
century.  In  1740,  the  celebrated  preacher 
George  Whitfield  laid  the  foundation  of  his 
Orphan  House  at  Bethesda,  ten  miles  from 
Savannah,  Ga.  Several  other  Orphan  Asy- 
lums were  established  in  New  England,  Penn- 
sylvania, and  Maryland  before  1800,  but  the 
whole  number  in  existence  in  the  United 
States  at  that  time  did  not  exceed  six  or 
seven.  It  was  the  practice  to  a very  great 
extent,  among  the  wealthy  families,  to 
adopt  and  bring  up  orphan  children,  and 
this  practice  obviated  in  ordinary  times  and 
with  the  sparse  population,  the  necessity  of 
asylums.  The  first  Orphan  Asylum  in  New 
York  City  was  organized  in  1806.  It  was 
at  first  attempted  to  place  the  children  in 
families,  as  is  still  done  in  some  of  the  in- 
stitutions for  orphans  in  the  German  States, 
but  the  number  of  orphans  rendered  this 
difficult,  and  they  rented  and  subsequently 
erected  an  asylum  in  Bank  street,  whence 
they  removed  in  1840  to  their  present 
spacious  edifice  on  the  banks  of  the  Hud- 
son, between  Seventy-third  and  Seventy- 
fourth  streets.  The  Lake  and  Watts  Or- 
phan Asylum,  endowed  largely  by  the 
gentlemen  whose  names  it  bears,  is  a large 
and  admirably  managed  institution.  There 
are  now  thirteen  orphan  asylums  in  New 
York  city,  aside  from  the  Randall’s  Island 
Nursery,  where  1,700  or  1,800  children — 
orphans,  half-orphans,  or  children  of  intem- 
perate or  criminal  parents,  are  cared  for ; 
aside  from  8,000  children,  the  Home  for 
the  Friendless,  the  Five  Points  House  of  In- 
dustry, Children’s  Aid  Society,  and  other 
preventive  institutions,  a large  proportion 
of  whose  inmates  are  orphans.  There 
are  two  asylums  for  colored  children,  and 
one  specifically  for  soldiers’  orphans.  In 
Brooklyn  there  are  five  asylums,  all  well 
sustained.  In  all  of  these  institutions  there 
are  schools  under  the  supervision  of  the 
city  schools’  authority,  which  receive  their 
share  of  the  public  school  money. 

Philadelphia  is  renowned  for  her  munifi- 
cent foundations  for  the  care  and  instruction 
of  orphans.  The  Girard  College,  whose 
buildings  and  lands  cost  nearly  two  millions 
of  dollars,  and  which  has  an  endowment  of 
almost  a million  and  a half,  received  from 


its  wealthy  founder,  has  about  five  hundred 
orphans  constantly  under  instruction.  It 
was  opened  in  January,  1848.  Its  course 
of  instruction  extends  over  seven  years.  The 
amount  of  annual  expenditure  is  about 
$80,000.  Several  other  orphan  asylums  and 
schools  in  Philadelphia  are  largely  endowed  ; 
the  Burd  Orphan  Asylum,  founded  in  1859, 
for  orphans  between  four  and  eight  years  of 
age,  has  an  endowment  of  about  half  a 
million.  The  Lincoln  Home  for  Orphans  in 
Philadelphia  is  believed  to  have  been  the 
first  endowed  institution  for  soldiers’  orphans 
in  the  country.  There  are  now  thirty 
orphan  asylums  for  these  children  specifically 
in  the  State.  Boston  has  a number  of 
orphan  asylums  and  schools,  generally  ad- 
mirably arranged.  All  our  large  cities  have 
from  two  to  six,  and  there  are  few  towns  of 
10,000  inhabitants  in  the  country  which  have 
not  at  least  one,  generally  in  connection 
with  some  religious  organization.  It  has 
proved  impossible  hitherto  to  obtain  any 
full  or  accurate  statistics  of  them.  Not 
less  than  75,000  children  receive  both  sup- 
port and  education  in  them,  and  though 
objections  may  be  made  to  them  on  the 
ground  of  their  formality  and  want  of  the 
family  element,  they  relieve  a vast  amount 
of  destitution,  and  impart  elementary  in- 
struction to  a large  class  of  children  who 
would  otherwise  perish,  or  grow  up  in 
ignorance  to  vice  and  crime. 

VII.  SCHOOLS  AND  COLLEGES  FOR  INDIANS. 

From  the  first  settlement  of  the  colonies 
which  now  constitute  the  United  States, 
there  has  been  on  the  part  of  benevolent 
Christian  men  a desire  to  educate  the 
Aborigines,  or  at  least  such  of  them  as  could 
be  induced  to  devote  their  attention  to 
study.  Like  all  savages,  the  Indian  is  nat- 
urally intolerant  of  confinement  and  re- 
straint, and  soon  wearies  of  unremitting 
application  to  either  study  or  mechanical 
employment.  There  have  been  exceptions 
to  this  rule,  but  they  are  so  few  as  to  prove 
its  general  truth.  But  the  efforts  of  good 
men  were  unceasing  to  teach  them  the 
elements  of  learning  and  the  rudiments  of 
those  arts  which  accompany  civilization. 
While  the  Indian  continued  a nomad  it  was 
impossible  to  make  any  permanent  impres- 
sion on  him.  Civilization  requires  as  its 
basis  a fixed  home.  Hence,  though  Eliot 
and  the  Mavhews,  the  Jesuit  Fathers  in 
Canada,  at  Detriot,  Kaskaskia,  St.  Louis, 
Natchez,  aud  other  points,  and  later  Count 


PROFESSIONAL  AND  SPECIAL  EDUCATION. 


437 


Zinzendorf  and  the  Moravians,  took  great 
pains  to  acquire  the  Indian  languages,  and 
to  teach  them  the  rudiments  of  science  and 
religion,  they  were  only  successful  when 
they  could  gather  the  wandering  tribes  into 
permanent  settlements, — missions,  the  Jesuit 
Fathers  called  them, — and  then  erecting  the 
requisite  churches  and  school-houses,  accus- 
tom them  to  a fixed  home.  In  New  Mexico, 
in  Texas,  in  California  and  Oregon,  the 
Jesuit  Missionaries  planted  many  of  these 
missions,  some  of  which  are  still  in  exist- 
ence. The  education  imparted,  except  in 
the  arts  of  civilized  life,  was  not  extensive. 
A few  were  taught  to  read  and  write,  most 
of  them  learned  to  repeat  the  prayers  of  the 
church,  and  occasionally  one  of  their  number 
more  ambitious  and  intelligent  than  the  rest, 
would  receive  sufficient  education  to  become 
the  cure  of  a pueblo,  or  Indian  village.  In 
the  English  colonies  the  earliest  effort 
for  the  instruction  of  the  Indians  was  made 
in  Virginia  ill  1618.  For  this  purpose  an 
appeal  was  made  to  England  by  the  Virginia 
Company,  and  the  Queen  (Elizabeth),  and 
many  of  the  nobility  and  clergy  contributed 
to  the  fund.  At  Cambridge,  Mass.,  a 
school  for  the  instruction  of  Indian  youth 
was  founded  before  Harvard  College,  and 
was  in  some  sense  the  germ  of  that  first  of 
American  Colleges.  In  Connecticut,  there 
were  schools  for  Indian  children  and  youth 
as  early  as  1648  to  1660,  at  several  points, 
as  at  Farmington,  Podunk,  Hartford  and 
Branford,  and  some  of  these  schools  were 
maintained  for  more  than  a hundred  years. 
In  1725  there  was  a school  for  Mohegans  at 
Norwich,  and  the  education  of  Samson 
Occum,  an  Indian,  and  afterward  a preacher, 
in  the  family  of  Rev.  Eleazur  Wheelock  at 
Lebanon,  Conn.,  in  1743-1750,  led  to  the 
founding  of  Moor’s  Indian  Charity  School 
in  1754,  which  sixteen  years  later  was 
practically  merged  in  Dartmouth  College.* 
About  the  beginning  of  this  century  sys- 
tematic efforts  were  commenced,  mostly  by 
the  general  government,  for  the  instruction 
of  the  Indian  tribes  within  what  were  then 
the  boundaries  of  the  States.  The  Iroquois , 
or  Six  Nations,  who  had  established  them- 
selves on  reservations  in  the  State  of  New 
York,  the  fragments  of  the  Orono,  Pequot, 
and  Mohcgan  tribes  who  remained  in  Maine 
and  Connecticut,  and  the  considerable 
tribes  of  Cherokees,  Creeks  and  Choctaws, 
who  inhabited  the  northern  portions  of 


Georgia,  Alabama  and  Mississippi,  and  the 
Seminoles  of  Florida,  all  received  mission- 
aries and  teachers,  and  made  fair  progress 
in  learning  and  civilization.  George  Guest, 
a Cherokee,  invented  an  alphabet,  and  re- 
duced the  language  of  his  tribe  to  writing. 
But  the  rapid  influx  of  white  settlers  into 
the  Gulf  States,  and  their  jealousy  of  these 
peaceful  Indian  tribes  led  to  peremptory 
demands  for  their  expatriation  to  lands  be- 
yond the  Mississippi.  This  removal  seemed 
unjust  at  the  time,  and  was  carried  out  with 
unnecessary  harshness  and  hardships,  but 
in  the  end  it  proved  of  great  advantage  to 
the  tribes  which  were  removed,  and  they 
have  formed  the  nucleus  of  an  Indian  terri- 
torial settlement  in  which  the  larger  portion 
of  the  nomadic  tribes  of  the  western  plains 
have  found  or  will  find  a home  and  a per- 
manent settlement.  The  Cherokees,  Creeks, 
and  Choctaws  have  attained  to  a very  re- 
spectable civilization  ; they  have  numerous 
good  schools,  some  of  them  of  the  second- 
ary grade,  and  have  entirely  abandoned 
their  nomadic  habits.  There  are  now 
schools,  sustained  in  part  by  the  government 
and  in  part  by  the  different  religious  de- 
nominations, in  all  the  tribes  which  occupy 
distinct  reservations,  even  though  these 
tribes  have  not  fixed  settlements.  There 
were  in  1871,  as  nearly  as  could  be  ascer- 
tained, 294  schools  among  the  Indians,  with 
about  300  teachers,  and  about  8,000  schol- 
ars, the  total  Indian  population  being  esti- 
mated at  383,130.* 

VII I.  SCHOOLS  FOR  THE  AFRICANS  AND  FREEDMEN.f 

Very  early  in  the  history  of  the  colonies 
which  afterwards  became  slave  states,  there 
was  evident  a determination  to  withhold 
both  from  the  slaves  and  the  free  people  of 
color  all  facilities  for  education  ; and  though 
for  a time  the  instruction  of  house  servants, 
who  were  often  allied  by  blood  to  their 
masters,  was  tolerated  and  sometimes  en- 
couraged by  influential  people,  yet  as  early 
as  the  beginning  of  this  century,  in  most  of 
the  slave  states,  it  was  forbidden  under  pen- 
alty of  fine  and  imprisonment  to  teach  a 
slave  to  read  or  write.  This  prohibition 
was  in  some,  perhaps  in  many  cases,  evaded  ; 
the  children  of  a slaveholder  often  teaching 

* For  ft  more  partioolnr  account  of  the  attempts  to  establish 
schools  for  the  Indians,  see  Barnurd’s  contributions  to  the 
History  of  Education,  in  the  United  States  Stkioicr,  1873. 

t A special  Report  on  Schools  for  Colored  Children  and  the 
educational  status  of  the  colored  population  in  the  different 
States,  will  be  found  in  Barnard’s  Sprrial  firport  on  the  J)is~ 
trict  of  Columbia  which  constitutes  Vol.  XIX  of  the  Ameri- 
can Journal  of  Eduoation. 


* See  Burnurd's  Hintory  of  Education  in  Connecticut. 


488 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


a favorite  slave  what  they  themselves  had 
been  taught,  but  the  law  remained  on  the 
statute  books,  and  was  enforced  whenever 
there  was  any  excitement  in  regard  to  the 
slaves.  As  the  free  colored  people  were 
supposed  to  be  most  forward  in  teaching  the 
slaves,  the  same  prohibition  was  in  many  of 
the  States  extended  to  them,  and  in  others 
the  terms  of  a public  opinion  which  re- 
garded, or  professed  to  regard,  the  free 
colored  people  as  nuisances,  was  invoked  to 
prevent  their  instruction  also.  This  was 
generally  effected,  except  in  three  or  four 
States.  In  the  District  of  Columbia  there 
have  been  schools  for  free  negroes  in  exist- 
ence constantly  from  1807  till  the  present 
time,  and  most  of  the  time  two,  three,  or 
more  at  the  same  time.  The  first  was 
founded  by  the  efforts  of  George  Bell,  aided 
by  Nicholas  Franklin  and  Moses  Liverpool. 
These  three  men  had  been  slaves  but  had 
attained  their  freedom,  but  neither  of  the 
three  could  read  or  write.  Yet  they  built  a 
school-house,  and  for  some  years  sustained 
a school.  In  1809,  or  thereabouts  two 
others  were  started,  one  by  a colored 
woman,  Mrs.  Anne  Maria  Hall,  the  other 
by  an  Englishman,  Mr.  Henry  Potter.  In 
1818,  the  free  colored  people  formed  an 
association  under  the  name  of  “ Resolute 
Beneficial  Society,”  and  established  a very 
good  school  which  was  sustained  for  several 
years.  The  best  of  these  early  schools  was 
one  taught  by  Rev.  John  F.  Cook,  a eolored 
Presbyterian  minister,  self-educated,  but  a 
man  of  rare  ability  and  talent,  who  con- 
ducted an  excellent  school — “ The  Union 
Seminary” — for  about  twenty  years,  from 
1834  till  1855,  and  it  was  maintained  by  his 
sons,  with  some  intermissions,  till  1867. 
There  were  also  two  or  three  schools  main- 
tained under  the  direction  of  Father  Van- 
lomen  and  other  Catholic  priests,  taught  by 
colored  women  of  remarkable  talent.  The 
Wesleyans  had  also  a seminary  from  1833 
to  1865.  But  the  most  noteworthy  of  these 
schools  was  that  founded  and  conducted 
from  1851  to  1866  by  Miss  Myrtilla  Miner, 
a lady  of  Brookfield,  N.  Y.  This  was  a 
seminary  of  the  higher  class  for  colored 
girls.  We  have  not  space  to  go  into  the 
history  of  this  school  and  her  connection 
with  it,  but  it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  she 
deserves  as  much  honor,  and  perhaps  even 
higher  consideration  than  Mary  Lyon,  the 
founder  of  Holyoke  Female  Seminary.  Her 
devotion  to  her  work  was  as  great,  her  sac- 


rifices were  greater,  and  she  passed  through 
a fiery  trial  of  persecution,  while  her  life 
was  one  of  constant  and  intense  suffering. 
At  the  time  of  the  emancipation  of  the 
slaves  there  must  have  been  in  Washington 
and  Georgetown  some  ten  or  fifteen  of  these 
colored  schools.  In  Delaware,  the  Friends 
had  had  in  Wilmington  two  good  schools 
for  colored  children  since  1840.  In  Mary- 
land there  was  a Catholic  seminary  for  col- 
ored girls,  established  in  1831,  in  connection 
with  the  Oblate  Sisters  of  Providence  Con- 
vent. The  Wells  school,  endowed  by  a 
man  of  color,  established  in  1835,  and  some 
others.  In  Kentucky,  the  Berea  College, 
founded  in  1858  by  Rev.  John  G.  Fee,  for 
the  higher  education  of  white  and  colored 
youth,  was  the  only  institution  of  its  grade 
in  the  slave  States  for  colored  persons  pre- 
vious to  the  war. 

In  the  Northern  States  there  were 
schools  for  colored  children  exclusively  in 
many  of  the  large  cities.  One  of  these  in 
New  York  was  established  in  1704.  In 
1788  or  1789,  the  Manumission  Society  es- 
tablished colored  schools  which  were  con- 
tinued till  1834,  when  they  were  merged  in 
those  of  the  Public  School  Society.  In 
Boston,  a colored  school  was  established  in 
1798,  and  a public  school  for  colored 
children  in  1800.  In  Cincinnati  they  were 
established  as  early  as  1820.  A school  of 
higher  grade  established  there  in  1835 
evoked  a storm  of  persecution,  but  was 
maintained  steadily  until  the  public  pro- 
vision for  the  higher  education  of  colored 
youth  was  sufficient  to  render  its  further 
continuance  unnecessary. 

In  Philadelphia  the  efforts  for  the  educa- 
tion of  the  colored  race,  of  Anthony  Ben- 
ezet  in  1750,  and  subsequently  of  the 
Friends  in  1770,  and  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Abolition  Society  in  1794,  aided  and  sup- 
plemented by  other  benevolent  organiza- 
tions at  a later  period,  provided  for  the 
people  of  color  in  that  city  exceptional  ad- 
vantages of  education.  In  the  country  the 
few  colored  children  generally  attended  the 
same  public  schools  with  the  white  children, 
though  they  were  in  most  cases  jealously 
excluded  from  the  private  schools.  In  the 
deaf  mute,  blind  and  orphan  asylums  they 
were  generally  admitted  on  equal  terms  with 
white  children.  But  up  to  1850,  and  in 
some  of  the  Northern  States  still  later,  there 
was  so  strong  a prejudice  against  giving  to 
the  colored  people  any  opportunities  tfor 


PROFESSIONAL  AND  SPECIAL  EDUCATION. 


489 


higher  education  that  no  school  for  that 
purpose  was  tolerated.  In  1833,  Miss  Pru- 
dence Crandall,  a member  of  the  Society 
of  Friends  and  a teacher  of  high  reputation, 
received  a young  colored  girl  into  her 
boarding  and  day-school  at  Canterbury, 
Conn.,  that  she  might  qualify  herself  to  be- 
come a teacher  to  her  own  race.  The  girl 
was  not  in  any  way  objectionable  ; she  was 
of  pleasing  appearance  and  manners,  and  of 
most  exemplary  conduct,  a member  of  the 
Congregationalist  church  in  Canterbury. 
Objection  was  made  by  the  parents  of  some 
of  the  white  children  attending  this  school, 
and  Miss  Crandall,  firm  in  her  principles, 
determined  to  make  it  a test  question,  and, 
therefore,  gave  notice  of  the  opening  of  a 
school  for  colored  girls.  This  was  soon 
largely  attended,  but  the  people  of  that  and 
adjacent  towns  were  greatly  excited  in  con- 
sequence, and  an  influential  citizen,  afterward 
a member  of  Congress,  and  Judge  of  the 
United  State  District  Court,  procured  the 
passage  of  a law  by  the  legislature  in  1833 
which  prohibited  such  a school,  under  pen- 
alty of  heavy  fine  or  imprisonment.  Under 
this  law  Miss  Crandall  was  arrested,  com- 
mitted to  the  Windham  County  jail,  and 
subsequently  tried  ; the  first  time  the  jury 
disagreed;  the  second,  on  Judge  Daggett’s 
charge,  she  was  convicted,  but  an  appeal 
being  taken  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  Errors 
the  action  was  quashed.  Her  school  was, 
however,  broken  up  by  the  constant  assaults 
made  on  the  teacher,  scholars,  and  the 
school  building. 

In  1850,  Avery  College,  founded  by 
Rev.  Charles  Avery,  was  opened  at  Alle- 
ghany City,  Penn.,  as  a collegiate  and 
academical  school  for  persons  of  color 
of  both  sexes.  It  has  about  75  students,  is 
well  endowed,  and  has  an  efficient  faculty. 
Lincoln  University  at  Oxford,  Chester 
County,  Penn.,  originally  called  Ashmun 
Institute,  was  founded  in  1854  by  the  Pres- 
bytery of  Newcastle,  Pa.,  for  the  scientific, 
classsical  and  theological  education  of  young 
men  of  color.  It  was  not  opened  till  Dec. 
31,  1856,  and  had  in  1871,  158  students. 
It  is  moderately  well  endowed.  Wilber- 
force  University  near  Xenia,  Ohio,  founded 
in  1856  as  a collegiate  institution  for  young 
men  of  color  by  the  Cincinnati  Conference 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  was  by 
that  conference  transferred  to  the  African 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  is  now 
sustained  by  the  people  of  color,  one  of 


their  bishops,  Rev.  Dr.  D.  A.  Payne,  being 
President  and  Professor  of  Theology.  It 
had  in  1871,  1,76  students  of  both  sexes, 
and  7 instructors.  These  three  institutions, 
and  Berea  College,  Ky.,  were  all  in  exist- 
ence previous  to  the  war,  and  their  students 
were  wholly  or  mainly  persons  of  color. 
Several  other  colleges,  however,  admitted 
colored  students  to  their  classes  regularly, 
and  still  others  occasionally,  Oberlin  has, 
since  1836,  always  had  colored  students. 

The  escape  of  many  who  had  previously 
been  slaves  from  their  masters  in  the  first 
year  of  the  war,  and  the  Proclamation  of 
Emancipation  in  January,  1863,  soon  de- 
monstrated the  necessity  of  furnishing  edu- 
cational advantages  to  these  new  citizens. 
The  Freedmen,  as  the  emancipated  slaves 
were  now  called,  were  clamorous  for  ele- 
mentary education.  They  flocked  to  the 
schools  which  the  various  philanthropic  and 
religious  societies  established  for  their  in- 
struction, in  great  numbers,  and  though 
among  the  adults,  whose  minds  had  been 
hitherto  wholly  untrained,  progress  was  very 
slow,  yet  by  dint  of  the  most  undaunted 
perseverance,  great  numbers  learned  to 
read,  and  the  colored  children,  in  most 
cases,  proved  apt  scholars.  Great  hostility 
was  manifested  toward  these  schools  in 
the  late  slave  States  by  a class  of 
the  white  population,  who  were  for 
the  most  part  themselves  illiterate,  and 
jealous  of  the  improvement  of  the  blacks; 
and  many  school-houses  were  burned,  and 
some  teachers  as  well  as  a considerable 
number  of  the  pupils  were  beaten,  wounded 
or  killed.  But  this  opposition  eventually 
died  away,  and  now  the  education  of  the 
colored  children  goes  on  without  let  or 
hindrance.  The  amount  expended  by  the 
various  benevolent  societies  in  the  main- 
tenance of  these  schools  can  only  be  stated 
approximately.  In  the  ten  years  ending 
October,  1871,  the  American  Missionary 
Association  reported  an  expenditure  for  this 
purpose  of  $1,563,756.99.  The  Freedmen’s 
Aid  Society  of  Cincinnati,  before  it  was 
merged  in  the  American  Missionary  Asso- 
ciation, $134,340.53,  beside  large  amounts 
of  clothing ; the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church,  for  five  years  ending 
May  1,  1872,  $220,704;  the  American 
Baptist  Free  Mission  Society,  from  1862  to 
1870,  when  its  organization  ceased,  about 
$165,000;  the  American  Baptist  Home 
Mission  Society,  in  all  about  $260,000;  the 


490 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


Unitarian  Association,  directly  and  through 
the  Zion  Methodist  Church,  over  $100,000; 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  about 
$110,000;  the  Friends,  directly  and  indi- 
rectly, over  $150,000  (including  a con- 
siderable amount  of  supplies  and  clothing) ; 
the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  not  far 
from  $80,000.  The  Freedmen’s  Department 
of  the  Western  Sanitary  Commisson  also 
expended  large  sums  in  aid  of  these  schools 
in  the  Mississippi  Valley.  The  Freedmen’s 
Bureau,  from  May  20,  1865  to  October, 
1871,  expended  in  cash  on  these  schools 
$4,711,235.04,  and  in  other  things  than 
cash  $1,551,276.22.  The  Catholics  have 
also  expended  very  considerable  sums  for 
the  establishment  of  schools  for  freedmen, 
and  have  organized  a system  of  schools  for 
colored  children ; and  there  have  been  many 
private  enterprises  sustained  by  individual 
contributions,  which  are  not  reported.  Tak- 
ing into  the  account  all  these  sums,  together 
with  what  had  been  done  by  the  Freed- 
men’s Bureau,  the  expenditure  for  the  educa- 
tion of  freedmen  (including  a small  amount 
for  refugees  and  poor  whites)  has  exceeded 
nine  millions.  This  is  aside  from  the  en- 
dowment which  has  been  given  generally 
by  bequest  to  several  schools  of  higher 
education  for  colored  youth — such  as  the 
Howard  University  at  Washington,  Lincoln 
University  at  Oxford,  Va.,  Leland  and 
Straight  Universities  at  New  Orleans, 
Alcorn  University  at  Jackson,  Miss.,  Fisk 
University,  Nashville,  Tenn.,  the  Hampton 
Normal  and  Agricultural  Institute  at 
Hampton  Roads,  Va.,  and  Atlanta  Uni- 
versity, Atlanta,  Georgia.  There  are  in  all 
over  twenty  of  these  schools  of  higher 
education  for  young  men  of  color  ; some  of 
them  aiming  to  give  substantially  the  ordina- 
ry college  course,  others  only  a limited  Eng- 
lish and  theological  course  to  train  those 
who  are  expecting  to  preach  to  their  own 
race  either  here  or  in  Africa.  The  Howard 
University  at  Washington  has  a theological, 
medical,  and  law  school  connected  with  it. 
It  is  but  slenderly  endowed,  $100,000  only 
being  raised  for  endowment  purposes,  though 
it  receives  in  addition  to  tuition  fees  con- 
siderable sums  in  annual  subscriptions. 

The  munificent  fund  for  the  promotion 
of  education  in  the  South  presented  by  the 
late  George  Peabody,  the  noblest  gift  ever 
made  by  one  man  to  popular  education, 
properly  comes  under  consideration  here,  as 
in  some  of  the  States  grants  are  made  from 


it  for  colored  schools.  Mr.  Peabody,  who 
must  rank  as  the  greatest  benefactor  to 
education  in  ancient  or  modern  times,  and 
whose  large  gifts  to  other  objects  are  stated 
more  at  length  elsewhere  in  this  volume, 
visited  the  United  States  in  1866,  just  after 
the  close  of  the  war,  and  deeply  impressed 
with  the  condition  of  the  Southern  States 
and  the  great  need  of  greater  facilities  for 
elementary  and  secondary  education,  then 
resolved  to  devote  a portion  of  his  large 
fortune  for  this  purpose.  Having  matured 
his  plans,  he  placed  in  the  hands  of  trustees 
bonds  and  securities  of  the  value  of 
$2,000,000,  the  interest  and  a portion  of 
the  principal  of  which,  if  necessary,  was  to 
be  used  for  the  promotion  of  education  in 
the  South  without  regard  to  race  or  color. 
Rev.  Barnas  Sears,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  formerly 
Secretary  of  the  Massachusetts  Board  of 
Education,  and  at  this  time  President  of 
Brown  University,  was  selected  by  the 
trustees,  with  Mr.  Peabody’s  approval,  to 
apply  this  large  sum,  and  has  done  so 
with  great  wisdom  and  fairness.  In  1869, 
Mr.  Peabody  again  visited  the  country,  and 
was  so  much  gratified  at  the  good  accom- 
plished by  his  gift,  that  he  added  $1,400,000 
more  to  it.  The  revenue  from  this  fund, 
somewhat  more  than  $200,000  per  annum, 
is  divided  among  the  schools  of  the  South- 
ern States  in  such  a way  as  to  encourage 
them  to  greater  exertions,  and  to  confer  a 
lasting  benefit  on  the  communities  upon 
which  it  is  bestowed. 

IX.  CHURCH  AND  DENOMINATIONAL  SCHOOLS. 

In  discussing  the  character  and  progress 
of  schools  of  secondary  instruction  and 
colleges,  we  have  not  given  any  special  ac- 
count of  those  institutions  which  come 
under  the  head  of  Church  and  Religious 
Schools,  partly  because  it  is  a matter  of 
difficulty  to  separate  them  from  the  others, 
and  partly  because  the  greater  part  of  those 
cla  m'  ng  these  specific  titles  are  of  compar- 
atively recent  origin.  In  New  England,  in 
the  early  history  of  the  Colonies  and  States, 
all  the  schools  were  religious.  The  district 
or  elementary  schools  had  the  Bible  or 
Testament  for  their  text-book,  almost  their 
only  text-book.  They  read  in  it,  parsed 
from  it,  often  had  their  spelling  lessons  in 
it,  and  though  they  could  not  prosecute 
their  arithmetical  studies  from  it  very  well, 
yet  occasionally  a knotty  problem  in  figures 
was  drawn  from  it.  The  Lord’s  Prayer,  the 


PROFESSIONAL  AND  SPECIAL  EDUCATION. 


491 


Creed,  and  the  Assembly  of  Divines’ 
Shorter  Catechism  were  taught  to  the 
children  from  the  New  England  primer,  and 
many  a hard-headed  theologian  of  the 
former  class  acquired  his  theological  training 
almost  wholly  in  the  district  school.  The 
Grammar  schools  were  equally  religious  in 
their  purpose  and  their  teachings,  and  the 
colleges  all  had  for  their  ultimate  object  and 
aim  the  sentiment  emblazoned  on  the  first 
seal  of  Harvard  College,  Pro  Christo  et 
Ecclesice — “ For  Christ  and  the  Church.” 
This  was  equally  true  also  of  Kings  (now 
Columbia)  College,  New  York,  and  of  the 
two  New  Jersey  colleges  at  Princeton  and 
New  Brunswick.  Farther  South  the  col- 
legiate instruction  had  more  of  the  secular 
aud  less  of  the  theological  character,  but 
many,  of  the  schools  were  established  by 
particular  churches,  and  taught  their  doc- 
trines with  the  studies  of  a more  general 
character.  This  was  true  of  the  Catholic 
Conventual  and  other  schools  of  New  York, 
Pennsylvania  and  Maryland,  the  Moravian 
schools  of  Pennsylvania  and  North  Caro- 
lina, and  the  schools  of  the  Friends  or 
Quakers.  As  colleges  were  organized  in  the 
newer  States  they  very  generally  (except  in 
the  case  of  State  institutions  and  sometimes 
even  then)  were  under  the  patronage  of  a 
particular  denomination,  and  their  faculty 
belonged  to  that  denomination.  Of  the  375 
nominal  colleges  in  the  United  States  there 
are  not  more  than  thirty  which  are  not 
directly  or  indirectly  denominational. 

Among  the  schools  of  secondary  instruc- 
tion nearly  all  the  Female  Seminaries,  and  a 
large  majority  of  academies  and  other  in- 
corporated schools  in  which  higher  studies 
are  pursued,  are  avowedly  denominational 
in  their  boards  of  government  and  in- 
struction. 

X.  PHILANTHROPIC  SCHOOLS. 

(1.)  Schools  for  Deaf  Mutes. 

The  first  efforts  for  the  instruction  of 
Deaf  Mutes  in  England  were  made  between 
1742  and  1760.  J.  R.  Pereira,  a Spanish 
Jew,  but  long  resident  in  France,  and  a man 
of  remarkable  genius,  instructed  a consid- 
erable number  of  pupils,  in  1743-1760,  by 
what  is  now  known  as  the  method  of  artic- 
ulation, teaching  them  to  pronounce  words 
by  imitating  the  motion  of  the  lips  as  the 
words  were  uttered.  lie  communicated  to 
them  also  instruction  in  regard  to  the 
meaning  of  these  words  and  their  colloca- 


tion, and  was  so  successful  that  his  pupils 
conversed  freely,  and  even  had  copied  from 
their  teacher  the  Spanish  accent  of  French 
words.  His  system  was  unfortunately  kept 
secret,  and  in  the  Revolution  in  France  all 
knowledge  of  his  method  was  lost.  Samuel 
Heinicke,  a German  teacher,  instructed  the 
deaf  and  dumb,  from  1754  to  1780,  also  by 
the  method  of  articulation.  There  were 
others  before  and  after  these  men  who  had 
attempted  the  instruction  of  deaf-mutes  by 
this  plan,  but  none  of  them  very  successful- 
ly. In  1755,  the  Abbe  de  l’Epee,  a French 
philanthropist,  attempted  to  teach  deaf 
mutes  by  the  natural  language  of  signs,  and 
proceeding  from  the  known  to  the  unknown, 
to  indicate  to  them  abstract  ideas  by  the 
same  method.  He  also  invented  a sign 
alphabet,  by  means  of  w'hich  they  were 
taught  the  alphabet  and  enabled  to  spell  out 
the  words  they  wished  to  utter,  to  those 
who  did  not  understand  the  language  of 
signs.  His  processes,  improved  greatly  by 
the  Abbe  Sicard,  one  of  his  teachers  and 
his  successor,  and  by  Bebian,  a pupil  of 
Sicard,  are  those  most  generally  practiced 
in  the  instruction  of  deaf  mutes  throughout 
Christendom.  Some  of  the  English  schools, 
and  a few  of  the  German  however,  adhere 
to  the  system  of  articulation  which  was  in- 
troduced in  England  in  1760  by  Thomas 
Braidwood,  who  may  have  been  a pupil  of 
Heinicke.  Braidwood  kept  his  processes  a 
profound  secret,  suffering  none  but  his  im- 
mediate family  and  relatives  to  knowr  them 
for  60  years.  He  died  in  1806,  and  his 
widow  and  her  grandsons,  and  other  rela- 
tives maintained  the  school  and  the  secret 
many  years.  One  of  the  grandsons  came 
to  the  United  States  in  1811,  under  the 
invitation  of  a former  pupil  from  Virginia, 
to  establish  a school  for  deaf  mutes  in  that 
State,  but  he  did  not  succeed. 

The  first  successful  attempt  to  instruct 
deaf  mutes  in  the  United  States  wras  made 
at  Hartford,  Conn.,  in  April,  1817.  Its 
history  was  as  follows:  In  1814,  Rev. 
Thomas  II.  Gallaudet,  a young  clergyman 
of  Hartford,  was  led  by  his  interest  in  Alice 
Cogswell,  the  little  daughter  of  Dr.  Mason 
F.  Cogswell,  who  had  lost  her  hearing  in 
infancy,  to  investigate  the  number  and  con- 
dition of  the  deaf  mutes  in  the  State,  and 
determined  to  devote  his  life  to  the  amelior- 
ation of  their  condition.  Dr.  Cogswell, 
Ward  Woodbridgc,  David  Wadsworth,  and 
other  gentlemen  in  Hartford,  furnished  the 


492 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


means  for  a visit  to  England  to  learn 
the  best  methods  of  teaching  these  un- 
fortunates. He  sailed  for  Liverpool,  May 
25,  1815,  and  on  arriving  in  England 
found  that  the  Braidwood  family,  who 
held  the  monopoly  of  deaf  mute  instruc- 
tion in  Great  Britain,  would  not  give 
him  any  training  in  their  processes  except 
on  condition  that  he  should  pay  fifteen  hun- 
dred dollars,  remain  from  one  to  three  years 
without  salary,  as  an  assistant  in  their 
schools,  and  take  a member  of  the  family 
as  a partner  in  the  institution  to  be  estab- 
lished in  America.  Mr.  Gallaudet  promptly 
rejected  these  terms,  and  after  repeated  un- 
successful efforts  to  obtain  more  favorable 
propositions,  was  about  to  return  to  the 
United  States  when  he  met  in  London  the 
Abbe  Sicard,  by  whom  he  was  invited  most 
cordially  to  visit  his  institution  in  Paris. 
Accepting  the  invitation,  the  good  Abbe  at 
once  made  him  acquainted  with  all  his 
processes  of  instruction,  and  after  three 
months  of  close  study,  in  which  the  Abbe 
gave  him  every  possible  assistance,  he  re- 
turned to  America,  accompanied  by  M. 
Laurent  Clerc,  an  educated  deaf  mute,  and 
one  of  the  Abbe  Sicard’s  most  successful 
teachers.  A school  for  deaf  mutes  was 
chartered  by  the  Connecticut  Legislature  in 
May,  1816,  and  Messrs.  Gallaudet  and  Clerc 
traveled  extensively  to  explain  the  system 
of  instruction  and  to  raise  the  necessary 
funds  for  its  establishment.  It  was  opened 
in  rented  buildings,  at  Hartford,  in  April, 
1817,  and  soon  after  received  from  Congress 
a grant  of  a township  of  land  in  Alabama, 
when  its  corporate  name  was  changed  to 
“ The  American  Asylum  for  the  Deaf  and 
Dumb."  By  careful  management  this  grant 
produced  a fund  of  over  $300,000,  which 
enabled  the  directors  to  furnish  board  and 
tuition  at  a very  moderate  price  to  pupils 
from  any  part  of  the  country.  Until  quite 
recently  the  New  England  States  made  ap- 
propriations for  the  support  of  their  deaf 
mutes  whose  friends  were  unable  to  support 
them  exclusively  in  this  institution. 

The  American  Asylum  was  prosperous 
from  the  first.  Mr.  Gallaudet,  its  founder, 
was  a man  of  rare  genius  and  originality, 
and  possessed  great  tact  and  skill  in  impart- 
ing instruction  to  a class  of  pupils  whom  it 
had  been  before  considered  impossible  to 
educate.  He  was  ably  seconded  by  M. 
Clerc,  who  retained  his  connection  with  the 
institution  for  almost  fifty  years.  The 


teachers  whom  Mr.  Gallaudet  drew  around 
him  were  all  men  of  remarkable  ability ; 
and  among  them  such  men  as  William  C. 
Woodbridge,  Lewis  Weld,  Harvey  P.  Peet, 
Isaac  Orr,  William  W.  Turner,  Luzern  Rae, 
Samuel  Porter,  John  A.  Jacobs,  O.  W. 
Morris,  Collins  Stone,  and  others.  His  two 
sons,  Thomas  and  Edward  M.  Gallaudet, 
have  devoted  themselves  to  the  develop- 
ment of  this  class  of  institutions,  and  the 
moral  and  intellectual  culture  of  deaf  mutes. 

As  this  asylum  has  been  directly  the 
parent  of  all,  or  nearly  all,  the  institutions 
for  deaf  mutes  in  the  United  States,  and  its 
methods  have  been  followed  with,  at  most, 
very  slight  modifications,  by  all  the  others, 
it  is  perhaps  necessary  that  we  should  show 
in  what  particulars  the  American  methods 
of  deaf  mute  instruction  differ  from  the 
European.  It  was  a great  blessing  to  the 
deaf  mutes  that  the  work  of  establishing  a 
system  of  instruction  for  them  fell  to  the  lot 
of  a man  of  such  genius  and  ability  as  Mr. 
Gallaudet.  Had  he  been  merely  a routinist, 
following  implicitly  the  system  of  De  l’Epee, 
Sicard,  and  Bebian,  their  intellectual  culture 
to-day  would  be  vastly  below  what  it  now  is. 

The  system  of  Pereira,  Heinicke,  and  the 
Braidwoods  had  for  its  basis  the  dogma  that 
ideas  could  only  be  expressed  or  communi- 
cated by  means  of  spoken  or  w'ritten 
language ; and  hence  the  deaf  mute  was 
taught,  with  great  difficulty  and  pains,  to 
articulate  words  whose  meanings  he  did  not 
understand,  and  then,  as  step  by  step  he 
connected  ideas  with  the  simplest  of  them, 
these  were  made  the  means  of  conveying  to 
him  the  meaning  of  those  more  abstract  and 
difficult.  In  this  way  three  or  four  years 
were  consumed  before  the  pupil  was  pre- 
pared to  acquire  the  facts  of  science  or  the 
knowledge  of  his  moral  obligations. 

The  fundamental  principle  of  the  system 
of  De  l’Epee,  as  modified  by  Sicard  and 
Bebian,  was  that  “ words  have  no  natural  or 
necessary  connection  with  the  ideas  of 
which  they  are  the  signs,  and  that  in  the 
natural  language  of  signs  or  pantomime, 
improved  and  enlarged  as  it  can  be,  there  is 
a complete  substitute  for  them.”  No 
special  attempt  was  made  at  teaching  artic- 
ulation, but  words  were  taught  by  means  of 
signs,  and  these  once  acquired,  were  made 
the  medium  of  further  instruction  by  ordin- 
ary text-books.  In  order  to  teach  words 
more  readily,  M.  Sicard  introduced  what  he 
denominated  methodical  signs,  that  is,  a 


PROFESSIONAL  AND  SPECIAL  EDUCATION. 


493 


peculiar  gesture  for  each  word,  which  the 
pupil  was  taught.  It  is  obvious  that  if  the 
vocabulary  of  the  deaf  mute  was  to  be  as 
large  as  that  of  ordinary  intelligent  speaking 
persons,  the  number  of  these  arbitrary 
signs  (for  it  is  to  be  understood  that  these 
differed  almost  as  much  from  the  ordinary 
signs  as  the  latter  from  words,  the  natural 
signs  representing  ideas,  and  the  methodical 
signs  single  words)  must  be  very  great,  some 
thousands  at  least,  and  to  retain  them  in 
memory  was  a very  fatiguing  task  for  both 
pupil  and  teacher. 

The  American  system  of  deaf  mute  in- 
struction differs  materially  from  both  these, 
and  the  difference  originating  in  its  funda- 
mental principles  with  Mr.  Gallaudet  and 
the  teachers  trained  up  under  him,  has  been 
extended  and  amplified  as  a result  of  the 
experience  and  observations  of  the  very 
eminent  teachers  who  have  been  and  still 
are  engaged  in  the  work  of  deaf  mute  in- 
struction. 

In  establishing  the  American  Asylum, 
Mr.  Gallaudet  combined  the  principle  of 
Heinicke,  of  the  connection  of  ideas  with 
words,  with  that'  of  Pc  l’Epee,  that  the 
natural  language  of  signs  must  be  elevated 
to  as  high  a degree  of  excellence  as  possible 
in  order  to  serve  as  the  medium  for  giving 
the  ideas  clearly  and  explaining  them  ac- 
curately ; but  he  added  to  these  another 
which  had  never  before  been  applied  to 
deaf  mute  instruction,  viz.,  that  the  process 
of  learning  words  might  be  greatly  facili- 
tated by  leading  the  pupils  to  reflect  on 
their  own  sensations,  ideas,  and  mental 
processes.  With  the  earliest  lessons  he  im- 
parted in  the  names  of  sensible  objects,  he 
was  accustomed  to  endeavor  to  open  com- 
munication with  them,  by  means  of  the 
sign-language,  in  regard  to  the  feelings  and 
emotions  excited  by  these  objects,  and,  if 
possible,  to  connect  them  with  something 
in  the  pupil’s  past  experience.  From  this, 
the  deaf  mute  was  naturally  led  on  to  think 
of  the  feelings  and  emotions  of  others, 
thence,  by  a natural  transition,  to  the  idea 
of  God  as  a Creator  and  benefactor,  and 
finally  to  a knowledge  of  his  law,  and  the 
final  destiny  of  man.  The  result  of  this 
has  been  that  pupils  in  this  country  (for  this 
plan  has  been  generally  adopted  in  our 
American  institutions)  are  made  acquainted 
with  the  simple  truths  of  religion  and 
morality  in  one  year,  a period  in  which,  in 
the  European  institutions,  they  have  scarce- 
30* 


ly  advanced  beyond  the  knowledge  of 
sounds  and  the  names  of  sensible  objects, 
qualities,  and  actions,  or  the  most  common 
phrases.  Apart  from  the  high  religious 
importance  of  this  process,  it  brings  moral 
motives  to  bear  earlier,  and  renders  the 
government  of  the  pupils  easier,  while  it 
aids  them  in  the  formation  of  correct  habits. 
The  conducting  of  the  daily  and  weekly 
devotional  exercises  in  the  sign-language 
was  another  peculiarity  introduced  by  Mr. 
Gallaudet. 

Methodical  signs  were  used  to  a consid- 
erable extent  by  Mr.  Gallaudet  and  the 
earlier  instructors  of  American  institutions, 
but  were  not  regarded  as  so  indispensable 
by  them  as  by  the  French  teachers.  Of 
late  years  they  are  less  employed  than 
formerly,  and  are  made  to  indicate  phrases 
rather  than  words,  while  the  manual  alpha- 
bet is  regarded  as  of  more  value  in  teaching 
than  it  was  thirty  years  ago.  An  advance 
has  also  been  made,  of  great  importance, 
by  the  introduction,  by  Mr.  I.  Lewis  Peet, 
of  the  New  York  Institution,  of  manual 
and  written  symbols  for  those  ultimate  con- 
stituents of  the  sentence  which  form  so  con- 
siderable a portion  of  spoken  and  written 
language.  By  this  means  written  language 
is  taught  with  much  greater  facility  than 
formerly.  The  idioms  and  forms  of  ex- 
pression induced  by  the  use  of  the  natural 
language  of  signs,  differ  so  much  from  those 
of  our  written  language,  which  is  to  a 
greater  extent  than  most  people  are  aware, 
artificial  in  its  construction,  that  it  has  been 
difficult  for  deaf  mutes,  in  attempting  to 
obtain  a higher  education  to  attain  to  that 
complete  mastery  of  English,  which  is  ac- 
quired with  comparative  readiness,  by  those 
who  have  not  the  idioms  of  a native  lan- 
guage to  unlearn  ; for  to  the  deaf  mute  this 
natural  language  is  in  some  sort  their 
mother  tongue. 

The  New  York  Asylum  was  chartered  in 
April,  1817,  mainly  through  the  active  exer- 
tions of  I)rs.  S.  L.  Mitchell  and  Samuel 
Akerly,  DeWitt  Clinton,  Sylvanus  Miller, 
Peter  Sharpe,  and  Rev.  Dr.  James  Milnor, 
It  was  not  opened  till  May,  1818,  and  the 
first  twelve  years  of  its  history  were  years 
of  struggles  and  difficulties,  partly  from  the 
lack  of  competent  teachers  and  assistants, 
and  partly  from  injudicious  management. 
In  1830  it  was  removed  to  buildings 
specially  erected  for  it  on  the  block  between 
49th  and  50th  streets,  and  Fourth  and 


494 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


Madison  avenues,  and  Mr.  (afterward  Dr.) 
Harvey  P.  Peet,  one  of  the  ablest  of  the 
teachers  of  the  American  Asylum  was  elected 
Principal.  Dr.  Peet  had  much  to  contend 
with  at  first,  but  he  was  grandly  successful, 
and  the  present  asylum  on  Washington 
Heights,  overlooking  the  Hudson,  with  its 
noble  buildings  and  its  fine  park  of  thirty 
acres,  with  accommodations  for  six  hundred 
pupils  and  every  advantage  for  successful 
instruction,  is  a monument  to  his  ability  and 
fidelity  both  as  a teacher  and  executive 
officer.  Dr.  Peet  remained  at  the  head  of 
the  institution  till  1867,  when  he  resigned, 
and  his  son,  Isaac  Lewis  Peet,  was  elected 
his  successor;  but  he  retained  his  official 
connection  with  the  institution  until  his 
death,  January  1,  1873,  The  number  of 
pupils  in  1871  had  reached  580,  under  30 
teachers. 

The  Pennsylvania  institution  was  founded 
at  Philadelphia  in  1820,  and  in  1822  Mr. 
Lewis  Weld,  another  of  the  Hartford  teach- 
ers, became  its  principal.  In  1830,  on  Mr. 
Gallaudet’s  resignation  as  principal  of  the 
American  Asylum,  Mr.  Weld  was  recalled 
to  Hartford  as  his  successor,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded at  Philadelphia  by  Mr.  Abraham  B. 
Hilton,  who  proved  a highly  successful 
teacher  for  40  years,  until  his  death  in 
1870.  The  institution  has  been  prosperous 
from  the  start. 

The  Kentucky  institution  was  founded  in 
1823,  and  located  at  Danville.  It  received 
a grant  of  public  land  from  Congress,  but 
no  considerable  fund  was  realized  out  of  it. 
Its  first  principal,  who  was  at  its  head  for 
forty-five  years,  was  Mr.  John  A.  Jacobs, 
who  was  previously  one  of  the  teachers  of 
the  American  Asylum.  At  his  death,  in 
1868,  his  son  succeeded  him. 

The  Ohio  institution,  founded  in  1827, 
has  been  very  prosperous.  Its  first  and 
third  principal,  Messrs.  Ilubbell  and  Stone, 
were  from  the  American  Asylum,  and  its 
second,  Mr.  Cary,  from  the  New  York  In- 
stitute, who  was  succeeded  in  1855  by  Mr. 
Collins  Stone,  at  the  time  a teacher  in  the 
institution  at  Hartford,  to  which  he  returned 
to  become  principal  in  1868,  and  where  he 
died  in  1871. 

The  Virginia  institution,  at  Staunton,  Va., 
founded  in  1839,  and  long  officered  from  the 
Hartford  institution,  was  the  first  in  this 
country  to  combine  the  instruction  of  the 
deaf  mutes  and  the  blind  under  one  board 
of  officers  and  teachers.  There  are  now' 


nine  asylums  in  the  United  States  where 
these  two  classes  are  educated  together. 

There  are  in  the  United  States  thirty- 
eight  distinct  schools  or  institutes  for  Deaf 
Mutes,  five  or  six  of  them,  however,  are 
small,  and  three  day  schools  in  Chicago, 
Boston,  and  Pittsburgh ; two  or  three  teach 
by  the  system  of  articulation  only,  while 
most  of  the  others  give  instruction  in  artic- 
ulation to  classes  of  semi-mutes,  i.  e.,  those 
who  have  learned  to  speak  but  have  become 
deaf  in  childhood.  For  those  who  were 
deaf  and  dumb  from  birth,  the  ablest 
teachers  believe  the  time  'spent  in  teaching 
articulation  can  be  spent  in  acquiring 
ideas  and  and  the  power  of  expressing 
them.  What  will  be  the  ultimate  result  of 
the  general  use  of  the  Bell  system  of  Visi- 
ble Speech,  introduced  into  the  Clarke  In- 
stitution at  North  Hampton,  and  to  a limited 
extent  in  the  American  Asylum  at  Hartford, 
and  the  private  school  of  A.  Graham  Bell  at 
Boston,  since  1871,  can  not  be  safely  predict- 
ed. With  a class  of  semi-mutes,  it  proves 
highly  useful  in  facilitating  articulation. 

Twenty-nine  of  the  States,  and  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia,  have  each  one  or  more 
institution  for  the  deaf  and  dumb.  In  most 
of  these  the  course  of  instruction  occupies 
seven  years,  and  those  who  are  unable  to 
pay  their  board  and  tuition  are  supported 
by  the  several  States.  In  the  American 
Asylum  and  the  New  York  institution  an 
advanced  course  occupying  three  years  was 
established  in  1854;  and  in  1864  the 
National  Deaf  Mute  College  was  organized, 
as  a department  of  the  Columbia  institution 
at  Washington.  It  has  the  usual  college 
classes,  with  a course  of  study  occupying 
four  years,  closely  following  that  of  our 
best  colleges.  The  success  of  the  institu- 
tion in  Washington,  and  the  establishment 
of  the  National  College,  is  mainly  due  to  a 
son  (E.  M.  Gallaudet,  LL.D.)  of  Thomas  H. 
Gallaudet. 

By  the  census  of  1870,  the  number  of 
deaf  and  dumb  persons  in  the  United 
States  returned  that  date  (July,  1870,)  is 
16,205,  of  whom  14,869  wrere  native,  and 
1,336  of  foreign  birth.  This  is  probably 
considerably  below  the  actual  number,  which 
is  probably  not  much  below  20,000,  or  one 
to  every  2,000  inhabitants.  Of  these  4,000, 
or  a fraction  more,  were  under  instruction 
at  that  time,  probably  nearly  all  who  were 
of  school  age — for  the  per  centage  of  illit- 
erate deaf  mutes  is  very  small. 


496 


bell’s  VISIBLE  SPEECH. 


In  1865, 
titled 


365?  Mr.  A.  Melville  Bell,  Professor  of  Vocal  Physiology  in  England,  announced  in  a pamphlet  en- 
“ Visible  Speech  : A New  Fact  Demonstrated”  that  he  had  discovered  the  true  organic  relations  of 


His  new  method  of 


speech  sounds,  and  had  invented  a universal  alphabet  based  upon  his  discovery. 

writing  he  termed  “ Visible  Speech,”  from  a peculiarity  in  the  formation  of  the  letters.  In  this  method. 


rical  meaning.  The  elementary  lines  and 
being  gr< 

pound  form,  just  as  th*e  various  parts  of  the  mouth  are  arranged  in  uttering  sound. “ In  this  way,  the 


every  Tetter,  and  every  part  of  a letter,  has  a definite'  _ 

curves  are  pictorial  of  parts  of  the  mouth  ; and  these  are  capable  of  being  grouped  together  into  a com- 


( 


3 


C 


j /- ) 


inventor  claimed  he  could  represent  any  sound  the  human  voice  could  make,  so  that  another  person  should 
be  directed  how  to  utter  it.  The  following  diagrams  will  illustrate  the  elements  of  this  Alphabet. 

The  darkened  parts  of  the  diagram  (Fig.  1,)  are  the  Visible  Speech  symbols  for  the  organs  of  which  they 

\ are  the  outlines.  These  symbols  are  written  sepa- 

\ rately,  and  in  one  line,  at  the  lower  part  of  the 

diagram.  They  indicate  respectively,  as  they 
stand,  beginning  at  the  left  hand,  the  throat,  the 
back  of  the  tongue,  the  top  of  the  tongue,  the  point 
of  the  tongue,  the  lower  lip,  and  the  nose. 

The  sign  for  the  throat,  (the  straight  line)  repre- 
sents a mere  chink  or  slit  in  the  throat,  and  is 
pictorial  of  the  vocalizing  condition  of  the  glottis. 
It  is  therefore  used  to  denote  “ voice.” 

The  sign  for  the  nose  is,  in  reality,  pictorial  of 
the  uvula,  the  pendulous  extremity  of  the  soft 
palate.  When  the  soft  palate  is  depressed,  the 
breath  passes  up  behind  it,  and  escapes  through 
the  nostrils.  When  it  is  raised,  the  communication 
between  nose  and  mouth  is  cut  off. 

Hence  the  application  of  a symbol  originally 
pictorial  of  the  soft  palate  to  the  nose. 

Its  strict  scientific  meaning  is, — “ soft  palate  de- 
pressed but  it  will  be  more  popularly  under- 
stood as  “ air  passing  through  the  nostrils.” 

At  the  lower  part  of  Fig.  1 are  two  additional 
symbols,  like  parenthesis  laid  horizontally.  The 
first  of  these  is  intended  to  convey  the  idea  of  a 
pipe  ; and  the  second  exhibits  this  pipe  closed  at 
one  end.  The  first  is  used  to  denote  a nart'ow  pas- 
sage in  the  mouth , through  which  the  breath  may 
pass  ; and  the  second,  complete  closure  of  the  passage. 
The  first  compounded  symbol  indicates  “ a narrow 
passage  ” for  the  breath,  over  (plus)  the 
“ back  of  the  tongue.”  The  combination 
indicated  by  the  plus  sign  stands  after  the 
sign  of  equality,  Deing  a crescent  protracted 
to  three-fourths  of  a circle.  This  is  the 
position  of  the  mouth  in  sounding  ch  (Ger- 
man), in  the  word  nach. 

This  position  is  assumed  by 
' ' T 7w« 


I ( 


) s 


Cl 


Figure  2 illustrates  the  combination  of  these  signs. 


( + c = c 


) + C=  D 


) + 1C  + I + ( = 3 

The  second  symbol  (lip  plus  closure)  directs  us  to  “close”  the  lips.” 
the  mouth  in  uttering  a word  commencing  with^?, — e.  g.,  paper.  The  third  symbol  (lip  plus  closure  plus 
voice  plus  nose)  indicates  that  the  “ lips”  are  to  be  u closed,”  and  the  voice  passed  through  the  “ nose.” 
The  symbols  in  Figure  3,  describe  certain  positions  of  the  mouth  which  yield  sounds.  The  reader  can, 

it  is  presumed,  readily  analyze  them  from 


3 

Blowing 
to  cool. 

3 

4T  (German) 
trie. 

3 

p in  pea 

D 

b in  6ay. 

3 


O 

(French 

th€£tre. 

Cl) 

r (English) 
run. 

0 

t in  tea. 

D 

d in  day. 

0 


O 

h (English) 
hue. 

<*) 


y (English) 
you. 


© 

O 

0 


Cthe  preceding  figures. 

Key  words  are  so  variously  pronounced 
<*  (German)  by  different  speakers,  as  to  be,  in  many 
cases,  worthless  as  a means  of  identifying 
sounds. 

They  are,  therefore,  omitted  in  the  pres- 
ent instance,  except  in  those  cases  where 
thev  will  be  likely  to  assist  the  reader. 

The  fact  that  the  Visible  Speech  symbols 
exhibit  to  the  eye  all  the  relations  the 
sounds  themselves  do  to  the  ear,  and  that 
the  organic  relations  are  just  as  clearly 
shown,  will  be  obvious  by  a comparison 
of  the  characters  for 

P B M 

T D N 


6 

0 

: in  key. 

Q 


G 


K G NG. 

Comparing  these  as  thus  placed,  Visible  Speech 
and  its  signs  sny  thut — 

AsP  is  to  B,  so  is  T to  D,  and  K to  G. 

As  B is  to  M,  so  is  D to  N,  and  G to  NG. 

As  P is  to  T,  so  is  B to  D,  and  M to  N. 

As  P is  to  K,  so  is  B to  G,  and  M to  NG.,  Ac.,  Ac. 


P,  B,  and  M have  the  “lip”  and  “shut”  signs  in  common  ; and  in  sounding  all,  the  lips  are  shut. 

Tj  D,  N,  agree  in  shutting  off  the  breath  by  means  of  the  point  of  the  tongue,  and  K,  G,  NG,  in  the 
closing  action  being  performed  by  the  back  of" the  tongue. 

Furthermore,  the  sounds  P;  T,  K (represented  by  the  same  symbol  turned  in  different  directions),  are 
made  by  the  same  organic  action  performed  at  different  parts  of  the  mouth ; so  with  B,  D,  G,  and  M,  N,  NG. 


PROFESSIONAL  AND  SPECIAL  EDUCATION. 


497 


(2.)  Schools  and  Institutions  for  the  Instruction  of 
the  Blind. 

The  instruction  of  the  blind  had  never 
been  attempted  on  any  considerable  scale, 
in  any  part  of  the  world,  before  the  Abbe 
Valentin  Haiiy,  in  1784,  commenced  in 
Paris,  France,  his  private  school  for 
blind  pupils.  Individuals  who  were  blind 
had  indeed  educated  themselves  by  the 
assistance  of  friends;  but  the  great  ma- 
jority of  those  who  suffered  from  this 
affliction  were  left  to  a life  of  depend- 
ence and  depression,  and  often  became  beg- 
gars. The  efforts  of  Haiiy,  and  his  inven- 
tion of  an  embossed  alphabet,  to  enable  the 
blind  to  read,  led  to  the  foundation  of  a 
school  for  the  blind  in  Paris,  supported  by 
the  French  government,  in  1791,  and  to  the 
organization  of  similar  schools  iu  England, 
Prussia,  Austria,  and  Russia,  about  the  same 
period.  In  these  schools,  reading  and 
music,  and  some  of  the  simpler  mechanic 
arts,  such  as  knitting,  mat-weaving,  basket- 
making, etc.,  were  taught. 

The  first  systematic  efforts  for  the  educa- 
tion of  the  blind  in  the  United  States  were 
made  in  Boston  in  1829.  Dr.  John  D. 
Fisher,  a young  physician  of  that  city,  while 
studying  his  profession  in  Paris  had  visited 
repeatedly  the  Institute  for  the  Blind,  and 
was  inspired  with  the  determination  to  at- 
tempt their  instruction  at  home.  On  his 
return  to  America  he  associated  himself 
with  a half-dozen  benevolent  gentlemen  of 
Boston,  among  whom  was  William  II. 
Prescott,  the  eminent  historian,  who  was 
himself  partially  blind.  These  gentlemen 
having  heard  Dr.  Fisher’s  narrative  of  what 
had  been  accomplished  in  the  institution  at 
Paris,  procured  from  the  Massachusetts 
Legislature  in  March,  1829,  a charter  for  an 
institution  to  be  called  “ The  New  England 
Asylum  for  the  Blind,”  and  at  once  under- 
took to  raise  money  for  buildings  and  en- 
dowment. The  gift  by  Col.  Thomas  II. 
Perkins  of  his  valuable  mansion  house  and 
lands  in  Pearl  street,  Boston,  to  the  asylum, 
on  condition  that  $50,000  should  be  raised 
by  others,  soon  led  to  its  liberal  endowment, 
and  to  the  change  of  its  corporate  name  to 
“ The  Perkins  Institution  and  Massachusetts 
Asylum  for  the  Blind.”  It  was  not  formal- 
ly opened  until  1831,  when  Dr.  Samuel  G. 
Howe,  another  young  physician  of  Boston, 
who  had  been  actively  engaged  in  extending 
succor  to  the  Greeks  in  their  efforts  to  throw 


off  the  Turkish  yoke,  and  who  passing 
through  Paris  on  his  return  from  the  East, 
had  devoted  careful  attention  to  the 
methods  of  the  French  Institute  for  the 
Blind,  took  charge  of  it,  and  has  continued 
in  its  superintendence  for  more  than  fortv 
years.  The  institution  received  grants  from 
the  Massachusetts  and  other  New  England 
Legislatures  in  proportion  to  the  number 
of  beneficiaries  received.  These  grants 
now  amount  to  about  $37,000  per  annum. 
The  genius  and  ability  of  Dr.  Howe  in  the 
management  of  the  institution,  and  in  in- 
spiring other  men  with  his  own  enthusiasm, 
and  his  remarkable  success  in  educating 
Laura  Bridgeman,  a blind  deaf  mute,  has 
secured  for  the  institution  the  continued  sup- 
port of  the  benevolent  and  the  Legislature, 
for  all  needful  modifications  of  the  system. 

In  1831,  Dr.  Samuel  Akerly,  already 
well-known  for  his  efforts  in  behalf  of  the 
deaf  and  dumb,  Mr.  Samuel  Wood,  a benev- 
olent member  of  the  Society  of  Friends, 
and  several  other  gentlemen  of  New  York, 
became  interested  in  the  condition  of  blind 
children  in  the  alms-house,  and  made  appli- 
cation to  the  New  York  Legislature  for  an 
act  of  incorporation  for  an  institution  for 
for  the  blind,  which  was  granted.  Securing 
the  services  of  Dr.  John  D.  Russ,  another 
young  physician  whose  aggressive  benevo- 
lence, like  that  of  Dr.  Howe,  had  enlisted 
him  in  the  cause  of  the  Greeks,  they  com- 
menced at  first  in  a very  humble  way  the 
instruction  of  the  blind  pauper  children  in 
the  city  of  New  York.  This  institution,  like 
that  of  Boston,  has  grown  to  be  one  of  the 
largest  in  the  world.  Dr.  Russ  withdrew 
from  its  superintendency  after  a few  years, 
but  is  still  its  warm  and  efficient  friend. 

In  Philadelphia,  Robert  Vaux,  a wealthy 
and  benevolent  Friend,  and  others  who  were 
like-minded,  after  two  or  three  years  of  ex- 
ertion succeeded  in  1833  in  establishing  an 
institution  for  the  blind,  which  was  at  first 
under  the  charge  of  an  able  and  intelligent 
Prussian,  Mr.  Julius  Friedlander,  who  had 
been  one  of  the  teachers  of  the  blind  in 
Berlin  under  the  direction  of  the  celebrated 
Zeun6.  Mr.  Friedlander’s  death,  in  1839, 
was  a severe  blow  to  the  institution,  and  for 
the  next  ten  years,  under  a variety  of  super- 
intendents, it  did  not  attain  to  a great  suc- 
cess, but  with  the  appointment  of  its  present 
able  and  efficient  superintendent,  William 
Chapin,  LL.D , it  commenced  a new  career, 
and  is  now  second  to  no  institution  for  the 


498 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


blind  in  the  world  in  its  successful  manage- 
ment, and  the  great  amount  of  good  it  is  per- 
forming. It  has  connected  with  it  an  Indus- 
trial Home  for  the  Blind,  intended  for  the  in- 
firm and  aged  as  well  as  for  those  who  are  ca- 
pable of  partially  supporting  themselves.  It 
is  open  under  certain  restrictions  to  graduates 
of  blind  institutions — those  of  the  Philadel- 
phia institution  having  the  preference.  The 
pupils  of  the  Philadelphia  institution  are 
very  well  educated  in  music,  and  its  weekly 
concerts  are  largely  attended  by  the  best 
musical  connoisseurs  of  the  city,  and  have 
proved  a considerable  source  of  revenue. 

In  1837,  the  Ohio  institution  was  estab- 
lished at  Columbus,  and  though  passing 
through  many  changes  and  vicissitudes,  it 
now  takes  a high  rank.  The  department 
for  the  blind  in  the  institution  for  the  deaf, 
dumb  and  blind  at  Staunton,  Va.,  was  or- 
ganized, January,  1840.  Between  1842  and 
1850,  six  more  institutions  for  the  blind 
were  established,  viz.,  the  Kentucky  Insti- 
tution at  Louisville  in  1842,  the  Tennessee 
Institution  at  Nashville  in  1844,  the  North 
Carolina  Institution  at  Raleigh  in  1846,  the 
Indiana  Institution  at  Indianapolis  in  1847, 
the  Illinois  Institution  at  Jacksonville  in 
1849,  and  the  South  Carolina  Institution  for 
the  Deaf,  Dumb  and  Blind  at  Cedar  Springs 
the  same  year.  The  Wisconsin  Institution 
was  founded  at  Janesville,  in  1850.  There 
are  now  twenty-seven  of  these  institutions 
in  the  United  States,  having  an  aggregate  of 
about  2,200  pupils. 

The  whole  number  of  blind  persons  in 
the  United  States,  according  to  the  census 
of  1870,  is  20,320,  of  whom  17,043  are 
natives  and  3,277  of  foreign  birth.  This 
includes,  of  course,  many  persons  who  have 
become  blind  in  adult  age,  and  who  there- 
fore were  not  suitable  candidates  for  in- 
struction in  this  class  of  institutions.  Still 
it  is  believed  that  the  proportion  of  blind 
youth  who  receive  instruction  to  the  whole 
number  is  not  nearly  so  great  as  of  the  deaf 
mutes.  Begging  is  so  ready  and  profitable 
a resource  for  the  blind  that  a very  consid- 
erable proportion,  especially  of  those  of 
foreign  birth  or  parentage  adopt  it.  The 
table  appended  gives  many  particulars  in 
regard  to  the  blind  institutions  in  this 
country. 

The  education  of  the  blind  in  the  Euro- 
pean institutions  is  for  the  most  part  con- 
fined to  the  mere  rudiments  of  knowledge 
except  in  music,  which  is  in  some  of  them 


taught  very  successfully.  They  are  gener- 
ally instructed  in  some  handicraft  by  which 
they  may  partially  or  wholly  support  them- 
selves. In  the  United  States,  while  the 
technical  and  musical  education  have  not 
been  neglected,  they  are  generally  very  well 
taught  in  the  studies  which  belong  to  what 
we  are  accustomed  to  call  secondary  educa- 
tion. The  period  of  instruction  varies  in 
the  different  institutions  from  five  to  eight 
years.  In  most  of  the  larger  and  older 
institutions  it  is  eight  years,  and  includes  a 
course  of  mathematics  and  belles-lettres, 
but  does  not  usually  include  the  languages, 
though  in  two  or  three  French  is  taught. 
There  is  usually  much  attention  given  to 
musical  instruction,  both  vocal  and  instru- 
mental, for  which  most  of  the  blind  possess 
a remarkable  aptitude.  Work-rooms  are 
attached  to  all  the  institutions,  in  which  the 
pupils  are  employed  for  some  hours  every 
day  in  the  manufacture  of  mattresses,  mats, 
tidies,  baskets,  paper-boxes,  brooms, 
brushes,  or  the  simpler  articles  of  cabinet 
work. 

The  first  efforts  of  the  American  instruct- 
ors of  the  blind  were  devoted  to  the  im- 
provement of  the  alphabet  of  raised  letters, 
used  in  printing  for  the  blind,  with  a view 
to  the  preparation  of  books  for  them. 
There  were  considerable  difficulties  to  be 
overcome  in  the  accomplishment  of  this 
work ; the  letters  must  have  salient  angles ; 
each  letter  must  differ  sufficiently  from 
every  other  to  be  easily  recognized  by  the 
touch  ; yet  the  size  of  the  letters  must  be 
small,  or  the  books  printed  for  the  blind 
would  be  too  cumbrous  and  expensive. 
The  forms  of  letters  used  in  Europe  did  not 
answer  these  requirements  satisfactorily. 
Haiiy’s  type,  if  well  embossed,  could  be 
read  with  tolerable  facility,  but  it  was  m :ch 
too  large,  and  its  size  could  not  be  reduced 
without  impairing  its  legibility ; Guillie’s 
was  not  legible  at  all;  Gall’s  varied  too 
much  from  the  ordinary  form  of  letter  to  be 
desirable,  and  the  other  attempts  at  uniting 
the  requisite  qualities  failed.  Each  of  the 
three  American  superintendents  devoted  his 
leisure  to  the  work.  Mr.  Friedlander  de- 
vised an  alphabet,  known  in  England  as  the 
Allston  or  Sans-serif  Alphabet,  neat  in  form 
and  easily  read,  but  somewhat  too  large ; 
Dr.  Russ  invented  one  combining  the  ad- 
vantages of  Gall’s  triangular  alphabet  with 
the  Illyrian  letter,  and  with  characters  to 
make  it  phonetic,  but  it  was  somewhat  de- 


PROFESSIONAL  AND  SPECIAL  EDUCATION. 


499 


fective  in  legibility ; and  Dr.  Howe,  after 
repeated  trials,  constructed  what  is  now 
known  as  the  Boston  letter,  which  in  size, 
distinctness,  and  legibility  so  far  surpassed 
every  previous  effort,  that  it  has  now  come 
into  general  use  in  Europe  and  America. 

The  great  cost  of  printing,  or  rather  em- 
bossing, works  for  the  blind  has  rendered 
the  supply  scanty,  and  the  number  of  books 
small.  The  American  Bible  Society  has 
printed  an  edition  of  the  Scriptures  in  the 
Boston  letter,  a benevolent  gentleman  hav- 
ing made  a bequest  to  cover  the  cost  of  the 
plates,  and  from  time  to  time  grants  are 
made  to  institutions  for  the  blind.  The 
American  Tract  Society  has  also  printed  a 
few  of  its  smaller  books  in  the  same  letter. 
Aside  from  these  there  are  less  than  one 
hundred  books  printed  or  embossed  for  the 
blind.  Among  this  small  number  are  some 
text-books,  a cyclopaedia  to  be  completed  in 
twenty  volumes,  but  not  yet,  we  believe, 
quite  finished,  some  volumes  of  poems,  &c. 

Owing,  probably,  to  their  high  cost  and 
great  bulk,  the  blind  after  leaving  the  insti- 
tutions seldom  use  any  of  the  books  in  the 
raised  letter  except  the  Scriptures,  their  te- 
nacious memory  enabling  them  to  retain 
most  of  what  is  read  to  them  by  others. 

Writing  has  always  been  a difficult  and 
irksome  task  to  the  blind ; and  various  de- 
vices have  been  proposed  to  facilitate  this 
labor,  but  hardly  any  of  them  have  proved 
satisfactory.  The  plan  adopted  by  the  late 
William  II.  Prescott  of  using  a frame  of 
wires  over  the  paper,  enabled  him  to  write 
in  straight  lines,  but  no  corrections  could  be 
made,  nor  could  the  scribe  read  what  he 
had  written.  The  use  of  inks  which  would 
leave  an  elevated  surface  has  been  tried, 
but  without  much  satisfaction ; small  print- 
ing machines  have  also  been  used,  but  are 
not  convenient. 

Within  a few  years  past  another  process 
has  been  introduced,  which,  despite  the  ap- 
parent objections  to  it,  proves  far  more 
serviceable  and  convenient  than  any  other 
yet  devised.  By  this  invention,  known  as 
“ Braille’s  system,”  from  its  inventor,  M. 
Louis  Braille,  a French  teacher  of  the  blind, 
or  rather  by  an  American  modification  of  it, 
they  are  soon  enabled  to  read  and  write 
with  great  facility,  and  by  the  addition  of  a 
single  character,  music  can  be  printed  or 
copied  by  the  blind  far  more  readily  than  a 
seeing  person  can  do  it  in  the  ordinary  way. 
The  plan  is  based  upon  a scries  of  funda- 


mental signs,  comprising  the  first  ten  letters 
of  the  alphabet ; none  of  these  consist  of 
less  than  two  nor  more  than  four  dots.  A 
second  series  is  formed  by  placing  one  dot 
at  the  left  of  each  fundamental  sign  ; a third 
by  placing  two  dots  under  each  sign;  a 
fourth  by  placing  one  dot  under  the  right 
of  each.  These  signs  designate,  besides 
the  alphabet,  the  double  vowels,  peculiar 
compound  sounds  like  th , and  the  marks  of 
punctuation.  By  prefixing  a sign  consisting 
of  three  dots,  the  fundamental  signs  are 
used  as  numerals  ; by  prefixing  another  the 
last  seven  represent  musical  characters,  and 
by  a sign  peculiar  to  each  octave  the  neces- 
sity of  designating  the  key  to  each  musical 
sentence  is  avoided.  It  consists  of  a board, 
in  a frame  like  that  of  a double  slate,  the  sur- 
face of  which  is  grooved  horizontally  and  ver- 
tically by  lines  one-eighth  of  an  inch  apart ; 
on  this  the  paper  is  fastened  by  shutting 
down  the  upper  half  of  the  frame,  and  the 
points  are  made  with  an  awl  or  bodkin, 
through  a piece  of  tin  perforated  with  six 
holes,  an  eighth  of  an  inch  apart.  The 
perforations  are  made  from  right  to  left,  in 
order  that  the  writing  when  reversed  may 
read  from  left  to  right.  Books  and  music 
are  now  printed  for  the  blind  on  this  system. 
Most  of  the  larger  institutions  have  adopt- 
ed it. 

Dr.  John  D.  Russ,  the  first  superintendent 
of  the  New  York  institution,  has  invented 
an  “ improved  Braille  system,”  which  seems 
to  possess  some  advantages  over  this, 
but  it  has  not  been  adopted,  so  far  as  we 
have  learned,  by  any  of  the  schools  for  the 
blind. 

Attempts  have  been  made  to  furnish  em- 
ployment on  a large  scale  to  the  blind  and 
pay  wages  which  should  be  sufficient  for 
their  support,  or  equalize  their  condition 
with  that  of  seeing  persons  engaged  in 
mechanical  labor;  but  such  efforts  have 
always  failed,  and  in  the  nature  of  the  case 
must  do  so ; for  the  deprivation  of-  sight, 
though  partially  compensated  by  the  greater 
activity  of  other  senses,  is  too  serious  a 
defect  to  allow  the  blind  an  even  start  in  the 
race  for  a livelihood  with  the  seeing,  and  so 
long  as  the  rate  of  wages  are  such  that 
only  an  exceptionally  active  and  enter- 
prising mechanic,  who  has  his  eyesight, 
can  make  anything  more  than  a liveli- 
hood, the  blind,  laboring  under  so  many 
disadvantages,  must  necessarily  fall  behind 
in  the  race. 


500 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


(3.)  Institutions  for  the  Education  and  Training  of 
Idiots  and  Imbeciles. 

These  institutions  are  wholly  the  out- 
growth of  the  philanthropy  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  No  successful  attempt  had  ever 
been  made  before  the  year  1838  to  rouse 
and  bring  into  activity  the  arrested  mental 
development  of  the  idiotic  child.  It  is  true 
that  the  benevolent  and  philanthropic  St. 
Vincent  de  Paul,  the  founder  of  the  order 
of  Lazarists,  gathered  into  his  monastery  a 
number  of  idiotic  and  imbecile  youth,  and 
by  care  and  tenderness  sought  to  improve 
their  wretched  condition,  but  he  had  no  idea 
of  their  real  condition  or  of  the  principles 
on  which  alone  a successful  treatment  of 
their  cases  was  possible.  Itard,  Pinel,  Es- 
querol,  and  other  names  illustrious  in  psy- 
chological science,  had  all  grappled  with 
this  difficult  problem  of  the  true  method  of 
reaching  the  idiot  and  raising  him  up  to 
self-control,  and  all  had  failed.  It  was  re- 
served for  a young  French  physician,  Dr. 
Edouard  Seguin,  a pupil  of  Itard,  to  solve 
this  problem.  He  gathered  a few  idiotic 
children  in  Paris,  and  proceeding  on  the 
principle  that  idiocy  was  an  arrested  devel- 
opment, a prolonged  infancy,  in  which  the 
infantile  grace  and  intelligence  having  passed 
away,  the  feeble  muscular  development 
and  mental  weakness  of  that  earliest 
stage  of  growth  alone  remained,  he  ques- 
tioned nature  as  to  her  processes  of  devel- 
opment of  the  infant,  and  of  elevation  and 
education  of  the  physical,  mental,  and  moral 
powers.  He  found  in  idiot  children  the  in- 
fantile fondness  for  bright  colors,  and  availed 
himself  of  it  to  teach  them  the  distinctions 
of  color  and  form ; he  noticed  their  liking 
for  playthings,  and  furnished  them  with 
builders’  blocks,  cups  and  balls,  and  other 
toys,  by  which  he  could  instruct  them  in 
numbers,  shape,  and  size ; he  developed  vo- 
lition, by  simple  physical  movements,  by 
molding  the  hand  to  grasp  objects,  the  lips 
to  utter  sounds,  by  moving  the  lower  limbs 
up,  down,  backward,  forward,  and  laterally, 
by  compelling  them  to  take  a step  or  raise 
hand  or  foot,  at  a signal  or  word  of  com- 
mand ; by  the  use  of  dumb-bells,  and  an  in- 
finite variety  of  processes  repeated  almost 
an  infinite  number  of  times ; then  words 
were  taught  with  the  aid  of  pictures,  and 
new  ideas,  at  first  concrete,  and  afterward 
those  of  an  abstract  character,  were  instilled 
into  their  minds  as  fast  as  they  could  com- 


prehend them.  With  all  these,  and  beyond 
them,  the  moral  nature  was  gradually  roused 
by  the  simplest  instruction  and  the  influence 
of  a pure  example.  The  process  was  slow, 
and  the  difficulties  to  be  conquered  many, 
but  Dr.  Seguin  persevered  and  triumphed. 
His  processes  were  submitted  to  the  most 
careful  scrutiny  by  a committee  of  the 
French  Institute,  and  by  numerous  teachers 
and  psychologists  who  had  become  inter- 
ested in  it ; but  all  resulted  in  the  convic- 
tion that  he  alone  had  hit  upon  the  philo- 
sophic and  only  practicable  mode  of  rousing 
and  developing  these  dormant  natures.  He 
continued  to  teach  idiotic  children  in  Paris 
with  great  success  for  ten  years,  and  pub- 
lished several  works  on  the  subject  of  their 
education.  His  “ Moral  Treatment,  Hygiene, 
and  Education  of  Idiots,”  published  in  1846, 
was  recognized  by  all  psychologists  as  the 
ablest  and  most  philosophical  work  on  that 
subject.  In  1848,  Dr.  Seguin  came  to  the 
United  States,  and  of  his  labors  here  we 
shall  speak  further  on.  In  1836,  Dr.  Louis 
Guggenbiihl,  a Swiss  physician,  commenced 
his  experiments  on  the  education  and  train- 
ing of  cretins  in  Switzerland';  the  cretin 
being  a somewhat  deformed  and  physically 
helpless  creature,  his  mental  and  moral  de- 
velopment arrested  in  consequence  of  dis- 
ease, impure  air  and  water,  but  really  a more 
tractable  subject  than  the  idiot.  These  ex- 
periments were  conducted  on  the  Abend- 
berg,  near  the  Interlaken,  for  fifteen  or  twenty 
years,  with  considerable  success,  and  a num- 
ber of  institutions  for  cretins  were  started ; 
but  Dr.  Guggenbiihl  seemed  to  fail  in  com- 
prehending the  true  principle  of  rousing 
these  cases  of  arrested  development,  and 
after  a time  his  institution  was  given  up,  and 
some  of  his  cretins  went  back  to  their  old 
life  of  squalor  and  mendicity.  In  England 
and  Scotland  the  fruits  of  Dr.  Seguin’s  phi- 
losophical treatises  and  successful  teaching 
were  seen  in  the  organization  of  schools  and 
asylums  for  idiots  at  Highgate,  Colchester, 
Baldovan,  Edinburgh,  and  elsewhere. 

In  the  United  States,  attention  was  first 
called  to  the  subject  by  the  eloquent  letters 
of  Mr.  George  Sumner  to  one  of  the  Boston 
papers,  describing  his  visits  to  the  schools 
of  Dr.  Seguin  and  M.  Vallee,  in  Paris. 
These  letters  were  published  in  1845,  and 
the  attention  of  Dr.  S.  B.  Woodward,  of 
Worcester,  Dr.  F.  F.  Backus,  of  Rochester, 
N.  Y.,  and  Dr.  S.  G.  Howe,  of  the  Blind 
Institution  at  Boston,  were  called  to  them. 


PROFESSIONAL  AND  SPECIAL  EDUCATION. 


501 


Dr.  Backus,  then  a State  senator  in  the  New 
York  legislature,  brought  in  a bill  to  the 
Senate  for  the  establishment  of  an  institu- 
tion for  the  training  of  idiots,  during  the 
session  of  1846,  and  Dr.  Howe  procured  the 
appointment  of  a commission  to  investigate 
the  condition  of  idiots  in  Massachusetts,  the 
same  winter.  Both  these  movements  event- 
ually resulted  in  the  establishment  of  insti- 
tutions for  the  training  of  idiots. — in  Massa- 
chusetts in  1848,  and  in  New  York,  by  rea- 
son of  opposition,  not  until  1851.  Mean- 
time a young  physician  of  Barre,  Mass.,  Dr. 
Hervey  B.  Wilbur,  had  opened  a private 
school  for  idiot  children  in  his  own  house, 
in  July,  1848,  and  was  endeavoring  to  put 
in  practice  the  principles  of  Seguin.  The 
Massachusetts  Experimental  School,  which 
in  1851  became  a permanent  “ School  for 
Idiotic  and  Feeble  Minded  Youth,”  was  first 
organized  in  South  Boston  in  October,  1848. 
As  we  have  said,  Dr.  Seguin  visited  the 
United  States  in  1848,  and  after  spending  a 
little  time  at  South  Boston  and  at  Barre,  re- 
turned to  France,  but  in  1851  came  again 
to  this  country,  which  has  since  been  his 
home.  The  New  York  institution,  started 
at  Albany  in  1851,  was  organized  by  Dr. 
Wilbur,  who  has  been  for  almost  twenty- 
two  years  (1873)  its  head,  while  Dr.  George 
Brown  succeeded  him  at  Barre.  The  pres- 
ence and  aid  of  Dr.  Seguin  in  these  schools 
at  their  beginning  was  of  inestimable  value, 
lie  imbued  the  superintendents  and  teachers 
with  his  enthusiasm  and  patience  as  well  as 
with  his  principles  of  education,  and  the 
really  remarkable  success  of  the  American 
schools  for  training  idiot  children,  a success 
vastly  greater  than  has  been  attained  in 
other  countries,  is  due,  in  large  measure,  to 
the  admirable  works  and  still  more  admira- 
ble drill  of  the  teachers  and  pupils  in  their 
presence,  by  Dr.  Seguin.  Undoubtedly  he 
found  in  these  teachers  and  superintendents 
those  who  were  apt  to  learn,  and  who  pos- 
sessed the  ability  to  carry  out  successfully 
the  principles  which  he  had  imparted ; but 
very  few  have  the  good  fortune  to  be  in- 
structed by  so  skillful  a teacher.  After  de- 
voting several  years  to  the  promotion  of 
these  institutions,  and  the  still  wider  intro- 
duction of  the  physiological  method  of  edu- 
cation, Dr.  Seguin  settled  in  the  practice  of 
his  profession,  at  first  in  Portsmouth,  Ohio, 
and  subsequently  in  New  York  city;  but 
that  he  has  not  lost  Ids  interest  in  the  edu- 
cation of  idiots  is  evident  from  his  publica- 


tions on  that  subject — “ Idiocy  and  its 
Treatment  by  the  Physiological  Method  ” 
(1866);  and  “New  Facts  Concerning  Id- 
iocy” (1868).  He  is  now  engaged  in  ap- 
plying the  same  principles  to  the  education 
of  children  generally. 

The  “Pennsylvania  Training  School  for 
Feeble  Minded  Children,”  at  Media,  was  or- 
ganized at  first  at  Germantown,  in  1853,  bv 
Mr.  J.  B.  Richards,  who  was  for  a time  a teach- 
er in  the  South  Boston  school,  and  was  as- 
sisted, after  its  establishment  in  the  building 
erected  by  the  State  for  its  accommodation 
at  Media,  by  Dr.  Seguin.  It  is  now  one  of 
the  largest  of  this  class  of  institutions. 

The  Ohio  Asylum  for  Imbecile  and  Feeble 
Minded  Youth,”  at  Columbus,  was  founded 
in  1857,  and  the  Kentucky  Institution,  at 
Frankfort,  about  the  same  time.  The  Con- 
necticut Institution  (private),  at  Lakeville,  was 
opened  in  1858,  by  Dr.  Knight ; and  the  Illi- 
nois Asylum  for  Idiots,  at  Jacksonville,  in 
1865.  There  are  now  in  actual  operation, 
under  State  organization  or  aid,  nine  insti- 
tutions, and  others  will  soon  be  formed. 

Dr.  Seguin  lays  down  in  his  work  on 
“ Idiocy  ” a distinction  which  is  worth  ob- 
serving, viz.,  that  the  imbecile,  though  appa- 
rently more  promising,  is  really  a more 
hopeless  subject  for  treatment  than  the  help- 
less and  wholly  undeveloped  idiot.  Epilepsy 
too,  which  often  accompanies  imbecility,  and 
sometimes  idiocy,  is  an  almost  fatal  barrier 
to  improvement.  It  is,  then,  an  encouraging 
result  that,  taking,  as  the  State  institutions 
do  take,  all  classes,  from  seventy  to  eighty 
per  cent,  are  very  greatly  improved,  and 
from  twenty-five  to  thirty  per  cent,  become 
self-supporting,  and  as  intelligent  and  sound 
of  mind  as  the  average  of  working  men. 
Several  have  distinguished  themselves  by 
fidelity  and  good  conduct  in  very  trying  po- 
sitions. About  3,000  have  been  dismissed 
as  decidedly  improved  and  benefited  since 
the  opening  of  these  institutions,  and  more 
than  nine  hundred  are  now  under  instruction. 

The  census  of  1870  gives  the  whole  num- 
ber of  idiotic  persons  in  the  United  States 
as  24,527,  but  on  this  subject  the  returns 
are  nQt  very  reliable.  The  demented  and 
fatuous  are  included,  and  probably  also 
many  who,  though,  to  use  an  old  Saxon 
word,  underwitted,  are  yet  far  from  being 
idiotic.  On  the  other  hand,  many  eccentric, 
feeble-minded,  and  perhaps  really  idiotic 
children,  are  omitted  in  consequence  of  the 
pride  and  sensitiveness  of  parents  and 


502 


EDUCATION"  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


friends.  The  table  appended  gives  many 
particulars  of  the  Idiot  Asylums. 

(4.)  Hospitals  and  Asylums  for  the  Insane. 

We  shall  not  discuss  here  the  influence 
which  Education  exerts  in  producing  or  in- 
creasing insanity;  that  it  does  exert  some 
influence  to  that  effect  is  universally  admit- 
ted ; but  it  will  be  found  to  be  mostly  in 
two  directions;  one,  where  the  culture  of 
the  faculties  is  not  uniform  in  its  character, 
and  the  mind  is,  consequently,  not  well  bal- 
anced, some  faculties  being  overstrained, 
and  others  comparatively  undeveloped ; the 
other,  where  from  too  close  application,  or 
inordinate  ambition  for  acquiring  knowl- 
edge, the  physical  powers  are  neglected,  and 
disease  or  infirmity  of  the  body,  induced  by 
insufficient  exercise  and  recreation,  commu- 
nicates itself  to  the  overwrought  brain  and 
causes  the  worst  and  most  hopeless  form  of 
insanity.  We  do  not  believe,  however,  that 
hard  study  ever  killed  a man  or  made  him 
insane  unless  it  was  coupled  with  violation 
of  the  physiological  laws  of  life  and  health. 

But  it  is  not  these  connections  of  insanity 
with  intellectual  culture  that  we  have  here 
to  discuss.  We  are  only  called  to  notice  the 
instances,  still  rare,  though  much  more  com- 
mon than  they  were,  where  the  prosecution 
of  some  studies,  the  exercises  of  a school,  or 
the  use  of  what  may  be  called  educational 
appliances  or  adjuvants,  have  been  resorted 
to  as  means  of  “ ministering  to  a mind  dis- 
eased ;”  and,  we  may  be  pardoned  if  we 
allude  incidentally  to  the  great  and  benefi- 
cial influence  which  the  wide  diffusion  of 
education,  especially  of  scientific  education, 
has  had  in  the  amelioration  of  the  treatment 
of  the  insane,  within  the  past  fifty  years. 

The  cruelty  with  which  the  insane  were 
treated  from  fifty  to  eighty  years  ago  may 
well  excite  our  wonder  and  horror.  The 
poor  unfortunate,  bereft  of  reason,  was, 
while  in  that  condition,  an  object  of  both 
terror  and  loathing ; the  notion  had  gained 
credence  that  the  mortification  of  the  body 
by  whipping  and  beating  was  the  readiest 
cure  for  the  affliction,  and  blows  and  lashes 
were  rained  upon  him  till  his  tormenters 
were  weary  with  their  exertions;  the  poor 
victim  was  chained,  exposed  to  the  intense 
cold  of  winter  and  the  equally  intense  heat 
of  summer  with  but  scanty  and  filthy  rai- 
ment ; their  food  was  coarse  and  repulsive, 
and  their  whole  condition  one  fitted  to  ex- 
cite the  pity  of  the  hardest  heart.  The 
few  asylums  for  lunatics,  and  they  were  very 


few  in  this  country,  resorted  to  chains  and 
handcuffs,  to  harsh  treatment  and  prison 
fare,  though  they  were  better  than  the  alms- 
houses, jails,  and  private  pens  in  which  the 
great  mass  of  the  insane  were  confined. 
But  under  the  lead  of  Dr.  Eli  Todd,  in  the 
Connecticut  Retreat  for  the  Insane,  in  1823, 
a wiser  system  of  treatment  was  inaugurated, 
and  the  blessed  results  of  kindness  and  ten- 
derness, combined  with  a better  knowledge 
of  the  nervous  system,  and  its  connection 
with  the  abnormal  manifestations  of  insanity, 
has  revolutionized  the  condition  of  institu- 
tions devoted  to  this  class  of  unfortunates. 
Great  efforts  have  been  made  within  a few 
years  past  to  draw  the  thoughts  away  from 
the  delusions  and  hallucinations  connected 
with  its  disordered  condition,  and  to  cause 
it  to  occupy  itself  with  some  form  of  study 
or  mental  exercise.  In  some  of  the  Insane 
hospitals  there  are  classes,  where  often  both 
teacher  and  taught  are  patients ; in  others 
there  are  courses  of  scientific  lectures;  in 
others  the  study  of  our  own  literature  and 
that  of  other  nations  is  encouraged ; some 
pursue  art  studies,  or  practice  drawing, 
painting  or  designing;  others  are  pursuing 
philological  studies ; for  still  others,  physi- 
cal science  in  some  of  its  branches  is  a favo- 
rite pursuit ; while  to  many  horticulture,  the 
care  and  rearing  of  plants  and  flowers,  or 
the  exercises  and  games  of  the  gymnasium, 
afford  the  needed  recreation.  Libraries  and 
reading-rooms  have  come  to  be  a necessity 
for  these  hospitals,  and  in  most  cases  nearly 
all  the  patients  avail  themselves  of  them. 
One  result  of  this  great  change  in  the  meth- 
ods of  treatment  has  been  to  increase  greatly 
the  number  of  cures  of  insane  persons. 
Another  apparent  but  probably  not  real  re- 
sult has  been  the  increase  of  the  number  of 
insane  patients.  New  Asylums  or  Hospitals 
for  the  insane  are  constantly  erected,  and  no 
sooner  are  they  completed  than  they  are 
filled  to  overflowing.  Yet  it  is  not  so  much 
that  there  is  such  a rapid  increase  in  the 
number  of  the  insane,  as  that  old  cases, 
hitherto  concealed,  are  constantly  coming  to 
light,  under  this  humane  treatment.  There 
is  undoubtedly  a considerable  increase  in 
the  number  of  the  insane,  the  ratio  of  in- 
crease being  probably  somewhat  greater 
than  that  of  the  general  population,  a con- 
sequence of  the  existing  fast,  pushing  life  of 
our  people;  but  many  thousands  of  the  in- 
sane are  now  treated  in  hospitals,  who, 
under  the  old  regime,  would  have  been  con- 


PROFESSIONAL  AND  SPECTAL  EDUCATION. 


503 


cealed  in  their  homes,  and  their  disease,  and 
even  their  existence  hardly  known  to  the 
most  intimate  friends  of  the  family.  The 
great  desideratum  now  is  a Training  School 
for  attendants  and  nurses  for  this  class  of 
patients,  as  was  suggested  by  Dr.  Todd  in 
1830,  and  the  introduction  of  Charitable 
Orders  into  their  management,  like  that 
which  has  charge  of  the  Mount  Hope  in- 
stitution near  Baltimore,  Maryland. 

The  census  of  1870  gives  the  whole  num- 
ber of  insane  persons  in  the  United  States 
as  37,382,  of  whom  26,161  are  natives  and 
11,221  of  foreign  birth.  This  is  probably 
not  far  from  the  truth,  certainly  not  in  ex- 
cess of  it.  The  number  of  insane  hospitals 
in  the  United  States  in  1870  was  58,  and 
four  or  five  have  been  opened  since.  The 
number  of  patients  was  in  1870  15,598.  It 
is  probably  now  (1873)  at  least  17,000. 
Very  many  incurable  cases,  where  the  in- 
sanity is  of  a mild  type,  are  at  large,  and 
many  more  are  in  alms-houses.  In  Massa- 
chusetts and  New  York,  as  well  as  in  some 
of  the  Western  States,  there  are  in  many  of 
the  larger  alms-houses  departments  for  in- 
curable insane  paupers. 

XI.  PREVENTIVE  AND  REFORMATORY  SCHOOLS  AND 
INSTITUTIONS. 

Although  there  are  occasional  indications 
that  individual  philanthropists,  like  the  be- 
nevolent Cardinal  Odescalchi  at  Rome,  and 
Sir  Matthew  Hale  in  England,  had  clear  per- 
ceptions of  the  evil  of  leaving  vagrant  and 
morally  endangered  children  as  well  as  ju- 
venile delinquents,  exposed  to  the  tempta- 
tions to  a vicious  life,  yet  apart  from  a school 
established  partially  for  them  by  the  former 
in  1586,  there  seems  to  have  been  no  serious 
movement  in  their  behalf  prior  to  the  es- 
tablishment of  the  school  and  home  for 
vagrant  and  vicious  boys  at  Rome,  by 
Giovanni  Borgi,  (better  known  as  Tata 
Giovanni,  or  Papa  John,)  in  1786  or  1787, 
and  the  organization  of  the  “ Philanthropic 
Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Crime  ” at 
London  in  1788.  This  last,  originally  es- 
tablished on  the  family  plan,  soon  became  a 
large  establishment,  in  which  a great  number 
of  boys  were  congregated  and  employed  in 
different  branches  of  manufacture,  having 
also  a probationary  school  of  reform  for  the 
more  vicious  and  criminal  of  its  inmates. 
In  1846,  a large  farm  was  purchased  at  Red 
Hill,  near  Reigate,  Surrey,  agriculture  and 
horticulture  were  substituted  for  mechanical 
and  manufacturing  pursuits,  and  the  family 


system  for  the  congregated.  Since  that 
period  the  number  of  family  reformatories, 
as  they  are  called,  has  greatly  increased  in 
Great  Britain.  On  the  continent  the  em- 
inent success  of  the  agricultural  and  horti- 
cultural reformatories  of  Mettray,  Horn, 
Ruysselede,  and  many  others  of  more  recent 
origin,  has  attracted  general  attention. 

In  this  country  the  first  institution  in- 
tended for  the  reformation  of  vicious  and 
criminal  children,  was  the  “New  York 
House  of  Refuge  for  Juvenile  Delinquents,' ” 
incorporated  in  1824,  and  opened  January 
1,  1825.  Its  founders  were  John  Griscom, 
Isaac  Collins,  James  W.  Gerard,  and  Hugh 
Maxwell,  all  at  the  time  members  of  a 
“ Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Pauperism 
and  Crime,”  which  had  been  formed  in 
1818.  The  institution  thus  founded  has 
had  a steady  growth,  as  the  rapid  increase 
of  population  in  the  city  has  been  attended 
by  a more  than  corresponding  augmenta- 
tion of  the  number  of  juvenile  delinquents. 
At  the  end  of  forty-eight  years  from  its  first 
opening  it  occupies  a tract  of  thirty-seven 
and  a half  acres  on  the  southern  end  of 
Randall’s  Island,  in  the  East  River,  and  its 
colossal  buildings,  erected  at  an  expense  of 
over  five  hundred  thousand  dollars,  furnish 
ample  accommodations  for  school-rooms, 
lodging-rooms,  dining-rooms,  and  workshops 
for  1,000  children,  and  usually  have  in  the 
institution  more  than  900. 

In  1 826,  a “ House  of  Reformation,”  on 
a similar  plan,  was  established  in  Boston, 
and,  in  1828,  a “House  of  Refuge”  in 
Philadelphia.  Similar  institutions  have 
since  been  organized  in  New  Orleans,  Roch- 
ester, N.  Y.,  Westboro’,  Mass.,  Cincinnati, 
Providence,  Pittsburg,  West  Meriden,  Conn., 
St.  Louis,  Baltimore,  Louisville,  and  perhaps 
some  other  points  in  different  States. 

The  distinguishing  characteristics  of  these 
institutions  are,  that  those  committed  to 
them  have  generally  been  arrested  for 
crime,  and  have  either  been  sentenced  to 
the  House  of  Refuge,  in  lieu  of  a sentence 
to  jail  or  state  prison,  or  have  been  sent  to 
these  institutions  without  sentence,  in  the 
hope  of  their  reformation.  They  are  sup- 
ported, directly  or  indirectly  from  the  public 
treasury,  (the  New  York  house  receives  an 
appropriation  of  $40  for  each  child  from  the 
state  treasury,  from  $15,000  to  $20,000 
from  the  city  treasury,  and  a large  sum  from 
theatrical  licenses).  In  most,  or  all  of  them, 
the  children  are  employed  in  some  branch 


504 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


of  manufacture,  or  some  mechanic  art,  for 
from  five  to  eight  hours  per  day,  and  receive 
from  three  to  five  hours’  instruction  in 
school.  In  all  there  is  more  or  less  religious 
and  moral  instruction  imparted,  having  in 
view  their  permanent  reformation  from  evil 
habits  and  practices.  In  all,  or  nearly  all, 
they  are  confined  at  night  in  cell-like  dor- 
mitories, into  which  they  are  securely 
locked,  and  their  labor,  during  the  day,  is 
under  strict  supervision,  and  is  generally 
farmed  out  to  contractors.  High  walls  and 
a strict  police  are  mainly  relied  on  to  pre- 
vent escape,  and  the  attempt  to  do  so,  or 
any  act  of  insubordination,  is  usually  pun- 
ished with  considerable  though  not  perhaps 
unmerited  severity.  The  managers  gener- 
ally possess  and  exercise  the  power  of  in- 
denturing those  children  who,  after  a longer 
or  shorter  stay,  seem  to  be  reformed,  even 
though  the  period  of  their  sentence  has  not 
been  completed.  A considerable  number 
who  have  been  sent  to  the  House  of  Refuge 
on  complaint  of  their  parents,  are,  aft6r  a 
time,  delivered  to  them  on  application  ; but 
a large  proportion  of  these  do  not  do  well. 
Of  the  others,  it  is  believed  that  from  fifty 
to  seventy-five  per  cent,  reform,  at  least  so 
far  as  to  become  quiet  and  law-abiding  citi- 
zens. Of  those  who  do  not  reform,  some, 
after  discharge  at  the  end  of  their  term,  are 
soon  recommitted ; others  are  sent  to  sea,  and 
perhaps  amid  the  hardships  of  a sailor’s  life 
become  reformed ; others  return  to  the 
vicious  associations  from  which  they  were 
originally  taken,  and  after  a few  months  or 
years  of  crime,  find  their  place  among  the  in- 
mates of  the  county  or  convict  prisons,  meet 
a violent  death,  or  fill  a drunkard’s  grave. 

These  institutions  necessarily  combine  too 
much  of  the  character  of  a prison  with  that 
of  the  school,  and  while  their  main  object 
is  the  reformation  rather  than  the  punish- 
ment of  the  young  offender,  they  retain  so 
many  penal  features  that  they  are  objects 
of  dread  and  dislike  to  many  parents  and 
guardians  whose  children  or  wards  would  be 
materially  benefited  by  their  discipline. 

This  feature  of  their  management  has  led 
to  the  establishment  of  another  class  of  re- 
formatories which,  though  sometimes  assum- 
ing similar  names,  are  essentially  different 
both  in  the  character  of  their  inmates  and 
in  the  methods  adopted  for  their  reforma- 
tion. These  methods  are  indeed  quite  di- 
verse in  the  institutions  coming  under  this 
general  head,  and  are  to  some  extent  the 


reflection  of  the  differing  views  of  those 
who  have  charge  of  them. 

The  subjects  taken  in  charge  by  these  re- 
formatories are  somewhat  younger  on  the 
average  than  those  of  the  houses  of  refuge ; 
they  are  for  the  most  part  only  guilty  of 
vagrancy  and  the  vicious  habits  of  a street 
life,  or  at  the  worst,  of  petty  pilferings  and 
thefts;  they  have  not  been,  in  most  in- 
stances, tried  for  any  crime  against  the  laws, 
or  if  they  have,  their  tender  age  has  justified 
the  magistrate  in  withholding  a sentence. 

When  admitted  to  the  reformatory,  which 
is  usually  done  on  a magistrate’s  warrant, 
they  undergo  a thorough  ablution,  and  are 
clothed  in  plain,  neat  garments  having  no 
distinguishing  mark,  are  well  fed,  and  care- 
fully taught  and  watched  over,  and  the  ut- 
most pains  are  taken  to  eradicate  their  evil 
habits,  and  to  make  them  feel  that  their 
teachers  and  those  who  have  them  in  charge 
are  their  best  friends  and  seek  their  good. 
Their  past  history  is  never  alluded  to,  and  is 
generally  known  only  to  the  superintendent. 
In  these  establishments  there  are  no  dormi- 
tory cells,  and  severe  punishment  is  seldom 
found  necessary.  The  labor  of  the  pupils  is 
seldom  regarded  as  a matter  of  much  im- 
portance, though  in  some  instances  three, 
four,  or  five  hours  a day  are  spent  in  some 
light  employment.  From  these  institutions 
escapes  are  unfrequent,  and  in  most  cases 
the  children  form  a strong  attachment  for 
their  teachers.  In  some  instances  they  are 
broken  up  into  groups  or  families  of  twenty 
or  thirty  persons,  each  having  its  “house 
father  ” and  mother,  and  its  “ elder  brother,” 
if  the  pupils  are  boys,  and  its  matron  or 
“ mother,”  and  eldest  sister  or  aunt,  if  they 
are  girls.  These  officers  teach  them  and 
perform  the  duties  indicated  by  their  titles 
in  such  a way  as  to  supply,  as  far  as  possi- 
ble, the  place  of  those  natural  relations  of 
whose  judicious  influence  they  are  deprived. 
One  of  these  reformatories  is  a ship,  and  the 
pupils  are  taught  all  the  duties  required  of 
an  able-bodied  seaman,  and  the  order  and 
discipline  are  similar  to  those  of  the  naval 
school  ships.  They  are  taught,  in  addition 
to  ordinary  common-school  studies,  naviga- 
tion, and  after  a few  months’  instruction  are 
in  demand  for  the  mercantile  marine,  where 
they  not  unfrequently  are  rapidly  promoted. 

In  most  of  these  institutions  the  pupils 
remain  in  the  reformatory  a shorter  average 
period  than  those  who  are  inmates  of  the 
houses  of  refuge.  In  the  New  York  Juve- 


PROFESSIONAL  AND  SPECIAL  EDUCATION. 


505 


nile  Asylum,  one  of  the  most  successful  of 
these  reformatories,  they  are  usually  inden- 
tured or  discharged  in  six  to  twelve  months. 
These  institutions  are  usually  supported  by 
the  large  cities,  though  in  a few  instances 
they  are  State  institutions.  The  labor  of 
the  children  being  of  but  little  account,  the 
expense  per  head  per  annum  is  somewhat 
greater  than  in  the  houses  of  refuge,  but  the 
number  of  reformations  is  also  greater,  and 
may  with  considerable  certainty  be  esti- 
mated at  from  seventy  to  eighty  per  cent. 
Among  these  institutions  we  m ly  name  the 
“New  York  Juvenile  Asylum,”  the  “State 
Industrial  School  for  Girls  ” at  Lancaster, 
Mass.,  the  “ Massachusetts  School  Ship,”  the 
“Asylum  and  Farm  School”  at  Thompson’s 
Island,  Boston,  the  “ State  Reform  School  ” 
at  Cape  Elizabeth,  Maine,  the  “ Reform 
School  ” at  Chicago,  the  “ Catholic  Protec- 
tories” at  West  Farms,  N.  Y.,  the  “State 
Reform  School  ” at  Waukesha,  Wisconsin, 
the  “ State  Reform  School  ” at  Des  Moines, 
Iowa,  and  the  “ State  Reform  Farm  ” at 
Lancaster,  Ohio.  In  the  last,  which  is  the 
earliest  attempt  at  the  introduction  of  the  fam- 
ily or  group  system  for  boys  in  this  country, 
fruit  culture  is  a leading  employment  of  the 
inmates,  and  the  term  of  detention  is  longer 
than  at  most  of  the  others. 

In  our  large  cities  there  is  still  another 
class  of  children  for  whom  special  preventive 
agencies  are  necessary  ; they  are  not  criminal, 
they  have  not  generally  acquired  vicious 
habits,  but  they  are  every  way  endangered. 
They  are  often  orphans  or  half  orphans,  and 
frequently  homeless ; many  of  them  are 
children  of  foreign  parents  of  the  lower 
classes,  and  have  had  no  opportunities  of 
education  ; some  are  the  offspring  of  vicious 
or  intemperate  parents.  The  greater  part 
of  them  obtain  a precarious  livelihood  by 
begging,  sweeping  crossings,  boot-blacking, 
selling  newspapers,  statuettes,  fruit,  or  small 
wares,  or  organ-grinding.  They  are  all  ex- 
posed to  strong  temptations  to  evil,  and 
have  acquired  a kind  of  defiant  independ- 
ence from  being  driven  so  early  to  take 
care  of  themselves. 

For  these  children  it  has  been  felt  that 
some  provision  must  be  made  to  prevent 
them  from  falling  into  vicious  and  criminal 
courses,  and  to  give  them  the  opportunity 
of  becoming  good  and  intelligent  citizens. 
It  is  from  the  ranks  of  these  and  the  two 
preceding  classes  that  most  of  our  criminals 
come,  and  the  frequency  of  burglaries,  high- 


way robberies,  and  crimes  against  the  per- 
son, committed  by  boys  and  youths  from  16 
to  21  years  of  age,  shows  the  necessity  of 
continuing  a guardianship  over  children 
who  are  under  vicious  influences,  to  as  late 
an  age  as  possible.  The  best  method  of  ac- 
complishing this  desired  end  has  often  been 
discussed,  and  various  plans  have  been  tried 
with  partial  success.  One  organization,  (the 
Children’s  Aid  Society,)  with  its  congeners 
in  other  cities,  has  taken  the  ground  that 
these  children  could  be  saved  and  perma- 
nently reformed  by  gathering  them  up,  and 
without  any  special  training  or  attempts  at 
reforming  them,  sending  them  to  the  West 
and  placing  them  in  good  families  in  the 
country.  With  a part  of  these  children, 
those  most  amenable  to  good  influences,  this 
plan  has  proved  beneficial,  but  the  very  large 
class  of  reckless  and  morally  depraved  chil- 
dren, all  whose  associations  had  been  impure 
and  vicious,  have  become  leaders  in  iniquity 
wherever  they  have  gone.  It  should  be 
said,  in  justice  to  the  Children’s  Aid  Society, 
that  this  deportation  of  children  to  the 
West  has  been  but  one  department  of  its 
work ; that  it  maintains,  also,  numerous  in- 
dustrial schools,  has  its  boys’  and  girls’  lodg- 
ing houses,  its  Newsboys’  Lodging  House, 
and  in  many  ways  seeks  to  promote  the  re- 
form and  intellectual  and  moral  culture  of 
these  morally  endangered  children.  Other 
institutions  have  their  schools,  homes,  and 
missions  for  these  children,  where  they  give 
them  a good  common  school  education  and 
moral  training,  teach  them  the  rudiments  of 
music,  employ  them  in  some  of  the  simpler 
trades,  and  try  to  rouse  their  ambition  to 
become  worthy  and  intelligent  men  and 
women.  Of  this  class  of  reformatories,  act- 
ing wholly  voluntarily  and  not  sustained 
by  States  or  cities  as  such,  are  the  Five 
Points  Mission,  and  Five  Points  House  of 
Industry,  The  Little  Wanderers’  Home,  in 
New  York,  The  Children’s  Aid  Society  and 
the  Industrial  Schools  of  Brooklyn,  and 
similar  institutions  in  all  our  large  and  some 
of  our  smaller  cities.  Many  of  these  chil- 
dren are  adopted  or  otherwise  placed  in 
families  in  the  country,  though  not  usually 
at  a great  distance  from  the  city.  Many  of 
the  boys  go  into  manufactories  or  learn  a 
trade,  and  employment  is  also  found  for  the 
girls  in  manufactories,  binderies,  &c.  But 
even  with  these  helps  to  an  honest  and  vir- 
tuous life,  there  is  the  evil  influence  of 
vicious  associates,  and  the  physically  and 


506 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


morally  degrading  surroundings  of  life  in 
the  crowded  tenement  houses,  to  undo  the 
good  which  has  been  done  in  their  instruc- 
tion and  training. 

The  Homes  for  the  Friendless,  Houses  of 
Shelter,  Homes  for  Friendless  Girls,  Female 
Christian  Homes,  Houses  of  Mercy,  &c., 
&c.,  form  still  another  class  of  institutions 
which  give  shelter,  protection  and  instruc- 
tion to  young  children  and  friendless  girls, 
who  would  be  the  prey  of  the  destroyer  but 
for  their  care.  The  work  of  these  institu- 
tions is  wholly  beneficent,  and  though  they 
may  not  save  all  from  the  paths  of  vice,  yet 
they  accomplish,  perhaps,  a larger  per  centage 
of  good  than  any  of  the  others.  Still  another 
class  of  reformatory  institutions,  in  which, 
however,  the  education  is  almost  exclusively 
moral  and  industrial,  are  those  for  fallen 
women  and  those  who  have  been  exposed  to 
terrible  temptations;  the  Magdalen  Asy- 
lums, Houses  of  the  Good  Shepherd,  St. 
Banabas  Houses,  Midnight  Missions,  Female 
Homes  of  Prison  Associations,  &c.,  &c. 
Of  late  years,  these  institutions  have  re- 
ceived a new  impulse,  and  under  the  control 
and  superintendence  of  philanthropic  and 
able  Christian  women,  they  are  meeting 
with  great  success  in  the  reformation  of 
these  wanderers  from  virtue.  There  are  also 
now  associations  having  for  their  object  the 
reformation  and  restoration  to  an  honest 
and  upright  life  of  discharged  convicts,  in 
most  of  our  large  cities ; and  they  also  look 
after  those  who,  through  ignorance,  sudden 
temptation,  or  the  malice  of  others,  have 
been  arrested  and  committed  to  our  prisons 
and  houses  of  detention. 

The  number  of  Houses  of  Refuge  (our 
first  class)  is  17,  the  cost  of  their  buildings 
and  grounds  is  somewhat  more  than 
$2,500,000,  and  the  annual  cost  of  their 
maintenance  about  $700,000.  Of  the  Juve- 
nile Asylums  and  Reform  Schools  of  the 
milder  grade  there  are  fourteen,  the  cost  of 
their  buildings  and  grounds  about  $1,- 

700.000,  and  the  annual  expenditure  about 
$450,000.  The  average  annual  earnings  of 
the  inmates  of  the  two  classes  of  reformato- 
ries is  about  $260,000.  The  number  of 
children  in  both  is  somewhat  more  than 

9.000. 

Of  the  institutions  of  the  third  class,  it  is 
impossible  to  give  any  approximately  full 
statistics.  They  are  not  under  State  or 
municipal  control,  and  though  very  nume- 
rous, and  representing  a very  large  amount 


of  investment  and  annual  expenditure,  they 
are  entirely  the  offspring  of  private  benefi- 
cence. In  the  city  of  New  York  alone  there 
are  nearly  forty  of  them,  and  a proportion- 
ate number  in  other  large  cities.  The  insti- 
tutions of  the  fourth  class,  in  which  the 
reformatory  element  dominates  the  educa- 
tional, are  also  very  numerous,  and  wholly 
sustained  and  endowed  by  private  charity. 
That  the  aggregate  investment,  as  well  as 
the  annual  expenditure,  of  these  two  classes 
of  institutions  exceeds  many  times  that  of 
the  public  institutions  of  the  first  two  classes 
is  obvious,  and  some  of  our  most  careful 
statisticians  have  placed  the  investments  at 
more  than  twenty  millions  of  dollars,  and 
the  annual  expenditure  in  the  neighborhood 
of  five  millions.  These  are  at  best  mere 
guesses,  but  from  what  we  know  of  the  in- 
stitutions, are  probably  not  beyond  the 
truth.  No  institutions  of  the  country  re- 
flect more  credit  on  the  national  advance- 
ment and  civilization  than  those  which  have 
for  their  purpose  the  rescue  and  reformation 
of  imperiled  and  vicious  children  and  youth. 

[The  whole  subject  of  Preventive,  Cor- 
rectional and  Reformatory  Institutions  and 
Agencies,  as  developed  in  France,  Germany, 
and  Great  Britain,  with  special  reference  to 
the  immediate  recognition  of  the  family 
principle  in  the  organization  and  administra- 
tion of  similar  institutions  and  agencies  in 
this  country,  was  treated  quite  exhaustively 
in  the  third  volume  of  Barnard’s  American 
Journal  of  Education,  in  1857,  and  the  sev- 
eral articles  were  issued  in  a Supplementary 
Number,  and  in  a separate  volume  entitled 
Reformatory  Education , and  distributed 
widely  among  city  and  state  officials  charged, 
directly  or  indirectly,  with  the  administra- 
tion or  consideration  of  the  problem  of 
juvenile  exposure,  delinquency  and  crime. 
While  Commissioner  of  Education,  Dr. 
Barnard  issued  a circular  to  gather  the 
material  for  a comprehensive  survey  of  this 
department  of  educational  institutions  in 
different  States  and  countries,  and  at  the 
same  time  published  a very  valuable  paper 
by  Dr.  Wichern,  on  the  Reformatory  In- 
stitutions of  Germany,  which  have  sprung 
up  mainly  on  the  model  of  the  Rough 
House  at  Horn,  of  which  he  was  the 
founder.  He  did  not  continue  in  office  long 
enough  to  receive  returns  from  his  circular, 
but  he  will  avail  himself  of  recent  publica- 
tions and  personal  observation  to  issue  a 
new  edition  of  the  volume  above  referred  to.] 


PROFESSIONAL  AND  SPECIAL  EDUCATION. 


507 


V.  SUPPLEMENTARY  INSTRUCTION. 

INTRODUCTION. 

Besides  the  formal  instruction  given  in 
institutions  expressly  established  for  Ele- 
mentary, Secondary,  Collegiate,  Professional 
and  Special  Education,  there  are  other  insti- 
tutions and  agencies  which  can  act  on  the 
individual  in  almost  every  stage  of  his  intel- 
lectual development,  and  do  act  with  the 
greatest  effect,  in  a majority  of  instances, 
after  the  individual  has  passed  beyond  the 
control  of  regular  schools  of  every  kind. 
These  institutions  and  agencies  in  various 
ways  influence  the  national  taste,  attainments 
and  character,  and  may  be  considered  to- 
gether under  the  head  of  Supplementary 
Education.  We  select  the  two,  as  the  most 
potential  in  our  modern  American  civiliza- 
tion outside  of  the  formal  school — the 
Printed  Page  and  the  Living  Voice — the 
Book  and  the  Lecture — the  Library  and  the 
Lyceum,  to  which  should  be  added  or  asso- 
ciated, Occupation. 

(1.)  The  Book. 

The  finest  minds  have  exhausted  their 
powers  of  language  in  trying  to  express  in 
words  the  value  of  Books.  To  Cicero,  the 
orator  and  statesman,  the  volumes  which 
composed  his  private  library  “ seemed  to  add 
a soul  to  his  dwelling;”  to  Bacon,  the  phi- 
losopher and  man  of  affairs,  “ Libraries  are 
as  shrines  where  all  the  relics  of  ancient 
saints,  full  of  true  virtue,  and  that  without 
delusion  and  imposture,  are  preserved to 
Milton,  the  poet,  and  fervid  apostle  of  reli- 
gious and  civil  liberty,  “A  good  book  is  the 
precious  life-blood  of  a master  spirit,  em- 
balmed and  treasured  up  on  purpose  to  a life 
beyond  life;”  “God  be  thanked  for  books,” 
says  the  clear,  pure,  and  eloquent  Channing, 
in  his  address  to  young  men  and  working 
men,  which  has  found  an  echo  in  millions  of 
hearts  and  homes — “they  are  the  voices  of 
the  distant  and  the  dead,  and  make  us  the 
heirs  of  the  spiritual  life  of  past  ages.  They 
are  the  true  levelers.  They  give  to  all  who 
will  faithfully  use  them  the  society  of  the  best 
and  greatest  of  our  race.  No  matter  how 
poor  I am — no  matter  though  the  prosper- 
ous and  the  fashionable  will  not  enter  my 
obscure  dwelling — if  the  Sacred  Writers  will 
enter  and  take  up  their  abode  under  my 
roof,  if  Milton  will  cross  my  threshhold  to 
sing  to  me  of  Paradise,  and  Shakspcare  to 


open  to  me  worlds  of  imagination,  and 
Franklin  to  enrich  me  with  his  practical 
wisdom,  I shall  not  pine  for  want  of  intel- 
lectual companionship.” 

(2.)  The  Living  Voice. 

But  as  a teacher,  for  rousing  the  dormant 
faculties,  and  fixing  and  adjusting  the  atten- 
tion, particularly  of  adults,  the  living  voice 
is  far  more  efficient ; and  when  associated 
with  books  used  in  class  or  in  solitary 
study,  and  combined  with  observation  of 
nature,  or  the  actual  processes  of  business 
in  hand — the  living  voice  can  suggest  the 
motive,  the  means,  and  the  methods  to  sup- 
plement, rapidly  and  pleasantly,  all  defi- 
ciencies of  school  instruction. 

(3.)  Occupation. 

No  formal  institution  of  instruction,  no 
agency  employed  in  the  class  or  lecture- 
room,  no  book  however  rich  in  individual 
or  accumulated  wisdom,  can  compare  in  the 
work  of  self-education  with  the  processes  of 
the  daily  occupation  of  an  individual, 
thoughtfully  pursued  in  the  field,  the  house- 
hold, and  the  workshop.  This  is  the  school 
of  New  England  handiness  and  inventions. 

I.  LIBRARIES. 

At  the  close  of  the  Revolution  there  were 
very  few  collections  of  books,  either  public 
or  private,  in  this  country.  With  the  ex- 
ception of  political  works,  and  these  mostly 
pamphlets,  a very  few  text-books  and  hymn 
books,  one  or  two  editions  of  the  Bible 
printed  from  type  (stereotype  plates  were 
unknown  till  much  later),  and  perhaps  a 
dozen  religious  treatises,  the  books  in  the 
country  were  all  imported  from  Europe, 
and  generally  from  England,  either  in  small 
quantities  by  the  booksellers  or  in  single 
copies  by  individuals.  The  Revolutionary 
War,  though  in  the  end  favorable  to  educa- 
tion and  intelligence,  at  first  was  a serious 
hindrance  to  both  ; for  with  the  political  dis- 
enthrallment  of  the  country  from  the  British 
yoke,  there  sprang  up  a strong  desire  to  be 
free  from  it  also  in  all  matters  of  trade,  of 
literature,  and  of  education  ; and  as  there 
were  very  few  publishers  who  possessed  the 
requisite  capital  and  daring  to  publish 
books  in  considerable  numbers,  for  which, 
indeed,  in  the  impoverished  condition  of 
the  country,  there  would  have  been  but 
little  demand.  A few  of  the  twelve  or 
thirteen  colleges  had  small  libraries.  Of 
these  the  largest  was  that  of  Harvard  Uni- 
versity, which,  though  destroyed  by  fire  in 


508 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


1764,  had  by  great  exertions  brought  up  to 
about  10,000  volumes  in  1783;  Yale, 
Princeton,  William  and  Mary,  the  Univerity 
of  Pennsylvania,  and  Kings  (now  Colum- 
bia) College  had  each  small  collections, 
though  containing  some  valuable  books ; 
but  none  of  them  much  exceeded,  after  the 
vicissitudes  of  the  war  2,000  .volumes,  and 
the  library  of  William  and  Mary  had,  prob- 
ably, not  more  than  1,200  or  1,400.  Brown 
University,  Dartmouth,  and  Rutgers  had 
made  small  beginnings.  There  were  six 
or  seven  small  proprietary  libraries,  the 
largest  being  the  Philadelphia  Library  Com- 
pany and  Loganian  Collection,  founded  by 
Franklin  in  1731,  and  having  in  1783  about 
5,000  volumes;  the  New  York  Society 
Library  at  the  beginning  of  the  war  con- 
tained 7,000  or  8,000  volumes,  but  the 
British  soldiers  carried  off  its  books  by  the 
knapsackful  and  bartered  them  for  grog. 
In  1795  it  had  only  5,000  volumes,  though 
considerable  additions  were  made  to  it  after 
the  war.  The  Redwood  Library,  at  New- 
port, R.  I.,  was  not  large,  but  had  a consid- 
erable number  of  very  choice  and  valuable 
books.  The  Charleston  Society  Library 
had  been  one  of  the  largest  in  the  country, 
but  was  almost  entirely  destroyed  by  fire  in 
1778.  The  Providence,  Salem,  and  Port- 
land Atheneums,  founded  respectively  in 
1753,  1760,  and  1765,  had  small  collections 
but  well  selected.  Beside  these  there  was 
the  special  library  of  the  American  Philo- 
sophical Society  at  Philadelphia,  and  a State 
Library  of  a few  hundred  volumes  at  Con- 
cord, New  Hampshire.  This  was,  we  be- 
lieve, a complete  list  of  all  the  public  libra- 
ries of  any  importance  at  the  close  of  the 
Revolutionary  War.  Nor  was  the  period 
from  the  close  of  the  war  to  1800  favorable 
to  any  considerable  growth  of  either  libra- 
ries or  literary  institutions ; for  libraries 
being  among  the  outgrowths  of  an  opulent 
and  luxurious  civilization,  we  could  hardly 
look  for  their  increase  amid  the  poverty  and 
financial  revulsions  which  continued  till  near 
the  close  of  the  last  century.  The  eleven 
colleges,  elsewhere  enumerated,  which  were 
founded  between  1781  and  1800  have  now 
respectable  and  some  of  them  very  consid- 
erable libraries,  but  they  are  all,  or  mainly, 
the  growth  of  the  period  since  1820.  Of 
other  libraries,  there  are  only  three,  and 
those  of  inferior  grade,  which  were  founded 
during  this  period  (1781-1800).  These 
are  the  Boston  Library  Association,  founded 


in  1794,  and  which  now  at  the  end  of 
nearly  80  years  has  about  20,000  volumes ; 
the  Byberry  Library  of  Philadelphia,  found- 
ed the  same  year,  and  one  in  Dublin,  New 
Hampshire,  in  1793,  each  of  which  now 
numbers  2,000  volumes. 

Between  1800  and  1818  there  were  eleven 
Colleges  and  seven  Theological  Seminaries 
founded,  most  of  which  have  now  good, 
and  some  of  them  large  libraries.  To  this 
period  belong  also  the  beginnings  of  the 
Boston  Atheneum,  now  the  fifth  or  sixth 
library  in  the  country  in  the  number  of  its 
volumes;  the  first  library  of  Congress,  de- 
stroyed by  the  British  in  1814,  the  large 
collection  of  the  New  York  Historical 
Society,  and  the  Ohio  State  Library  at 
Columbus,  the  commencement  of  the  special 
libraries  of  the  American  Antiquarian  Soci- 
ety at  Worcester,  and  the  American  Acad- 
emy of  Natural  Sciences  at  Philadelphia, 
and  ten  or  twelve  smaller  public  libraries, 
mostly  State,  which  were  originally  estab- 
lished at  the  capitals  for  the  accommodation 
of  the  courts  and  legislators. 

Since  1818,  a period  of  fifty -four  or  fifty- 
five  years,  about  340  collegiate  institutions, 
more  than  130  schools  of  superior  instruc- 
tion for  girls,  fifty-six  agricultural  and 
scientific  schools,  more  than  one  hundred 
theological  institutions,  40  law  schools,  and 
about  90  medical  and  pharmaceutical  schools, 
have  been  established,  and  nearly  all  these 
have  libraries  of  greater  or  less  extent,  form- 
ing a grand  aggregate  of  over  2,500,000 
volumes;  more  than  thirty  State  libraries 
have  been  founded  with  about  400,000 
volumes — the  largest  being  those  of  New 
York  at  Albany,  with  90,000  volumes; 
Michigan,  with  about  42,000  ; Ohio,  about 
40,000;  Massachusetts,  with  37,000  ; Maine, 
with  33,000,  and  Virginia  with  about  30,000. 
Within  this  period,  too,  the  great  free 
libraries  of  the  country  have  all  been  estab- 
lished ; the  Library  of  Congress  in  place  of 
that  destroyed  by  the  British,  and  now 
numbering  246,000  volumes  and  45,000 
pamphlets;  the  Astor,  with  about  170,000 
volumes;  the  Boston  City  Library,  with 
183,000  volumes;  the  Loganian  and  Phila- 
delphia Library  Company,  which  though 
previously  founded,  has  had  its  principal 
growth  since  1818,  and  under  the  recent 
bequest  of  Dr.  James  Rush  is  likely  to  be- 
come one  of  the  largest  libraries  in  the 
country,  numbering  as  it  now  does  100,000 
volumes;  the  New  Lenox  Library  of  New 


CITY  LIBRARY.  EXTERIOR. 


PROFESSIONAL  AND  SPECIAL  EDUCATION. 


509 


York,  so  grandly  endowed,  and  having  as  a 
nucleus  Mr.  Lenox’s  own  extensive  an^  in- 
valuable collections;  the  Watkinson  Public 
Library  of  Reference  at  Hartford,  with 
about  30,000  volumes,  and  some  sixty  or 
seventy  other  free  libraries  in  the  Northern 
and  Eastern  States,  ranging  from  5,000  to 
28,000  volumes  each.  The  law  regulating 
the  establishment  and  management  of  free 
town  libraries  in  Massachusetts  has  greatly 
encouraged  their  growth,  and  most  of  the 
cities  and  many  of  the  large  towns  of 
that  State  have  now  good,  though  not  gen- 
erally very  large  public  libraries  sustained  by 
the  towns.  A few  brief  notes  respecting 
some  of  the  largest  of  these  libraries  may 
be  interesting. 

The  Library  of  Congress  has  grown  very 
rapidly  within  a few  years  past,  the  Peter 
Force  Collection  of  American  History,  the 
Smithsonian  Library  being  included  with 
it,  and  since  1869  the  issue  of  copyrights 
being  vested  in  its  chief  librarian,  which  se- 
cures to  it  two  copies  of  every  book  copy- 
righted in  the  United  States.  In  its  246,000 
volumes  there  are  at  least  30,000  duplicates, 
but  it  is  very  rich  in  the  transactions  of  for- 
eign learned  societies,  in  American  local  and 
general  history,  and  indeed  in  history  gene- 
rally ; and  has  probably  the  best  collection 
of  works  in  every  department  of  political 
science  to  be  found  in  this  country.  It  is  a 
lending  library  only  to  members  of  Con- 
gress and  government  officials,  but  is  free 
for  reference  and  consultation  to  all  others. 

The  Astor  Library  was  founded  by  a be- 
quest of  $400,000  by  John  Jacob  Astor,  in 
1844,  but  was  not  opened  till  1854,  when  it 
had  about  80,000  books  upon  its  shelves. 
Mr.  William  B.  Astor,  son  of  the  founder, 
has  erected  a second  building  for  its  exten- 
sion, as  well  as  expended  freely  in  the  pur- 
chase of  books,  to  the  aggregate  amount  of 
$200,000.  Its  present  number  of  volumes 
is  about  170,000.  It  is  not  a lending 
library,  but  is  open  for  consultation,  with  all 
conveniences  provided,  for  six  or  eight  hours 
each  day.  The  Philadelphia  Library  and 
Loganian  Collection  is  one  of  our  oldest 
libraries,  but  has  grown  rapidly  within  a few 
years  past,  and  is  now  so  largely  endowed 
as  to  be  able  to  take  rank  with  the  largest 
in  the  country,  within  a few  years.  The 
Boston  City  Library,  now  ranking  next  to 
the  library  of  Congress  among  the  free  libra- 
ries, has  had  a wonderfully  rapid  growth 
since  its  foundation  in  1848.  Joshua  Bates, 
31* 


a native  of  Boston,  but  long  resident  in 
London,  has  more  right  than  any  other  man 
to  be  considered  its  founder,  as  his  original 
gift  of  $50,000  and  several  thousand  vol- 
umes of  books,  prompted  the  liberality  of 
individuals,  as  well  as  the  city  authorities, 
who  have  done  their  part  nobly  in  fos- 
tering and  providing  for  its  extension.  Of 
its  other  benefactors  we  may  name  Jonathan 
Phillips,  Josiah  Quincy,  Jr.,  J.  P.  Bigelow, 
Edward  Everett,  Robert  C.  Winthrop,  George 
Ticknor,  Theodore  Parker,  and  others.  It 
has  now  nearly  190,000  volumes.  It  is  in 
part  a lending  library,  and  the  first  great, 
free  library  in  the  world  which  has  carried 
the  lending  system  to  such  an.  extent.  It 
has,  of  course,  its  specialties,  but  the  trustees 
endeavor  to  make  it  complete  as  possible 
in  all  departments. 

The  Lenox  Library,  the  buildings  for 
which  are  now  (1873)  erecting  in  New  York, 
will  be,  unquestionably,  one  of  the  most  val- 
uable of  American  libraries.  Its  founder, 
with  scholarly  tastes  and  abundant  means, 
has  long  been  engaged  in  collecting  a private 
library  containing  the  rarest  and  most  valu- 
able literary  treasures  which  money  could 
purchase.  In  its  collection  of  Bibles,  mis- 
sals, block-books,  and  indeed  incunabula 
generally,  it  has  no  superior  on  this  conti- 
nent, and  not  more  than  one  or  two  in  Eu- 
rope. This  choice  and  valuable  collection  is 
to  form  the  nucleus  of  the  grand  library  for 
which  he  is  now  preparing  a home,  and  in 
which  his  ample  endowment  will  soon  gather 
an  accumulation  of  literary  wealth  which 
will  make  it  a library  worthy  of  the  great 
American  metropolis. 

There  is  another  class  of  libraries,  usually 
free  for  consultation,  some  of  which  have 
attained,  within  the  past  thirty  years,  to 
considerable  magnitude,  viz.,  those  of  the  his- 
torical societies.  Of  these,  the  largest  are  : 
the  Wisconsin  State  Historical  Society’s  Li- 
brary, at  Madison,  of  50,500  volumes;  the 
New  York  Historical  Society’s  Library,. with 
31,000  volumes  ; the  Long  Island  Historical 
Society’s,  in  Brooklyn,  which  in  ten  years 
has  accumulated  nearly  26,000  volumes; 
the  Massachusetts  Historical  Society’s,  with 
nearly  19,000  volumes;  the  Connecticut 
Historical  Society’s,  with  about  25,000,  in- 
cluding Dr.  Thomas  Robbins’  valuable  col- 
lection in  ecclesiastical  and  New  England 
history  ; the  Maryland  Historical  Society’s, 
with  17,000  volumes;  the  Minnesota  Socie- 
ty, with  13,500  volumes;  the  American 


510 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


Antiquarian  Society,  at  Worcester,  about 

52.000  volumes;  and  the  New  England 
Historical  and  Genealogical  Society,  of 
Boston,  about  12,000.  There  are  two  or 
three  others,  with  less  than  10,000  volumes 
each.  Several  of  the  Scientific  Societies 
and  Institutes  have  special  libraries  of  great 
value  and  considerable  magnitude,  the  largest 
being  those  of  the  Academy  of  Natural 
Sciences,  Philadelphia,  23,500;  the  Ameri- 
can Philosophical  Society,  also  of  Philadel- 
phia, 18,000;  the  Natural  History  Society, 
of  Boston,  13,000  ; and  the  American  Insti- 
tute, New  York,  10,500. 

The  late  George  Peabody,  among  his 
other  benefactions,  provided  for  three  or 
four  considerable  libraries  ; that  of  the  Pea- 
body Institute,  at  Baltimore,  having  already 

43.000  volumes ; the  Peabody  Institute,  at 
Danvers,  Mass.,  about  20,000  volumes  ; the 
Institute  at  Peabody,  14,300  volumes;  and 
another  at  Georgetown,  D.  C.  Other  men  of 
public  spirit  have  endowed  similar  libraries 
in  various  parts  of  the  country,  as,  David 
Watkinson,  at  Hartford,  Conn.,  Silas  Bron- 
son, at  Waterbury,  Conn.,  Ezra  Cornell,  at 
Ithaca,  N.  Y.,  and  Peter  Cooper,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Cooper  Union,  at  New  York. 

We  come  next  to  the  class  of  Proprietary 
and  so-called  Mercantile  Libraries,  all  lend- 
ing libraries,  and  requiring,  in  addition  to  a 
greater  or  less  endowment,  an  annual  or  life 
subscription  from  all  who  would  participate 
in  the  use  of  the  library,  lectures  or  classes. 
Some  of  these  have  attained  to  the  highest 
rank  among  our  great  libraries,  as,  for  in- 
stance, the  Mercantile  Library,  of  New  York, 
which  has  over  154,000  volumes ; the  Bos- 
ton Atheneum,  which  has  108,000;  the 
Mercantile  Library,  of  Philadelphia,  59,000  ; 
the  Mercantile  Library,  of  Brooklyn,  which 
has  45,000  ; the  Mercantile  Library,  of  Cin- 
cinnati, which  has  42,000  ; that  of  St.  Louis, 
with  34,000 ; the  Providence  Atheneum, 
with  32,000,  the  New  York  Society  Library 
with  the  same  number,  and  Mercantile  Li- 
braries and  Young  Men’s  Institutes  in  San 
Francisco,  Baltimore,  Hartford,  Conn.,  Bos- 
ton, Detroit,  Pittsburgh,  Cleveland,  and 
other  cities,  with  libraries  ranging  from 

20.000  to  30,000  volumes  each. 

The  Young  Men’s  Christian  Associations 
have  in  many  cases  founded  libraries  which, 
though  seldom  large,  yet  supply,  to  some 
extent,  the  demand  for  books  of  their  mem- 
bers. The  Association  in  Washington,  D. 
C.,  has,  we  believe,  the  largest  of  these  li- 


braries, numbering  about  13,000  volumes; 
the  others  are  all  under  10,000  volumes, 
though  several  approximate  that  number. 
The  aggregate  number  of  volumes  in  these 
libraries  exceeds  150,000. 

In  several  of  the  Northern  and  Western 
States  there  are  libraries  of  greater  or  less 
extent  connected  with  the  public  schools ; 
not  always  wisely  selected,  and  in  some 
cases  not  much  used,  but  in  the  aggregate 
forming  a vast  number  of  books.  The  latest 
school  returns  indicate  that  there  are  more 
than  5,000,000  volumes  in  their  libraries. 

We  have  thus  passed  in  review  the  princi- 
pal public  libraries  of  the  country.  There 
are  according  to  the  . latest  returns : one 
library  of  about  250,000  volumes;  three  of 
over  170,000;  one  of  over  150,000  ; two  of 
over  100,000 ; two  of  over  90,000 ; five  of 
over  50,000 ; seven  of  over  40,000 ; twenty- 
one  of  over  30,000 ; fifty  of  over  20,000 ; 
one  hundred  and  thirty  of  over  10,000  ; and 
two  hundred  and  seventeen  of  5,000  and 
over.  The  total  aggregate  of  volumes  in 
college,  State,  national,  proprietary,  subscrip- 
tion, free,  town,  and  school  libraries  is  very 
nearly  twelve  millions  volumes,  and  is  in- 
creasing with  great  rapidity. 

There  is  still  another  class  of  libraries, 
containing,  in  their  totality,  a vast  number 
of  volumes,  and  in  many  cases  of  consider- 
able size  and  value,  viz.,  the  Sunday  School 
libraries.  Few  of  these  contain  less  than 
200  volumes,  and  many  of  them  have  up- 
wards of  1,000.  More  than  6,000  differ- 
ent works  have  been  published  for  these 
libraries  within  the  last  twenty-five  years, 
by  the  publishing  societies  and  private  pub- 
lishers, and  large  drafts  are  also  made  by  the 
larger  schools  on  English  publications,  and 
those  intended  for  adults.  Estimating  the 
number  of  these  schools  at  56,000,  or  about 
two-thirds  the  number  of  churches,  and  the 
volumes  in  each  library  at  200,  we  have 
more  than  11,000,000  volumes  collected  in 
these  humble  libraries. 

As  might  have  been  expected,  the  rapid 
growth  of  public  libraries  has  stimulated 
gentlemen  of  wealth  and  intellectual  tastes 
to  collect  private  libraries  of  considerable 
extent,  and  in  many  oases  devoted  to  some 
specialty.  In  many  cases  these  collections, 
on  the  death  of  their  owners,  or  sometimes 
during  their  lives,  come  into  the  possession 
of  some  great  public  librkry,  adding  greatly 
to  its  value  in  certain  directions.  Thus  the 
magnificent  private  library  of  James  Lenox, 


PROFESSIONAL  AND  SPECIAL  EDUCATION. 


511 


to  which  we  have  already  alluded,  is  to  form 
the  nucleus  of  the  Lenox  Library  ; the  fine 
collection  of  works  on  the  fine  arts,  of  Rev. 
Dr.  Magoon,  has  become  the  property  of 
Vassar  College,  and  the  life-long  accumula- 
tions of  the  late  Peter  Force,  in  American 
general  and  local  history,  have  been  incorpo- 
rated into  the  Library  of  Congress,  and  so 
of  the  collections  of  Spanish  literature  of 
Mr.  Ticknor.  There  are  said  to  be,  in  the 
city  of  N<*v  York  alone,  fifty  private  libra- 
ries, containing  10,000  volumes  or  more 
each,  and  in  Boston  quite  as  many.  Phila- 
delphia has  also  a large  number,  while  Cin- 
cinnati, St.  Louis,  and  San  Francisco,  have 
each  their  fair  share.  So,  too,  had  Chicago 
before  the  great  fire  destroyed  the  accumu- 
lations of  books  which  her  wealthy  citizens 
had  made  in  many  years  of  liberal  expendi- 
ture. Brooklyn  has  for  some  years  past 
been  noted  for  its  valuable  private  collec- 
tions, and  those  of  Henry  C.  Murphy,  J. 
Carson  Brevoort,  T.  W.  Field,  A.  J.  Spooner 
and  others,  in  local  and  general  history  and 
geography,  of  Rev.  Dr.  Storrs,  and  Rev.  H. 
W.  Beecher  in  Christology  and  general 
English  literature,  and  of  several  other  gen- 
tlemen in  illustrated  and  costly  productions, 
are  specially  noteworthy.  Of  other  remark- 
able collections  of  works  illustrating  Ameri- 
can history,  the  most  valuable  are  those 
of  George  Brinley  of  Hartford,  George  W. 
Greene  of  Providence,  George  Bancroft,  W. 
J.  Davis,  William  Menzies,  and  J.  R.  Brod- 
head  of  New  York,  J.  L.  Motley  and  Robert 
C.  Winthrop  of  Boston.  The  library  of 
Hon.  Henry  Barnard,  of  Hartford,  Conn.,  is 
more  complete  on  the  subject  of  education 
than  any  other  in  the  country ; that  of  Rev. 
Barnas  Sears,  at  Staunton,  Virginia,  is  very 
full  on  some  departments  of  the  same  sub- 
ject ; that  of  S.  Austin  Allibone,  of  Phila- 
delphia, is.  remarkable  for  its  collections  on 
English  biography,  literature  and  criticism  ; 
that  of  W.  Parker  Foulke,  of  the  same  city, 
on  prisons  and  prison  discipline  ; that  of  C. 
L.  Bushncll  on  numismatics;  that  of  J.  A. 
Stevens,  Jr.,  on  the  literature  of  the  Middle 
Ages ; those  of  Messrs.  W.  P.  Chapman,  R. 
G.  White,  and  J.  W.  Wallack,  on  dramatic 
and  especially  Shakspearean  literature ; 
that  of  D.  W.  Fiske,  on  Scandinavian  litera- 
ture ; that  of  Rev.  W.  R.  Williams,  on 
Welch  Literature  and  Ecclesiastical  History  ; 
that  of  R.  M.  Hunt,  on  architecture;  those 
of  Rev.  Dr.  Forbes,  Rev.  Dr.  11.  B.  Smith, 
Rev.  Dr.  E.  F.  Hatfield,  Rev.  Dr.  S.  II. 


Tyng,  and  Rev.  Dr.  Morgan  Dix,  on  theol- 
ogy,  ecclesiastical  biography,  and  patristic 
literature. 

There  are,  in  connection  with  many  of 
our  benevolent  and  humane  institutions, 
special  libraries  containing  100  to  1,000 
volumes  each,  devoted  to  the  particular 
work  of  those  institutions.  Some  of  these 
we  have  already  enumerated.  Among  the 
most  noteworthy  of  the  others  are  the  col- 
lections of  works  on  Deaf  Mute  instruction 
in  the  American  Asylum  for  the  Deaf  and 
Dumb  at  Hartford,  and  the  New  York  Insti- 
tution for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb ; the  collec- 
tion of  Bibles  in  all  languages  and  of  all 
dates,  of  the  American  Bible  Society ; the 
early  versions,  codices  and  fac  similes,  and 
the  extensive  collections  of  works  on  biblical 
criticism  and  exegesis,  procured  by  the 
American  Bible  Union  for  the  use  of  its 
translators;  the  library  of  the  American 
Congregational  Union  in  Boston,  remarkable 
for  its  religious  periodical  literature ; that  of 
the  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for 
Foreign  Missions,  containing  not  only  a vast 
amount  of  missionary  literature,  but  nearly 
a complete  set  of  all  the  publications  issued 
by  its  missionaries;  that  of  the  New  York 
Geographical  Society,  very  full  on  geograph- 
ical topics ; that  of  the  Lyceum  of  Natural 
History,  of  New  York,  now  deposited  with 
the  Mercantile  Library  of  that  city,  and  re- 
markable for  its  collections  of  the  transac- 
tions of  Foreign  societies ; and  that  of  the 
National  Prison  Association,  which,  though 
recently  established,  has  a very  complete 
collection  of  both  American  and  Foreign 
Works  on  Prisons,  Punishment  and  Prison 
Discipline.  The  following  table  gives  a list 
of  the  principal  libraries  of  the  country, 
with  the  date  of  their  organization  and  the 
number  of  volumes,  as  near  as  can  be  ascer- 
tained, at  the  close  of  the  year  1872. 

II.  TIIE  LYCEUM  AND  OTHER  LECTURE  INSTITUTIONS. 

The  origination  of  the  lyceurn  as  a means 
of  mutual  instruction  in  this  country  is  due, 
in  the  first  instance,  to  Benjamin  Franklin. 
His  “club  for  mutual  improvement”  was 
founded  in  Philadelphia  in  1727,  and  after 
forty  years’  existence  became  the  basis  of 
the  American  Philosophical  Society.  There 
probably  were  other  societies  for  mutual 
improvement  organized  in  different  towns 
and  cities  of  the  country,  during  the  hun- 
dred years  that  followed  the  organization  of 
Franklin’s  club ; but  there  are  no  records 
of  any  such  in  the  possession  of  the  public, 


512 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


previous  to  1824,  when  Timothy  Claxton, 
an  English  mechanic,  succeeded  in  founding 
one,  or  rather  in  modifying  a reading  socie- 
ty, which  had  been  in  existence  for  five 
years,  into  what  was  really  a lyceum,  in  the 
village  of  Methuen,  Mass.  Its  exercises 
were  weekly,  and  in  the  following  order: 
the  first  week,  reading  by  all  the  members  ; 
the  second  week,  reading  by  one  member 
selected  for  the  purpose ; the  third  week, 
an  original  lecture  ; the  fourth  week,  discus- 
sion. In  1826,  Mr.  Josiah  Holbrook,  then 
of  Derby,  Conn.,  communicated  to  the 
American  Journal  of  Education , then  con- 
ducted by  Mr.  William  Russell,  his  views 
on  the  subject  of  “ Associations  of  Adults 
for  the  Purpose  of  Mutual  Education 
in  which  were  contained  the  germs  of  the 
plan  of  the  Lyceum,  as  subsequently  devel- 
oped by  him  in  his  lectures  and  publica- 
tions. From  the  first,  his  views  were  of 
wider  scope  than  the  organization  of  a mere 
local  association ; they  comprehended  the 
establishment  of  such  associations  in  every 
town  and  village,  and  their  union,  by  repre- 
sentation, in  county,  state,  and  national  or- 
ganizations. They  contemplated  also,  not 
only  mutual  instruction  in  the  sciences,  but 
the  establishment  of  institutions  for  the 
education  of  youth  in  science,  art,  and 
morals ; the  collection  of  libraries,  and  of 
cabinets  of  minerals  and  other  articles  of 
natural  or  artificial  production,  to  be  in- 
creased and  enlarged  by  mutual  exchanges, 
by  the  different  associations.  Lectures  and 
practical  agricultural  occupation,  the  results 
of  which,  it  was  supposed,  would  materially 
diminish  the  cost  of  instruction,  also  formed 
a part  of  his  programme. 

The  first  association  formed  in  accordance 
with  this  plan  was  organized  at  Millbury, 
Mass.,  by  Mr.  Holbrook  himself,  in  Novem- 
ber of  the  same  year,  and  was  called  “ Mill- 
bury Lyceum,  No.  1,  Branch  of  the  Amer- 
ican Lyceum.”  Other  towns  soon  after  or- 
ganized lyceums,  and  these  were  combined  a 
few  months  later  into  the  Worcester  County 
Lyceum.  Not  long  after,  the  Windham 
County,  Conn.,  Lyceum,  with  its  constituent 
town  lyceums,  was  established ; Rev.  Samuel 
J.  May,  then  of  Brooklyn,  Conn.,  rendering 
valuable  assistance  in  the  work. 

From  this  time  onward  to  his  death  in 
1854,  Mr.  Holbrook  devoted  his  whole  ener- 
gies in  one  way  and  another  to  the  promo- 
tion of  these  institutions,  and  to  such 
measures  in  connection  with  the  cause  of 


education  as  should  promote  mutual  instruc- 
tion in  children  as  well  as  adults.  By 
scientific  tracts,  by  newspapers  and  other 
publications,  by  the  manufacture  of  school 
apparatus,  and  by  the  collection  of  small 
cabinets  of  minerals,  to  serve  as  nuclei  for 
larger  cabinets,  by  scholars’  fairs,  by  lec- 
tures, and  long  journeys,  and  by  appeals  to 
the  members  of  Congress  and  of  the  State 
Legislatures,  he  succeeded  in  rousing  a 
powerful  and  continued  interest  in  the  sub- 
ject of  mutual  instruction,  which,  if  it  did 
not  accomplish  all  his  own  plans,  at  least 
gave  a wonderful  impulse  to  the  general 
intellectural  culture  of  the  nation.  The 
lyceums  he  founded  have  passed  away,  at 
least  in  their  original  form,  but  in  their 
places,  and  in  a great  measure  as  an  indirect 
result  of  his  agitation,  we  have  in  every 
considerable  town  or  village  Debating  Soci- 
eties, Young  Men’s  Institutes,  Mechanics’ 
Institutes,  Library  Associations,  Young 
Men’s  Christian  Associations — the  four 
latter  often  with  circulating  libraries,  courses 
of  lectures,  and  classes  for  instruction  in 
science,  art,  and  languages,  and  in  many 
cases  with  schools  and  classes  attached. 
We  have  also  lecture  foundations,  either 
connected  with  our  colleges  or  pro- 
fessional schools,  or  independent,  in  which 
courses  of  instruction  in  physical  science, 
history,  literature,  or  language,  are  com- 
municated to  popular  audiences. 

In  rendering  the  scientific  lecture  a pop- 
ular institution,  our  country  is  greatly  in- 
debted to  the  late  John  Griscom,  LL.D., 
Prof.  B.  Silliman,  Sr.,  Rev.  Henry  Wilbur, 
and  Truman  W.  Coe,  Esq.  Dr.  Griscom 
delivered  his  first  course  of  popular  lectures 
on  chemistry  in  New  York  city  in  the  winter 
of  1808  ; they  were  largely  attended,  and 
were  continued  for  a series  of  years.  Prof. 
Silliman  commenced  popular  lecturing  on 
the  same  subject  in  New  Haven  about  the 
same  time,  in  connection  with  his  profes- 
sional courses.  He  subsequently  delivered 
popular  courses  of  lectures  on  chemistry 
and  on  geology  in  many  of  the  large  cities 
of  the  country.  Within  the  last  thirty  or 
thirty-five  years  the  late  President  Hitch- 
cock of  Amherst  College,  the  late  Prof. 
Shepard,  Prof.  Dana  of  Yale  College,  the 
brothers  Rogers,  now  both  dead,  Prof. 
Henry,  and  other  eminent  geologists,  have 
given  courses  on  geology  to  popular  audi- 
ences ; Prof.  Guyot  and  others  have  lectured 
on  physical  geography;  the  late  Horace 


PROFESSIONAL  AND  SPECIAL  EDUCATION. 


513 


Mann,  Charles  Brooks,  David  P.  Page, 
Henry  Barnard,  John  D.  Philbrick,  S.  B. 
Woolworth,  T.  H.  Burrows,  E.  A.  Sheldon, 
and  a score  of  others  on  educational  topics ; 
Hon.  George  P.  Marsh,  Profs.  W.  D.  Whit- 
ney, S.  S.  Haldeman,  and  others,  on  language; 
Profs.  Doremus,  Draper,  Silliman,  Jr., 
Cooke,  Richards,  and  others,  on  chemistry  ; 
Profs.  Agassiz,  Morse,  Dana,  and  others,  on 
palaeontology  and  natural  history ; the  late 
General  and  Prof.  Mitchel,  Youmans,  Eaton, 
Morse,  Loomis,  G.  F.  Barker,  Young, 
Sir  Charles  Lyell,  and  Professor  Tyndall, 
on  astronomy,  spectroscopy,  and  light ; 
Messrs.  Bayard  Taylor,  Kane,  Hays,  Hall, 
Du  Chaillu,  Powell,  and  others,  on  their 
explorations ; the  late  Prof.  Lieber,  Baird, 
Walker,  Wells,  Perry,  and  others,  on  polit- 
ical philosophy  and  financial  topics,  and 
other  emiuent  scholars  on  other  subjects. 

The  Lowell  Lectures  at  Boston,  founded 
by  the  munificence  of  the  Hon.  John  Lowell, 
gives  annually  several  free  courses  of  lec- 
tures to  large  audiences  on  the  most  im- 
portant branches  of  moral,  intellectual,  and 
physical  science,  and  from  the  liberality  of 
its  compensation  to  the  lecturers,  induces 
elaborate  and  conscientious  preparation  on 
their  part ; and  the  beneht  of  this  prepara- 
tion inures  also  to  other  audiences,  to  which 
these  lectures  are  repeated.  The  Graham 
Institute  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  has  a similar 
though  less  opulent  foundation,  and  its 
courses  of  lectures  have  been  remarkable 
for  their  ability  and  adaptation  to  a popular 
audience.  Other  foundations  have  been  es- 
tablished for  lecture  courses  in  other  cities, 
but  for  the  most  part  in  connection  with 
colleges  or  theological  seminaries. 

The  noble  Peter  Cooper  foundation,  in 
New  York  city,  is  very  broad,  covering  a 
very  large  reading  room,  supplied  with  all 
the  best  foreign  and  American  newspapers, 
literary,  scientific,  and  technological  periodi- 
cals, a considerable  and  very  valuable  library, 
evening  schools  in  mathematics,  mechanics, 
languages,  <fcc.,  schools  of  design  and  me- 
chanical drawing,  wood  engraving,  painting, 
architecture  and.  sculpture,  and  courses  of 
lectures  on  practical  science. 

The  late  George  Peabody,  among  his 
other  good  works  in  the  cause  of  education, 
endowed  an  institute  in  Baltimore  with  a 
fund  of  over  a million  dollars,  to  include  a 
library,  courses  of  lectures  on  science,  art, 
and  literature,  prizes  for  scholarship  in  the 
high  schools,  an  Academy  of  Music,  and  a 


Gallery  of  Art.  He  also  provided  for  an 
Institute  of  Archaeology  at  Cambridge,  with 
an  endowment  of  $150,000,  a Museum  of 
Natural  History  at  Salem  with  the  same 
amount,  and  a Department  of  Physical 
Science  at  Yale  College  with  a similar  sum. 

Harvard  University  has  also  established, 
within  two  or  three  years  past,  courses  of 
lectures  of  the  very  highest  grade,  open  to 
all  upon  the  payment  of  the  fees,  in  which 
scholars  of  the  first  rank  have  discussed,  at 
their  leisure,  topics  usually  considered  above 
the  ready  comprehension  of  any  but  the 
well  educated  class.  These  lectures  were 
not  largely  attended. 

For  some  years  there  seemed  to  be  danger 
that  the  courses  of  lectures  given  under  the 
superintendence  of  the  Young  Men’s  Insti- 
tutes and  Mercantile  Library  Associations 
would  become  merely  the  means  of  amusing 
rather  than  instructing  the  audiences,  and  so 
would  lose  their  character  of  supplementary 
means  of  education  ; but  this  danger  is  now 
evidently  passing  away ; the  lectures  best 
attended  are  those  which  have  the  highest 
scientific  character,  provided  the  science  is 
duly  popularized.  One  agency  in  securing 
this  beneficial  result  has  been  the  Young 
Men’s  Christian  Associations,  which,  by 
making  the  standard  of  their  lectures  high, 
have  compelled  other  organizations  to  do 
likewise. 

Under  this  head  of  means  of  supplement- 
ary instruction  should  perhaps  also  be  in- 
cluded those  institutions,  all  very  recently 
founded,  and  which  do  so  much  honor  to 
their  founders,  which,  while  they  contem- 
plate mainly  systematic  instruction,  provide 
to  some  extent  popular  courses  in  the 
practical  arts  and  technological  science. 
Among  these  we  may  name  the  “ Massachu- 
setts Institute  of  Technology,”  at  Boston ; 
the  “ Museum  of  Comparative  Zoology,”  at 
Cambridge;  the  “Worcester  Free  Insti- 
tute ; ” the  “ Horticultural  School  for 
Women,”  at  Newton  Center,  Mass.;  the 
“Thayer  Engineering  School,”  of  Dartmouth 
College ; the  “ Stevens  Institute  of  Tecli- 
nology,”  at  Hoboken,  N.  J.;  the  “School 
of  Mines,”  of  Columbia  College,  New  York  ; 
the  “Scientific  School  of  Lehigh  University,” 
South  Bethlehem,  Pa. ; the  “ Polytechnic 
College,”  of  Philadelphia ; the  Agricultural 
Department  of  “ Hampton  Institute  ;”  some 
of  the  practical  departments  of  “Cornell 
University ;”  and  the  “O’Fallen  Polytechnic 
Institute,”  of  St.  Louis,  Mo. 


514 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


VI.  SOCIETIES  FOR  THE  ADVANCEMENT  OF  SCIENCE, 
EDUCATION,  AND  LITERATURE. 

INTRODUCTION. 

As  means  of  supplementary  instruction, 
and  largely  in  those  higher  walks  of  litera- 
ture and  science  not  generally  cultivated,  the 
Scientific  and  Literary  Societies  of  the  coun- 
try have  been  of  great  service.  They  may 
be  divided  into  two  classes : those  of  a gen- 
eral character,  which,  while  principally  de- 
voted to  the  promotion  of  some  particular 
subject,  as  history,  local  and  general,  geo- 
graphical science  and  discovery,  genealogy 
and  biography,  and  in  some  cases  natural 
history,  antiquarian  researches,  prison  disci- 
pline and  statistics,  ethnology  and  philology, 
yet  admit  other  topics  more  or  less  con- 
nected with  these,  and  receive  as  members 
persons  not  specially  versed  in  these  subjects, 
their  object  being  to  enlist  a large  clientage 
in  their  pursuits,  and,  by  collecting  a library 
and  museum,  and  having  courses  of  lectures, 
to  popularize  their  labors  and  increase  their 
resources.  A second  class  are  more  strictly 
scientific  in  their  character,  admitting  mem- 
bers only  after  careful  scrutiny,  and  on  proof 
of  their  attainments  in  the  special  range  of 
inquiry  to  which  the  society  or  association 
is  devoted.  To  this  class  belong  the  Amer- 
ican Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences,  the 
American  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  the 
Boston  Natural  History  Society,  the  Essex 
Natural  History  Society,  the  American  Ori- 
ental Society,  the  National  Academy  of 
Science,  and  several  peripatetic  associations 
holding  their  annual  congresses  in  different 
cities  and  sections  of  the  country,  every 
year.  Among  these  the  oldest,  and  usually 
the  best  attended,  is  the  American  Associa- 
tion for  the  Advancement  of  Science. 

Besides  these  more  technically  scientific 
associations,  there  are  societies  of  more 
strictly  educational  and  philanthropic  aims, 
both  National  and  State,  such  as  the  Ameri- 
can Institute  of  Instruction,  and  more  re- 
cently the  American  Association  for  the  Ad- 
vancement of  Social  Science.  A National 
Prison  Congress  has  also  held  two  sessions, 
and  led  to  the  formation  of  an  International 
Prison  Conference,  which  held  its  first  ses- 
sion in  London,  in  1872. 

(1.)  Literary  and  Scientific  Societies. 

The  Societies  of  the  first  class  have  been 
very  useful  from  their  exertions  in  collecting 


historical  and  archaeological  documents,  and 
relics  and  specimens  illustrating  the  early 
condition  of  our  country,  the  habits,  cus- 
toms, and  mode  of  life  of  the  Indian  tribes, 
and  often,  also,  similar  particulars  in  regard 
to  other  nations  and  times.  This  has  been 
particularly  true  of  the  Historical  Societies, 
of  which  there  are  now  one  or  more  in  most 
of  the  States,  and  even  in  some  of  the  Ter- 
ritories. As  we  have  seen  in  our  account  of 
the  libraries  of  the  country,  several  of  these 
societies  have  made  very  large  collections  of 
books,  not  always  exclusively  historical,  but 
embracing  a wide  range  of  literature.  Most 
of  them  have  also  museums,  more  or  less 
extensive,  and  often  including  many  objects 
of  great  interest  and  value.  The  earliest  of 
these  societies  is  the  Massachusetts  Histori- 
cal Society,  founded  in  1791,  which  has 
published  over  50  volumes  of  Transactions 
and  Collections.  The  New  York  Historical 
Society  came  next,  in  1804,  and  has  a fine 
library,  large  archaeological  collections,  and 
many  excellent  portraits  and  historical  paint- 
ings. It  has  also  published  several  volumes 
of  historical  collections.  The  American 
Antiquarian  Society,  at  Worcester,  founded 
in  1812,  mainly  by  the  efforts  of  the  late 
Isaiah  Thomas,  has  a fine  library  and  an 
archaeological  collection  of  great  value  and 
interest.  The  Connecticut  Historical  Soci- 
ety, established  in  1825  at  Hartford,  and 
the  Georgia  Society,  at  Savannah,  founded 
in  1839,  have  fine  libraries  and  museums 
of  considerable  value,  that  of  Connec- 
ticut receiving  the  library  and  collection 
of  Rev.  Thomas  Robbins,  D.  D.,  begun 
fifty  years  before.  The  Maryland  His- 
torical Society,  founded  in  ] 843,  the 
Minnesota  Society,  at  St.  Paul,  founded 
in  1849,  the  Chicago  Society,  founded 
in  1856,  and  the  Long  Island  Society, 
at  Brooklyn,  L.  I.,  founded  in  1862,  are 
the  most  efficient  of  the  younger  societies. 
All  have  good  libraries,  some  of  them 
very  large  ones,  and  by  courses  of  lectures, 
by  able  papers  prepared  by  their  members, 
and  by  sub-organizations  within  their 
membership,  they  succeed  in  enlisting 
public  interest  and  in  popularizing  their 
special  objects. 

There  are  not  more  than  two  or  three  dis- 
tinct Geographical  Societies  in  the  country ; 
the  oldest  and  most  efficient,  the  American 
Geographical  Society,  of  New  York,  has 
had  a hard  struggle  with  adverse  fortunes, 
but  through  the  devotion  of  some  of  its 


PROFESSIONAL  AND  SPECIAL  EDUCATION. 


515 


past  and  present  officers,  lias  at  last  attained 
to  a commanding  position.  It  devotes  itself 
exclusively  to  its  specialty,  and  has  collected 
an  exceedingly  valuable  library  and  collec- 
tion of  maps  and  charts,  as  well  as  other  ar- 
ticles illustrative  of  geographical  discovery. 
It  has  taken  an  active  part  in  promoting  the 
voyages  and  journeys  of  exploration  which 
have  been  sent  out  to  the  Arctic  Ocean  and 
elsewhere,  and  it  has  done  much  to  promote 
a more  thorough  study  of  geography  and 
more  accurate  map  drawing.  There  are  two 
or  three  Genealogical  Societies,  the  member- 
ship of  which  is  mainly  composed  of  those 
who  take  an  interest  in  genealogical,  bio- 
graphical and  historical  researches,  though 
not  exclusively  so,  as  it  is  the  aim  of  those 
who  are  the  founders  of  these  societies  to 
awaken  a more  general  interest  in  their 
pursuit. 

The  Natural  History  Societies  are  more 
numerous.  Every  considerable  city  in  the 
country  has  more  or  less  students  of  natural 
history,  and  these  have  generally  associated 
themselves  either  in  a Natural  History  So- 
ciety, or  in  a department  of  natural  history 
connected  with  a historical  society,  or  lite- 
rary society. 

Of  late  years,  many  of  our  larger  and 
older  colleges,  as  Yale,  Harvard,  Williams, 
Amherst,  Union,  Cornell,  Michigan,  &c., 
<fec.,  have  their  Natural  History  Societies, 
the  officers  of  which  are  often  members  of 
the  College  Faculty,  and  several  send  out 
their  delegations  either  during  the  vacations, 
or  sometimes  in  term-time,  on  exploring  ex- 
peditions. 

The  American  Philological  Society  was 
founded  about  the  year  1860,  by  Rev.  Na- 
than Brown,  D.  D.,  now  missionary  in  Japan, 
having  primarily  two  objects  in  view,  one 
the  propagation  of  a phonetic  system  of 
writing  and  printing  not  liable  to  the  objec- 
tions which  attached  to  others  previously 
propounded  to  the  public;  the  other,  the 
approximation  to  a universal  language,  or  at 
least  the  elements  of  one,  which  should 
make  it  easier  and  more  practicable  to  mul- 
tiply copies  of  the  Bible  and  religious  books 
among  all  nations.  Incidental  to  this  was 
the  accumulation  of  vocabularies  of  all  lan- 
guages, which  had  been  either  partially  or 
wholly  reduced  to  writing  for  the  purposes 
of  comparison  and  study,  and  analyses  of 
the  language  of  savage  tribes,  to  ascertain, 
as  far  as  practicable,  the  elements  which 
were  common  to  them ; and,  also  incident- 


ally, the  collection  of  manuscripts,  books, 
leaves,  inscriptions,  and  drawings,  by  savage 
or  half-civilized  nations,  as  well  as  specimens 
of  their  manufactures,  their  idols,  &c.,  &c. 
The  Society  has  accumulated  a small  library 
and  museum,  and  is  prosecuting  its  purposes 
with  earnestness.  Its  membership  is  open 
to  all,  but  is  practically  limited  to  those  who 
take  an  interest  in  its  investigations. 

These  are  the  most  important  of  the  So- 
cieties of  the  first  class.  Of  those  of  the 
second  class,  which  lay  a more  exclusive 
claim  to  the  title  of  ‘Scientific  Societies,’ 
we  need  say  but  little,  as  their  names  gene- 
rally give  an  idea  of  their  purposes  and  ob- 
jects. The  American  Philosophical  Society, 
founded  in  Philadelphia  in  1743,  is  the  old- 
est of  our  existing  Scientific  Societies.  The 
American  Academy  of  Arts  and  Sciences 
was  founded  in  Boston  in  1780,  and  has 
published  several  volumes  of  Transactions. 
The  Connecticut  Academy  of  Arts  and 
Sciences  was  founded  at  New  Haven  in  1799, 
and  has  made  many  valuable  contributions 
to  science.  The  American  Academy  of  the 
Natural  Sciences  was  founded  in  Philadel- 
phia in  1818,  and  though  meeting  with 
many  discouragements  in  its  earlier  history, 
has  recently  erected  a suitable  building  for 
its  vast  collections  of  fossils,  animals  and 
birds,  and  the  Morton  collection  of  skulls, 
the  finest  on  the  American  continent.  It  is 
in  a more  prosperous  condition,  perhaps, 
than  any  other  of  the  scientific  societies. 
The  Boston  Natural  History  Society  has  a 
very  fine  museum. 

The  Association  of  American  Geologists, 
one  of  the  traveling  associations,  founded  in 
1840,  was  in  1845  absorbed  in  the  American 
Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science, 
which  still  maintains  its  annual  congresses, 
with  a session  usually  of  twro  or  three  weeks. 
It  comprises  the  greater  portion  of  the  sci- 
entists of  the  country,  and  its  papers  and 
essays  are  often  of  great  merit  and  perma- 
nent value.  The  National  Institute,  a scien- 
tific society  founded  in  Washington  in  1840, 
after  a few  years  of  activity,  transferred  its 
collections  to  the  Smithsonian  Institution. 

The  Smithsonian  Institution,  though  a 
very  active  organization  in  the  diffusion  of 
knowledge  among  men,  with  large  resources, 
can  hardly  be  classed  as  a scientific  society, 
since  it  has  no  membership  except  its  re- 
gents and  officers.  Its  books  have  been 
transferred  to  the  Library  of  Congress,  and 
its  valuable  collections  are  open  to  all 


516 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


scientists,  and  facilities  provided  for  the  dis- 
tribution of  its  specimens  and  publications 
to  such  colleges,  museums,  and  scientific  so- 
cieties as  will  make  a suitable  use  of  them 
for  promoting  its  objects.  It  was  chartered 
in  1846. 

The  American  Oriental  Society,  at  New 
Haven,  founded  in  18 — , mainly  through 
the  efforts  of  Prof.  Salisbury,  has,  in  the 
few  years  of  its  existence,  contributed 
greatly  to  the  promotion  of  our  knowl- 
edge of  Oriental  languages  and  science. 

The  National  Academy  of  Science,  founded 
by  act  of  Congress  in  1863,  and  limited 
to  fifty  resident  associates,  is  an  attempt  to 
blend  the  French  Institute  with  the  peripa- 
tetic plan,  which,  in  the  American  Associa- 
tion and  other  institutions,  had  proved  so 
efficient  in  this  country.  Its  meetings  are 
either  annual  or  semi-annual,  and  held  aj 
different  points.  Its  sessions  are  from  one 
to  two  weeks,  and  its  members  are  divided 
into  working  sections.  Its  meetings  are 
public,  and  papers  on  different  scientific 
topics  are  read  by  members,  and  may  be 
contributed,  by  those  not  associates,  through 
members.  The  election  of  new  members 
to  the  vacancies  made  by  death  are  prefaced 
by  a rigid  and  protracted  scrutiny.  One  of 
the  conditions  of  its  incorporation  is  the  ob- 
ligation to  investigate  and  report  on  any 
scientific  subject  referred  by  any  department 
of  the  government  for  its  consideration. 

The  American  Philological  Association 
was  organized  in  1869,  though  preliminary 
meetings  had  been  held  in  1868.  It  is  one 
of  the  peripatetic  associations,  and  has  for 
its  objects  the  more  perfect  mastery  of  the 
ancient  classical  languages  and  literature, 
and  investigations  into  the  structure  and 
philosophy  of  the  Indo-European  and  Ori- 
ental languages.  It  has  printed  three  vol- 
umes of  its  annual  proceedings. 

The  latest  of  these  scientific  societies  is 
the  American  Union  Academy  of  Litera- 
ture, Science,  and  Art,  founded  in  1869  in 
Washington,  It  embraces  within  its  scope 
the  entire  circle  of  the  sciences,  and  is  di- 
vided into  ten  sections  or  departments,  each 
of  which  is  presided  over  by  a supervising 
committee  of  three,  through  whom  all  papers 
in  their  several  departments  must  be  pre- 
sented, and,  if  approved,  reported  to  the 
Academy,  and  published  if  the  Academy  so 
order.  The  membership  is  limited  to  such 
as  are  proficients  in  some  branch  of  knowl- 
edge coming  under  one  of  the  ten  sections, 


and  the  ballot,  after  a favorable  report  by 
the  committee  of  that  section,  must  be  unan- 
imous or  they  are  not  elected.  Prof.  J.  W. 
Draper,  M.  D.,  LL.  D.,  was  the  first  president. 

(2.)  Educational  Associations. 

The  American  Institute  of  Instruction, 
founded  in  1830,  the  American  Association 
for  the  Advancement  of  Education,  from 
1849  to  1856,  and  the  National  Teachers’ 
Association,  founded  in  1857,  have  been  of 
great  service  in  raising  the  standard  of  edu- 
cational discussion  and  diffusing  a knowledge 
of  the  best  methods  and  true  aims  of  edu- 
cation. But  far  more  broadly  useful  have 
been  the  State  Teachers’  Associations,  acting 
as  they  do  on  much  larger  bodies  of  teach- 
ers in  so  many  States  from  year  to  year. 

The  earliest  of  the  State  Associations 
was  that  of  Rhode  Island,  which  held  its 
first  meeting  in  January,  1845.  This  was 
followed  by  that  of  New  York  on  July  31st, 
and  of  Massachusetts  on  the  29th  of  No- 
vember of  the  same  year.  The  teachers  of 
Ohio,  in  1847;  of  Connecticut,  in  1848; 
of  Vermont,  in  1850 ; of  Michigan  and 
Pennsylvania,  in  1852;  of  Wisconsin, 
Illinois  and  New  Jersey,  in  1853;  of  Iowa, 
New  Hampshire  and  Indiana,  in  1854;  of 
Maine,  in  1859;  Kansas,  in  1862;  in  Cali- 
fornia, in  1864;  and  within  five  years  after 
the  close  of  the  War  of  Secession,  the 
teachers  of  every  State  had  organized  as- 
sociations for  the  improvement  of  their  own 
profession,  and  the  advancement  of  the 
educational  interests  of  the  country. 

In  most  of  the  States,  several  country 
societies,  and  in  all  the  large  cities,  local 
associations  are  in  active  operation. 

The  Western  College  Society  originated 
in  the  depressed  condition  of  certain  col- 
leges in  the  Western  States  (Western  Re- 
serve, Marietta,  Wabash  and  Illinois  Col- 
leges, and  Lane  Theological  Seminary,) 
which  had  been  aided  in  their  infancy  by 
contributions  from  sympathizing  churches 
at  the  East.  This  depression  culminated  in 
the  financial  reverses  of  1837-41 — when  the 
investments  in  buildings  and  other  forms,  to 
the  amount  of  $400,000,  seemed  likely  to 
be  sacrificed  for  want  of  immediate  aid.  In 
1842,  on  the  suggestion  of  Rev.  Theron 
Baldwin,  the  plan  of  an  association  wras 
discussed  by  various  parties  interested,  and 
matured  in  1843  by  the  establishment  of  a 
Society  for  the  Promotion  of  Collegiate  and 
Theological  Education  at  the  West,  by 
which  upwards  of  a half  million  dollars 


PROFESSIONAL  AND  SPECIAL  EDUCATION. 


517 


have  been  contributed  to  relieve  the  indebt- 
edness, increase  the  endowments,  and  extend 
the  usefulness  of  the  institutions  above 
named,  but  of  more  than  twice  that  number 
of  institutions  of  a similar  character.  But 
beyond  these  palpable  results,  the  addresses 
and  discussions  which  the  judicious  and 
indefatigable  secretary  and  agent,  Rev.  Dr. 
Baldwin  (the  originator  of  the  same),  was 
mainly  instrumental  in  eliciting  throughout 
the  Eastern  States,  has  helped  to  raise  the 
whole  course  of  higher  Christian  education 
throughout  the  whole  country.  The  society 
has  recently  extended  the  field  of  its 
beneficent  labors,  and  is  now  engaged  in 
building  anew  the  crumbling  walls  of 
Southern  colleges,  and  breathing  fresh  life 
into  what  war,  always  barbarous,  has  left  of 
once  flourishing  institutions  of  learning. 

These  associations  are  not  confined  to  the 
male  sex,  or  to  institutions  in  which  boys 
are  primarily  regarded — many  associations, 
some  composed  exclusively  of  women,  and 
more  for  the  advancement  of  female  educa- 
tion, have  been  started  which  are  still  active. 
Among  the  earliest  and  latest  is  the  Ladies’ 
Association  for  Educating  Females,  in  Jack- 
sonville, Illinois,  in  1833,  and  the  Woman’s 
Education  Association , in  Boston,  in  1872 
— indication  that  a want  was  early  felt  in 
one  of  the  newest  States,  which  is  not  yet 
met  in  one  of  the  oldest. 

The  Sunday  School  Union,  and  the  edu- 
cational societies  of  different  religious  de- 
nominations, are  all  incorporated  associations 
for  special  educational  purposes. 

The  American  Association  for  the  Ad- 
vancement of  Social  Science,  or,  as  it  is 
more  generally  called,  “ The  Social  Science 
Association,”  founded  in  1862,  has,  in  its 
annual  congresses  in  different  cities,  and  in 
the  sectional  meetings  at  Boston,  justified 
its  existence  by  the  ability  with  which  it  has 
handled  many  topics  belonging  to  the  vexed 
questions  of  educational  and  public  economy. 

In  the  development  of  educational  asso- 
ciation, the  law  of  affinity,  which  finally 
governs  all  associations,  has  worked  itself 
out  in  this  wise, — first  a general  association 
of  all  interested  in  the  main  object,  and  by 
degrees,  special  associations  of  those  only 
who  are  interested  in  some  department  of 
education,  or  class  of  institutions — and 
finally,  a gathering  of  all  teachers  and  edu- 
cators on  ground  common  to  all.  In  1853 
a few  college  presidents  gathered  in  an  in- 
formal way  to  talk  over  the  condition  of 


their  institutions  and  some  of  the  knotty 
problems  of  discipline,  and  curriculum,  until 
now  there  is  a regular  annual  meeting  of 
delegates  from  all  the  colleges  of  New  Eng- 
land. In  Ohio,  and  in  the  States  farther 
west,  larger  and  more  public  associations 
have  been  formed.  To  get  opportunities  of 
special  discussion,  the  teachers  of  Normal 
Schools  held  separate  meetings  at  the  close 
of  the  American  Institute,  or  National  Teach- 
ers’ Association,  until  in  1869,  out  of  all  in- 
terested as  officers  and  teachers,  the  National 
Educational  Association  was  organized  in 
1869,  with  four  departments:  the  first,  of 
School  Superintendence ; the  second,  of 
Normal  Schools ; the  third,  of  Elementary 
Schools,  and  the  fourth,  of  Higher  Instruc- 
tion, each  department  meeting  under  its  own 
president,  for  special  papers  and  disscussions 
and  all  the  departments  meeting  together 
for  general  purposes. 

(3,)  Industrial  and  Fine  Arts. 

The  Pennsylvania  Academy  of  Fine  Arts, 
founded  in  1806,  holds  annual  exhibitions, 
and  maintains  a school  for  the  study  of  the 
antique,  of  the  living  model,  of  anatomy,  of 
design,  and  painting. 

The  National  Academy  of  Design,  founded 
in  New  York  in  1826,  is  an  association  of 
all  the  principal  artists  of  the  country,  and 
maintains  a school  of  instruction  in  art,  as 
well  as  an  annual  exhibition  of  great  excel- 
lence. Its  members  are  divided  into  two 
classes  or  ranks,  National  Academicians  or 
N.  A.  and  Associates  (A.  N.  A.),  who,  after 
two  or  three  years  probation,  are  promoted 
to  the  first  rank. 

The  Cooper  Union  includes  a Society  of 
Associates  for  the  promotion  of  science  and 
art.  The  American  Institute  at  New  York, 
organized  in  1827,  has  maintained  an  annual 
exhibition  of  the  productions  of  scientific 
industry,  and  hold  monthly  meetings  of  its 
members,  for  the  discussion  of  questions  of 
science  as  applied  to  the  arts  of  life. 

Nearly  every  city  has  now  an  association 
to  promote,  by  public  exhibition  of  produc- 
tions of  painting  and  statuary,  a taste  for 
the  fine  arts,  and  in  all  industrial  exhibitions 
whether  state,  county  or  municipal,  there  is 
generally  a department  devoted  to  ideal  art. 
The  new  art  associations  in  New  York  and 
Boston  will  greatly  surpass  any  thing  yet 
attempted. 

• For  history  of  the  principal  National  and  Htuto  Associa- 
tion* of  an  educational  character  down  to  1HG4,  see  llarnard’s 
American  Journal  of  Education , Vols.  XV.  and  XVI. 


518 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


VII.  EDUCATIONAL  PERIODICALS  AND  REPORTS. 

The  earliest  serial  devoted  exclusively  to 
education  was  The  Juvenile  Monitor,  issued 
in  New  York  in  1811,  by  Albert  Picket, 
who  in  1818-19  published,  in  connection 
with  his  son,  John  W.  Picket,  The  Aca- 
demician, a large  octavo,  issued  semi- 
monthly, and  containing  both  original  and 
selected  articles  of  great  value.  Here  was 
issued  the  first  notices  of  Pestalozzi’s  and 
Fellenberg’s  views  and  labors,  and  very 
valuable  chapters  from  Jardine’s  Outline 
of  a Philosophical  System  of  Education. 

This  field  of  labor  remained  unoccupied 
until  the  appearance  of  the  American  Jour- 
nal of  Education,  commenced  January  1st, 
1825,  at  Boston,  Mr.  T.  B.  Wait  publisher, 
and  edited  by  Professor  William  Russell 
until  1830,  when  it  was  continued  under 
the  name  of  the  American  Annals  of  Edu- 
cation ; the  Annals  appeared  until  the  end 
of  1839,  completing  an  entire  series  of 
fourteen  octavo  volumes.  At  different 
periods,  William  C.  Woodbridge,  Dr.  Wil- 
liam A.  Alcott,  and  Prof.  Hubbard  (then 
of  Massachusetts,  but  afterwards  of  North 
Carolina  College  at  Chapel  Hill,)  were  editors. 

In  1827  the  American  Educational 
Society,  founded  in  1817  for  the  sole  pur- 
pose to  aid  candidates  for  the  ministry 
through  their  collegiate  and  theological 
studies,  issued  a quarterly  journal  devoted 
to  the  publication  of  the  proceedings  of  the 
society,  and  to  ecclesiastical  matters.  Under 
the  charge  of  Prof.  B.  B.  Edwards  from 
1831  to  1840,  and  of  Dr.  Cogswell,  this 
periodical,  which  assumed  in  1831  the 
name  of  Quarterly  Register , devoted  a por- 
tion of  each  number  to  educational  intelli- 
gence, especially  to  the  history  and  statistics 
of  colleges,  with  two  or  three  comprehensive 
surveys  of  the  whole  field  of  public  instruc- 
tion, founded  on  the  personal  observation 
and  special  correspondence  of  the  editor,  ex- 
tending over  the  whole  country. 

In  January,  1836,  appeared  the  first  num- 
ber of  the  Common  School  Assistant,  a 
quarto-monthly,  edited  by  J.  Orville  Taylor, 
and  was  published  at  Albany,  and  afterward 
at  New  York,  during  four  years  and  four 
volumes,  and  part  of  a fifth,  ending  in  1840. 
This  periodical  was  energetically  and  use- 
fully edited,  and  Mr.  Taylor  did  much  for 
the  cause  of  popular  education  by  publish- 
ing a Common  School  Almanac,  and  deliv- 


ering forcible  and  apt  addresses  on  educa- 
tional subjects  in  many  States  of  the  Union. 
His  expenses  were  largely  sustained  by 
James  S.  Wards  worth,  of  Geneseo,  N.  Y. 

In  January,  1839,  Hon.  Horace  Mann, 
Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Education  for 
Massachusetts,  issued  the  first  number  of 
The  Common  School  Journal  on  his  private 
responsibility,  and  continued  its  publication 
monthly  to  the  close  of  the  tenth  volume  in 
1848,  when  he  resigned  his  position  to  take 
his  seat  in  Congress,  as  the  successor  of 
John  Quincy  Adams  in  the  House  of 
Representatives.  The  Journal  was  con- 
tinued through  1852  by  William  B.  Fowle, 
who  had  been  for  several  years  associated 
with  Mr.  Mann  as  publisher.  The  fourteen 
volumes  contain  all  the  Reports  of  the 
Board  and  the  Secretary  during  Mr.  Mann’s 
connection  with  the  same,  and  many  very 
valuable  articles  by  himself,  and  such  per- 
sonal friends  as  George  B.  Emerson,  LL.D., 
Dr.  S.  G.  Howe,  W.  B.  Fowle,  and  others. 

In  August,  1838,  appeared  at  Hartford, 
Connecticut,  the  first  number  of  the  quarto 
Connecticut  Common  School  Journal,  edited 
by  Henry  Barnard,  Secretary  of  the  Board 
of  Commissioners  of  Common  Schools,  and 
was  published  during  four  years,  ending  in 
consequence  of  the  strange  reactionary  rally 
which  abolished  the  board  in  1842.  It  con- 
tained the  state  public  educational  docu- 
ments of  each  year  beside  valuable  selections 
from  treatises  not  readily  accessible,  and 
original  articles  of  permanent  value.  A 
second  series,  in  octavo  form,  was  com- 
menced by  Mr.  Barnard  in  1850,  and 
continued  by  him  until  January,  1854, 
when  he  surrendered  its  care  to  the 
Connecticut  State  Teachers’  Association. 
The  interval  between  1843  and  1850  was 
covered  by  the  publication  of  the  Journal 
of  the  Rhode  Island  Institute  of  Instruction, 
embodying  the  official  documents  and  action 
of  the  editor  as  Commissioner  of  Public 
Schools  in  that  State.  In  connection  with 
both  journals  the  editor  issued  a series  of 
Educational  Tracts,  copies  of  which  he  ar- 
ranged with  their  publishers  to  have  stitched 
to  every  Almanac  sold  in  the  State. 

In  August,  1855,  Mr.  Barnard  issued  the 
first  number  of  his  American  Journal  of 
Education,  published  at  Hartford,  quarterly, 
in  octavo.  This  great  repository  of  educa- 
tional knowledge  has  been  continued  to  the 
present  time,  and  its  twenty-fourtli  volume 
will  be  completed  in  1873.  It  has  accom- 


PROFESSIONAL  AND  SPECIAL  EDUCATION. 


519 


plishecl  the  object  set  forth  by  its  founder, 
and  constitutes,  in  the  nearly  21,000  pages 
already  issued,  the  most  comprehensive 
survey  of  the  history,  of  systems  (national, 
state,  and  city),  and  the  biography,  theory, 
and  practice  of  instruction  in  all  classes 
and  grades  of  schools,  both  in  the  United 
States  and  other  countries,  to  be  found  in 
any  similar  publication  in  any  language.* 
It  must  be  for  many  years  to  come  the  best 
available  work  of  reference  on  all  educa- 
tional topics  for  the  first  three-fourths  of 
the  nineteenth  century.  It  contains  130 
excellent  portraits  from  steel  plates  of  emi- 
nent teachers  and  educators,  and  over  1,000 
illustrations  of  school  architecture.  Since 
the  date  of  his  first  Journal  the  growth 
of  educational  literature  has  been  rapid. 
There  are  now  in  nearly  every  State  one 
or  more  school  periodicals  of  various 
titles  and  forms,  but  usually  issued 
monthly,  and  in  most  cases  the  organs 
of  the  Teachers’  Associations  of  their 
respective  States.  These  are  generally 
well  conducted,  and  the  articles  contributed 
by  teachers,  who  are  either  the  appointed 
editors  or  correspondents  of  the  periodicals, 
discuss  with  much  ability  topics  connected 
with  methodology,  and  the  practical  duties 
and  difficulties  of  the  teacher. 

Of  this  class  of  periodicals  the  Massa- 
chusetts Teacher,  the  organ  of  the  State 
Teachers’  Association,  now  issuing  its 
twenty-fifth  volume ; the  Rhode  Island 
Schoolmaster , and  the  Illinois  Teacher , and 
the  Indiana  School  Journal  started  in 
1855  ; the  Pennsylvania  School  Journal,  for 
twenty  years  conducted  by  Hon.  T.  II.  Bur- 
roughs, have  each  maintained  a high  and 
special  reputation. 

There  are  several  educational  journals 
of  a less  local  character  devoting  them- 
selves to  the  discussion  of  the  principles  of 
education,  to  the  various  methods  of  teach- 
ing and  discipline,  to  educational  biography, 
the  careful  criticism  of  text-books,  and  to 
the  current  progress  of  education.  Among 
the  best,  as  well  as  the  most  widely  cir- 
culated of  these  are  the  American  Educa- 
tional Monthly,  published  in  New  York 
city  since  1862,  the  Colleye  Courant,  pub- 
lished in  New  Ilaven  since  1865,  and  the 
National  Teacher,  edited  and  published  by 
E.  E.  White,  Columbus,  Ohio. 

* Volume  XXIV  (for  1873)  contains  a General  Index,  bn  led 
On  the  Special  Index  of  ench  volume,  na  well  m on  the  Sfiecinl 
Treatises  whieh  have  been  made  up  out  of  the  separate  chap- 
ters and  articles  scattered  through  the  entire  series. 


Most  of  the  leading  publishers  of  school 
text-books  issue,  monthly,  quarterly,  or 
semi-annual  periodicals,  containing  some 
educational  matter,  and  a great  deal  com- 
mendatory of  their  own  books.  The  daily 
and  weekly  secular,  literary,  and  religious 
journals  have  also  their  educational  depart- 
ments, and  in  the  aggregate  do  much  for 
the  advancement  of  schools  and  education. 
There  were  in  1872  forty -five  periodicals  in 
the  United  States,  monthly  and  quarterly, 
devoted  exclusively  to  education,  besides  a 
considerable  number — college  periodicals, 
literary  and  educational  papers  and  maga- 
zines, reviews,  &c., — which  were  partially 
occupied  with  educational  matter.  This  is 
a rapid  growth  since  a period  of  forty  years 
ago,  when  a single  educational  periodical 
found  but  a scanty  and  precarious  support. 

The  annual  School  Reports,  national,  state, 
city  and  town,  it  is  estimated,  constitute  a 
library  of  over  100  volumes,  of  600  pages 
octavo,  of  ordinary  long  primer  type. 

The  earliest  official  and  legislative  reports 
on  the  condition  of  public  schools  were 
issued  in  New  York  in  1812,  and  in  Mary- 
land in  1826.  The  former  did  not  attract 
much  attention  until  issued  by  Azariah 
Flagg,  and  John  A.  Dix,  who,  as  Secretary 
of  State,  were  from  1827  to  1836  ex  officio 
superintendents  of  public  schools.  But  a 
different  character  was  given  to  this  class 
of  documents  when  Hon.  Horace  Mann 
became  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion for  Massachusetts,  in  1837. 

The  cause  of  education  has  received  a 
new  impetus  since  the  close  of  the  war,  and 
especially  since  1867,  when  a Commissioner 
of  Education  was  provided  for  by  Congress, 
originally  independent,  but  subsequently  as 
a bureau  of  the  Department  of  the  Interior. 
Its  first  commissioner  was  Hon.  Henry 
Barnard,  who  was  succeeded  in  1870  by 
Gen.  John  Eaton,  Jr.  The  Department  has 
issued  four  annual  reports,  beside  a supple- 
mentary one  on  education  in  the  cities  and 
the  District  of  Columbia.  These  reports 
contain  a vast  amount  of  information  in  re- 
gard to  the  educational  progress  of  the 
United  States  from  year  to  year,  but  their 
statistics  of  colleges  and  institutions  of 
secondary  instruction  being  collected  as 
unofficial  answers  to  circulars  are  not  always 
full  and  reliable,  and  give,  in  some  instances, 
an  undue  prominence  to  institutions  of  re- 
cent origin  and  of  mainly  prospective  use- 
fulness. 


520 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


VIII.  SCHOOL  BOOKS  AND  SCHOOL  APPARATUS. 

(1.)  Text-books. 

At  the  beginning  of  our  national  exist- 
ence, from  1775  to  1784,  the  Hornbook, 
Primer,  Bible  and  Psalter  were  the  universal 
instruments  of  school  instruction  till  about 
1780,  and  in  many  of  the  district  schools  till 
1800.  The  late  Dr.  Noah  Webster,  in 
some  reminiscences  of  his  early  school  days, 
addressed  to  Mr.  Barnard  and  published  in 
the  American  Journal  of  Education  for 
March,  1840,  says,  “ When  I was  young 
the  books  used  were  chiefly  Dilworth’s 
Spelling-book,  the  Psalter,  Testament,  and 
Bible.  No  geography  was  studied  before 
the  publication  of  Dr.  Morse’s  small  books 
on  that  subject,  about  the  year  1786  or 
1787  (Dr.  Morse’s  first  little  compendium, 
entitled  Geography  made  Easy,  was  pub- 
lished in  1784).  No  history  was  read,  as 
far  as  my  knowledge  extends,  for  there  was 
no  abridged  history  of  the  United  States. 
Except  the  books  above  mentioned,  no  book 
for  reading  was  used  before  the  publication 
of  the  Third  Part  of  my  Institute  in  1785. 
In  some  of  the  early  editions  of  that  book 
I introduced  short  notices  of  the  geography 
and  history  of  the  United  States,  and  these 
led  to  more  enlarged  descriptions  of  the 
country.  In  1788,  at  the  request  of  Dr. 
Morse,  I wrote  an  account  of  the  transac- 
tions in  the  United  States  after  the  Revolu- 
tion ; which  account  fills  nearly  twenty 
pages  in  the  first  volumes  of  his  octavo 
editions.  Before  the  Revolution,  and  for 
some  years  after,  no  slates  were  used  in 
common  schools;  all  writing  and  the  opera- 
tions in  arithmetic  were  on  paper.  The 
teacher  wrote  the  copies  and  gave  the  sums 
in  arithmetic,  few  or  none  of  the  pupils 
having  any  books  as  a guide.  The  intro- 
duction of  my  spelling-book,  first  published 
in  1783,  produced  a great  change  in  the  de- 
partment of  spelling  ; and  from  the  infor- 
mation I can  gain,  spelling  was  taught  with 
more  care  and  accuracy  for  twenty  years 
or  more  after  that  period,  than  it  has  been 
since  the  introduction  of  multiplied  books 
and  studies.  No  English  grammar  was 
generally  taught  in  common  schools  when  I 
was  young  except  that  of  Dil worth. 

President  Humphrey,  of  Amherst  College, 
writing  of  the  period  between  1790  and 
1810,  in  a letter  to  Mr.  Barnard,  says,  “ Our 


school-books  were  the  Bible,  Webster’s 
‘ Spelling-book  ’ and  ‘ Third  Part,’  mainly. 
One  or  two  others  were  found  in  some 
schools  for  the  reading  classes.  Grammar 
was  hardly  taught  at  all  in  any  of  them, 
and  that  little  was  confined  almost  entirely 
to  committing  and  reciting  the  rules.  Pars- 
ing was  one  of  the  occult  sciences  in  my 
day.  We  had  some  few  lessons  in  geogra- 
phy, by  questions  and  answers,  but  no  maps, 
no  globes ; and  as  for  blackboards,  such  a 
thing  was  never  thought  of  till  long  after. 
Children’s  reading  and  picture  books  we 
had  none;  the  fables  in  Webster’s  Spelling- 
book  came  nearest  to  it.  Arithmetic  was 
hardly  taught  at  all  in  the  day  schools.  As 
a substitute  there  were  some  evening  schools 
in  most  of  the  districts.  Spelling  was  one 
of  the  daily  exercises  in  all  the  classes.” 

Hon.  Joseph  T.  Buckingham,  whose 
school  days  extended  from  1786  to  1800, 
gives  the  following  list  of  the  school 
books  in  use  at  that  time,  Webster’s  and 
Dilworth’s  Spelling-books,  Webster’s  Third 
Part,  Dilworth’s  Schoolmaster’s  Assistant, 
and  the  Bible.  The  late  S.  G.  Goodrich 
(“  Peter  Parley  ”)  describing  a school  of  his 
native  town  as  it  was  from  1803  to  1806, 
gives  the  following  as  the  school  books,  the 
Catechism  (probably  the  New  England 
Primer),  Webster’s  Spelling-book,  the 
Bible,  Daboll’s  Arithmetic,  (which  held  its 
place  in  the  schools  for  nearly  thirty -five 
years),  Webster’s  Grammar — which  even 
the  master  did  not  understand — and 
Dwight’s  Geography,  which  had  neither 
maps  nor  illustrations,  and  was  merely  an 
expanded  table  of  contents  of  Morse’s 
Universal  Geography.  The  late  Salem 
Town,  describing  the  school  in  Belchertown, 
Mass,,  which  was  exceptionally  well  taught 
by  Mr.  S.  Greene  (father  of  Prof.  S.  S. 
Greene,  of  Brown  University),  from  1793 
to  1800,  gives  the  following  list  of  text- 
books, Webster’s  Elementary  (this  was  prob- 
ably the  “ American,”  as  the  “ Elementary  ” 
was  not  published  till  later),  Spelling-book, 
Alexander’s  English  Grammar,  an  abridg- 
ment of  Pike’s  Arithmetic,  the  Columbian 
Orator,  Nathaniel  Dwight’s  and  Jcdediah 
Morse’s  small  Geographies,  this  latter  hav- 
ing four  maps  about  the  size  of  a man’s 
hand,  and  a little  later,  Murray’s  English 
Grammer,  and  English  Reader. 

We  give  on  the  next  page  the  titles  of 
school  books  printed  in  this  country  prior  to 
1800. 


BOOKS  FOR  TEACHERS  AND  PUPILS SCHOOL  APPARATUS. 


521 


American  Text-books  Printed  prior  to  1800. 


Abel,  Thomas,  Plane  Trigonometry,  Philadelphia , 1761. 

Adam,  Alex.,  Rudiments  of  Latin  Grammar,  Boston,  1793 
Adams,  Hannah,  History  of  New  England,  Dedham,  1799. 
Alden,  Abner,  Introduction  to  Spelling,  Boston , 1797. 

Alsop’s  Tables,  Latin  and  English. 

Alexander,  Caleb,  Intro,  to  Speaking  and  Writing  English, 
Spelling-book,  Worcester,  1799.  [Boston,  1794. 
“ Grammatical  System,  Boston,  1792. 

“ Latin  Language,  Worcester,  1794. 

“ Grecian  Language,  Worcester,  1796. 

“ Virgil,  translated,  with  notes,  Worcester,  1796. 
American  Latin  Grammar,  Providence,  1794, 

Andrews,  John,  Sheridan’s  Gram,  of  Eng.  Lang.,  Phil.,  1789. 
Arithmetic,  Vulgar  and  Decimal,  Boston,  1724. 

Ash,  John,  Dictionary  of  English  Language,  Boston,  1794. 

“ Grammatical  Institute,  Philadelphia , 1778. 

Best,  W.,  Logic  in  Question  and  Answer,  New  York,  1796. 
Bingham,  Caleb,  Young  Ladies’  Accidence.  Boston,  1785. 

“ American  Preceptor,  Boston,  1789. 

“ Columbian  Orator,  Boston,  1797. 

“ Child’s  Companion,  Boston,  1798.  [1799. 

“ Geographical  and  Astronomical  Catechism,  Boston, 

“ Juvenile  Letters,  to  assist  Composition,  Boston,  1799. 
“ Historical  Grammar,  translated  for  La  Croze,  Boston. 
“ Copy-Slips,  Boston,  1796. 

Burr,  Jonathan,  Compendium  of  English  Gr„  Boston , 1797. 

“ American  Later  Grammar,  Providence,  1794. 

“ English  Grammar,  Boston,  1797. 

“ New  American  Latin  Grammar,  New  York,  1784. 
Caesar,  Commentaries,  Worcester,  1784. 

Campbell,  George,  Philosophy  of  Rhetoric,  London,  1776, 
Carroll,  James,  Am.  Criterion  of  Eng.  Gr , New  London,  1795. 
Catechism,  or  Supplies  from  the  Tower  of  David,  Boston,  1721. 
Catechism,  printed  for  Dorchester,  Mass.,  1650. 

Catechism  in  the  Negro  Christianized.  Boston,  1693. 

Cheever,  Ezekiel,  Short  Int.  to  Latin  Tongue  (4th  Ed  ) Boston, 
Child’s  New  Plaything,  a Spelling-book,  Boston,  1744.  [1734. 

Cicero’s  Orations,  Boston,  1722. 

Clap,  Thomas,  General  View  of  Philosophy,  1743. 

“ Foundation  of  Morals,  New  Haven,  1765. 

Clark,  John,  Introduction  to  Latin,  Worcester,  1786. 

Collection  of  Psalm  Tunes,  Boston,  1753. 

Comly,  John,  English  Grammar  Made  Easy,  Philadelphia. 
Compendium  Logicae,  Boston,  1735. 

Comprehensive  Grammar,  Philadelphia,  1789. 

Colles,  C.,  Geographical  Ledger,  New  York,  1794. 

Cook,  David,  American  Arithmetic,  New  Haven,  1799. 
Corderius,  Colloquies,  Boston,  18th  edition,  1789. 

Culman,  Sentences  for  Children,  Boston,  J723. 

Daboll,  Nathan,  Schoolmaster’s  Assistant,  New  London,  1800. 
Dana,  Joseph,  Lessons  in  Reading  and  Speaking,  Boston,  1792. 
Davidson,  James,  Introduction  to  Latin  Tongue,  Phila.,  1798. 
Dawson,  W.,  Entertaining  Amusement,  Philadelphia,  1754. 

De  Hensch,  H.,  Practical  French  Grammar,  New  York,  1796. 
Dearborn,  Benjamin,  Columbian  Grammar,  Boston , 1795. 
Dilworth,  Thomas.  New  Guide  to  English  Tongue,  Boston,  1767. 

“ Schoolmaster’s  Assistant,  Hartford,  1786. 

Dixon,  Henry,  English  Instructor,  Boston,  1736. 

Doddridge.  Philip,  Friendly  Instructor,  Boston,  1749. 

Duncnn,  William,  Elements  of  Logic,  Philadelphia,  1792. 
Dwight,  Nnthaniel,  System  of  Geography,  Hartford,  1795. 
*Jiot,  John,  Indian  Grammar,  Cambridge,  1664. 

“ Indian  Grarnmur  Begun,  Boston,  1666. 

“ Indian  Logic  Primer,  1672. 

“ Primer  in  Indian,  1687. 

“ Catechism  in  Indian,  1687. 

Enfield,  William,  The  Shaker,  Hudson,  1778, 

English  nnd  Germnn  Grammar,  Philadelphia,  1748. 

English  Tongue — Art  of  Spelling-  Improved,  Boston,  1757. 
Ensell,  G.,  Dutch  Grnmmar  of  English  Language,  1797. 
Erasmus’  Colloquin,  Worcester,  1785. 

Euclid’s  Elements  of  Geography,  Worcester,  1784. 

Evans,  Lewis,  Geographical  and  Historical  Essnys,  Phila.,  1755. 
Fenning,  Daniel.  Universal  8pelling-book,  Boston,  1769. 

“ Youth’s  Instructor.  Dover,  1795. 

Ferguson,  James,  Astronomy  Explained.  Philadelphia,  1799. 
Fisher,  George,  American  Instructor,  Philadelphia,  1748. 

Fraser,  David,  Young  Lndy’s  Assistant,  Danbury,  1794. 

Fox,  George.  Instructions  for  Right  Spelling,  Newport,  1769. 

•*  Plain  Directions  for  Reading,  Boston,  1743. 

Fiske,  Moses,  New  England  Sjielling-book. 

Gay,  Anthelme,  Prosodical  Grammar,  New  York,  1795. 

Gordon,  John,  M athematicnl  Traverse  Tnble,  Philadelphia,  1758. 
Gough,  John,  Treatise  of  Arithmetic,  Boston,  1789. 

“ American  Accountant,  Philadelphia,  1796. 

Gros,  John  D.,  Moral  Philosophy,  New  York,  1795. 

Guide  to  Arithmetic,  Boston,  1794. 

Guthrie,  W.,  Modern  Geography,  Philadelphia , 1795. 


Hale,  Enoch,  A Spelling-book,  Northampton,  1799. 

Haddie,  James,  Latin  Grammar,  New  York,  1794. 

Hill,  John,  Speedy  Guide  to  Learning,  Boston,  1745. 

Holy  Bible,  common  edition,  Worcester,  1784. 

Horace,  Odes,  Worcester,  1784. 

Hodder,  James,  Arithmetic  Made  Easy,  Boston,  1719. 

Indian  Primer,  by  which  children  may  learn  to  read  the  Indian 
language,,  Boston,  1720. 

Introduction  to  History  of  America,  Philadelphia,  1787. 
Juneway,  James,  Token  for  Children,  Boston,  1718. 

Johnson,  S.,  Compendium  of  Logic  and  Ethics,  Phila.,  1752. 

“ Elementa  Philosophica,  Boston,  1746. 

King’s  Heathen  Gods. 

Kinnersley,  Ebenezer,  Experiments  in  Electricity,  Phila.,  1764. 
Latin  Grammar,  for  the  use  of  the  College,  Philadelphia,  1773. 
Latin  Tongue,  for  Grammar  School  at  Nassau  Hall,  Phila.,  1767. 
Lake,  John,  Maury’s  Principles  of  Eloquence,  Albany,  1797. 
Lavoisier,  Elements  of  Chemistry,  Philadelphia , 1799. 

Lee.  C.  A.,  American  Accountant,  Lansingburgh,  1797. 

Livius,  Historiarum  Libri  quinque  priores,  Boston,  1778. 
Logan,  James,  Cicero’s  Cato  Major,  Philadelphia.  1744. 

Lowth,  Robert,  Introduction  to  English  Grnmmar,  Phila.,  1775. 
Macpherson,  John,  Moral  Philosophy,  Philadelphia,  1791. 
Massachusetts  Psalter,  Indian  and  English,  Boston,  1709. 
McDonald,  Alexander,  Youth’s  Assistant,  Litchfield,  1789. 
Martinet,  Catechism  of  Nature,  Boston,  1790. 

Mennye,  J.,  An  English  Grammar,  New  York,  1785. 

Miller,  Alexander,  Grammar  of  English  Lang.,  New  York,  1795. 
Milne,  W..  The  Well-bred  Scholar,  New  York,  1797. 

Morning  nnd  Evening  Prayer  and  Church  Catechism  in  Indian, 
Boston,  1763. 

Morse,  Jedediah,  Geography  Made  Easy,  New  Haven,  1784. 

“ “ “ “ “ Boston.  1790. 

“ American  Geography,  Elizabethtown,  1789. 

Murray,  Lindley,  English  Grammar,  New  York,  1795. 

Negro  Christianized,  for  instruction  of  negro  servants,  Boston, 
New  England  Primer,  Boston,  1692.  [1706. 

New  England  Primer  Enlurged.  Boston,  1737. 

New  England  Primer  Improved,  Boston,  1770. 

New  England  Primer,  much  improved,  Philadelphia , 1797. 

New  England  Primer  Enlarged  nnd  Improved,  Charlestown,  1799. 
New  nnd  Complete  Guide  to  the  English  Tongue,  Phila.,  1740. 
New  Book  of  Knowledge,  Boston,  1762, 1772. 

New  Introduction  to  Music,  Boston,  1764. 

Nomenclature  Breves  Anglo  Latina,  Boston,  1752. 

Otis,  James,  Latin  Prosody,  Boston,  1760. 

Ovid,  Metamorphoses. 

Parent’s  Gifts,  Boston,  1741.  [1798. 

Perry,  William,  New  Pronouncing  Spelling-book,  Worcester, 
Pierce,  Spelling-book. 

Philadelphia  Vocabulary  (Lntin),  Philadelphia,  1796. 

Pike,  Nicolas,  New  System  of  Arithmetic,  Newburyport,  1788. 
“ Abridged,  Worcester,  1795. 

11  Revised  by  E.  Adnms,  Worcester,  1797. 

Primer,  or  the  Child’s  New  Plaything,  Philadelphia,  1757. 
Practical  Penman,  Albany,  1727. 

Protestnnt  Teacher  for  Children,  with  verses  made  by  Mr.  John 
Rogers,  martyr  in  Marie’s  reign,  Boston,  1685. 

Psalter,  or  Psalms  of  David,  Worcester , 1704. 

Root,  Ernstus,  Introduction  to  Arithmetic,  Norwich,  1795. 

Ross,  Robert,  American  Grammar,  Hartford , 7th  Ed.,  1780. 
Royal  Primer,  Worcester,  1787. 

Rudiments  of  Lntin  Prosody,  Boston,  1760. 

Ryland,  John,  English  Grammar,  Northampton,  1767. 
Saunderson,  Nicholas,  Elements  of  Algebra,  Cambridge,  1740. 
Scott,  William,  Lessons  in  Elocution,  New  York,  1799. 
Sheridan,  Thomns,  Dictionary  of  Eng.  Lang.,  Phila.,  1796. 
Shorter  Catechism,  with  Proofs,  Boston,  1691. 

Shorter  Catechism,  Boston,  1739. 

Testament,  common  edition  by  the  dozen,  Worcester. 

Thomns,  Alexander,  Jr.,  Orator’s  Assistant,  Worcester , 1797. 
Ticknor,  Elisha,  English  Exercises,  Boston.  1792. 

Todd,  John,  American  Tutor’s  Assistant,  Philadelphia,  1797. 
Token  for  the  Children  of  New  England,  Boston,  1700. 

Tuft,  John,  Easy  Method  of  Singing  by  Letters.  Boston,  1723. 
Venema,  Pieter,  Arithmetic  of  Coffer  Konst,  New  York,  1730. 
Vinnll,  John,  Student’s  Guide  in  Arithmetic,  Boston,  1792. 
Virgilius,  Opera,  with  Translation,  Worcester,  1796. 

Ward’s  Latin  Grammar. 

Watts,  Isaac,  Cutechism  nnd  Prayers,  Boston,  1749. 

Webster,  Noah,  American  Spelling-hook,  Boston,  1794. 

Grammatical  Institute  of  Eng.  Lung.,  Hartford,  1783. 
“ “ *•  Part  II  . Boston,  1790. 

“ *'  “ Part  UL.  Hartford,  1792. 

W’hittenhall,  Lntin  Grnmmnr,  Philadelphia,  1762. 

Young  Clerk’s  Guide  to  Lenrning,  Boston,  1708. 

Youth’s  Instructor,  Philadelphia.  1745. 

Youth’s  Instructor  in  the  English  Tongue,  Boston,  1726. 


522 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


(3.)  School  Apparatus. 

In  the  schools  of  the  early  period  (1775 
to  1820)  there  was  little  in  the  way  of 
school  apparatus  beyond  the  birchen  rod, 
the  strap,  the  raw-hide,  or  the  ferule,  which 
answered  the  double  purpose  of  discipline 
and  of  assembling  the  school.  The  black- 
board was  not  introduced  into  even  the  city 
schools  earlier  than  from  1825  to  1830,  and 
did  not  find  its  way  into  the  best  country 
schools  till  after  1840.  Globes,  imported 
from  England,  were  found  in  a few  of  our 
colleges  perhaps  as  early  as  1800,  but  did 
not  make  their  appearance  in  the  public 
schools  before  1850.  The  orrery,  or  plani- 
sphere, or  some  other  mode  of  representing 
the  motion  of  the  planets  around  the  sun, 
were  mentioned  in  some  of  the  books,  and 
heard  of  as  belonging  to  the  college  proper- 
ties of  some  great  institution,  but  was  con- 
sidered, even  as  late  as  1840,  far  beyond  the 
reach  of  a public  school.  Outline  maps, 
first  made  by  J.  H.  Mather  & Co.,  though 
bearing  the  name  of  S.  A.  Mitchell,  were 
introduced  in  1840.  They  were  rude  com- 
pared with  those  now  in  the  market,  and 
there  was  a long  struggle  before  they  were 
very  generally  introduced.  Now,  one  or 
other  of  the  fifteen  or  sixteen  sets  of  outline 
or  wall  maps  are  found  in  all  the  principal 
schools  ; and  this  plan  of  illustrating  the 
sciences  by  wall  maps  and  charts  has  been 
extended  to  physical  geography,  geology, 
chemistry,  botany,  natural  philosophy  (in  a 
new  process  of  printing  on  oil-cloth,  in 
Johnson’s  Philosophical  charts),  to  anatomy 
and  physiology,  and  even  to  orthography, 
phonetics,  and  grammar. 

The  earliest,  at  least  one  of  the  earliest, 
manufacturers  of  philosophical  apparatus  in 
this  country  was  Timothy  Claxton,  an  Eng- 
lish mechanic  who  came  to  this  country  in 
1823,  and  worked  as  a mechanic  in  a 
machine-shop  connected  with  a cotton 
factory  in  Methuen,  Essex  County,  Mass. 
In  1826  he  removed  to  Boston,  taking  with 
him  an  air-pump  of  simple  construction, 
made  by  himself  of  a piece  of  gas-tubing, 
with  a ground  brass  plate,  on  a mahogany 
stand.  In  a little  volume  of  autobiograph}7 
entitled  Memoir  of  a Mechanic , published 
in  1839,  Mr.  Claxton  introduces  the  subject 
as  follows : 

“ After  I had  been  in  Boston  three  or 
four  years,  Mr.  Josiah  Holbrook,  a gentle- 
man much  engaged  in  the  establishment  of 


lyccums,  came  to  me  to  see  about  apparatus, 
as  he  was  trying  to  introduce  such  cheap 
and  simple  instruments  into  schools,  and 
other  seminaries  of  learning,  as  would  come 
within  their  means.  He  had  already  several 
articles  for  illustrating  geometry,  astronomy, 
&c.;  but  air-pumps  were  not  then  simplified 
enough  to  form  a part  of  the  lyceum  appa- 
ratus. At  this  interview,  I introduced  to 
his  notice  a small  air-pump  for  exhausting 
and  condensing,  and  several  articles  of  appa- 
ratus to  be  used  with  it,  which  I had  made 
for  the  amusement  of  myself  and  my 
friends.  He  frankly  acknowledged  it  to  be 
the  very  thing  that  was  wanted  in  the 
smaller  establishments  for  education.  He 
wished  me  to  make  some  for  sale,  and 
promised  to  recommend  them,  which  he  did 
not  fail  to  do.  From  this  interview  I may 
date  the  commencement  of  my  making 
philosophical  instruments  as  a regular 
business.” 

In  the  summer  of  1835  Mr.  Claxton  had 
his  shop  and  warerooms  destroyed  by  fire  ; 
but  as  he  was  fully  insured,  he  resumed  busi- 
iness  promptly,  taking  into  partnership  his 
principal  workman,  Mr.  J.  M.  Wightman,  who 
had  been  from  the  first  his  “right  hand  man,” 
and  who  in  1837  took  the  business  oft'  his 
hands, — Mr.  Claxton  going  to  England  in 
the  same  year.  There  his  zeal  for  popular 
education  led  him  to  getting  up  lyceums, 
and  lecturing  before  mechanics’  institutes, 
and  finally  to  an  engagement  with  the 
Central  Society  of  Education  in  London,  to 
superintend  the  manufacture  of  school  appa- 
ratus, similar  to  what  he  had  been  making 
in  Boston.  In  the  meantime  Mr.  Wight- 
man went  on  extending  his  manufacture  of 
apparatus,  and  by  his  interest  in  the  better 
education  of  mechanics,  and  the  improve- 
ment of  popular  education  generally,  became 
an  influential  member  of  the  school  com- 
mittee, and  Mayor  of  the  City  of  Boston. 

The  first  systematic  attempt  to  supply 
the  Grammar  Schools  of  Boston  with  a set 
of  philosophical  apparatus  was  made  in 
1847,  under  the  lead  of  George  B.  Emerson, 
LL.  D.,  the  most  eminent  teacher  in  the 
city,  and  at  that  time  in  the  school  com- 
mittee. The  set  was  classified  and  con- 
structed by  Mr.  Wightman,  and  was  very 
generally  adopted  in  schools  of  the  same 
grade  in  other  cities. 

The  first  school  apparatus  proper  for  illus- 
trating geography,  astronomy,  geometry,  and 
arithmetic,  which  came  within  the  reach  of 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


523 


SCHOOL  APPARATU& 


SPECIMENS  OF  APPARATUS  OP  THE  SCHOOL  AS  IT  IS. 


524 


PROFESSIONAL  AND  SPECIAL  EDUCATION. 


public  schools,  was  that  devised  by 
Josiah  Holbrook,  and  manufactured  for 
him  after  1835  by  his  sons,  and  subse- 
quently by  the  Holbrook  Manufacturing 
Co.  It  consisted  at  first  of  a five  or 
six  inch  globe,  a three  inch  globe  in 
halves,  a very  simple  tellurion,  a few  geo- 
metrical forms  in  wood,  and  a numeral  frame 
or  arithmeticon.  These  were  all  at  first  rude 
and  imperfectly  manufactured,  but  were  sub- 
sequently greatly  improved  and  other  articles 
added.  Competition  presently  brought  sev- 
eral good  6,  8,  10,  12,  18,  and  20  inch 
globes  into  the  market,  at  reasonable  prices, 
and  spelling  frames,  large  slates  and  frames 
with  wooden  panels,  covered  with  liquid 
slating,  slated  walls,  chalk-rubbers,  crayons 
and  crayon-holders,  drawing-frames,  chemi- 
cal and  philosophical  apparatus,  planispheres, 
tellurions,  concentric  globes,  geotellurions, 
celestial  indicators,  globe  timepieces,  micro- 
scopes, magic-lanterns,  &c.,  &c.,  followed  in 
rapid  succession,  until  the  furnishing  of  a 
school-house  cost  more  than  twice  or  three 
times  what  the  old  school-house,  furniture 
and  all,  would  have  required  fifty  years  ago. 
This,  of  course,  demanded  that  the  school- 
houses  should  be  more  roomy  and  better 
built,  better  arranged,  and  supplied  with 
better  and  more  comfortable  desks  and  seats 
than  they  had  been,  as  will  be  hereafter  de- 
scribed. 

There  is  another  improvement  of  which 
our  fathers  had  no  notion,  but  which 
to-day  is  recognized  all  over  the  country, — 
— a supply  of  reference  books  for  a 
school  and  where  it  can  be  procured,  a 
district  library.  No  school  would  now  be 
considered  furnished,  without  Webster’s  or 
Worcester’s  large  Dictionary,  Lippincott’s  or 
some  other  Gazetteer,  Johnson’s,  or  Col- 
ton’s Atlas,  and  Johnson’s,  or  Appleton’s 
popular  cyclopaedias,  for  reference  by 
both  teachers  and  scholars.  If  they  have  a 
library  of  choice  reading  for  the  pupils  and 
their  families,  so  much  the  better,  and  the 
city  and  many  of  the  village  schools  do  have 
this  additional  means  of  instruction.  In 
many  of  the  schools,  also,  there  is  a cabinet 
of  minerals  and  geological  specimens,  not 
very  extensive,  but  sufficiently  so  to  enable 
the  children  to  recognize  the  principal  strata, 
minerals,  and  elementary  bodies  which  enter 
into  the  geology  of  the  neighborhood  and 
the  globe.  In  these  matters  of  apparatus, 
cabinets,  libraries,  &c.,  we  are  perhaps  going 
to  the  opposite  extreme  from  that  of  our 


fathers,  and  introducing  to  the  mind  of  the 
child  so  great  a variety  of  objects  of  thought 
and  study,  that  no  one  of  them  will  be 
completely  mastered. 

In  our  city  schools,  particularly,  and  to 
some  extent  in  all  the  public  schools,  this 
multiplicity  of  studies  and  objects  of  thought 
has  put  so  much  work  upon  the  children 
that  there  is  danger  of  their  more  delicately 
organized  and  ambitious  pupils  breaking 
down  under  it ; and  this  danger  is  obviated 
in  a way  characteristic  of  our  time,  not  by 
abundant  and  invigorating  exercise  in  the 
open  air,  but  by  exercises  which  are  known 
as  “light  gymnastics,”  the  device  in  part 
of  Mr.  Dio  Lewis,  and  in  part  of  Prof. 
Watson.  The  apparatus  for  this  purpose 
consists  of  wands,  wooden  rings,  wooden 
dumb-bells,  Indian  clubs,  <fcc.  The  Manual 
of  Gymnastics  prescribes  a great  variety  of 
exercises  with  these,  which  are  so  arranged 
as  to  keep  up  the  interest  of  the  pupils  in 
them  for  a long  time.  These  “ light  gym- 
nastics” unquestionably  do  something  to- 
ward invigorating  the  muscles,  and  increas- 
ing the  litheness  and  dexterity  of  the  pupil, 
but  they  are  liable  to  the  objection  that  the 
mental  faculties,  already  overwearied  by  the 
multiplicity  of  lessons,  are  still  further  taxed 
to  remember  and  go  ‘through  these  calis- 
thenic  exercises  in  their  proper  order,  when 
the  mind  should  be  relaxed  from  all  care 
and  fatiguing  thought,  while  the  body  is  re- 
invigorated by  open  air  sports  and  pastimes. 
Still,  in  default  of  any  thing  better,  the 
“light  gymnastics”  perve  a tolerable  pur- 
pose. The  regulation  of  the  temperature  in 
the  school-rooms  by  a thermometer,  and  the 
introduction  of  good  and  sufficient  means 
of  warming  and  ventilation,  the  system  iza- 
tion  of  the  school  exercises,  recitations,  <fcc., 
by  a programme  regularly  adhered  to,  and 
indicated  by  the  stroke  of  the  teacher’s  bell, 
the  general  abolition  of  cruel  and  unusual 
punishments,  the  great  decline  in  the  use  of 
the  rod,  strap,  or  ferule,  and  the  substitution 
of  merit  rolls  and  records,  and  tokens  of 
honor,  are  all  steps  in  the  progress  of  edu- 
cation in  our  public  schools,  which  indicate 
the  improvement  which  has  been  made  since 
the  days  of  the  vigorous  and  stern  peda- 
gogues of  eighty  or  a hundred  years  ago. 

Among  the  constructors  of  apparatus  for 
schools,  academies,  and  colleges  should  be 
noticed  N.  B.  Chamberlain  and  A.  Ritchie 
of  Boston,  Mr.  B.  Pike  of  New  York,  J.  W. 
Schermerhorn  & Co.,  and  the  Holbrook  Ap- 
paratus Company. 


Tub  “ Assembly  ” School  Desks  and  Settees. 


li 

■S 


Principal’ s Platform  Desk,  (rear  view.) 


Assistant  T.acher'.  Dk.k.  TimbV.  Gao..  T....P..C, 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


525 


IX.  SCHOOL  ARCHITECTURE. 

(1.)  School-houses  as  they  were. 

Our  illustrations  give  some  idea  of  the 
exterior  appearance  of  the  rural  school- 
houses  of  eighty  or  a hundred’  years  ago, 
which  cast  not  only  their  shadows,  but  pro- 
jected themselves  into  our  own  times. 
They  were  generally  either  log  buildings  or 
frame,  though  occasionally  these  perversions 
of  architecture  were  perpetuated  in  brick  or 
stone.  The  location,  almost  invariably 
chosen  for  convenience  of  access  to  children 
from  widely  separated  homes,  was  at  the 
crossing  of  the  roads,  and  if  possible  on 
some  knoll,  without  tree,  shrub,  or  inclosure. 
If  the  building  was  of  logs,  it  was  rarely 
chinked  and  of  course  never  painted ; if  a 
frame  building,  the  weather-boarding  was 
cheap,  generally  warped,  and  often  detached 
for  fuel  or  other  purposes,  and  the  building, 
if  painted  at  all,  was  either  red  or  yellow. 
We  have  given  elsewhere  in  this  volume  de- 
scriptions of  the  interior  of  some  of  these 
school-houses,  in  different  parts  of  the  coun- 
try, from  the  pens  of  the  late  Dr.  Humphrey, 
S.  G.  Goodrich,  Judge  Longstrect,  and  others. 
The  improvement  in  these  edifices  did  not 
begin  till  after  the  first  quarter  of  the  pres- 
ent century.  A writer  in  the  Educational 
Monthly,  in  1871,  describing  a New  England 
school-house,  where  he  had  attended  school 
from  1828  to  1830,  in  a large  and  wealthy 
village,  gives  the  following  pen-picture : 

“ It  stood  upon  a little  knoll,  close  to  the 
street,  with  no  inclosure,  no  trees,  and  no 
protection  from  the  gaze  of  the  passers-by. 
It  was  a square  frame  building  of  one  story, 
about  twenty  by  twenty-five  feet,  covered 
with  clapboards  (except  where  these  had 
been  torn  off  to  aid  in  kindling  the  fire)  and 
shingled.  The  clapboards  had  at  some  re- 
mote period  been  painted  red,  but  this  now 
alternated  with  weather-stains,  and  gave  the 
building  a sort  of  brindled  appearance.  As- 
cending two  or  three  stone  steps  to  the 
weather-beaten  door,  the  entry,  as  it  was 
called,  presented  itself,  a square  closet  where 
the  boys  and  girls  hung  hats,  bonnets,  and 
dinner-pails.  The  school-room,  into  which 
we  next  passed,  was  nearly  square ; it  had 
been  lathed  and  plastered,  but  the  walls 
were  much  broken,  and  some  artistic  genius 
had  adorned  the  wall  overhead  (the  room 
was  hardly  seven  feet  high)  with  wreaths 
and  festoons  and  comic  figures  executed  in 


lamp-smoke,  so  completely  that  hardly  a 
vestige  of  white  wall  remained.  The  tradi- 
tional style  of  writing-desks,  a board  attached 
to  the  wall  and  running  round  three  sides*of 
the  room,  was  in  use  here,  but  the  building 
committee  had  kindly  provided  a shelf  be- 
low, where  our  school-books  could  be  stored, 
when  not  in  use.  The  seats  for  the  older 
scholars  were  of  slab,  with  legs  sawed  from 
some  sapling  about  two  inches  through,  and 
were  without  backs.  The  smaller  children 
had  similar  but  lower  benches.  In  the  mid- 
dle of  the  room  was  a huge  rusty  box-stove, 
which  could  take  in  two-foot  wood ; while 
on  the  side  unoccupied  was  the  master’s 
chair  and  a square  cross-legged  pine  table. 
The  teacher’s  table,  the  writing-desks,  and 
the  benches,  bore  evidence  of  the  whittling 
propensities  of  the  boys,  and  many  was  the 
fly-prison  and  pin-box  carved  and  excavated 
in  the  desk-board,  while  the  less  expert  had 
cut  holes  through  it,  and  would  amuse  them- 
selves with  dropping  crumbs  to  the  hungry 
mice  which  tenanted  the  school-house.” 

Henry  Ward  Beecher  thus  describes  his 
reminiscence  of  the  school-house  and  school 
of  his  boyhood. 

“ It  was  our  misfortune,  in  boyhood,  to 
go  to  a District  School.  It  was  a little 
square  pine  building,  blazing  in  the  sun, 
upon  the  highway,  without  a tree  for  shade 
or  sight  near  it ; without  bush,  yard,  fence, 
or  circumstance  to  take  off  its  bare,  cold, 
hard,  hateful  look.  Before  the  door,  in 
winter,  was  the  pile  of  wood  for  fuel,  and 
in  summer,  there  were  all  the  chips  of  the 
winter’s  wood.  In  winter,  we  were  squeezed 
into  the  recess  of  the  farthest  corner,  among 
little  boys,  who  seemed  to  be  sent  to  school 
merely  to  fill  up  the  chinks  between  the 
bigger  boys.  Certainly  we  were  never  sent 
for  any  such  absurd  purpose  as  education. 
There  were  the  great  scholars — the  school 
in  winter  was  for  them , not  for  us  picanninies. 
We  were  read  and  spelt  twice  a day,  unless 
something  happened  to  prevent,  which  did 
happen  about  every  other  day.  For  the 
rest  of  the  time  we  were  busy  in  keeping 
still.  And  a time  we  always  had  of  it. 
Our  shoes  always  would  be  scraping  on  the 
floor,  or  knocking  the  shins  of  urchins  who 
were  also  being  ‘educated.’  All  of  our 
little  legs  together,  (poor,  tired,  nervous, 
restless  legs,  with  nothing  to  do,)  would  fill 
up  the  corner  with  such  a noise,  that  every 
ten  or  fifteen  minutes  the  master  would 
bring  down  his  two-foot  hickory  ferule  on 


526 


PROFESSIONAL  AND  SPECIAL  EDUCATION. 


the  desk  with  a clap  that  sent  shivers 
through  our  hearts,  to  think  how  that  would 
have  felt,  if  it  had  fallen  somewhere  else ; 
and  then,  with  a look  that  swept  us  all  into 
utter  extremity  of  stillness,  he  would  cry, 
‘ silence,  in  that  corner !’  It  would  last  for 
a few  minutes;  but,  little  boys’  memories 
are  not  capacious.  Moreover,  some  of  the 
boys  had  mischief,  and  some  had  mirthful- 
ness, and  some  had  both  together.  The 
consequence  was  that  just  when  we  were  the 
most  afraid  to  laugh,  we  saw  the  most 
comical  things.  Temptations,  which  we 
could  have  vanquished  with  a smile  out  in 
the  free  air,  were  irresistible  in  our  little 
corner,  where  a laugh  and  a spank  were 
very  apt  to  woo  each  other.  So,  we  would 
hold  on,  and  fill  up;  and  others  would  hold 
on  and  fill  up  too ; till  by-and-by  the 
weakest  would  let  go  a mere  whiffet  of  a 
laugh,  and  then  down  went  all  the  precau- 
tions, and  one  went  off,  and  another,  and 
another,  touching  the  others  off  like  a pack 
of  fire-crackers  ! It  was  in  vain  to  deny  it. 
But  as  the  process  of  snapping  our  heads, 
and  pulling  our  ears  went  on  with  primitive 
sobriety,  we  each  in  turn,  with  tearful  eyes, 
and  blubbering  lips,  ‘ declared  we  did  not 
mean  to,’  and  that  was  true ; and  that  ‘ we 
wouldn’t  do  so  any  more,’  and  that  was  a 
lie,  however  unintentional;  for  we  never 
failed  to  do  just  so  again,  and  that  about 
once  an  hour  all  day  long. 

“ A woman  kept  the  school,  sharp,  pre- 
cise, unsympathetic,  keen  and  untiring.  Of 
all  ingenious  ways  of  fretting  little  boys, 
doubtless  her  ways  were  the  most  expert. 
Not  a tree  to  shelter  the  house,  the  sun  beat 
down  on  the  shingles  and  clapboards  till  the 
pine  knots  shed  pitchy  tears ; and  the  air 
was  redolent  of  hot  pine  wood  smell.  The 
benches  were  slabs  with  legs  in  them.  The 
desks  were  slabs  at  an  angle,  cut,  hacked, 
scratched ; each  year’s  edition  of  jack-knife 
literature  overlaying  its  predecessor,  until 
it  then  were  cuttings  and  carvings  two  or 
three  inches  deep.  But  if  we  cut  a morsel, 
or  stuck  in  pins,  or  pinched  off  splinters, 
the  little  sharp-eyed  mistress  was  on  hand, 
and  one  look  of  her  eye  was  worse  than  a 
sliver  in  our  foot,  and  one  nip  of  her  fingers 
was  equal  to  a jab  of  a pin  ; for  we  had 
tried  both. 

“We  envied  the  flies — merry  fellows; 
bouncing  about,  tasting  that  apple  skin, 
patting  away  at  that  crumb  of  bread  ; now 
out  of  the  window,  then  in  again ; on  your 


nose,  on  neighbor’s  cheek,  off  to  the  very 
school-ma’am’s  lips ; dodging  her  slap,  and 
then  letting  off  a real  round  and  round  buzz, 
up,  down,  this  way,  that  way,  and  every 
way.  Oh,  we  envied  the  flies  more  than 
any  thing  except  the  birds.  The  windows 
were  so  high  that  we  could  not  see  the 
grassy  meadows ; but  we  could  see  the  tops 
of  distant  trees,  and  the  far,  deep,  boundless 
blue  sky.  There  flew  the  robins;  there 
went  the  bluebirds;  and  there  went  we. 
We  followed  that  old  Polyglott,  the  skunk- 
blackbird,  and  heard  him  describe  the  way 
that  they  talked  at  the  winding  up  of 
the  Tower  of  Babel.  We  thanked  every 
meadow-lark  that  sung  on,  rejoicing  as  it 
flew.  Now  and  then  a ‘ chipping-bird  ’ 
would  flutter  on  the  very  window-sill,  turn 
its  little  head  side-wise,  and  peer  in  on  the 
medley  of  boys  and  girls.  Long  before  we 
knew  it  was  in  Scripture,  we  sighed : ‘ Oh 
that  we  had  the  wings  of  a bird  ’ — we  would 
fly  away  and  be  out  of  this  hateful  school. 
As  for  learning,  the  sum  of  all  that  we  ever 
got  at  a district-school,  would  not  cover  the 
first  ten  letters  of  the  alphabet.  One  good, 
kind,  story-telling,  Bible-rehearsing  aunt  at 
home,  with  apples  and  ginger-bread  pre- 
miums, is  worth  all  the  school-ma’ams  that 
ever  stood  by  to  see  poor  little  fellows  roast 
in  those  boy-traps  called  district-schools.” 

There  was  some  improvement,  but  not 
much,  in  the  external  construction  of  school- 
houses  in  the  large  cities  of  the  country, 
prior  to  1840;  but  the  advance  (and  it  has 
been  a great  one,  amounting  to  a revolution, 
though  there  are  even  now  in  all  the  States 
too  many  school-houses  answering  very 
nearly  to  the  preceding  description)  has  been 
mainly  since  1838.  The  progressive  devel- 
opment of  the  literature  of  this  subject 
is  thus  given  by  Hon.  E.  R.  Potter,  of 
Rhode  Island,  in  a report  to  the  National 
Educational  Convention  held  in  Philadel- 
phia in  October,  1847,  in  which  he,  as  the 
organ  of  a committee  of  that  body,  recom- 
mended for  general  circulation  in  the  United 
States  a small  treatise  on  the  location, 
size,  ventilation,  warming,  and  furniture 
of  buildings  designed  for  educational  pur- 
poses, prepared,  at  the  request  of  the 
committee,  by  Hon.  Henry  Barnard  of 
Connecticut. 

The  earliest  publication  on  t^e  subject  in  this 
country,  which  has  met  the  notice  of  the  Committee, 
may  be  found  in  the  School  Magazine,  No.  1,  pub- 
lished as  an  appendage  to  the  Journal  of  Educa- 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


527 


tion,  in  April,  1829.  In  1830,  Mr.  W.  J.  Adams, 
of  New  York,  delivered  a lecture  before  the  Amer- 
ican Institute  of  Instruction,  “ On  School-houses  and, 
School  Apparatus”  which  was  published  in  the  first 
volume  of  the  transactions  of  that  association. 
Stimulated  by  that  lecture,  the  Directors  of  the  In- 
stitute in  the  following  year  offered  a premium  of 
twenty  dollars  for  the  best  “ Essay  on  the  Construc- 
tion of  School-houses”  The  premium  was  awarded 
by  a committee  of  the  Institute  to  the  essay  by  Dr. 
William  A.  Alcott,  of  Hartford,  Conn.,  then  residing 
in  West  Newton,  Mass.  This  “ Prize  Essay  ” was 
published  in  the  second  annual  volume  of  lectures 
before  the  Institute,  as  well  as  in  a pamphlet,  and 
was  widely  circulated  and  read  all  over  the  country. 
In  1833,  the  Essex  County  Teachers’  Association 
published  a “ Report  on  School-houses  ” prepared  by 
Rev.  Gr.  B.  Perry,  which  is  a searching  and  vigor-  ! 
ous  exposure  of  the  evils  resulting  from  the  de- 
fective construction  and  arrangement  of  school- 
houses.  From  this  time  the  subject  began  to  attract 
public  attention,  and  improvements  were  made  in 
the  construction  and  furniture  of  school-rooms, 
especially  in  large  cities  and  villages. 

In  1838.  Hon.  Horace  Mann  submitted  a “ Report 
on  School-houses  ” as  supplementary  to  his  First 
Annual  Report  as  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Educa- 
tion in  Massachusetts,  in  which  the  whole  subject, 
and  especially  that  of  ventilation,  is  discurred  with 
great  fullness  and  ability.  This  Report  was  widely 
circulated  in  a pamphlet  form,  and  in  the  various 
educational  periodicals  of  the  country,  and  gave  a 
powerful  impulse  to  improvement  in  this  department, 
not  only  in  Massachusetts,  but  in  other  States.  In 
the  same  year,  Hon.  Henry  Barnard  prepared  an 
“Essay  on  School  Architecture ,”  in  which  he 
embodied  the  results  of  much  observation,  experi- 
ence and  reflection,  in  a manner  so  systematic  and 
practical  as  to  meet  the  wants  of  all  who  may  have 
occasion  to  superintend  the  erection,  alteration,  or 
furnishing  of  school-houses.  This  essay  was  original- 
ly prepared  and  delivered  as  a lecture  in  the  course 
of  his  official  visits  to  different  towns  of  Connecticut, 
as  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Commissioners  of 
Cpmmon  Schools.  It  was  first  published  in  1841. 
in  the  Connecticut  Common  School  Journal,  and  in 
1842  was  submitted,  with  some  modifications  and 
numerous  illustrations,  as  a “ Report  on  School- 
houses”  to  the  Legislature.  It  may  be  mentioned 
as  an  evidence  of  the  low  appreciation  in  which  the 
whole  subject  was  regarded  at  that  time,  in  a State 
which  prides  herself  on  the  condition  of  her  common 
schools,  and  on  the  liberality  with  which  hor  system 
of  public  education  is  endowed,  that  the  Joint 
Standing  Committee  on  education,  on  the  part  of 
the  Senate  and  House,  refused  to  recommend  the 
publication  of  this  Essay,  although  it  is  by  far  the 
most  thorough,  systematic  and  practical  discussion 
of  the  subject  which  has  appeared  in  this  country 
or  in  Europe.  And  it  was  only  through  the 
strenuous  efforts  of  a few  intelligent  friends  of 
school  improvements  that  its  publication  was  secured, 
and  then,  only  on  condition  that  the  author  should 
bear  the  expense  of  the  wood-cuts  by  which  it  was 
illustrated,  and  a portion  of  the  bill  for  printing. 
Since  its  first  publication,  more  than  one  hundred 
thousand  copies  of  the  original  essay  have  boon 
printed  in  various  forms  and  distributed  in  different 
States,  without  any  pecuniary  advantage  to  the  | 


author.  * * * In  1838,  Mr.  Barnard  republished 
his  essay,  with  plans  and  descriptions  of  numerous 
school-houses  which  had  been  erected  under  his 
direction  in  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut,  and  after 
his  suggestions  in  other  States,  and  including  all  of 
the  plans  of  any  value  which  had  been  published 
by  Mr.  Mann,  Mr.  Emerson,  Mr.  Bishop  (the  Provi- 
dence plans),  and  other  laborers  in  this  field  at  home 
and  in  England,  with  the  title  of  “ School' Architec- 
ture, or  Contributions  to  the  Improvement  of  School- 
houses  in  tlxt  United  States” 

Without  the  remotest  thought  of  ignor- 
ing the  great  services  of  others  in  securing 
local  action  in  this  line  of  improvement,  or 
in  extending  and  perfecting  the  work  in  any 
State,  we  are  satisfied  that  the  first  and 
highest  honor  in  this  department  of  labor 
belongs  to  Hon.  Henry  Barnard,*  not  only 
for  his  early,  but  for  his  masterly  and  ex- 
haustive treatment  of  the  whole  subject  in 
1838,  not  only  to  meet  the  immediate  de- 
mand, but  to  leave  little  or  nothing  in  the 
way  of  principles,  or  details  of  internal  ar- 
rangements, to  be  developed  and  perfected 
afterwards.  To  the  following  summary  of 
principles  set  forth  in  1838,  to  be  regarded 
in  the  location,  construction,  arrangement  of 
seats  and  desks,  lighting,  ventilation,  warm- 
ing, and  equipment  generally,  we  find  noth- 
ing essentially  important  in  the  structures 
erected  within  the  past  year. 

School-houses  as  they  should  be. 

1.  A location,  healthy,  accessible  from  all  parts  of 
the  district;  retired  from  the  dust,  noise  and  dan- 
ger of  the  highway;  attractive,  from  its  choice  of 
sun  and  shade,  and  commanding,  in  one  or  more 
directions,  the  cheap,  yet  priceless  educating  influ- 
ences of  fine  scenery. 

2.  A site  large  enough  to  admit  of  a yard  in 
front  of  the  building,  either  common  to  the  whole 
school,  or  appropriated  to  green-sward,  flowers,  and 
shrubbery ; and  two  yards  in  the  rear,  one  for  each 
sex,  properly  inclosed,  and  fitted  up  with  means 
of  recreation  and  exercise. 

3.  Separate  entrances  to  the  school-room  for  each 
sex ; each  entrance  distinct  from  the  front  door,  and 
fitted  up  with  scraper,  mats,  and  old  broom  for  the 
feet ; with  hooks,  shelves,  &c.,  for  hats,  over-coats, 
over-shoes  and  umbrellas;  with  sink,  pump,  basin 
and  towels,  and  with  brooms  and  duster,  and  all  the 
means  and  appliances  necessary  to  secure  habits  of 
order,  neatness  and  cleanliness. 

4.  School-room,  in  addition  to  the  space  required 
by  aisles  and  the  teacher’s  platform,  sufficient  to 
accommodate  with  a seat  and  desk,  not  only  each 
scholar  in  the  district  who  is  in  the  habit  of  attend- 
ing school,  but  all  who  may  bo  entitled  to  attend ; 

* It  should  he  said  in  justice  to  Dr.  Bnrnnrd,  who«e  name 
nppenr*  ns  the  nuthnr  of  this  article,  that  this  chapter  wns 
written  by  another  hand,  and  wns  never  seen  l» v him  till  it  was 
in  print.  In  the  Preface  to  his  Piinciples  of  School  Architec- 
ture. I)r.  R.  gives  a chronological  history  of  the  previous  efforts 
which  hnd  been  made  to  improve  the  designs,  construction  n ml 
equipment  of  school-houses.  In  the  revised  edition  (18711)  of 
the  School  Architecture,  nre  upwnrds  of  200  illustrations  of 
I buildings  recently  erected  in  different  purtsuf  the  country. 


SCHOOL-HOUSES  AS  THEY  WERE. 


SCHOOL-HOUSES,  APPARATUS,  AND  TEXT-BOOKS. 


529 


SCHOOL-HOUSES  AS  THEY  ARE. 


COUNTRY  DISTRICT  SCHOOL-HOUSE. 


VILLAGE  SCHOOL- HOUSE. 


BROWN  SCHOOL,  HARTFORD,  CONN. 


VIEW  OP  G IRAKI)  COLLEGE. 


PACKER  COLLECIATE  INSTITUTE. 


PACKER  FEMALE  COLLEGIATE  INSTITUTE, 


Fig.  2.  Garden  Front. 


Fig.  3.  IWTKHIOR  OF  CUAFHL. 


STEVENS'  INSTITUTE  OF  TECHNOLOGY — HOBOKEN,  N.  J. 


PROFESSIONAL  AND  SPECIAL  EDUCATION. 


535 


with  verge  enough  to  receive  the  children  of  indus- 
trious, thoughtful  and  religious  families,  who  are 
sure  to  be  attracted  to  a district  which  is  blessed 
with  a good  school-house  and  a.  good  school. 

5.  At  least  one  spare  room  for  recitation,  library, 
and  other  uses,  to  every  school-room,  no  matter  how 
small  the  school  may  be. 

6.  An  arrangement  of  the  windows,  so  as  to 
se  ure  one  blank  wall,  and  at  the  same  time  the 
cheerfulness  and  warmth  of  the  sunlight,  at  all  times 
of  the  day,  with  arrangements  to  modify  the  same 
by  blTnds,  shutters,  or  curtains. 

7.  Apparatus  for  warming,  by  which  a large  quan- 
tity of  pure  air  from  outside  of  the  building  can  be 
moderately  heated,  and  introduced  into  the  room 
without  passing  over  a red-hot  iron  surface,  and  dis- 
tributed equally  to  different  parts  of  the  room. 

8.  A cheap,  simple,  and  efficient  mode  of  ventila- 
tion, by  which  the  air  in  every  part  of  a school- 
room, which  is  constantly  becoming  vitiated  by  res- 
piration. combustion,  or  other  causes,  may  be  con- 
stantly flowing  out  of  the  room,  and  its  place  filled 
by  an  adequate  supply  of  fresh  air  drawn  from  a 
pure  source,  and  admitted  into  the  room  at  the 
right  temperature,  of  the  requisite  degree  of  mois- 
ture. and  without  any  perceptible  current. 

9.  A desk  with  at  least  two  feet  of  top  surface, 
and  in  no  case  for  more  than  two  pupils,  inclined 
toward  the  front  edge  one  inch  in  a foot,  except  two 
to  three  inches  of  the  most  distant  portion,  which 
should  be  level, — covered  with  cloth  to  prevent 
noise, — fitted  with  an  ink-pot  (supplied  with  a lid 
and  a pen-wiper)  and  a slate,  with  a pencil-holder 
and  a sponge  attached. — supported  by  end-pieces 
or  stanchions,  curved  so  as  to  be  convenient  for 
sweeping,  and  to  admit  of  easy  access  to  the  seat, 
— and  of  varying  heights  for  small  and  large  pupils, 
the  front  edge  of  each  desk  being  from  seven  to 
nine  inces  (seven  for  the  lowest  and  nine  for  the 
highest,  t higher  than  the  front  edge  of  the  seat  or 
chair  attached. 

10.  A chair  or  bench  for  each  pupil,  and  in  no 
case  for  more  than  two,  unless  separated  by  an 
aiste,  with  a seat  hollowed  like  an  ordinary  chair, 
and  varying  in  height  from  ten  to  seventeen  inches 
from  the  outer  edge  to  the  floor,  so  that  each  pupil, 
when  properly  seated,  can  rest  his  feet  on  the  floor 
without  the  muscles  of  the  thigh  pressing  hard  upon 
the  front  edge  of  the  seat,  and  with  a proper  sup- 
port for  the  muscles  of  the  back. 

11.  An  arrangement  qf  the  seats  and  desks,  so 
as  to  allow  of  an  aisle  or  free  passage  of  at  least  two 
feet  around  the  room,  and  between  each  range  of 
seats  for  two  scholars,  and  so  as  to  bring  each 
scholar  under  the  supervision  of  the  teacher. 

12.  Arrangements  for  the  teacher,  such  as  a 
separate  closet  for  his  over-coat,  &c.,  a desk  for  his 
papers,  a library  of  books  of  reference,  maps,  appa- 
ratus, and  all  such  instrumentalities  by  which  his 
capacities  for  instruction  may  bo  made  in  the  highest 
degree  useful. 

13.  Accommodations  for  a school  library  for  con- 
sultation and  circulation  among  the  pupils,  both  at 
school  and  as  a means  of  carrying  on  the  work  of 
self-education  at  their  homes,  in  the  field,  or  the 
workshop,  after  they  have  left  school. 

14.  A design  in  good  taste  and  fit  proportion,  in 
place  of  the  wretched  perversions  of  architecture, 
which  almost  universally  characterize  the  district  or  | 
public  school-houses. 


15.  While  making  suitable  accommodation  for  the 
school,  it  will  be  a wise,  and,  all  things  considered, 
an  economical  investment,  on  the  part  of  many  dis- 
tricts, to  provide  apartments  in  the  same  building, 
or  in  its  neighborhood,  for  the  teacher  and  his 
family.  This  arrangement  will  give  character  and 
permanence  to  the  office  of  teaching,  and  at  the 
same  time  secure  better  supervision  for  the  school- 
house  and  premises,  and  more  attention  to  the 
manners  of  the  pupils  out  of  school.  Provision  for 
the  residence  of  the  teacher,  and  not  unfrequently 
a garden  for  his  cultivation,  is  made  in  connection 
with  the  parochial  schools  in  Scotland,  and  with  the 
first  class  of  public  schools  in  Germany. 

16.  Whenever  practicable,  the  privies  should  be 
disconnected  from  the  play-ground,  and  be  ap- 
proached bjr  a covered  walk.  Perfect  seclusion, 
neatness,  and  propriety  should  be  strictly  observed, 
and  can  easily  be  done  wherever  water  is  supplied. 

17.  A shed,  or  covered  walk,  or  the  basement 
story  paved  under  feet,  and  open  for  free  circulation 
of  air  for  the  boys,  and  an  upper  room  with  the 
floor  deafened  and  properly  supported  for  calislhenic 
exercises  for  the  girls,  is  a desirable  appendage. 

In  1857,  Mr.  Burrowes,  who  had  been 
State  superintendent  of  schools  in  Penn- 
sylvania, after  trying  in  vain  to  obtain 
an  appropriation  for  the  distribution 
of  Dr.  Barnard’s  “ School  Architecture ,” 
to  every  district  in  Pennsylvania,  pre- 
pared a similar  work,  which  was  circu- 
lated extensively  in  that  State.  In  1858, 
Mr.  James  Johonnot  published  a very  good 
treatise  on  Country  School  Houses,  with  nu- 
merous illustrations,  and  in  1872  another 
with  the  simple  title  of  “ School  Houses 
the  architectural  designs  in  which  were 
drawn  by  S.  E.  Ilewes,  architect,  and 
which  contained,  as  an  appendix,  Messrs. 
J.  W.  Schermerhorn  & Co.’s  Illustrated 
Catalogue  of  School  Furniture,  Appa- 
ratus, and  Appliances,  unquestionably 
the  largest  and  most  complete  in  the 
country.  In  1801  or  1862,  Mr.  George 
E.  Woodward,  architect  and  publisher, 
who  had  previously  published  many 
designs  and  plans  of  school-houses,  is- 
sued a large  and  elaborate  work,  Eveleth’s 
School-house  Architecture.  Several  other 
architectural  writers  have  also  published 
many  designs  for  school-houses  very  pleas- 
ing to  the  eye,  but  occasionally  defective  in 
their  internal  arrangements  from  want  of 
knowledge  of  the  actual  requirements  of  the 
school.  On  the  subject  of  ventilation,  partly 
with  reference  to  school-houses,  there  have 
been  several  special  treatises  by  Reid, 
Gouge,  Leeds,  <fcc.  Upwards  of  $100,000,- 
000  have  been  invested  in  the  construction 
and  equipment  of  school-houses  in  the  dif- 
j ferent  States  since  1838 


536 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


X.  BENEFACTORS  OF  EDUCATION. 

No  nation,  by  itself  or  its  citizens,  ever 
dealt  so  munificently  for  educational 
purposes  as  our  own,  especially  within 
the  past  fifteen  or  twenty  years.  Prof. 
Tyndal,  in  his  speech  just  before  his  de- 
parture from  our  shores,  said  : u The  willing- 
ness of  American  citizens  to  throw  their 
fortunes  into  the  cause  of  public  education 
is  without  a parallel  in  my  experience.”  In 
our  early  history  our  people  were  poor,  and 
the  gift  of  large  sums  for  this  purpose  was 
impossible  unless  the  donor  lived  abroad. 
Moreover,  a moderate  sum  at  that  time,  with 
the  cheapness  of  land  and  the  low  price  of 
labor  and  building  materials,  went  farther 
than  a much  larger  endowment  would  now ; 
and  if  the  endowment  was  in  lands,  and 
they  were  retained  for  many  years,  there 
was  a greatly  enhanced  value  in  the  gift.  It 
is  not  within  the  limits  of  our  space  to  name 
all  the  early,  even,  much  less  of  the  multitude 
of  later  benefactors  to  education  who  have 
done  so  much  to  benefit  and  bless  their  coun- 
try ; we  can  only  enumerate  the  more  con- 
spicuous among  them. 

Of  the  earliest  benefactors  of  education  in 
this  country,  such  men  as  John  Howard, 
who  gave  £750  ($3,750)  to  convert  a feeble 
and  ill  sustained  grammar-school  into  the 
first  permanent  college  in  America ; Thomas 
Hopkins,  whose  £2,800  ($14,000)  founded 
three  grammar-schools  and  helped  to  endow 
a college ; Elihu  Yale,  whose  gift  of  £500 
($2,500)  laid  the  foundations  of  Yale  col- 
lege : Bartlett  and  Hummer,  and  Whitfield, 
and  the  long  list  of  worthies  who,  in  colo- 
nial times,  gave  from  their  moderate  means 
what  was  perhaps  as  truly  a bounteous  gift 
as  the  hundreds  of  thousands  or  millions  of 
our  merchant  princes  of  to-day,  we  do  not 
propose  here  to  speak.  The  entire  en- 
dowments, except  lands,  of  Harvard  Col- 
lege up  to  1772,  were  not  over  $120,000, 
and  a part  of  these  had  been  destroyed  by 
fire.  Yale  College  had  received  from  1701 
to  1780  from  the  State  and  individuals  only 
about  $29,000.  But  the  present  century 
has  witnessed  a constantly  swelling  tide  of 
educational  donations  and  bequests,  whose 
magnitude  is  scarcely  computable  by  ordi- 
nary figures.  The  mind  takes  in  only  a very 
imperfect  comprehension  of  the  idea  of  mil- 
lions of  money  expended  for  a particular 
object,  however  grand  and  magnificent  iu  its 


scope  that  object  may  be.  The  following 
table,  prepared  by  Hr.  Brockett,  gives  a list 
of  the  principal  donors  of  money,  in  sums 
exceeding  $20,000,  to  educational  purposes 
within  the  past  hundred  years.  The  list  is 
necessarily  imperfect,  for  there  are  no  data 
for  a complete  one,  and  in  many  instances 
donors  of  large  sums  have  so  guarded  them 
with  restrictions  and  conditions  that  they 
are  unavailable,  or  the  amount  can  not  be 
ascertained.  When  we  consider  that  all  the 
375  colleges  and  universities,  so-called,  at 
least  350  of  the  schools  of  secondary  in- 
struction, and  about  300  professional  schools, 
have  been  endowed,  some  of  them  largely, 
and  all  to  some  extent,  and  that  in  most  in- 
stances these  endowments  have  been  raised 
by  contributions  varying  from  $100  to  $20,- 
000,  we  shall  realize  that  this  table  does  not 
cover  half,  perhaps  not  a third,  of  the  edu- 
cational benefactions  of  the  last  hundred 
years.  Thus  no  part  of  the  $500,000  sub- 
scribed for  the  endowment  of  Syracuse  Uni- 
versity ; of  the  $305,000  additional  endow- 
ment of  Tufts  College ; of  the  $300,000  ad- 
ditional for  Brown  University  ; of  the  $500,- 
000  now  raising  by  the  Alumni  of  Yale  col- 
lege toward  its  endowment ; of  the  $500,- 
000  for  Union  Theological  Seminary  ; of  the 
$260,000  called  for  by  Harvard  in  conse- 
quence of  the  Boston  fire ; the  $600,000 
added  to  the  funds  of  Trinity  College, 
by  Hartford ; the  $300,000  or  more  for 
Hobart  College,  Geneva ; of  the  $250,000 
for  Lewisburg  University ; the  $200,000 
for  Georgetown  College,  Ky.;  the  $300,000 
now  nearly  raised  for  the  endowment 
of  the  Southern  Baptist  Theological  Sem- 
inary at  Louisville,  and  scores  of  other 
college  and  school  endowments,  which 
might  be  named.  Yet  the  benefactions 
named  in  this  table  form  an  aggregate  of 
over  $40,000,000,  and  we  are  certainly 
within  bounds  if  we  state  the  aggregate  en- 
dowment, including  real  estate,  of  our 
schools,  colleges  and  professional  schools,  in- 
cluding the  State  and  national  grants  to 
them,  as  exceeding  one  hundred  and  fifty 
millions  of  dollars ; of  which  not  less  than 
one  hundred  millions  is  the  gift  or  bequest 
of  individuals. 

With  such  abundant  liberality  on  the 
part  of  our  citizens,  we  ought  to  have  all  the 
material  conditions  of  the  best  schools  of 
secondary  and  higher  instruction  ; and  when 
we  are  as  well  supplied  with  able  and 
specially  trained  teachers  as  with  money,  wo 


PROFESSIONAL  AND  SPECIAL  EDUCATION. 


537 


shall  have  an  educational  system  to  meet  the 
demands  of  the  age  and  the  country.  At 
present  we  have  too  many  colleges  whose 
instruction  is  not  above  that  of  good  second- 
ary schools,  and  too  many  secondary 
schools  whose  principal  work  is  elementary. 
Were  the  present  endowments  concentrated 
on  one-half  the  number,  and  these  thus 
enabled  to  give  such  salaries  as  would  com- 
mand the  highest  order  of  talent,  we  should 
see  a rapid  improvement  in  our  colleges,  and 
out  of  the  dead  level  of  half-manned  and 
half-equipped  institutions  would  rise  a few 
Universities  in  fact  as  well  as  iu  name. 

There  are  many  lessons  to  be  drawn  from 
the  history  of  endowments,  as  well  in  this 
country,  as  in  Europe,  some  of  which  will 
ere  long  suggest  appropriate  legislation  to 
protect  the  principal,  and  at  the  same  time 
admit  of  such  application  of  the  income  as 
to  promote  and  not  defeat  the  evident  in- 
tention of  the  donor.  While  benefactions 
are  useful  in  providing  for  educational  wants, 
not  generally  felt,  they  not  unfrequently 
prove  hindrances  in  the  progressive  devel- 
opment of  institutions,  by  being  placed 
beyond  the  control  of  their  natural  guard- 
ians, who  should  be  at  liberty,  under  proper 
restrictions,  to  apply  the  same  to  such 
studies  as  new  discoveries  in  science,  or 
new  developments  in  art  may  require. 

The  contrast  between  the  slow  but  grad- 
ual accumulation  of  educational  endowments, 
begun  early  and  continued  from  year  to  year, 
and  the  recent  rapid  growth  of  the  funds  of 
of  an  institution  under  the  joint  liberality 
of  the  State  and  a few  individuals,  is  shown 
in  the  following  statement  taken  from  Bar- 
nard’s Educational  Biography,  Volume  TIL, 
Benefactors  of  American  Schools  and  Col- 
leges— Ezra  Cornell,  and  John  Howard  : 

‘The  rapid  growth  of  Cornell  University, 
both  in  pecuniary  resources,  cabinets,  profes- 
sorships, and  students,  is  one  of  the  marvels 
of  educational  history.  In  1865,  on  the 
failure  of  the  attempt  in  1856  to  establish  a 
State  College  of  Agriculture  at  Ovid,  on 
Seneca  Lake,  and  of  the  “ People’s  College  ” 
to  realize  a great  State  Industrial  University 
at  Havana,  Mr.  Cornell  proposed  to  the 
legislature  of  New  York,  to  devote  the  State 
share  (989,920  acres)  in  the  Congressional 
land  grant  of  1862  for  the  benefit  of  agri- 
culture and  the  mechanic  arts,  to  an  insti- 
tution in  Ithaca,  to  the  endowment  and 


maintenance  of  which  he  would  devote  the 
sum  of  $500,000,  and  two  hundred  acres  of 
land,  with  buildings,  as  a farm  to  be  at- 
tached to  the  agricultural  department.  The 
proposition  was  accepted,  trustees  appointed 
and  the  institution  opened  in  1868,  under 
the  name  of  the  Cornell  University,  with 
Hon.  Andrew  D.  White  as  president.  In 
1872,  there  were  525  college  students  (ex- 
clusive of  over  400  in  the  introductory  de- 
partment), classified  in  various  courses  of 
science,  literature,  arts,  agriculture,  archi- 
tecture, chemistry,  engineering,  mechanic 
arts,  natural  history,  and  optional  studies, 
under  54  professors,  assistant  professors,  and 
special  lecturers;  realizing  the  idea  of  the 
founder — ‘ an  institution  where  any  person 
can  find  instruction  in  any  study.’ 

Cornell  University,  in  1873,  possessed  the 
avails,  realized  and  to  be  realized,  of  the 
State  appropriation  of  the  Congressional 
land  grant  estimated  at  present  prices,  at 
over  $2,000,000,  and, 


DONATIONS  BY 

Ezra  Cornell $692,000 

Henry  VV.  Sage,  college  building,  &c 300,000 

John  McGraw,  library  buildin?,  &c 140,000 

Andrew  D.  White,  president’s  house 95,928 

Hiram  Sibley,  building  and  machinery 58,000 

Cascadilla  Company,  building 35,000 

Goldwin  Smith,  library,  &c 11,800 

Dean  Gage,  scholarship 30,000 

British  Government,  Patent  Office  collection,  &c.  11,000 

Green  Smith,  ornithological  collection 5,100 

Miss  Jennie  McGraw,  chime  of  bells 3.150 

Mrs.  A.  D.  White,  great  bell 2,570 

William  Kelley,  mathematical  library 2,000 

Lewis  Morris,  live  stock  for  farm 2,500 

R.  Hoe  & Co.,  printing  press 3,225 

J.  E.  Sweet,  tvpe-setting  machine 2,500 

Stewart  L.  Woodford,  prize  scheme 1,500 

Samuel  J.  May,  books 500 


These  amounts,  with  thirty  benefactions  in 
small  sums,  make  an  aggregate  of  $1,402,- 
614,  in  less  than  ten  years,  since  the  first 
announcement  of  Mr.  Cornell’s  intention. 

John  Harvard  was  one  of  the  earliest 
benefactors  of  American  education.  Harv- 
ard College,  to  which  he  left  half  his  prop- 
erty (1750),  has  been  the  recipient  of  more 
benefactions  than  any  similar  institution  in 
the  country,  a list  of  which  will  be  found 
in  Barnard’s  Benefactors  of  American 
Schools , and  in  his  History  of  Superior  In- 
struction in  the  United  States.  We  give  on 
the  following  page  the  condition  of  the 
property  as  it  stood  on  the  treasurer’s  book, 
Aug.  31,  1872,  amounting  to  $2,508,256. 
The  grounds,  building,  museum,  apparatus, 
«fec.,  represent  not  less  than  $3,000,000.’ 

[N.  B. — Table  referred  to  on  preceding  page  it  not  printed.] 


538 


GRANTS  AND  DONATIONS  TO  HARVARD  COLLEGE. 


Condition  of  Productive  Property,  Any.  31,  1872. 


UNIVERSITY  FUNDS. 

Stock  Account  (so  culler!) $154,010.08  j 

Insurance  and  Guaranty  Fund  (so  culled) 74,730.61 

Samuel  D.  Bradford  Fund 5,000.00 

Israel  Munson  Fund 15,000.00  j 

Leonard  Jarvis  Fund JO, 757.11  | 

Peter  C.  Brooks  Fund  for  President’s  house 4,921  93  ! 

Thomas  Cotton  Fund 150.95  | 

Total $270,576.68 

COLLEGE  FUNDS. 

Alford  Professorship $20,427.28 

Boylston  “ 20,988  00 

Eliot  “ 20,590.00 

“ “ (Jon.  Phillips’s  gift 1 ,900.90 

Erving  “ 3.333.34 

Fisher  “ 34,277.13 

Hersey  “ 16,677.13 

Hollis  “ (Mathematics) 3,508.89 

McLean  “ 41,012.31 

Perkins  “ 20,000  00 

Plummer  “ 23,828.75  | 

Pope  “ 50.90J.00 

Rumford  “ 54,315.40 

Smith  “ 22.037.93 

Fund  for  Permanent  Tutors 15.407.03 

Thomas  Lee  Fund  for  the  Hersey  Professor 11,929  66 

Class- Subscription  Fund 50.000  00 

Hollis  Professorship  of  Divinity 17,639.10 

Paul  Dudley  Fund  for  Lectures 1,040.55 

Jonathan  Phillips  Fund  (unrestricted) 30,000  00 

Henry  Flynt’s  Bequest 335.44 

John  Thornton  Kirkland  Fellowship 6,313.30 

Harris  Fellowship  10.576.72 

Abbot  Scholarship 2,338  14 

Alford  “ 654.50 

Bigelow  “ 11,279.72 

Bowditch  “ 90.310.41 

Browne  “ 2,426.32 

Class  of  1802  Scholarship 6.518.36 


DIVINITY  SCHOOL  FUNDS. 


General  Fund 

Bussey  Professorship 

Parkman  “ 

Hancock  “ 

$27,487.58 

5,722  31 

Dexter  Lectureship.. 

19,314.65 

Henry  Lienow  Fund 

Mary  P Townsend  Fund 

Winthrop  Ward  “ 

8.747.32 

5,006  Oil 

2.000.00 

Samuel  Hoar  “ 

1 060.00 

Abraham  VV.  Fuller ‘‘  .... 

1.000  00 

Caroline  Mep.riam  “ 

1 .000  00 

Jackson  Foundation 

18.709  39 

Clapp.  Pomeroy,  and  Andrews  Funds 

J.  Henry  Kendall  Fund 

Nancy  Kendall  •*  

5.487.33 

2,000.00 

2.000  00 

Lewis  Gould  “ . 

867.94 

Adams  Ayer  “ 

1 000.00 

Total $152,374,71 

LAWRENCE  SCIENTIFIC  SCHOOL  FUNDS. 

Professorship  of  Engineering $36.959  21 

Professorship  of  Chemistry 2,724.29 

James  Lawrence  Fund 50,000  00 

Abbot  Lawrence  “ 53,(  06.12 

Gray  Fund  for  Zoological  Museum 51.750.00 

Total 8200,039.62 

LIBRARY  FUNDS. 


“ 1814  “ 2,873.98 

“ 1815  “ (Kirkland) 4,346  45 

“ 1817  “ 3,311.57 

“ 1835  “ 2,381.16 

“ 1841  “ 2,156.40 

Graduates’  “ 22.975.96 

Hollis  “ 4.166.38 

Morey  “ 7,375.81 

Pennoyer  “ 5, >(31 26 

Saltonstall  “ (Marv  & Leverett) 4,103.74 

“ “ (Dorothy) 326  70 

Sever  “ 2,765.84 

Sewall  “ 8,261.60 

Shattuck  “ 23.829.32 

Story  “ 2,445  09 

Gorham  Thomas  • “ 3,665.10 

Toppan  “ 5.425.49 

Townsend  “ 22.987.64 

Walcott  “ 3,374.74 

B.  D.  Greene’s  Bequest  for  Scholarship 1,775.96 

Exhibitions 10,32189 

Senior  Exhibition 1.345.50  | 

Samuel  Ward  Fund 1.200.00 

John  Glover  “ 544.28 

Rebecca  A.  Perkins  Fund l.Jtif.34 

Lee  Prizes  for  Reading 14. 124  89 

Boylston  Prizes  for  Elocution 4,011.73 

Bowdoin  “ “ Dissertations 7,937.62  I 

Hopkins  Gift  for  “ Deturs,” 400  13 

Botanic  Garden  Fund 20,237.83  ! 

Mass.  Fund  for  Botanic  Garden 15,126.01  j 

Herbarium  Fund 12.550.07  I 

Total $833  227.04 

LAW  SCHOOL  FUNDS. 

Dane  Professorship $1", 000.00  : 

Bussey  “ 13.837.92  ' 

Royall  “ . . 7.943.63 

Total $36,781.55 

MEDICAL  SCHOOL  FUNDS. 

Jackson  Medicnl  Fund $18,278.71 

Geo.  C.  Shattuck  Fund 13,579.64 

Warren  Fund  for  Anatomical  Museum 7.441  80 

Boylston  Fund  for  Medical  Prizes 3,529.76 

“ “ Books 1,16790 

Medical  Library  Fund 1.478.33 

Total $45,476.14 


Subscription  for  Library 

Bowditch  Fund 

BoYDEN  “ 

$11,268.27 

1,895  85 

76.23 

Farrar  “ 

5,465.49 

Hall  “ 

197 

Haven  “ 

2,349.96 

Hayward  “ 

Hollis  “ 

5.032.61 

2.295.39 

Homer  

2,227.4 1 

Lane  “ 

4,938.59 

Minot  “ 

63,424.(3 

Salisbury  “ 

4,983.16 

Phapleigh  “ 

Ward  “ 

Wales  “ 

5,065.63 

474  87 

Total. 


$112,912.61 


OBSERVATORY  FUNDS. 

Edward  B.  Phillips  Fund  $101,292.13 

James  Hayward  “ 20,00000 

Sears  “ 15,5u5.45 

Quincy  “ 10,748.28 

Anonymous  Observatory  Fund KVOOO.OO 

Total i $160,635.86 

FUNDS  FOR  THE  ERECTION  OF  AN  ALUMNI  HALL. 

Charles  Sanders  Gift $20,000.00 

“ “ Bequest 33,417.20 

Gift  of  Class  of  1807 7 P17  c; 

Total 861,224.21 

FUNDS  FOR  SPECIAL  PURPOSES. 

BUSSEY  Trust  ('.  to  Busscv  Inst.,  $ to  Law  School, 

and  J to  Divinity  School $410,709 

Bussey  Institution 2.C54. 

Bussey  Buiid'iig  Fund 28.456.1 

James  Arnold  Fund  ( Arboriculture) 101,022.1 

Gray  Fund  for  Engravings 19068.1 

Gore  Annuity  Fund 19.8f2.: 

Mary  Osoood  Fund  (charged  with  an  Annuity)...  6,24" 

Gospel  Church  Fund 1.295. 

John  Foster  Fund  (Law,  Div.,  Med  Sch’l, in  turn)  3.(  20 ■ 
Sundry  Special  Purposes °°.2-( 

Total 8614, 629.44 

FUNDS  IN  TRUST  FOR  NON-COLLEGE  PURPOSES. 
Daniel  Williams  Fund,  conversion  of  Indians. . $J5  6"7.P5 
Sar  vii  Winslow  Fund,  Minister  ut  TvngGi.-.0  J ' ' 8.:  0 

Total tr 0.2 53.15 

Crand  Total $2,568,254.01 

(2.)  Expenses  for  year  ending  .1  g 31,  1872. 

1.  President’s  Salary,  Ac.  ,$2J,185  R.  Lawrence  Science  Sch.f.lR.??! 

2.  Professor!'  Salarie 7.  Observatory ' 

Scholarships,  Prizes,  Ac.,  *i4,0‘2O  b.  Library,.  .....  . . • • • • 
Botanic  Garden,  flre., ..  . 4.2:19  9.  P.uwv  Inst.,  buil.._  Ac.  52,165 
Gymnasium lrU5  10.  G-ay  F.ngia  v K C abinet,  1,*93 

, Divinity  School 19,007  11.  Amo’d  Arboretum,.  . . . 265 

1 o A *»*T  >Ulv  1 •>  A limit  tv.  


l aw  School 27,286  12.  Annuity 

Ml.I  .V  nflllfll 


SCHOOL-HOUSES,  APPARATUS,  AND  TEXT-BOOKS. 


530 


SCHOOL-BOOKS. 

The  improvement  in  the  authorship  and  manufacture  of  text-books,  from  the  Primer 
to  the  Manuals  of  our  colleges  and  scientific  schools,  within  the  last  half  century  is  im- 
mense. We  will  refresh  the  memory  of  some  of  our  readers  by  reproducing  a few 
of  the  tough  subjects  and  illustrations  with  which  they  or  their  fathers  were  painfully 
familiar. 

The  Horn-book. 

Few  of  us  have  had  the  satisfaction  of  learning  our  letters  after  the  manner  de- 
scribed by  Prior : — 

“To  master  John  the  English  maid 
A Horn-book  gives  of  gingerbread; 

And  that  the  child  may  learn  the  better, 

As  he  can  name,  he  eats  the  letter.’’ 

To  many,  even  a picture  of  the  old-fashioned  Horn-book — the  Primer  of  our  ancestors, 
consisting  of  a single  leaf  pasted  on  a board,  and  covered  in  some  Instances  with  thin 


IIOKN-IiOOK  OF  THE  EIGHTEENTH  CENTURY. 


transparent  horn  to  preserve  it  from  being  torn  or  soiled — will  be  new.  The  following 
description  and  the  accompanying  cut  we  copy  from  Barnard’s  American  Journal  of 
Education,  for  March,  1860: — 

Shcnstone,  who  was  taught  to  read  at  a dame  school  near  Halesowen,  in  Shropshire,  in 


540 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


his  delightfully  quaint  poem  of  the  Schoolmistress,  commemorating  his  venerable  precep- 
tress, thus  records  the  use  of  the  Horn-book : — 

“ Lo ! now  with  state  she  utters  her  command ; 

Kftsoons  the  urchins  to  their  tasks  repair; 

Their  books  of  stature  small  they  take  in  hand, 

Which  with  pellucid  horn  secured  are 
To  save  from  finger  wet  the  letters  fair.” 

Cowper  thus  describes  the  Horn-book  of  his  time : — 

“ Neatly  secured  from  being  soiled  or  tom 
Beneath  a pane  of  thin  translucent  horn, 

A book  (to  please  us  at  a tender  age 

’Tis  called  a book,  though  but  a single  page), 

Presents  the  prayer  the  Saviour  deigned  to  teach, 

Which  children  use,  and  parsons — when  they  preach.” 

Tirocinium , or  a Review  of  Schools , 1784. 

In  “ Specimens  of  West  Country  Dialect ,”  the  use  of  the  Horn-book  is  thus  shown : — 

“Commether  Billy  Chubb,  an  breng  the  hornen  book.  Gee  ma  the  vester  in  tha 
windor,  yor  Pal  came! — What!  be  a sleepid — I’ll  wake  ye.  Now,  Billy,  there’s  a good 
bway ! Ston  still  there,  and  mind  what  I da  za  to  ye,  an  whaur  I da  point.  Now ; criss- 
cross, girt  a,  little  a — b — c — d.  That’s  right,  Billy;  you’ll  zoon  lorn  the  criss-cross- 
lain  ; you’ll  zoon  auvergit  Bobby  Jiffry — you’ll  zoon  be  a seholard.  A’s  a pirty  chubby 
bway — Lord  lov’n !” 


New  England  Primer. 


Of  the  New  England  Primer  we  can  give 
no  earlier  specimen  than  the  edition  of  1777, 
embellished  with  a portrait  of  John  Han- 
cock, Esq.,  who  was  at  that  time  President 
of  the  Continental  Congress. 


The  Honorable  JOHN  HANCOCK,  Efq; 
Prefident  of  the  American  Congress. 


We  must  not  omit  the  painfully  interest- 
ing group  of  John  Rogers  in  the  burning 
faggots,  with  his  wife  and  nine  or  ten  chil- 
dren— including  the  one  at  the  breast — a 
problem  which  has  puzzled  many  a school- 
boy’s brain : 


MR.  JohnRogers,  minifterof  the 
gofpel  in  London,  w'as  the  firlt  mar- 
tyr in  Queen  Mary’s  reign,  and  was 
burnt  at  Smithficld,  February  14, 1554. — His 
wife  with  nine  small  children,  and  one  at 
her  breast  following  him  to  the  hake;  with 
which  forrowful  fight  he  wrs  not  in  the 
leaft  daunted,  but  with  wonderful  patience 
died  courageoufly  for  the  gofpel  of  J e s r a 
Christ. 


SCHOOL-HOUSES,  APPARATUS,  AND  TEXT-BOOKS. 


541 


We  are  fortunate  in  being  able  to  present  our  readers  with  an  exact  transcript  of  the 
four  pages  of  the  first  illustrated  alphabet  printed  in  this  country.  Some  of  our  readers 
may  recognize  their  old  friends  of  the  later  editions  of  the  Primer,  in  which  “Young 
Timothy”  and  “Zaccheus  he”  were  drawn  to  nature  less  severely  true.  The  whole 
belongs  to  that  department  of  literature  which  “ he  who  runs  may  read,  and  lie  who  reads 
will  run.” 


In  Adam’s  Fail 
We  finned  all. 


Heaven  to  find, 
The  Bible  Mind. 


Chrifl  crucify’d 
For  finners  dy’d. 


The  Deluge  drown’d 
The  Earth  around. 

E l i j a h hid 
By  Havens  fed. 


The  judgment  made 
Felix  afraid. 


Noah  did  view 
The  old  world  & new 

Young  Ob  a dias, 
David,  Josias 
All  were  pious. 

Peter  deny’d 
His  Lord  and  cry’d. 

Queen  Esther  fues 
And  laves  the  Jeu\ <\ 


Young  pious  Ruth. 
Left  ail  lor  T ruth. 


Young  Sam'l  dear 
The  Lord  did  lear. 


As  runs  the  Glass, 
Our  Life  doth  pass. 

My  Book  and  Heart 
Must  never  part. 


Job  feels  the  Rod, — 
Yet  bleffes  GOD. 


Proud  Korah’s  troop 
Was  fwailowed  up 

Lot  fled  to  Zoar, 
Saw  fiery  Shower 
On  Sodom  pour. 

Moses  was  he 
Who  IsracPs  Holt 
Led  thro’  the  Sea. 


Young  T imothv 
Learnt  fin  to  fly. 

V a s t h i for  Pride, 
Was  fet  alide. 


Whales  in  the  Sea, 
GOD’s  Voice  obey. 

Xerxes  did  die. 
And  fo  muft  1. 

While  youth  do  cheat 
Death  may  be  near. 

Z A C C H F.  17  8 ho 
Did  climb  the  Tree 
Our  Ixird  to  fee. 


33* 


542 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


WEBSTER’S  SPELLING  BOOK. 


Few  books  have  done  more  to  give  uniformity  to  the  orthography  of  the  language  or 
to  till  the  memory  of  successive  generations  with  wholesome  truths  than  Webster’s  Spell- 
ing Book.  Who  can  forget  his  first  introduction  to  those  four-and-twenty  characters, 
standing  in  stiff  upright  columns,  in  their  roman  and  italic  dress,  beginning  with  little  ar 
and  ending  with  that  nondescript  “ and  per  se  or  his  first  lesson  in  combining  letters, 


ba  be  bi  bo  bu  by 

Or  his  joy  in  reaching  words  of  two  syllables, 

ba  ker  bri  er  ci  der 

Or  his  exultation  in  learning  to  “know  his  duty”  in  those  “Lessons  of  Easy  Words”  be- 
ginning, 

No  man  may  put  off  the  law  of  God  : 

Or  the  more  advanced  steps,  both  in  length  of  words  and  stubborn  morality,  in  pursuit  of 

The  wiek-ed  flee 

And  closing  his  spelling  career  with 

Om  pom  pa  noo  sue 
Mich  il  li  mack  a nack 

And 

Ail  to  be  troubled 

Ale  malt  liquor 


In  this  hasty  glance  at  this  famous  text  book,  we  have  designedly  passed  over  the  fa- 
bles commencing  with  the  Rude  Boy  and  ending  with  Poor  Tray,  that  we  might  intro- 
duce them  all  unabridged  with  their  unique  illustrations. 

Of  the  Boy  that foie  Apples. 


which  foon  made  the  young  Chap  haften  down  from 


AN  old  man  found  a rude  boy  upon 
one  of  his  trees  ftealing  Apples,  and  de- 
fired  him  to  come  down;  but  the  young 
Sauce-box  told  him  plainly  he  would 
not.  Won’t  you  ? faid  the  old  Man, 
then  I will  fetch  you  down;  fo  he  pulled 
up  fome  tufts  of  Grafs,  and  threw  at 
him;  but  this  only  made  the  Youngfter 
laugh,  to  think  the  old  Man  fhould  pre- 
tend to  beat  him  down  from  the  tree 
with  grafs  only. 

Well,  well,  faid  the  old  Man,  if  nei- 
ther words  nor  grafs  will  do,  I mud  try 
what  virtue  there  is  in  Stones ; fo  the 
old  Man  pelted  him  heartily  with  flones; 
the  tree  and  beg  the  old  Man’s  pardon. 


MORAL. 

If  good  words  and  gentle  means  will  not  reclaim  the  wicked,  they  mull  be  dealt  with  in  a 
more  fevere  manner. 


Webster’s  spelling  book. 


543 


The  Country  Maid,  and  her  Milk  Pail. 

WHEN  men  fuffer  their  imagination 
to  amufe  them,  with  the  profpedt  of  dis- 
tant and  uncertain  improvements  of  their 
condition,  they  frequently  fuflain  real 
Ioffes,  by  their  inattention  to  thofe  affairs 
in  which  they  are  immediately  concern- 
ed. 

A country  Maid  was  walking  very  de- 
liberately with  a pail  of  milk  upon  her 
head,  when  fhe  fell  into  the  following 
train  of  reflections : The  money  for 

which  I fhall  fell  this  milk  will  enable 
me  to  increafe  my  flock  of  eggs  to  three 
hundred.  Thefe  eggs,  allowing  for  what 
may  prove  addle,  and  what  may  be  de- 
flroyed  by  vermin,  will  produce  at  leafl 
two  hundred  and  fifty  chickens.  The 
chickens  will  De  fit  to  carry  to  market  about  Chriflmas,  when  poultry  always  bears  a good 
price ; fo  that  by  May  Day  I cannot  fail  of  having  money  enough  to  purchafe  a new  Gown. 
Green — let  me  confider — yes,  green  becomes  my  complexion  belt,  and  green  it  fhall  be.  In 
this  drefs  I will  go  to  the  fair,  where  all  the  young  fellows  will  flrive  to  have  me  for  a part- 
ner; but  I fhall  perhaps  refufe  every  one  of  them,  and  with  an  air  of  difdain,  tofs  from 
them.  Tranfported  with  this  triumphant  thought,  fhe  could  not  forbear  aCling  with  her  head 
what  thus  paffed  in  her  imagination,  when  down  came  the  pail  of  milk,  and  with  it  all  her 
imaginary  happinefs. 

The  Cat  and  the  Rat. 

A CERTAIN  Cat  had  made  fuch 
unmerciful  havoc  among  the  vermin  of 
her  neighbourhood,  that  not  a Angle  Rat 
or  Moufe  ventured  to  appear  abroad. 
Pufs  was  foon  convinced,  that  if  affairs 
remained  in  their  prefent  fituation,  fhe 
mufl  be  totally  unfupplied  with  provif- 
ions.  After  mature  deliberation,  there- 
fore, fhe  refolved  to  have  recourfe  to 
flratagem.  For  this  purpofe  fhe  fuf- 
pended  herfelf  to  a hook  with  her  head 
downwards,  pretending  to  be  dead. 
The  Rats  and  Mice,  as  they  peeped 
from  their  holes,  obferving  her  in  this 
dangling  attitude,  concluded  flic  was 
hanging  for  fome  mifdemeanour ; and 
with  great  joy  immediately  Tallied  forth  in  quefl  of  their  prey.  Pufs,  as  foon  as  a fuflicient 
number  were  colledcd  together,  quitting  her  hold,  dropped  into  the  midll  of  them ; and 
very  few  had  the  fortune  to  make  good  their  retreat.  This  artifice  having  fuccccdcd  fo  well, 
fhe  was  encouraged  to  try  the  event  of  a fccond.  Accordingly  fhe  whitened  her  coat  all 
over,  by  rolling  herfelf  in  a heap  of  flour,  and  in  this  difguife  lay  concealed  in  the  bottom  of 
a meal  tub.  This  flratagem  was  executed  in  general  with  the  same  effed  as  the  former.  But 
an  old  experienced  Rat,  altogether  as  cunning  as  his  adverfary,  was  not  fo  cafily  enfnared.  1 
don’t  much  like,  faid  he,  that  white  heap  yonder:  Something  whifpers  me  there  is  mifehief 
concealed  under  it.  ’Tis  true  it  may  be  meal ; but  it  may  likewife  be  fomething  that  I fhould 
not  relifh  quite  fo  well.  There  can  be  no  harm  at  leafl  in  keeping  at  a proper  diflancc ; for 
caution,  I am  fure,  is  the  parent  of  fafety. 


544 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


The  Fox  and  the  Swallow. 


ARISTOTLE  informs  us,  that  the 
following  Fable  was  spoken  by  Efop  to 
the  Samians,  on  a debate  upon  chang- 
ing their  minifters,  who  were  accufed 
of  plundering  the  commonwealth. 

A Fox  fwimming  acrofs  a river, 
happened  to  be  entangled  in  fome 
weeds  that  grew  near  the  bank,  from 
which  he  was  unable  to  extricate  him- 
felf.  As  he  lay  thus  expofed  to  whole 
fwarms  of  flies,  which  were  galling  him 
and  fucking  his  blood,  a fwallow,  ob- 
ferving  his  diftrefs,  kindly  offered  to 
drive  them  away.  By  no  means,  faid 
the  Fox  ; for  if  thefe  fhould  be  chafed 
away,  which  are  already  fufficiently 
gorged,  another  more  hungry  fwarm  would  fucceed,  and  I fhould  be  robbed  of  every  re- 
maining drop  of  blood  in  my  veins. 


The  Fox  and  the  Bramble. 


A FOX,  clofely  purfued  by  a pack 
of  Dogs,  took  fhelter  under  the  covert 
of  a Bramble.  He  rejoiced  in  this 
afylum ; and  for  a while,  was  very 
happy ; but  foon  found  that  if  he  at- 
tempted to  ftir,  he  was  wounded  by 
thorns  and  prickles  on  every  fide. 
However,  making  a virtue  of  neceffity, 
he  forbore  to  complain;  and  com- 
forted himfelf  with  reflecting  that  no 
blifs  is  perfeCl ; that  good  and  evil  are 
mixed,  and  flow  from  the  fame  foun- 
tain. Thefe  Briers,  indeed,  faid  he, 
will  tear  my  fkin  a little,  yet  they  keep 
off  the  dogs.  For  the  fake  of  the  good 
then  let  me  bear  the  evil  with  patience; 
each  bitter  has  its  fweet;  and  thefe  Brambles,  though  they  wound  my  flefh,  preferve  my  life 
from  danger. 

The  Partial  Judge. 


A FARMER  came  to  a neighbour- 
ing Lawyer,  exprefling  great  concern 
for  an  accident  which  he  faid  had  Juft 
happened.  One  of  your  Oxen,  con- 
tinued he,  has  been  gored  by  an  un- 
lucky Bull  of  mine,  and  I fhould  be 
glad  to  know  how  I am  to  make  you 
reparation.  Thou  art  a very  honeft 
fellow,  replied  the  lawyer,  and  wilt 
not  think  it  unreafonable  that  I ex- 
pert one  of  thy  Oxen  in  return.  It 
is  no  more  than  juftice,  quoth  the  Far- 
mer, to  be  fure ; but  what  did  I fay  ? 
— I miftake — It  is  your  Bull  that  has 
killed  one  of  my  Oxen.  Indeed  ! fays 
the  Lawyer,  that  alters  the  cafe ; I 


Webster’s  spelling  book. 


545 


muft  inquire  into  the  affair ; and  if— And  if  I faid  the  Farmer — the  bufinefs  I find  would 
have  been  concluded  without  an  if,  had  you  been  as  ready  to  do  juftice  to  others,  as  to  exa& 
it  from  them. 


The  Bear  and  the  two  Friends. 


TWO  Friends,  fetting  out  togeth- 
er upon  a journey,  which  led  through 
a dangerous  foreft,  mutually  promifed 
to  aflift  each  other  if  they  fhould  hap- 
pen to  be  affaulted.  They  had  not 
proceeded  far,  before  they  perceived 
a Bear  making  towards  them  with 
great  rage. 

There  were  no  hopes  in  flight;  but 
one  of  them,  being  very  active,  fprung 
up  into  a tree ; upon  which  the  other, 
throwing  himfelf  flat  on  the  ground, 
held  his  breath  and  pretended  to  be 
dead ; remembering  to  have  heard  it 
afferted,  that  this  creature  will  not 
prey  upon  a dead  carcafs.  The  bear 
came  up,  and  after  fmelling  to  him  fome  time,  left  him  and  went  on.  When  he  was  fairly 
out  of  fight  and  hearing,  the  hero  from  the  tree  called  out — Well,  my  friend,  what  faid  the 
bear  ? he  feemed  to  whifper  you  very  clofely.  He  did  fo,  replied  the  other,  and  gave  me  this 
good  piece  of  advice,  never  to  affociate  with  a wretch,  who  in  the  hour  of  danger,  will  defert 
his  friend. 


The  Two  Dogs . 


HASTY  and  inconflderate  con- 
nections are  generally  attended  with 
great  difadvantages ; and  much  of 
every  man’s  good  or  ill  fortune,  de- 
pends upon  the  choice  he  makes  of 
his  friends. 

A good-natured  Spaniel  overtook  a 
furly  Maftiff,  as  he  was  travelling  up- 
on the  high  road.  Tray,  although 
an  entire  ftranger  to  Tiger,  very  civ- 
illy accofted  him;  and  if  it  would  be 
no  interruption,  he  faid,  he  fhould  be 
glad  to  bear  him  company  on  his  way. 
Tiger,  who  happened  not  to  be  alto- 
gether in  fo  growling  a mood  as  ufual, 
accepted  the  propofal;  and  they  very 
amicably  purfued  their  jourpey  together.  In  the  midft  of  their  converfation,  they  arrived  at 
the  next  village,  where  Tiger  began  to  difplay  his  malignant  difpofltion,  by  an  unprovoked 
attack  upon  every  dog  he  met.  The  villagers  immediately  fallied  forth  with  great  indig- 
nation, to  refeue  their  refpc£tivc  favourites ; and  falling  upon  our  two  friends,  without  dis- 
tinction or  mercy,  poor  Tray  was  mod  cruelly  treated,  for  no  other  reafon,  but  his  being 
found  in  bad  company. 


546 


REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSIONER  OF  EDUCATION. 


STATISTICS  OF  COLLEGES  AND  COLLEGIATE  DEPARTMENTS  IN  THE  UNITED 

CENT  INFORMATION  IN  THE  POSSESSION  OF 

Note  1.— Institutions  not  fully  reported  are  to  be  understood  as  not  being  in  recent  correspondence 
Noth  2. — For  statistics  of  the  professional  schools  or  departments  connected  with  any  of  these  institu 
cultural,  &c.,  in  this  report. 

Note  3. — In  the  columns  of  “ Cost  of  tuition  per  term,”  and  “ Board  per  month,”  statistics  marked 
Note  4.— In  this  table  the  abbreviations  in  the  column  of  “ Denominations  ” are  as  follows:  R.  C., 
copal;  Cone.,  Congregational ; Pres.,  Presbyterian  ; C hr.,  Christian;  U.P.,  United  Presbyterian;  C.  P., 
tists;  Univ.,  Universalist;  Unit.,  Unitarian;  Mor.,  Moravian;  N.  Ch.,  Now  Church;  G.  R.,  German 
pal ; E.  A.,  Evangelical  Associations ; M.  P.,  Methodist  Protestant ; C.  and  P.,  Congregational  and  Pres 
' Note  3. — The  existence  of  those  colleges  marked  with  an  interrogation  point  (?)  is  considered  doubt 


Name. 


Location. 


President. 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 
7 


East  Alabama  Male  College 

Florence  University (?) 

Wesleyan  College (?) 

Southern  University 

La  Grange  College (?) 

Howard  College 

Spring  Hill  College 


Auburn,  Ala 

Florence,  Ala 

do 

Greensborough,  Ala 

La  Grange,  Ala 

Marion,  Ala 

(Spring  Hill,)  near  Mobile, 
Ala. 


1830 

1841 

1835 


J.  T.  Dunklin 


A.  S.  Andrews,  D.  D. 


J.  F.  Murfee 

Rev.  J.  Montillot,  S.  J 


8 

9 

10 

11 

12 


Talladega  College 

University  of  Alabama. . 

Cane  Hill  College 

St.  John’s  College 

College  of  St.  Augustine. 


Talladega,  Ala  . . . 
Tuscaloosa,  Ala . , 
Cano  Hill,  Ark . . . 
Little  Rock,  Ark. 
Benicia,  Cal 


1832 

1852 

1857 

1868 


N.  T.  Lupton,  A.  M 

Rev.  F.  R.  Earle,  A.  M 

Col.  O.  C.  Gray,  A.  M 

Rev.  W.  P.  Tucker,  A.  M 


13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 
21 
22 

23 

24 

25 

26 

27 

28 

29 

30 

31 

32 

33 

34 

35 

36 

37 

38 

39 

40 

41 

42 

43 

44 

45 


St.  Yinccnt’s  College 

Marysville  College 

Odd  Fellows’  College (?) 

University  of  California 

Petaluma  College 

St.  Ignatius  College 

St.  Mary’s  College 

Union  College 

University  College 

San  Rafael  College 

Franciscan  College 

College  of  our  Lady  of  Guada- 
lupe. 

Santa  Clara  College 

University  of  the  Pacific 

Pacific  Methodist  College 

Sonoma  College 

Pacific  Methodist  College 

California  College 

Hesperian  College 

Colorado  College (?) 

Trinity  College 

Wesleyan  University 


Los  Angeles,  Cal 

Marysville,  Cal 

Napa  City,  Cal 

Oakland,  Cal 

Petaluma,  Cal . . ..  

San  Francisco,  Cal  — 

do 

do 

do 

San  Rafael,  Cal 

Santa  Barbara,  Cal — 
do 

Santa  Clara,  Cal 

do 

Santa  Rosa,  Cal 

Sonoma,  Cal 

Vacaville,  Cal 

do 

Woodland,  Cal 

Golden  City,  Col.  Ter. 

Hartford.  Conn 

Middletown,  Conn 


1867 


Rev.  J.  McGill,  C.  M. 


1855 

1866 

1855 

1863 


H.  Durant,  A.  M 


Rev.  J.  Bayma,  S.  J. 
Brother  Justin 


1859 

1869 

1868 


Rev.  Wm.  Alexander 

Alfred  Bates 

Rev.  J.  J.  O’Heefe,  O.  S.  F. 


1851 

1851 

1861 

1853 

1851 

1871 

1869 


Rev.  A.  Varsi,  S.  J 

Rev.  T.  H.  Sinex,  D.  D 

A.  L.  Fitzgerald 

Rev.  W.  N.  Cunningham 

Rev.  J.  R.  Thomas,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. . 

M.  Bailey,  AM 

J.  M.  Martin,  A.  M 


1823 

1831 


Rev.  Abner  Jackson,  D.  D.,  LLD 
Rev.  Joseph  Cummings,  D.  D., 


Yale  College 

Brandywine  College. . . 

Delaware  College 

University  of  Georgia. 

Atlanta  University 

Bowdon  College 

Oglethorpe  College  . . . 

Mercer  University 

Christ’s  College 

Montpelier  College 

Emory  College 


(?) 


New  Haven,  Conn 
Brandywine,  Del.. 

Newark,  Del 

Athens,  Ga 

Atlanta,  Ga 

Bowdon,  Ga 

Atlanta,  Ga 

Macon,  Ga 

Montpelier,  Ga 

Oxford,  Ga 


1701 


Rev.  Noah  Porter,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. . 


1869 

1801 

1867 

1856 

1835 

1838 


W.H.  Purnell,  AM 

A.  A.  Lipscomb,  D.  D 

E.  A.  Ware,  A.  M 

Rev.  F.  H.  M.  Henderson,  A B. . . 

Rev.  D.  Wills,  D.  D 

Rev.  A.  J.  Battle 


1837 


Rev.  L.  M.  Smith,  D.  D 


46 

47 

48 

49 

50 

51 

52 

53 


Abingdon  College 

Illinois  Wesleyan  University. . 

St.  Viatur’s  College 

Blackburn  University 

Chicago  University 

St.  Ignatius  College 

St.  Aloysius  College 

Euj-elm  College 


Abingdon,  111 

Bloomington,  HI 

Bourbonnais  Grove,  HI 

Carlinville,  HI 

Chicago,  111 

do 

East  St.  Louis,  HI 

Eureka,  111 


1853 

1852 

1866 


1859 

1870 

1868 

1852 


J.  W.  Butler,  A.  M 

Rev.  O.  S.  Munsell,  D.  D 

Very  Rev.  P.  Beaudoin 

Rev.  J.  W.  Bailey,  D.  D 

Rev.  J.  C.  Burroughs,  D.  D.,  LL.D 

Rev.  A.  Damen  

Rev.  F.  H.  Zabel,  D.  D.,  D.  C.  L . . 
H.  W.  Evorest,  AM 


STATISTICAL  TABLES. 


547 


STATES  AUTHORIZED  TO  COUNTER  DEGREES  IN’  ARTS,  COMPILED  FROM  THE  MOST  RE- 
THE  UNITED  STATES  BUREAU  OF  EDUCATION. 


with  the  office. 

tions,  reference  is  made  to  the  appropriate  tables,  theological,  legal,  medical,  normal,  commercial,  agri- 

u a ” mean  the  given  amount  per  annum ; “ 6 ” signifies  board  and  tuition  per  annum. 

Roman  Catholic;  Bapt.,  Baptist;  Mas.,  Masonic;  M.  E.,  Methodist  Episcopal;  P.  E.,  Protestant  Epis- 
Cumberland  Presbyterian ;Luth.,  Lutheran;  Fr.,  Friends;  U.  B.,  United  Brethren;  F.  B.,  Frco  Bap- 
Reformed  ; Ref.,  Reformed,  (Dutch;)  L.  D.  S.,  Latter-Day  Saints;  A.  M. E.,  African  Methodist  Episco- 
byterian  ; M.  E.  S.,  Methodist  Episcopal,  South. 
fuL 


Students. 


1 

i 

Denomination. 

Number  of  instructors. 

Preparatory  department.! 

a 

© 

= 

■s 

t 

fr 

Sophomores. 

Juniors. 

Seniors. 

Other  schools  not  profes- 
sional 

Males. 

Females. 

Total. 

Tuition  per  term. 

Board  per  month. 

.2 

00 

'o 

> 

0 

1 
§ 

i 

M.  E.  S 

7 

15 

28 

55 

98 

98 

fl$  70 

$18 

2 

Pres  . . . 

3 

4 

M.  E . . . 

5 

5 

C 

Bapt.. . 

5 

142 

142 

50 

2,500 

7 

RC  ... 

18 

40 

6 

6 

52 

52 

6323 

8,  000 

8 

8 

38G 

9 

11 

G4 

C4 

a50 

al50 

3, 000 

10 

3 

27 

104 

104 

c50 

13 

11 

Mas  . 

C 

G7 

G7 

a50 

IH 

12 

P.E  ... 

7 

49 

10 

14 

8 

9 

.... 

90 

90 

20-50 

25 

1, 100 

13 

RC  . .. 

4 

50 

50 

a250 

25 

1,000 

14 

15 

1C 

State  .. 

18 

174 

32 

13 

2 

5 

2G 

247 

5 

252 

Free . . . 

O200-320 

17 

Bapt . . . 

18 

R C ... 

19 

559 

559 

36 

19 

RC  . .. 

20 

21 

7 

22 

23 

RC  ... 

c 

30 

30 

30 

2 

92 

92 

dljO 

2,  000 

24 

25 

RC  . 

17 

225 

225 

6330 

12, 000 

26 

M.  E . . . 

G 

86 

2 

2 

2 

3 

20 

55 

CO 

115 

a3G-G0 

20-25 

2,  COO 

27 

M.  E . . . 

C 

115 

20 

10 

3 

2 

.... 

78 

72 

’50 

aJ0-70 

20 

500 

28 

29 

M.  E.. 

7 

6$ 

23 

6 

8 

6 

9G 

119 

88 

207 

a30-83 

20 

30 

Bapt . . . 

4 

32 

8 

2 

25 

17 

42 

25-40 

20 

300 

31 

Chr 

7 

87 

11 

14 

4 

37 

82 

71 

153 

15*-34J 

22 

150 

32 

33 

P.  E .. 

16 

49 

42 

42 

30 

1G3 

1G3 

090 

18 

15,  000 

34 

M.E... 

10 

... 

49 

42 

42 

30 

.... 

1G3 

1G3 

a33 

18 

20,  000 

35 

36 

Cong  . . 

25 

130 

131 

135 

128 

527 

... 

527 

30 

22 

90,  000 

37 

State  .. 

6 

44 

28 

... 

72 

72 

aCO 

1C 

33 

State  . . 

12 

14 

59 

33 

125 

231 

231 

6300 

20,  000 

39 

7 

... 

111 

59 

170 

40 

5 

51 

25 

... 

12 

8 

G 

102 

102 

a54 

al50 

41 

Pres  . . . 

6 

75 

75 

150 

150 

75 

18-25 

5,  000 

42 

43 

Bapt . . . 

5 

... 

14 

... 

24 

24 

20 

82 

82 

alOO 

18 

5, 000 

44 

45 

M.  E.  S. 

7 

34 

28 

47 

41 

23 

13 

18G 

18G 

35 

18 

7,  000 

46 

Chr  ... 

47 

M.  E... 

G 

132 

<* 

, 4 

1 

1 

56 

200 

200 

<133 

19 

1,500 

48 

RC 

9 

6207 

49 

Pres  . . . 

8 

28 

c 

5 

o 

2 

231 

181 

93 

D-.l 

6150 

50 

Bapt . . . 

14 

186 

26 

16 

15 

10 

24 

277 

277 

a50 

10 

4,  000 

51 

R.C.. 

6 

64 

43 

107 

107 

aCO 

52 

K.C.... 

4 

50 

50 

a 40 

1G 

300 

63 

Chr . . . 

C 

103 

35135 

Cost  of— 


Time  of  commencement. 


Last  Wednesday  in  June. 


Last  Thursday  in  Juno. 
4th  Tuesday  in  August. 

Last  Wednesday  in  June. 


Thursday  after  1 st  W ednos- 
day  of  Juno. 

August  16. 


3d  Wednesday  in  July. 
Juno  5. 

March  2. 


May  18. 

3d  Wednesday  iu  May. 
2d  Friday  in  May. 


Last  Tliurs.  but  two  in  July. 

1st  Wednesday  in  July. 

1st  Wednesday  in  August. 

1st  Wednesday  in  July. 

1st  Wednesday  in  J uly. 

2d  Wednesday  in  July. 


Wednesday  nft/r  3d  Mon 
day  in  July. 

Juno  20. 

2d  Thursday  in  Juno. 

Last  Thursday  in  Juno. 
About  the  end  of  June. 

1st  Monday  iu  September. 
1st  Wednesday  in  Juno. 


548 


REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSIONER  OF  EDUCATION. 


STATISTICS  OF  COLLEGES  AND  COLLEGIATE 


Name. 


Location. 


President. 


S 

03 

Q 


54 

55 
5C 

57 

58 

59 

60 
61 
62 

63 

64 

65 

66 

67 

68 

69 

70 

71 

72 

73 


Northwestern  University. 
Lombard  University 


Knox  College .... 

Marshall  College 0) 

Illinois  College 

McKendree  College 


Mendota  College  (?) 

Monmouth  College 


Northwestern  College 

Augustana  College 

Quincy  College 

Jubilee  College 

St.  Patrick’s  College (?) 

Shurtleff  College 

Westfield  College 

Wheaton  College 

Illinois  Industrial  University. . 

Dunkard  < College .(?) 

Indiana  University 


Evanston,  111 

Galesburgh,  111... 

do 

Henry,  111 

Jacksonville,  111  . 

Lebanon,  HI  \ 

Lincoln,  111 

Mendota,  111 

Monmouth,  III . . . 
Naperville,  111  ... 

Paxton,  111 

Quincy,  111 

Robin’s  Nest,  111 . 

Ruma,  111 

Upper  Alton,  111 . 
Westfield, HI  .... 

Wheaton,  111 

Urbana,  111 

Bourbon,  Ind 

Bloomington,  Ind 


1855 

1852 

1841 


E.  O.  Haven,  D.  D.,  LL.  D 

Rev.  J.  P.  Weston,  D.  D 

Rev.  J.  P.  Gulliver,  D.  D 


1855 

1830 

1835 

1865 


1856 

1865 

1860 

1854 

1847 


Rev.  J.  M.  Sturtevant,  D.  D 

Rev.  R.  Allyn,  D.  D 

J.  C.  Bowdon,  D.  D 

Rev.  J.  W.  Corbet,  A.  M 

D.  A.  TV  allace,  D.  D.,  LL.  D 

Rev.  A.  A.  Smith,  A.  M 

Rev.  T.  N.  Hasselquist 

G.  W.  Gray,  A.M 

Rt.  Rev.  H.  J.  Whitehouse,  D.  D. 


1832 

1861 


1868 


J.  Bulkley,  D.  D 

Rev.  S.  B.  Allen,  A.  M 
Rev.  J.  Blanchard,  A.  M 
J.  M.  Gregory,  LL.  D 


1828 


Rev.  C.  Nutt,  D.  D. 


74 

75 

76 

77 

78 

79 

80 
81 
82 

83 

84 

85 

86 

87 

88 

89 

90 

91 

92 

93 

94 

95 

96 

97 

98 

99 
100 
101 
102 

103 

104 

105 

106 

107 

108 

109 

110 
111 

113 

114 

115 

116 

U8) 


Brookville  College 

Wabash  College 

Franklin  College 

Fort  Wayne  College 

Concordia  College 

Indiana  Asbury  University 

Hanover  College 

Hartsville  University 

Northwestern  Christian  Uni- 
versity. 

Union  Christian  College 

Moore’s  Hill  College 

Salem  College 

University  of  Notre  Dame 

Earlham  College 

St.  Meinrad’s  College 

Valparaiso  College 

Smithson  College 

Howard  College 

Burlington  University 

Griswold  College 

Norwegian  Luther  College 

Parson’s  College (?) 

Fairfield  College 

Upper  Iowa  University 

Iowa  College 

Simpson  Centenary  College 

Iowa  State  University 

Iowa  Wesleyan  University 

Cornell  College 

Central  University  of  Iowa 

Whittier  College (?) 

Humboldt  College 

Tabor  College 

St.  Benedict’s  College 

Baker  University 

Highland  University 

State  University 

Ottawa  University 

Washburn  College 

Lane  University 

Berea  College 

Cecilian  College 

Centro  College 

Kentucky  Military  Institute  . . 


Brookville,  Ind 

Crawfordsville,  Ind 

Franklin,  Ind 

Fort  Wayne,  Ind. . . 

do 

Greencastle,  Ind  . . . 

Hanover,  Ind 

Hartsville,  Ind 

Indianapolis,  Ind  . . 


1851 

1834 

1843 

1846 

1850 

1837 

1833 

1850 

1855 


Rev.  J.  P.  D.  John,  A.M 

Rev.  J.  F.  Tuttle,  D.  D 

H.  L.  Wayland,  D.  D 

Rev.  L.  Beers,  A.  B 

Rev.  W.  Sillier,  Ph.  D 

Rev.  T.  Bowman,  D.  D 

Rev.  G.  C.  Heckman,  D.  D 

J.  W.  Scribner,  A.M 

W.  F.  Black,  A.  M 


Merom,  Ind 

Moore’s  Hill,  Ind 

Bourbon,  Ind 

Notre  Dame,  Ind 

Richmond,  Ind 

St.  Meinrad,  Ind 

Valparaiso,  Ind 

, Ind 

Kokomo,  Ind 

Burlington,  Iowa 

Davenport,  Iowa 

Decorah,  Iowa 

Des  Moines,  Iowa 

Fairfield,  Iowa 

Fayette,  Iowa 

Grinnell,  Iowa 

Indianola,  Iowa 

Iowa  City,  Iowa 

Mount  Pleasant,  Iowa 

Mount  Vernon,  Iowa 

Pella,  Iowa 

Salem,  Iowa 

Springvale,  Iowa 

Tabor,  Iowa 

Atchison,  Kans 

Baldwin  City,  Kans 

Highland,  Kans 

Lawrence,  Kans 

Ottawa,  Kans 

Topeka,  Kans 

Lecompton,  Kans 

Berea,  Kv 

Cecilian  Post  Office,  Ky . . . 

Danville,  Ky 

Near  Frankfait,  Ky 


1859 
1853 
1870 
1842 

1860 
1860 


1854 

1859 

1861 


1858 


1867 

1860 

1851 

1857 

1854 

1867 


1859 

1858 

1859 
1864 


1865 

1865 

1858 

1860 

1823 

1846 


Rev.  T.  Holmes,  D.  D „ 

Rev.  J.  H.  Martin,  A.  M 

O.  W.  Miller,  A.  M 

Very  Rev.  W.  Corby 

J.  Moore,  A.  M 

Rev.  J.  Hobie,  O.  S.  B 

Rev.  T.  B.  Wood 

Rev.  P.  R.  Kendall 


J.  Henderson 

Rev.  E.  Lounsbery,  A.  M 
Prof.  L.  Larsen 


Rev.  A.  Axline,  A.  M 

B.  W.  McLain,  A.  M 

Rev.  G.  F.  Magoun,  D.  D 

Rev.  A.  Bums,  D.  D 

Rev.  G.  Thacher,  D.  D 

John  Wheeler,  D.  D 

Rev.  W.  F.  King,  D.  D 

Rev.  L.  A.  Dunn 

J.  H.  Pickering 

Rev.  S.  H.  Taft 

Rev.  W.  M.  Brooks,  A.  M. .. 

Very  Rev.  G.  Christoph 

Rev.  J.  A.  Simpson,  A.  M 

Rev.  J.  A.  McAfee 

John  Fraser,  A.  M 


Rev.  P.  McVicar,  D.  D 

N.  B.  Bartlett 

Rev.  E.  H.  Fairchild 

n.  A.  Cecil 

O.  Beatty,  LL.  D 

CoL  R.  1'.  P.  Allen,  A.  M.,  C.  E . .. 


STATISTICAL  TABLES, 


549 


DEPARTMENTS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES,  &C.— Continued. 


u 

a 

dQ 

fc 

Denomination. 

Number  of  instructors. 

Students. 

Cost  of  • 

Number  of  volumes  in  library. 

Time  of  commencement 

Preparatory  department.! 

Freshmen. 

Sophomores. 

Juniors. 

Seniors. 

Other  schools  not  pro- 
fessional. 

Males. 

Females. 

Total. 

Tuition  per  term. 

Board  per  month. 

54 

M.  E... 

30 

185 

40 

2" 

20 

15 

20 

289 

18 

307 

$7 

$20 

27,  000 

4th  Tuesday  in  June. 

55 

Univ.. . 

9 

107 

18 

16 

4 

11 

156 

156 

33 

18 

3,  500 

3d  Wednesday  in  June. 

56 

57 

Cong. . . 

15 

127 

26 

9 

13 

13 

76 

156 

iio 

266 

o30 

18 

6,  200 

4th  Thursday  in  June. 

19 

324 

39-1 

59 

M.  E... 

7 

39 

ii 

14 

10 

6 

176 

218 

43  261 

8 

18 

8,  500 

3d  Thursday  in  June. 

60 

C.  P ... 

6 

98 

13 

8 

18 

11 

58 

140 

G620G 

a26-40 

16-18 

2d  Thursday  in  June. 

61 

... 

62 

U.  P . . . 

13 

147 

19 

13 

27 

18 

117 

218 

123  341 

a30 

17 

1,  500 

Last  Thursday  in  June. 

63 

E.  A .. 

10 

21 

10 

6 

8 

4 

195 

164 

80 

244 

6-8 

12-16 

600 

Last  Wednesday  in  June. 

64 

3 

31 

7 

2 

56 

56 

7,  000 

65 

M.  E 

66 

P.  E 

67 

68 

69 

U.B  .. 

7 

3 

4 

1 

1 

160 

128 

41 

169 

a24 

14 

2d  Wednesday  in  June. 

70 

71 

72 

73 

State  .. 

13 

50 

46 

26 

27 

23 

136 

277 

31 

308 

Free . . . 

16 

5,  000 

Thursday  preceding  4th  of 

July. 

74 

M.  E... 

6 

80 

70 

150 

9 

16 

2,  000 

June  7. 

75 

76 

Pres  . . . 
Bapt . . . 

10 

138 

33 

27 

10 

18 

226 

226 

10 

14 

12^  000 

3d  Thursday  in  June. 

77 

Meth  . . 

7 

29 

84 

4 

6 

4 

34 

105 

56 

161 

4-15 

15 

June  21. 

7c 

Loth  .. 

60 

41 

15 

19 

13 

148 

143 

a24 

a60 

3,000 

September  1. 

79 

M.  E... 

9 

77 

68 

39 

32 

33 

”84 

298 

35 

333 

10 

14-20 

10,  ooa 

4Anc  21. 

80 

Pres  . . . 

7 

47 

25 

9 

16 

7 

53 

157 

157 

Free . . . 

al44 

6,  400 

4 th  Thursday  in  Juno. 

cl 

U.  B . . . 

7 

17 

2 

1 

2 

201 

149 

74 

223 

18 

a72-117 

2d  Tuesday  in  June. 

82 

Chr  ... 

22 

113 

13 

5 

3 

9 

156 

219 

80 

299 

14 

18 

June  24. 

83 

Chr  ... 

5 

16 

2 

2 

2 

129 

100 

51 

151 

6-10 

16 

300 

2d  Wednesday  in  Juno. 

84 

Meth  . . 

6 

195 

115  310 

85 

Bapt . . 

9 

7-15 

14 

June  15. 

86 

RC  ... 

29 

421 

421 

6150 

11,  000 

Last  Wednesday  in  June. 

87 

Fr 

8 

135 

7 

10 

4 

1 

51 

131 

77 

208 

6300 

3,  300 

June  26. 

88 

89 

R.C  ... 

7 

19 

7 

8 

15 

7 

56 

56 

15 

15 

4,  000 

Last  Thursday  in  June. 

90 

Univ. . 

91 

92 

Bapt 

93 

P.E  ... 

7 

103 

4 

3 

5 

2 

117 

117 

16 

14 

4,  000 

3d  Wednesday  in  Juno. 

94 

95 

Luth. . . 

-i 

86 

28 

12 

5 

5 

136 

136 

Free . . . 

7 

1, 000 

About  Juno  15. 

96 

Luth... 

2! 

53 

65 

118 

97 

M.  E .. 

10 

141 

17 

7 

5 

86 

84 1 

170 

9 

13 

4,  000 

4tli  Tuesday  in  June. 

98 

Cong. . 

12 

48 

13 

13 

6 

9 

193 

174 

108 

232 

20 

8-16 

7,  0:  0 

2d  Wednesday  in  July. 

99 

M.  E... 

13 

122 

4 

3 

2 

2 

2G 

86 

73 

159 

9 

10-16 

200 

2d  Wednesday  in  June. 

100 

State . . . 

30 

136 

52 

42 

28 

9 

78 

229 

116 

345 

5 

12-20 

5,  000 

Last  Wednesday  in  June. 

101 

M.  E... 

16 

11- 

15 

1 1 

6 

11 

104 

159 

109 

268 

Freo  . . . 

12-16 

1,500 

3d  Wednesday  in  June. 

102 

M.  E... 

9 

102 

31 

C 

6 

5 

214 

253 

111 

364 

7 

12-16 

4,  000 

3d  Tuesday  iii  J uno. 

103 

Bapt. . . 

7 

104 

Fr 

105 

Unit . . . 

106 

Cong. .. 

G 

8 

9 

4 

2 

176 

114 

85 

199 

7 

16 

2,500 

2d  Wednesday  in  June. 

107 

RC  ... 

8 

51 

51 

6200 

1,200 

108 

M.  E .. 

109 

Pres  . . . 

6 

77 

10 

6 

4 

3 

55 

45 

100 

7-12 

3-4 

- 

O 

June  20. 

110 

State  . . 

9 

97 

116 

213 

111 

Bapt . . . 

113 

Cong. .. 

8 

25 

6 

2 

35 

53 

15 

68 

o30 

16-20 

2,  000 

3d  Wednesday  in  June. 

114 

U.  B . 

130 

a30 

115 

12 

22 

9 

5 

.... 

250 

IRK' 

107 

205 

3 

7-10 

600 

2d  Wednesday  in  July. 

116 

RC  . 

9 

Il62 

162 

6200 

2d  Friday  in  dune. 

117 

Pres  . . . 

7 

95 

17 

20 

8 

7 

18' 1651 

165 

cr40 

16-20 

5,  500 

Last  Thursday  in  June. 

116 

State. . . 

15 

43 

34 

11 

9 

1 

112I 

I...I 

112 

al00 

0250 

1st  Monday  in  September. 

550 


REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSIONER  OF  EDUCATION. 


STATISTICS  OF  COLLEGES  AND  COLLEGIATE 


Name. 


Location. 


President 


119 

120 
121 

122 

123 

124 

125 

126 

127 

128 

129 

130 

131 

132 

133 

134 

135 

136 

137 

138 

139 

140 

141 

142 

143 

144 

145 
14; 
14  7 

148 

149 

150 

151 

152 

153 

154 

155 

156 

157 
15! 

159 

160 

161 

162 

163 

164 

165 

166 

167 

168 

169 

170 

171 

172 

173 

174 

175 

176 

177 

178 
17!) 
ldO 
181 
182 

183 

184 
1851 


Georgetown  College  

Kentucky  University 

St.  Mary’s  College 

Bethel  College 

Thompson  University 

Louisiana  State  University. . . 

Baton  Rouge  College 

St.  Charles  College 

Centenary  College 

Mount  Lebanon  University. . . 
College  of  the  Immaculate  Con- 
ception. 

Leland  University 

Straight  University 

Jefferson  College 

Bowdoin  College 

Bates  College 

Colby  University 

St.  John’s  College 

Loyola  College 

Washington  College 

Rock  Hill  College 

St.  Charles  College 

Mount  St.  Mary’s  College 

Mount  St.  Clement’s  College  . . 

Calvert  College 

Borromeo  College 

Frederick  College 

Western  Maryland  College  — 

Amherst  College 

Boston  College 

Harvard  College 

Tufts  College 


Williams  College 

College  of  the  Holy  Cross 

Adrian  College 

Albion  College 

Michigan  University 

St.  Philip’s  College 

Hillsdale  College 

Hope  College 

Kalamazoo  College 

Olivet  College 


St.  John’s  College 

Carleton  College 

University  of  Minnesota. 
Siinple-Broaddus  College  . 

Mississippi  College 

Shaw  University 

Alcorn  University 

Oakland  College 

University  ot  Mississippi. 
Pass  Christian  College  . . . 

Madison  College  

Ton  gal oo  University 

Jefl'ersou  College 

St.  Vincent’s  College 

University  of  Missouri  . . . 

Central  College 

Westminster  College 

Lewis  College 

Jefferson  City  College 

William  Jewell  College. . . 

Palmyra  Co  ege 

St.  Charles  College 

Grand  River  College 

Woodland  College 

Lincoln  College 


Georgetown,  Ky 

Lexington,  Ky 

Marion  County,  Ky. 

Russellville,  Ky 

Baldwin,  La 

Baton  Rouge,  La 

do 

Grand  Coteau,  La. . . 

Jackson,  La 

Mount  Lebanon,  La. 
New  Orleans,  La 


.....do 

do 

St.  Michael,  La 

Brunswick,  Me 

Lewiston,  Me 

Waterville,  Me 

Annapolis,  Md 

Baltimore,  Md 

Chestertown,  Md  . . 
Ellicott  City,  Md. . . 

do 

Emmittsburgh,  Md. 

Ilchester,  Md 

New  Windsor,  Md. 

Pikesville,  Md 

Frederick  City,  Md. 
Westminster,  Md.. 

Amherst,  Mass 

Boston,  Mass 

Cambridge,  Mass. . . 
College  Hill,  Mass 
William8town, 
Worcester,  Mass .. 

Adrian,  Mich 

Albion,  Mich 

Ann  Arbor,  Mich. 

Detroit,  Mich 

Hillsdale,  Mich  . . . 

Holland,  Mich 

Kalamazoo,  Mich  . 
Olivet,  Mich 


Clinton,  Minn 

Northfield,  Minn 

St.  Anthony,  Minn  . . . 

Centro  Hill,  Miss 

Clinton,  Miss 

Holly  Springs,  Miss. . 

Jaclison.  Miss 

Oakland,  Miss 

Oxford.  Miss  

Pass  Christian,  Miss. 

Sharon,  Miss 

Near  Tongaloo,  Miss . 
Washington,  Miss  . . . 
Cape  Girardeau,  Mo. . 

Columbia,  Mo 

Fayette,  Mo 

Fufton,  Mo 

Glasgow,  Mo 

Jefferson  City,  Mo.... 

Liberty,  Mo 

Palmyra,  Mo 

St.  Charles,  Mo 

Edinburgh,  Mo 

Independence,  Mo  . . . 
Greenwood,  Mo ...... 


183S 

1859 
1820 
1856 
1867 

1860 
1838 

1852 
1845 

1853 
1848 


Basil  Manly,  jr.,  D.  D 

J.  B.  Bowman,  A.  M.,  regent . . 
Rev.  L.  Elend,  C.  R.,  LL.  D. . . 

N.  K.  Davis,  LL.  D 

W.  S.  Wilson 

D.  F.  Boyd 


Rev.  J.  Roduit,  S.  J 

W.  H.  Watkins,  D.  D 

S.  C.  McCormickle 

Rev.  J.  Gautrelet 


E.  E.  S.  Taylor,  D.  D. 


1802 

1863 

1820 

1784 

1852 

1782 

1857 
1848 
1830 
1868 
1852 
1860 
1796 
1867 
1821 
1863 
1638 
1855 
1793 
1843 

1858 
1860 
1841 


J.  L.  Chamberlain,  LL.  D 

Rev.  O.  B.  Cheney,  D.  D 

J.  T.  Champlin,  D.  D 

J.  M.  Garnett,  M.  A 

Rev.  S.  A.  Kelly,  S.  J 

R.  C.  Berkeley,  A.  M 

Brother  Bettelin 

Rev.  S.  F6rt6,  D.  D 

Very  Rev.  J.  McCaffrey,  D.  D. . . 
Rev.  F.  Van  de  Braak,  C.  S.,  S.  R 

A.  H.  Baker,  A.  M 

Rev.  E.  Q.  S.  Waldron 

J.  S.  Bonsall,  A.  M 

J.T.  Ward,  D.D 

W.  A.  Stearns,  D.  D.,  LL.  D 

Rev.  R.  Fulton,  S.  J 

C.  W.  Eliot,  LL.  D 

A.  A.  Miner,  D.  D 

Rev.  M.  Hopkins,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. . . 

Rev.  A.  F.  Ciampi 

A.  H.  Lowrie,  A.  M 

G.  B.  Jocelyn,  D.  D 

J.B.  Angell,  LL.  D 


1855 

1855 


D.  M.  Graham,  D.  D 

Philip  Phelps,  D.  D 

Rev.  K.  Brooks,  D.  D 

Rev.  N.  J.  Morrison,  D.  D. 


1866 

1868 

1857 
1851 
1871 
1871 
1830 
1848 
1866 
1850 
1870 
1813 
1843 
1843 
1854 
1853 
1867 
1867 
1848 
1848 
1850 

1858 
1869 


Rev.  J.  W.  Strong,  D.  D 

W.  W.  Folwell,  M.  A 

W.  W.  Hawkins,  A.  M 

Rev.  W.  Hillman,  A.  M 

Rev.  A.  C.  McDonald,  A.  M 

Rev.  H.  R.  Revels 

W.  L.  Breckenridge,  D.  D 

J.  N.  Waddell,  D.  D 

Brother  Isaiah 

Rev.  J.  M.  Pugh,  AM 

E.  Tucker,  A.  M 

Prof.  Hamilton 

Rev.  J.  Alizeri 

Daniel  Read,  LL.  D 

Rev.  J.  C.  Wills,  A.  M 

Rev.  N.  L.  Rice,  D.  D 

Rev.  T.  A.  Parkei , A.  M.,  M.  D. . . 

Rev.  W.  H.  D.  Hatton 

Rev.  T.  Rambaut,  LL.  D.,  S.  T.  P. 

Rev.  J.  A.  Wainwright,  A.  M 

J.  J.  Potts,  A.  M 

J.  E.  Vetrees 

W.  A.  Buckner 

G.  S.  Bryant 


STATISTICAL  TABLES. 


551 


DEPARTMENTS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES,  &C.— Continued. 


Number. 

" 

Denomination. 

1 Number  of  instructors. 

Students. 

Cost  of— 

1 

Time  of  commencement. 

Preparatory  department.! 

Freshmen. 

Sophomores. 

Juniors. 

1 Seniors. 

Other  schools  not  pro- 
fessional. 

Males. 

1 Females. 

Total. 

Tuition  per  term. 

Board  per  month. 

S 

DO 

O 

a 

p 

o 

>■ 

o 

U 

3 

*p 

ft 

119 

Bapt . . . 

7 

47 

43 

36 

11 

8 



143 

145 

a$45 

$18-20 

5,500 

2d  Thursday  in  June. 

12( 

State. . . 

2 i 

21G 

216 

o3J 

20 

10,  000 

2d  Thursday  in  June. 

121 

■R.  0 

... 

58 

58 

6200 

1st  Thursday  in  September. 

122 

60 

... 

60 

9 # 

123 

M.  E . 

2 

55 

30 

25 

55 

1,000 

124 

State. .. 

18 

28 

10 

8 

5 

5 

128 

184 

184 

alOO 

a200 

7,  000 

Last  Wednesday  in  June. 

125 

126 

R.C 

11 

85 

85 

6200 

2d  Wednesday  in  August 



127 

Meth  .. 

128 

129 

R.  C . . . 

130 

131 

10 

1054 

132 

133 

Cong  .. 

2G 

60 

38 

37 

26 

161 

161 

aGO 

10-16 

34, 150 

2d  Wednesday  in  July. 

134 

IF.  B ... 

1 

24 

23 

27 

14 

87 

1 

88 

a36 

076-114 

7, 100 

Last  W ednesday  in  June. 

135 

Bapt . . . 

7 

20 

11 

11 

t 

51 

1 

52 

10 

12 

12,  000 

Last  Thursday  in  July. 

136 

State  .. 

10 

7C 

24 

22 

10 

6 

138 

138 

6250 

3,  000 

Last  Wednesday  in  July. 

137 

R.C  — 

13 

138 

8 

7 

2 

.1 

1 '8 

158 

a75 

21,  500 

Last  Wednesday  in  June. 

138 

State  .. 

2 

16 

9 

5 

1 

2 

33 

33 

40-60 

16 

1,000 

2d  Wednesday  in  July. 

139 

R.  C 

22 

1G6 

166 

6260 

Last  Thursday  in  Juno. 

140 

R.0 

12 

160 

160 

6180 

4, 000 

July. 

141 

R.C 

11 

92 

18 

7 

7 

5 



129 

129 

6310 

5,  000 

Last  Wednesday  in  June. 

142 

Tt  0 

1,200 

143 

R.  C 

8 

59 

59 

6240 

Last  Tuesday  in  Juno. 

144 

R.C 

145 

State  .. 

3 

103 

103 

a30 

1,200 

146 

M.  P... 

10 

74 

30 

13 

6 

4 

84 

43 

127 

a20-110 

18 

2,  COO 

3d  Thursday  in  June 

147 

C0Dg... 

20 

71 

76 

49 

65 

. . . . 

261 

261 

25 

14-24 

35, 000 

2d  Thursday  in  July. 

14a 

R.  C . . 

10 

ii8 

9 

2 

9 

2 

140 

140 

4th  Wednesday  in  June. 

149 

76 

189 

139 

122 

15S 

35 

643 

643 

al50 

al52— 304 

187,  000 

Last  Wednesday  in  June. 

150 

Univ  .. 

14 

. . . 

14 

15 

17 

8 

20 

74 

74 

a60 

al36 

12,  000 

3d  Wednesday  in  July. 

151 

Cong  .. 

11 

32 

26 

40 

43 

141 

141 

25 

14-24 

12,  000 

Last  Thursday  in  June. 

152 

R.  C ... 

10 

96 

20 

11 

11 

2 

140 

140 

6250 

Last  Thursday  in  Juno. 

153 

M.  P... 

9 

86 

1 

5 

3 

5 

“60 

99 

61 

160 

a20 

12 

3d  Thursday  in  June. 

154 

M.  E .. 

6 

137 

11 

7 

9 

13 

108 

69 

177 

Free  . . . 

12 

1,000 

Last  Thursday  in  June. 

155 

156 

State  .. 

35 

1G0 

93 

77 

84 

69 

458 

25 

483 

Free . . . 

8-20 

25,  000 

Last  Wednesday  in  June. 

157 

158 

F.  W.  B 

• 

313 

19 

15 

9 

9 

220 1 

365 

220 

585 

alOO 

8-12 

3, 000 

2d  Thursday  in  June. 

159 

Bapt . . . 

12 

175 

8 

4 

4 

11 

7 

138 

71 

209 

6 

2,  000 

3d  Wednesday  in  Juno. 

160 

Cong  .. 

11 

27 

14 

17 

6 

3 

166 

134 

99 

233 

7 

14-20 

4,  000 

Last  Thursday  but  ono  in 
June. 

161 

162 

Cong. . . 

5 

52 

3 

1 

41 

1 5 

56 

8 

11 

968 

Last  Wednesday  in  Juno. 

163 

State  .. 

9 

242 

<J3 

335 

16 

3,558 

Last  Thursday  in  Juno. 

164 

Bapt. . . 

1*,:. 

Bapt. . . 

7 

120 

12 

11 

7 

3 

153 

. . . 

153 

o50 

15-17 

Last  Tuesday  in  June. 

166 

M.  E . . . 

167 

168 

Pres . . . 

169 

State . . 

1G 

11 

15 

20 

13 

18 

34 

111 

111 

Free . . . 

18 

Last  Thursday  in  J una 

170 

IL  C . . . 

14 

142 

142 

6330 

3d  Friday  in  July. 

171 

2 

40 

fj 

2 

47 

47 

O30-50 

50-20 

540 

3d  Thursday  in  July. 

172 

6 

10 

June  28. 

173 

174 

R. C. . . 

175 

State  .. 

12 

118 

48 

20 

22 

9 

177 

40 

217 

a40 

12-20 

5,000 

Last  Wednesday  in  Juno, 

176 

M.E.S 

6 

13 

91 

K;4 

104 

25 

16 

Opens  September  21. 

177 

Pres  . . . 

6 

90 

90 

o50 

13 

3d  Thursday  in  Juno. 

178 

M.  E . . 

4 

58 

34 

92 

a40 

0150 

2,000 

4th  Thursday  in  Juno. 

179 

P.  E . 

1st  Wednesday  in  Jana 

180 

Bapt . . . 

7 

... 

152 

.. 

152 

a60 

12-16 

4,  000 

181 

P.E  ... 

3 

GO 

800 

182 

M.  E.S 

2 

183 

3 

100 

(84 

6 

93 

185 

40 

I 

& 

18( 

181 

188 

18£ 

19( 

191 

195 

IK 

19' 

19; 

19( 

19' 

19c 

19J 

20( 

201 

20 ; 

20; 

20' 

20; 

20( 

201 

20; 

20; 

21( 

21] 

215 

215 

21' 

211 

21( 

21’ 

21  i 

21< 

22( 

221 

225 

22: 

22 

QOi 

221 

2‘i' 

22 

22! 

231 

23 

23! 

23: 

23. 

23: 

23! 

23' 

23! 

23! 

241 

24 

24' 

24: 

24 


REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSIONER  OF  EDUCATION. 

J STATISTICS  OF  COLLEGES  AND  COLLEGIATE 


Name. 


Location. 


President. 


«3 


fi 


St.  Paul’s  College 

Bethel  College 

Hannibal  College 

McGee  College 

Johnson  College 

St.  Joseph’s  College 

St.  Louis  University 

Washington  University 

College  of  the  Christ’n  Brothers 

Congregational  College 

Nebraska  College 

Dartmouth  College 

Burlington  College 

Rutgers  College 

College  of  New  Jersey 

Seton  Hall  College 

Allred  University 

Franciscan  College 

St.  Stephen’s  College 

Brooklyn  Collegiate  and  Poly- 
technic Institute. 

St.  John  Baptist’s  College 

Canisius  College 

St.  Joseph’s  College 

Martin  Luther  College 

St.  Lawrence  University 

Hamilton  College 


Palmyra,  Mo 

Palmyra,  Mo 

Hannibal,  Mo 

College  Mound,  Mo. . . 

Macon  City,  Mo 

St.  Joseph,  Mo 

St.  Louis,  Mo 

do 

St.  Louis,  Mo 

Fontenelle,  Nebr 

Nebraska  City,  Nebr. 

Hanover,  N.  H 

Burlington,  N.  J 

New  Brunswick,  N.  J 

Princeton,  N.  J 

South  Orange,  N.  J . . 

Alfred,  N.  Y 

Allegheny,  N.  Y 

Annandale,  N.  Y 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y 

do 

Buffalo,  N.  Y 

do 

do 

Canton,  N.  Y 

Clinton,  N.  Y 


1869 

1848 

1868 

1&34 

1868 

1867 

1832 

1857 

1857 


Rev.  R.  Rose,  A.  M 

Rev.  W.  B.  Corbin 

J.  F.  Hamilton 

J.  B.  Mitchell 

E.  W.  Hall 

Brother  Agatho 

Rev.  J.  G.  Zealand,  S.  J 

W.  G.  Eliot,  D.  D 

Brother  Edward 


1868 

1769 
1846 

1770 
1746 
1856 
1836 


Rev.  J.  McNamara.  D.  D 

Rev.  A.  D.  Smith,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. . . 
Rt.  Rev.W.  H.  Odenbeimer,  D.  D. 
Rev.  W.H.  Campbell,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. 
Rev.  J.  McCosh,  D.  D.,  LL.  D . . . 
Very  Rev.  M.  A.  Corrigan,  D.  D. 
Rev.  J.  Allen 


1860  Rev.  R.  B.  Fairbairn,  D.  D 

1854  D.  H.  Cochran,  Ph.  D.,  LL.  D . . . 


1670 

1870 

1862 

1853 

1856 

1812 


Rev.  J.  T.  Landry,  C.  M 

Rev.  W.  Becker,  S.  J 

Brother  Frank 

Rev.  J.  F.  Winkler 

R.  Fisk,  jr.,  D.  D 

Rev.  S.  G.  Brown,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.. 


St.  John’s  College 

Hobart  College 

Madison  University 

Cornell  University 

Genesee  College 

College  of  the  City  of  New  York 
College  of  St.  Francis  Xavier. . 

Columbia  College 

Manhattan  College 

University  of  the  City  of  New 
York. 

St.  Joseph’s  College 

University  of  Rochester 

Union  College 

Syracuse  University 

Rensselaer  Polytechnic  Insti- 
tute. 

University  of  North  Carolina.. 

Wake  Forest  College 

Rutherford  College 

Olin  College 

Davidson  College 

North  Carolina  College 

Trinity  College 

Buchtel  College  

Ohio  University 

Baldwin  University 

German  Wallace  College 

St.  Xavier  College 

Mount  St.  Mary’s  of  the  West. 

Farmers’  College 

Capitol  University 

Kenyon  College 

Denison  University 

Harlem  Springs  College 

Western  Reserve  College 

St.  Louis  College 

Marietta  College 

Mount  Union  College 


Fordham,  N.  Y 

Geneva,  N.  Y 

Hamilton,  N.  Y . . 

Ithaca,  N.  Y 

Lima,  N.  Y 

New  York  City,  N.  Y 

do I 

do 

do 

do 

Rhinecliff,  N.  Y 

Rochester,  N.  Y 

Schenectady,  N.  Y 

Syracuse,  N.  Y 

Troy,  N.  Y 

Chapel  Hill,  N.  C 

Forestville,  N.  C 

Happy  Home  P.  O.,  N.  C.. 

Iredeil  County,  N.  C 

Mecklenburgii  County, N.C 

Mount  Pleasant,  N.  C 

Randolph  County,  N.  C 

Akron,  Ohio 

Athens,  Ohio 

Berea,  Ohio 

Cincinnati,  Ohio 

do 

do 

College  Hill,  Ohio 

Columbus,  Ohio 

Gambier,  Ohio 

Granville,  Ohio 

Harlem  Springs,  Ohio 

Hudson,  Ohio 

Louisville,  Ohio 

Marietta,  Ohio 

Mount  Union,  Ohio 


1846 
1825 
1819 
1868 
1849 
1854 

1847 
1754 
1863 
1631 


1850 

1795 

1870 


1795 

1834 

1870 

1853 

1837 

1859 

1850 


1804 

1856 

1863 

1842 

1851 

1846 


1824 

1831 

1867 

182C 

1866 

1835 

1646 


Rev.  J.  Shea,  S.  J 

Rev.  J.  Rankine,  D.  D . 
E.  Dodge,  D.  D.,  LL.  D 
A.  D.  White,  LL.  D 


A.  S.  Webb,  LL.  D 

Rev.  H.  Hudon,  S.  J 

F.  A.  P.  Barnard,  S.  T.  D.,  LL.  D. 

Brother  Patrick 

Howard  Crosby,  D.  D 

Rev.  M.  J.  Scully 

M.  B.  Anderson,  LL.  D 

Rev.  E.  N.  Potter,  D.  D 

D.  Steele,  D.  D,  (acting) 


S.  Pool 

W.  M.  Wingate,  D.  D 

Rev.  R.  L.  Abernethy,  A.  M 

J.  Southgate 

Rev.  G.  W.  McPhail,  D.  D.,  LL.  D. 

Rev.  L.  A.  Bikle,  A.  M 

Rev.  B.  Craven,  D.  D 

Rev.  H.  F.  Miller,  Sec 

Rev.  S.  Howard,  D.  D.,  LL.  D . . . . 

W.  D.  Godman,  D.  D 

W.  Nast,  D.D 

Rev.  T.  O’Neil 

F.  J.  Pabish,  D.  D.,  LL.  D.,  D C. 

C.  D.  Curtis 

Rev.  W.  F.  Lehman 

E.  T.  Tappan 

Rov.  S.  Talbot,  D.  D 


C.  Cutler  A.  M 

F.  Hours 

L W.  Andrews,  D.  D 

Rov.  O.  N.  Hartshorn,  LL.  D 


STATISTICAL  TABLES. 


553 


DEPARTMENTS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES,  &C.— Continued. 


Number. 

Denomination. 

| Number  of  instructors. 

Students. 

Cost  of— 

Number  of  volumes  in  library. 

Time  of  commencement. 

| Preparatory  department. 

d 

© 

a 

— 

x 

o 

(-1 

| Sophomores. 

| Juniors. 

| Seniors. 

1 Other  schools  not  profes- 
sional. 

| Males. 

| Females. 

| Total. 

Tuition  per  term. 

Board  per  month. 

186 

8 

70 

1R7 

5 

80 

188 

4 

80 

1«9 

11 

213 

V 

190 

3 

80 

191 

r r. 

192 

RC  ... 

22 

124 

21 

6 

7 

3 

161 

161 

&280 

16, 000 

Last  Thursday  in  June. 

193 

27 

104 

10 

6 

5 

4 

185 

314 

314 

a45 

6, 000 

3d  Thursday  in  Juno. 

191 

r n 

3 0=s 

196 

P E 

5 

9 

20 

29 

6$  280 

1,  500 

Last  Thursday  in  June. 

197 

Con?... 

23 

60 

75 

78 

69 

78 

3C0 

360 

$10-16 

44’,  900 

Last  Thursday  in  June. 

198 

P E 

5 

199 

Ref.... 

13 

195 

54 

47 

56 

33 

.... 

385 

385 

«75 

16-24 

3d  'Wednesday  in  June. 

200 

Pres  . . . 

18 

87 

106 

87 

95 

5 

380 

380 

al40 

16-24 

30,  000 

Last  Wednesday  in  June. 

201 

R.C  ... 

15 

58 

14 

8 

8 

12 

30 

130 

130 

6400 

8,  000 

Last  Wednesday  in  June. 

202 

203 

Bapt.. . 

21 

90 

33 

27 

15 

5 

328 

186 

222 

408 

10 

6-12 

6,  000 

1st  Wednesday  in  July. 

204 

P.  E . . . 

8 

27 

14 

10 

15 

8 

74 

. . . 

74 

Free  . . 

0225 

1,800 

1st  Thursday  in  July. 

905 

26 

438 

124 

562 

562 

al20 

3,  000 

3d  Wednesday  in  June 

206 

R C 

207 

R C 

62 

62 

a50 

About  the  end  of  June. 

208 

RC  ... 

14 

291 

291 

6220 

2,  000 

July  2. 

209 

Luth 

210 

Univ  .. 

13 

... 

11 

14 

6 

10 

C 

27 

20 

47 

a25 

12 

6,  GOO 

Last  Wednesday  in  Jnne 

2il 

Pres . . . 

12 

45 

39 

39 

41 



164 

164 

20 

0114-190 

12,  000 

Thursday  after  last  Tues- 

day in  J une. 

212 

R C 

21 

265 

265 

6300 

Last  Wednesday  in  June. 

213 

P.  E . . . 

9 

14 

3 

15 

7 

39 

.. . 

39 

15 

16-20 

13,  000 

2d  Thursday  after  4th  July. 

314 

Bapt. .. 

12 

'hi 

34 

24 

40 

1G 

165 

165 

a30 

12 

10,  454 

3d  W ednesday  in  J une. 

215 

38 

Id 

22 

4 

5 

449 

490 

490 

a45 

0220 

30, 000 

4th  Thursday  in  June. 

216 

M.E... 

4 

8 

6 

10 

7 

25 

48 

*8 

5G 

Free . . 

5,  300 

2d  Thursday  in  July. 

217 

City  . . 

36 

410 

153 

72 

49 

39 

723 

723 

Free  . . 

20, 000 

Last  Thursday  in  June 

218 

R.C  ... 

25 

27i 

37 

29 

17 

1G 

107 

477 

477 

o60 

14,  000 

Last  Monday  in  Juno. 

219 

P.E 

12 

31 

32 

25 

29 

117 

117 

Free 

2,  000 

Last  Wednesday  in  June. 

220 

R.  C . . . 

43 

|448 

27 

29 

15 

11 

"ioi 

631 

631 

a50 

30 

6,  500 

Juno  30. 

221 

35 

27 

31 

21 

28 

107 

107 

Free . . 

3,  000 

2d  Thursday  beforo  July  4. 

222 

R.  C 

223 

Bapt. .. 

9 

23 

22 

19 

24 

33 

121 

121 

20 

14-20 

Last  Wednesday  in  June. 

224 

Pres . . . 

16 

20 

25 

25 

19 

89 

89 

15 

13-20 

19,  000 

W ednesday  beforo  4th  J uly. 

225 

226 

M.E... 

7 

12 

::: 

29 

8 

6 

17 

51 

”6 

GO 

20 

18-20 

1,  395 

4th  Thursday  in  Juno. 

227 

State  .. 

c 

55 

55 

a40 

12 

21, 700 

2d  Thursday  in  June. 

228 

Bapt. . . 

G 

100 

100 

a70 

10-12 

8,  000 

4 th  Thursday  in  June. 

229 

230 

Moth  .. 

7 

14 

109 

95 

'28 

123 

a50 

7-10 

200 

1st  Wednesday  in  August. 

231 

Pres . . . 

7 

22 

36 

1G 

32 

G 

112 

112 

a45 

14 

3,  000 

Last  Thursday  in  Juno. 

232 

Luth  .. 

5 

70 

G 

G 

2 



84 

84 

a20-40 

8-10 

1,200 

Last  Thursday  in  May. 

233 

M.  E.  S 

G 

22 

34 

21 

"ie 

16 

54 

,165 

165 

a65 

10-13 

3d  Thursday  in  Juno. 

234 

Univ 

... 

235 

State  . . 

5 

\ G7 

9 

G 

5 

5 

29 

,121 

121 

10 

5,  000 

Last  Friday  in  Juno. 

236 

M.  E... 

11 

20 

5 

3 

3 

G 

1G9 

116 

90 

206 

a21 

1,000 

Second  Thursday  in  June 

237 

M.  E.  . . 

74 

19 

93 

4-9 

600 

Second  Thursday  in  Juno* 

238 

RC  ... 

17 

188 

34 

21 

17 

9 

26!) 

2G9 

aGO 

12,  000 

Last  Wednesday  in  Juno. 

239 

R C 

16 

80 

80 

16 

10,  000 

Juno  24. 

240 

Meth  .. 



241 

Luth... 

242 

P.  E ... 

12 

47 

13 

13 

9 

10 

92 

92 

a42 

12-16 

18,  320 

Last  Thursday  in  Juno. 

243 

211 

Bapt . . . 

8 

49 

22 

14 

13 

7 

*97 

202 

202 

o34 

12 

10,  500 

Last  Thursday  in  Juno. 

245 

11 

42 

1G 

17 

20 

14 

• • • • 

109 

109 

a30 

10-16 

10,  000 

Last  Wednesday  in  June 

246 

R.  C 

247 

C.&  P. 

9 

92 

35 

26!  13 

17 

183 

183 

0.38 

10-16 

23,  350 

Wednesday  boforo  July  4. 

248 

M.  E... 

19,  30 

172 

931 

54 

275,418 

,246 

, 661 

13 

o!08 

3,  400 

Last  Thursday  in  July. 

I 

245 

25( 

251 

255 

25; 

25^ 

25: 

25( 

25’ 

25i 

25i 

2G( 

261 

26; 

26: 

26' 

26: 

2(i( 

26: 

26: 

27( 

271 

27; 

27; 

27' 

27: 

27( 

271 

2:: 

27£ 

28( 

281 

285 

28; 

28' 

28! 

28( 

28' 

28: 

28< 

29( 

29; 

29: 

2o; 

29' 

29; 

291 

29' 

29: 

29! 

301 

301 

30! 

3o: 

30' 

3o: 

301 

30* 


REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSIONER  OF  EDUCATION. 


STATISTICS  OF  COLLEGES  AND  COLLEGIATE 


Name. 


Location. 


President. 


A 


Franklin  College 

Muskingum  College 

Oberlin  College 

Miami  University 

Richmond  College 

Wittenberg  College 

Heidelberg  College 

Urban  a University 

Otterbein  University 

Willoughby  College 

University  of  Wooster 

Antioch  College 

Wilberforco  University 

Xenia  College 

Ohio  Wesleyan  University 

New  Market  College 

Ohio  Central  College 

Hiram  College 

Pacific  University 

Oregon  College 

Willamette  University 

Holy  Angels  College 

Philomath  College 

Avery  College 

Muhlenberg  College 

Andalusia  College 

Lebanon  Valley  College 


New  Athens,  Ohio  . . . 
New  Concord,  Ohio. . . 

Oberlin,  Ohio 

Oxford,  Ohio 

Richmond,  Ohio 

Springfield,  Ohio 

Tiffin,  Ohio 

Urbana,  Ohio 

Westerville,  Ohio  — 
Willoughby,  Ohio  — 

Wooster,  Ohio 

Yellow  Springs,  Ohio. 
Near  Xenia,  Ohio  — 

Xenia,  Ohio 

Delaware,  Ohio 

Scio  P.  O.,  Ohio 

Iberia,  Ohio 

Hiram,  Ohio 

Forest  Grove,  Oreg. . . 
Oregon  City,  Oreg — 

Salem,  Oreg 

Vancouver,  Oreg 

Philomath,  Oreg 

Allegheny  City,  Pa. . . 

Allentown,  Pa 

Andalusia,  Pa 

Annville,  Pa 


1822 

1837 

1834 
1809 

1835 
1844 

1853 

1852 
1857 
1855 
1870 

1854 
1863 
1850 
1842 
1859 
1854 
1867 
1859 
1850 

1853 


A.  F.  Ross,  LL.  D 

Rev.  D.  Paul,  A.  M 

Rev.  J.  H.  Fairchild,  D.  D 

Rev.  A.  D.  Hepburn 

L.  W.  Ong,  A.  M 

Rev.  S.  Sprecher,  D.  D 

Rev.  G.  W.  Willard,  D.  D 

Rev.  F.  Sewall,  A.  M 

Rev.  L.  Davis,  D.  D 

L.  O.  Lee 

Rev.  W.  Lord,  D.  D 

G.  W.  Hosmer,  D.  D 

Rt.  Rev.  D.  A.  Payne,  D.  D 

Wm.  Smith,  A.  M 

Rev.  F.  Merrick,  D.  D 

A.  D.  Lee,  A.  M 

E.  F.  Reed 

B.  A.  Hinsdale,  A.  M 

Rev.  S.  H.  Marsh,  D.  D 

G.  C.  Chandler,  D.  D 

T.  M.  Gatch,  A.  M 


Prof.  Biddle 


1867 

1861 

1866 


Rev.  F.  A.  Muhlenberg, 
Rev.  H.  T.  Wells,  LL.  D 
L.  H.  Hammond,  A.  M. . 


D.  D 


Moravian  College 

Dickinson  College 

Augustinian  College  of  Villa- 
nova. 

Lafayette  College 

Pennsylvania  College 

Franklin  and  Marshall  College . 

Lewisburgh  University 

St.  Francis  College 

Allegheny  College 

Mercer  sburgli  College 

Palatinate  College 

Westminster  College 

Lincoln  University 

Maimonides  College 

Department  of  Arts, University 
of  Pennsylvania. 

La  Salle  College 

St.  Joseph’s  College 

Western  University 

Lehigh  University 

Swarthmore  College 

Washington  and  Jefferson  Col- 
lege. 

Wayne8burgh  College 

Haverford  College 

St.  Vincent’s  ( Allege 

Ursinus  College 

Brown  University 

College  of  Charleston 

University  of  South  Carolina. . 

Furman  University 

Claflin  University 

Wofford  College 

Newberry  College 

East  Tennessee  Wesleyan 
University.  j 

King  College 


Bethlehem,  Pa 

Carlisle,  Pa 

Delaware  County,  Pa 

Easton,  Pa 

Gettysburgh,  Pa 

Lancaster^Pa 

Lewisburgh,  Pa 

Loretto,  Pa 

Mcadville,  Pa 

Mercersburgh,  Pa 

Myerstown,  Pa 

New  Wilmington,  Pa 

Oxford,  Pa 

Philadelphia,  Pa 

do 

do 

do 

Pittsburgh,  Pa 

South  Bethlehem,  Pa 

Swarthmore,  Pa 

Washington,  Pa 

Waynesburgh,  Pa 

West  Haverford,  Pa 

Westmoreland  County,  Pa 

Freeland,  Pa 

Providence,  R.I 

Charleston,  S.  C 

Columbia,  S.  C 

Greenville,  S.  C 

Orangeburgli,  S.  C 

Spartanburgli  C.  H.,  S.  C - . . 

Walhalla.  S.  C 

Athens,  Tenn 

Bristol,  Tenn 


1807 

1783 

1848 

1820 

1832 

1853 

1847 

1850 

1815 

1865 


1852 

1854 


1755 

1862 

1852 

1819 

1866 

1869 

1802 


1850 


1846 

1869 

1764 

1787 

1801 

1*51 

1869 

1851 

1859 

1867 

1869 


Rt.  Rev.  E.  de  Schweinitz,  D.  D. . 

Rev.  R.  L.  Dashiell,  D.  D 

Very  Rev.  P.  A.  Stanton,  O.  S.  A 


Rev.  W.  C.  Cattell,  D.  D 

M.  Valentine,  D.  D 

Rev.  J.  W.  Nevin,  D.  D 

Rev.  J.  R.  Loomis,  LL.  D 

Rev.  A.  J.  Brownam 

Rev.  G.  Loomis,  D.  D 

Rev.  E.  E.  Higby,  D.  D 

Rev.  H.  R.  Nicks,  A.  M 

R.  A.  Brown,  D.  D 

Rev.  L N.  Rendall,  D.  D 


C.  J.  Still6,  LL.  D 

Brother  Oliver 

Rev.  P.  A.  Jordan,  S.  J. 

G.  Woods,  LL.  D 

H.  Coppee,  LL.  D 

E.  H.  McGill 

Rev.  G.  P.  Hays,  D.  D . 


A.  B.  Miller,  D.  D 

S.  J.  Gummere,  A.  M 

Rev.  A.  Heimler,  O.  S.  B 

J.  H.  A.  Bomberger,  D.  D 

Rev.  A.  Caswell,  D.  D.,  LL.  D 

N.  R.  Middleton 

Hon.  R.  W.  Barnwell,  LL.  D 

J.  C.  Furman,  D.  D 

A.  Webster,  D.  D 

Rev.  A.  M.  Shipp,  A.  M.,  D.  D . . . 

Rev.  J.  P.  Smeltzer,  A.  M 

Rev.  N.  E.  Cobleigli,  D.  D 

1 

Rev.  J.  D.  Tadlock 


STATISTICAL  TABLES, 


555 


DEPARTMENTS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES,  &.C.— Continued. 


.O 

1 

Denomination. 

| Number  of  instructors. 

Students. 

Cost  of-— 

Number  of  volumes  in  library. 

Time  of  commencement. 

Preparatory  department. 

d 

o 

5 

— 

a 

R 

| Sophomores. 

| Juniors. 

Seniors. 

Other  schools  not  profes- 
sional. 

Males. 

CD 

O 

a 

& 

Total. 

Tuition  per  term. 

Board  per  month. 

<240 

U.  P... 

6 

58 

13 

71 

o$30 

$12-16 

Last  Thursday  in  June. 

°r»n 

251 

Con?  .. 

26 

G78 

61 

36 

30 

40 

328 

G5G 

517 

1173 

3 

10 

10, 000 

First  "Wednesday  in  Aug. 

252 

State  .. 

8 

45 

17 

18 

17 

19 

23,139 

139 

a45 

18-20 

9, 000 

Last  Thursday  in  June. 

253 

4 

26 

31 

14 

7 

4 

25 

55 

52 

107 

10 

12 

Third  Wednesday  in  Juno, 

254 

Luth. . . 

7 

90 

24 

19 

19 

17 

8 

177 

177 

a30 

10 

6, 000 

Last  Thursday  in  June. 

255 

Ref.  ... 

9 

120 

18 

18 

5 

16 

. ... 

147 

30 

177 

a2G 

10 

4,  800 

June  21. 

25G 

N.  Ch  . 

257 

U.B... 

7 

20 

14 

10 

12 

10 

70 

87 

49 

136 

alO 

12 

1st  Wednesd’y  after  May  26. 

253 

8 

27 

33 

18 

11 

4 

18 

49 

62 

111 

8 

12-16 

3, 000 

June  22. 

250 

9 

72 

15 

16 

2 500 

Last  Wednesday  in  June. 

260 

Unit . . . 

10 

65 

12 

6 

4 

3 

125 

iic 

99 

215 

a38 

0133 

4,  700 

Last  Wednesday  in  Juno. 

2G1 

A.M.E. 

8 

88 

2 



4 

4 

2 

62 

38 

100 

5-7 

6-12 

3,  500 

June  21. 

*>G° 

Moth 

7 

27 

149 

39 

137 

176 

12 

16 

350 

Juno  19. 

2G3 

M.E... 

9 

74 

64 

46 

37 

45 

151 

417 

417 

a54 

14-18 

13,036 

Last  Thursday  in  June. 

2G4 

20 

100 

21 

14 

105 

50 

15 

16 

500 

Juno  14. 

265 

U P 

4 

63 

29 

92 

&130-209 

500 

June  22. 

26G 

Chr 

10 

125 

44 

169 

5200-300 

2, 000 

Juno  22. 

968 

260 

7 

33 

4 

2 

2 

... 

57 

64 

34 

98 

a33 

0I8O 

5)  000 

First  Wednesday  in  Junew 

270 

M.  E... 

13 

188 

9 

10 

1 

3 

45 

129 

127 

256 

15 

16-2 

650 

Third  Thursday  in  June. 

271 

272 

70 

273 

274 

Lath. .. 

9 

16 

18 

18 

13 

14 

63 

142 

... 

142 

a45 

ol50 

2, 800 

Last  Thursday  in  June. 

275 

P.  E . . . 

11 

55 

... 

13 

5 

4 

77 

77 

6300 

400 

About  tho  last  of  June. 

27G 

U.B... 

7 

20 

*6 

5 

5 

‘si 

93 

24 

117 

047 

16 

Last  Thursday  but  one  in 
June. 

277 

Mor 

878 

M.  E... 

8 

26 

31 

20 

18 

30 

125 

125 

a40 

io^ic 

25,  563 

Last  Thursday  in  June. 

279 

R.  C . . . 

15 

110 

110 

6250 

4,  000 

Last  Wednesday  in  Juncw 

280 

Pres . . . 

25 

83 

67 

32 

38 

11 

231 

231 

15 

20-24 

8, 000 

3d  Wednesday  in  Juno. 

281 

Luth  .. 

11 

63 

34 

26 

31 

23 

.... 

177 

177 

13 

0137 

17,  800 

Last  Thursday  in  Juno. 

282 

G.R... 

7 

59 

17 

16 

28 

14 

124 

10 

134 

13 

14-18 

8,  000 

Last  Thursday  in  June. 

263 

Bapt . . . 

6 

36 

29 

15 

16 

20 

40 

156 

156 

a36 

12-16 

5,  000 

Last  Tuesday  in  Juno, 

284 

R.  C . . . 

285 

M.E  .. 

6 

25 

21 

15 

11 

20 

85 

7 

192 

16 

12, 000 

June  20. 

28G 

G.R... 

G 

G3 

19 

10 

8 

2 

'**8 

96 

14 

2i0 

6200 

2d  Wednesday  in  Juna 

287 

G R 

6 

233 

50 

283 

032 

ol54 

600 

2d  Thursday  in  Juno. 

288 

U.  P . . . 

G 

52 

35 

32 

16 

31 

G4 

166 

64 

130 

o25 

8-1G 

1,500 

Last  Thursday  in  June. 

289 

Pres . . . 

18 

71 

34 

22 

18 

15 



158 

158 

10 

10 

28,  000 

3d  Wednesday  in  Juno, 

290 

291 

State  . . 

3G 

31 

30 

38 

26 

62 

187 

187 

292 

R.  C .. 

15 

212 

212 

06O-8O 

3,  000 

End  of  June. 

293 

R.C  ... 

8 

. . . 

340 

340 

10-15 

1,  500 

1st  Monday  in  July. 

294 

1G 

ii 

27 

n 

"9 

153 

217 

217 

18-25 

16-24 

2,  600 

Last  Tuesday  in  Juno. 

295 

P.  E . 

15 

48 

38 

13 

9 

8 

1 16 

116 

Free  . . 

20 

2,  000 

Last  Thursday  in  Juno. 

206  Fr 

173 

30 

1- 

7 

134 

94 

228 

6350 

Last  Wednesday  in  Juno. 

297 

Pres . . . 

10 

39 

30 

14 

16 

19 

.... 

118 

118 

8 

9-16 

Wednesday  before  July  3. 

298 

C.  P . . . 

10 

275 

al2 

12-14 

2d  Thursday  in  September. 

299 

Fr 

5 

8 

10 

20 

13 

51 

51 

7,  857 

July  12. 

300 

R C . 

22 

23 

204 

2 r, 

227 

10 

16 

6,  000 

Last  Wednesday  in  Juno, 

301 

Ref.... 

G 

98 

13 

3 

6 

120 

120 

048 

15 

Last  Thursday  in  Juno. 

302 

Bapt.  . 

13 

56 

78 

41 

50 

.... 

225 

225 

075 

13-32 

*38,666 

Last  Wednesday  in  Juno. 

303 

:,D 

50 

a40 

8,  000 

Last  Tuesday  in  March. 

301 

State  . . 

14 

70 

70 

a45 

14 

27[  000 

Last  Monday  in  Jun& 

305 

Bapt  . . 

4 

50 

306 

M.E  . 

G 

73 

30 

103 

200 

307 

M.  E.  S 

7 

42 

22 

24 

22 

15 

u 

136 

136 

32 

15 

2, 000 

Last  Wednesday  in  Jnno. 

308 

Luth 

4 

79 

2 

3 

2 

86 

86 

a45 

12 

Last  Thursday  in  June. 

309 

M.  E... 

9 

35 

14 

11 

5 

5 

73 

106 

43 

143 

a4G 

12 

300 

2d  Weducsday  in  Juno. 

310 

G 

162 

1 ^ 

162 

20 

14 

Last  Wodnosday  but  one  in 

May. 

556  REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSIONER  OF  EDUCATION. 

STATISTICS  OF  COLLEGES  AND  COLLEGIATE 


Name. 


Location. 


Presidents 


312 

313 

314 

315 
31C 

317 

318 

319 

320 

321 

322 

323 


324 

325 

326 

327 

328 

329 

330 

331 

332 

333 

334 

335 

336 


Greenville  and  Tusculum  Col- 
lege. 

West  Tennessee  University  . . . 

Jonesborough  College 

East  Tennessee  University 

Presbyterian  Synodical  College 

Cumberland  University 

Lookout  Mountain  Educational 
Institution. 

Hiawassee  College 

Maryville  College 

Union  University 

Central  Tennessee  College. 
College  of  Arts,  University  of 
Nashville. 

Fisk  University 

Franklin  College 

University  of  the  South 

St.  Joseph’s  College 

Colorado  College 

University  of  St.  Mary 

Aranama  College 

Henderson  College 

Baylor  University 

St.  Mary's  College 

Waco  University 

University  of  Vermont 

Middlebury  College 


Greenville,  Tenn. 


1869 


Rev.  W.  S.  Doak,  A.  M 


Jackson,  Tenn 

Jonesborough,  Tenn 

Knoxville,  Tenn 

Lagrange,  Tenn 

Lebanon,  Tenn 

Lookout  Mountain,  Ten. . . 


1865 
1807 
1856 
1842 

1866 


Rev.  E.  L.  Patton,  A.  M 

H.  Presnell,  A.  M 

Rev.  T.  W.  Humes,  S.  T.  D 


B.  W.  McDonnald,  D.D..LL.D. 
Rev. C. F. P. Bancroft,  AM 


Madison ville,  Tenn 

Maryville,  Tenn 

Murfreesborough,  Tenn. . . 

Nashville,  Tenn 

do 


1819 

1848 

1866 

1806 


J.  B.  Greiner,  A.  M 

Rev.  P.  M.  Bartlett,  A.  M. 

G.  W.  Jarman,  A.  M 

Rev.  J.  Braden,  A.  M 

E.  K.  Smith 


do 

Near  Nashville,  Tenn. 

Sewanee,  Tenn 

Brownsville,  Texas  . . 

Columbus,  Texas 

Galveston,  Texas 

Goliad,  Texas 

Henderson,  Texas  ... 
Independence,  Texas 
San  Antonio,  Texas  . . 

Waco,  Texas 

Burlington,  Vt 

Middlebury,  Vt 


1867 
1844 

1868 


A.  K.  Spence,  A M. 

A.  J.  Fanning 

Gen.  Gorgas 


1857 

1856 

1852 

1871 


Rev.  J.  J.  Scherer,  A.  M — 
Brother  Boniface,  S.  S.  C . . 

J.  E.  C.  Doremus,  D.  D 

G.  H.  Gould 


1845 


W.  C.  Crane,  D.  D 


1861  Rev.  R.  C.  Burleson,  D.  D 

— M.  H.  Buckham 

1797  Rev.  H.  D.  Kitcliel,  D.  D . 


337 

338 

339 

340 

341 

342 

343 

344 

345 

346 

347 

348 

350 

351 

352 

353 

354 

355 

356 

357 

358 


Norwich  University 

Randolph  Macon  College 

University  of  Virginia 

Emory  and  Henry  College 

Washington  and  Lee  Univer- 
sity. 

Hampden  Sidney  College 

Richmond  College 

Roanoke  College 

College  of  William  and  Mary. . 

Virginia  Military  Institute 

St.  John’s  College 

Bethany  College 

West  Virginia  University 

St.  Vincent’s  College 

West  Virginia  College 

Lawrence  University 

Wayland  University 

Beloit  College 

Galesville  University 

Janesville  College 

University^  of  Wisconsin 


Northfield,  Vt 

Ashland,  Va 

Univ.  of  Va.  P.  O. . 

Emory,  Va 

Lexington,  Va 


1834 

1831 

1825 

1838 

1782 


Rev.  R.  S.  Howard,  D.  D 

Rev.  J.  A.  Duncan,  A.  M.,  D.  D. . 

C.  S.  Venable,  LL.  D 

Rev.  E.  E.  Wiley,  D.  D 

Gen.  G.  W.  C.  Lee 


Prince  Edward  County,  Va. 

Richmond,  Va 

Salem,  Va 

Williamsburgh,  Va 

Lexington,  Va 

Norfolk,  Va 

Bethany,  W.  Va 

Morgantown,  W.  Va 

Wheeling,  W.  Va 

Flemington,  W.  Va 

Appleton,  Wis 

Beaver  Dam,  Wis 

Beloit,  Wis 

Galesville,  Wis 

Janesville,  Wis 

Madison,  Wis 


1776 

1844 

1853 

1693 

1839 


B.  Puryear,  AM 

B.  Puryeai,  A.  M 

Rev.  D.  F.  Bittle,  D.  D 

B.S.  Ewell 

Gen.  F.  H.  Smith 


1841 

1868 

1865 


1847 

1854 

1847 

1859 


W.  K.  Pendleton 

Rev.  A.  Martin,  D.  D 

Rev.  A.  Louage 

Rev.  W.  Colegrove,  A.  M 
Rev.  G.  M.  Steele,  D.  D . 

A.  S.  Hutchens 

Rev.  A.  L.  Chapin,  D.  D . 
Rev. H.  Gilliland,  AM.. 
A.  L.  Reed 


1848 


J.  IL  Twombly,  D.  D 


359 

360 

361 

362 

363 

364 

365 

366 

367 

368 

369 

370 

371 

372 


Pio  Nono  College 

Milton  College 

Racine  College 

Ripon  College 

St.  John’s  College 

Northwestern  University 

Carroll  College 

Georgetown  College 
Columbian  College 
Gonzaga  College 
Howard  University 
Santa  F6  University 
University  of  Deseret . . 
WashingtQn  University 


St.  Francis,  Wis 

Milton,  Wis 

Racine,  Wis 

Ripon,  Wis 

Prairie  du  Chien,  Wis 

Watertown,  Wis 

Waukesha,  Wis 

Georgetown,  D.  C 

Washington,  D.  C 

do 

do 

Santa  F6,  N.  M 

Salt  Lake  City,  Utah  Ter 
Seattle,  Wash.  Ter. . 


1871 

1844 

1852 

1863 
1865 

1864 
1846 
1792 
1822 
1848 

1867 
1870 

1868 
1861 


Rev.  J.  Salzmann,  D.  D 

Rev.  W.  C.  Whitford,  AM 

Rev.  J.  Do  Koven,  D.  D 

Rev.  W.  E.  Merriman,  A.  M 

Brother  Benedict 

Rev.  A.  F.  Ernest,  A.  M 

Rev.  W.  D.  F.  Lumrnis  A.  M 

Rev.  J.  Early,  S.  J 

J.  C.  Welling,  LL.  D 

Rev.  J.  Clark 

Gen.  O.  O.  Howard,  LL.  D 

Rev.  D.  F.  McFarland  

J.  R.  Park,  M.  D 

J.  H.  Hall 


JLA  • I A 


State  oh 
Proceeds  t 
stance  the 
tenant  Gov 
of  State  $3 


“Ue  compared  with  *h 

10‘/“take8.» 

£?  W.00O,  the  j'jgy, 

e ttivatL  slate  Pays 

FTh"nsE?d‘i 


e.ach'  Librarfo  .Iroad 
ejooer  $1,200  lau  ?I’500, 


Voinmii 


STATISTICAL  TABLES. 


557 


DEPARTMENTS  IN'  THE  UNITED  STATES,  &C.— Continued. 


Number. 

Denomination. 

I Number  of  instructors. 

Students. 

Cost  of— 

Number  of  volumes  in  library. 

Time  of  commencement. 

H 

© 

a 

t, 

s 

0. 

© 

>3 

- 

= 

ft 

O 

£ 

a 

© 

a 

t 

I Sophomores. 

I Juniors. 

I Seniors. 

I Other  schools  not  profes- 
sional. 

•sap?jv  | 

I Females. 

| Total. 

Tuition  per  term. 

Board  per  month. 

Pres  . . . 

r 

65 

65 

M E 

3 

5 

GC 

315 

113 

26 

15 

9 

4 

167 

167 

o$36 

$8 

1,  000 

3d  Wednesday  in  June. 

.. 

317 

C.  P. . . . 

9 

100 

33 

29 

25 

22 

30 

239 

239 

a60-70 

14-20 

2d  Thursday  in  June. 

G 

44 

6 

s 

5c 

7£ 

26  105 

6200 

3d  Tuesday  in  Jane. 

310 

320 

Pres  . . . 

6 

24 

8 

4 

5 

59 

71 

29100 

a20 

8-12 

2, 000 

Last.  Thursday  in  May. 

M * F, 

r> 

9 

211 

115 

ins'22n 

a9 

10-12 

450 

May  17. 

323 

State.. . 

10 

15 

10 

5 

2 

239 

271 

271 

6150-175 

10,  000 

2d  Tuesday  in  June. 

7 

524 

395 

YY  * .. 

326 

P.  E . . . 

8 

180 

180 

397 

39.9 

329 

E.C.... 

9 

78 

84 

162 

162 

3-6 

• c30 

500 

Last  Thursday  in  Juno. 

330 

831 

173 

142 

315 

al30 

September  4. 

332 

Bapt . . . 

c 

113 

|l  13 

a30-60 

12-50 

2,500 

2d  Wednesday  in  June. 

333 



.... 

... 

334 

Bapt 

11 

9 

236 

140 

105 

245 

15—25 

12-15 

Last  Week  in  June. 

335 

State  . . 

15 

11 

7 

14 

13 

24 

69 

69 

a45 

14-16 

15,  000 

1st  Thursday  in  August. 

336 

Cong  . . 

7 

14 

10 

18 

16 



58 

58 

a45 

«142 

11,000 

Thursday  following  2d 

Wednesday  in  August. 

337 

P.  E 

10 

12 

24 

30 

8 

74 



74 

6350 

4,  000 

2d  Thursday  in  July. 

338 

M.  E.  S. 

7 

142 

142 

a40-75 

10-18 

10,  000 

Last  Thursday  in  June. 

339 

State 

19 

317 

317 

70 

16-20 

37,  000 

Thursday  before  July  4. 

340 

M.E.S. 

5 

88 

27 

25 

25 

15 

180 

180 

aGO 

13 

13,  580 

1st  Wednesday  in  June. 

341 

305 

305 

06O 

16 

6,  000 

4th  Thursday  in  Juno. 

342 

Pres  . . . 

5 

18 

16 

21 

10 

16 

81 

81 

a50 

al60 

3, 500 

2d  Thursday  in  June. 

343 

Bapt . . 

11 

144 

144 

a70 

10 

July  1. 

344 

Luth . . . 

11 

69 

11 

14 

ie 

7 

34 

151 

151 

a50 

al 40-205 

6,  600 

3d  Wednesday  in  Jnno. 

345 

P.  E ... 

12 

76 

76 

50 

16 

5,  000 

3d  Monday  in  June. 

316 

State  . . 

.... 

386 

386 

386 

Free . . 

15 

July  4. 

347 

R.  C 

348 

Chr 

9 

22 

16 

11 

15 

.... 

43 

107 

107 

a30 

20 

3d  Thursday  in  June. 

350 

Stato. . 

13 

99 

25 

8 

12 

2 

146 

5-8 

16 

1,500 

3d  Wednesday  in  Juno. 

351 

R.  C 

12 

120 

120 

a30 

a200 

3,  500 

1st  Monday  in  September. 

352 

10 

48 

28 

76 

6-8 

12 

July  12. 

353 

M.  E . . . 

9 

57 

29 

24 

11 

13 

138 

185 

87 

272 

5-7 

8-11 

6,  000 

Last  Thursday  in  Juno. 

354 

Bapt 

r. 

a25 

355 

Cong . . . 

9 

133: 

14 

20 

14 

11 

5 

197 

197 

a36 

a80-160 

7,200 

2d  Wednesday  in  July. 

356 

M.  E 

ij 

62 

44 

106 

a21-30 

4,  500 

357 

3 

161 

22 

183 

358 

State... 

27 

131 

7 

5 

10 

6 

338 

124’ 

462 

6 

12 

5,  000 

Wednesday  preceding  last 

303| 

Tuesday  in  Juno. 

359 

R.  C 

5 

20 

20 

al60 

7,  200 

July  1. 

360 

Bapt . . . 

7 

163 

32 

26 

io 

6 

141 

96 

237 

8-11 

13 

1,310 

Last  Wednesday  in  June. 

361 

p.  E . ... 

16 

131 

13 

21 

1 

7 

9 

1 85 

185 

6400 

2d  Wednesday  in  July. 

362 

12 

54 

6 

5 

5 

7 

244 

174  147 

321 

8 

10 

1,500 

Last  Wednesday  in  Juno. 

363 

it.  c 

15 

364 

Luth  . . . 

7 

128 

4 

132 

10 

al2(M50 

1,  500 

July  4. 

365 

Pros 

R.  C 

16 

139 

3G 

15 

I] 

11 

212 

212 

6325 

33  000 

Ticifit  Thursday  in  *Tmi©. 

uW 

367 

Bapt . . . 

9 

70 

10 

8 

6 

JO 

1 J9 

169 

aGO 

16 

8, 000 

Last  Wednesday  in  June. 

368 

R.C.... 
Con  c 

8 

143 

143 

a44 

400 

1st  Monday  in  duly. 

369 

370 

Pros 

4 

34 

17 

51 

40-60 

a225 

40 

Rcptcmbor  11. 

371 

L.D.  S 

13 

2K6  294 

580 

aGO 

20-32 

Juno  14. 

372 

5 

,,0I 

e8 

198 

14 

14 

400 

34* 


£ 

1 

5 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

26 

27 

28 

29 

30 

31 

32 

33 

34 

35 

36 

37 

38 

39 

40 

41 

42 

43 

44 

45 

46 

47 

48 

49 

50 

51 

52 

53 

54 


REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSIONER  OF  EDUCATION. 


STATISTICS  OF  THEOLOGICAL 
[Compiled  from  the  most  recent  reports  aonj 


Name. 


| 

N 

Location. 

a 

1 

Denomination. 

o 

<D 

H 

P 

Theological  department  of  Howard  College. 
Ecclesiastical  Seminary  of  Diocese  of  Mo- 
bile. 

Saint  Augustine  College 

Theological  Seminary 

Pacific  Theological  Seminary 

Theological  Institute  of  Connecticut 

Theological  department  of  Yale  College.. 
Berkeley  Divinity  School 

Theological  department  of  Mercer  Uni- 
versity. 

St.  Joseph’s  Ecclesiastical  College 


Marion,  Ala 

South  Orange,  Ala 


Benicia,  Cal 

San  Francisco,  Cal . 

Oakland,  Cal 

Hartford,  Conn 

New  Haven,  Conn  . . 
Middletown,  Conn  . 


1841 


Bajttist 

Homan  Catholic. 


Macon,  Ga  — 
Teutopolis,  111 


1868 

1871 

1866 

1834 

1823 

1854 

1833 

1861 


Protestant  Episcopal. 

Presbyterian 

Congregational 

do 

do 

Protestant  Episcopal. 


Baptist 

Roman  Catholic. 


Theological  Seminary  of  the  Northwest. . . 
Theological  school  of  Blackburn  Univer- 
sity. 

Garrett  Biblical  Institute 

Chicago  Theological  Seminary 

Theological  Seminary  of  the  Northwest. . . 

Baptist” Theological  Seminary 

Bible  department  of  Eureka'College 

Theological  department  of  Shurtleff  Col- 
lege. 

Theological  department  of  Augustana 
College. 

Theological  School  of  Hartsville  Univer- 
sity. 

Wartburg  Seminary 

Theological  department  of  Griswold  Col- 
lege. 

German  Theological  Seminary 

Theological  Department  of  Iowa  Wes- 
leyan University. 

Norwegian  Theological  Seminary 

Theological  department  of  Georgetown 
College. 

Western  Baptist  Theological  Institute  . .. 

St.  Joseph’s  Ecclesiastical  Seminary 

College  of  the  Bible,  of  Kentucky  Univer- 
sity. 

Danville  Theological  Seminary 

Diocesan  Theological  Seminary 

Theological  school  of  Bethel  College 

Thomson  Biblical  Institute 

Theological  Seminary 

Theological  Seminary 

Theological  school  of  Bates  College 


Monmouth,  HI 

Carlinville,  111 

Evanston,  111 

Chicago,  111 

do 

do 

Eureka,  HI 

Upper  Alton,  111 

Genesee,  111 

Hartsville,  Ind 

St.  Sebald,  Iowa 

Davenport,  Iowa 

Dubuque,  Iowa 

Mt.  Pleasant,  Iowa 


Decorah,  Iowa 

Georgetown,  Ky 

do 

Bardstown,  Ky 

Lexington,  Ky 

Danville,  Ky 

Shelby  ville,  Ky 

Russellville,  Kv 

New  Orleans,  La 

do 

Bangor,  Mo 

Lewiston,  Mo 


1839 

1857 

1854 

1855 
1859 
1866 
1852 
1832 


1857 

1859 


1858 


1840 

1820 

1865 

1853 

1865 

1853 

1865 


1816 

1830 


United  Presbyterian . . 
Presbyterian 

Methodist  Episcopal . . 

Congregational 

Presbyterian 

Baptist 

Christian 

Baptist 

Lutheran 

United  Brethren 

Lutheran 

Protestant  Episcopal. . 

Presbyterian 

Methodist  Episcopal . . 

Lutheran 

Baptist 

do 

Roman  Catholic 

Christian 

Presbyterian 

Protestant  Episcopal. . 

Baptist 

Methodist  Episcopal. . 

Roman  Catholic 

Congregational 

Free  Baptist  


Theological  Seminary  of  St.  Sulpice 

Theological  department  of  Mt.  St.  Mary’s 
College. 

Theological  Seminary 

Divinity  school  of  Tufts  College 

Divinity  school  of  Harvard  University . . . 

Boston  Theological  Seminary 

Andover  Theological  Seminary 

Episcopal  Theological  School 

Newton  Theological  Institution 

New  Jerusalem  Theological  School  

Theological  department  of  Adrian  College 
Theological  department  of  Hillsdale  Col- 
lege. 

Scandinavian  Theological  Seminary 

Concordia  Seminary * 

Vanderman  School  of  Theology 

Theological  school  of  Westminster  College 

St.  Vincent’s  Theological  Seminary 

Theological  Seminary  of  the  Reformed 
Church. 


Baltimore,  Md 

Near  Emmittsburgh, 
Md. 

Woodstock,  Md 

College  Hill,  Mass 

Cambridge,  Mass 

Boston,  Mass 

Andover,  Mass 

Cambridge,  Mass 

Newton  Centre,  Mass  . 

Waltham,  Mass 

Adrian,  Mich 

nillsdale,  Mich 


1791 

1800 


1K>8 

1811 

1847 

1808 

1867 

1826 

1866 


Roman  Catholic 

do 

— do 

Universalist 

No  tests 

Methodist  Episcopal.. 

Congregational 

Protestant  Episcopal. . 

Baptist 

Now  Jerusalem  Church 


Freo  gaptist. 


Chicago,  111 

St.  Louis,  Mo. . . 


1840 


Liberty,  Mo 

Fulton,  Mo 

Capo  Girardeau,  Mo. . . 
New  Brunswick,  N.  J 


1868 


1844 

1785 


Lutheran 

do 

Baptist 


Roman  Catliolio. 
Reformed 


STATISTICAL  TABLES. 


559 


SEMINARIES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


to  the  United  States  Bureau  of  Education.] 


Number. 

President  or  senior  professor. 

| No.  of  professors. 

No.  of  students. 

Whole  number  edu- 
cated. 

Amount  of  endow- 
ment. 

Number  of  volumes 
in  library. 

Estimated  annual  ex- 
pense of  each  student. 

, 

Time  of  commencement. 

1 

2 

Rev.  S.  R.  Freeman,  D.  D 

1 

4 

2,500 

$105 

Last  Thursday  in  June. 

3 

4 

Rt  Rev.  "Win.  I.  Kip,  D.  D 

0 

7 

5 

Rev.  James  A.  Benton,  D.  D . . . 

2 

7 

2 

§50, 000 

1,500 

150 

3d  Thursday  of  August. 

G 

3 

25 

290 

7,  000 

80 

Last  Thursday  in  June. 

7 

7 

55 

865 

308,  000 

3d  Thursday  in  May. 

8 

10 

38 

149 

40,  000 

1st  week  in  June. 

LL.  D. 

9 

10 

Very  Rev.  P.  Maurice  Kloster- 

7 

100 

527 

700 

180 

man,  0.  S.  F. 

11 

Rev.  Alexander  Young,  D.  D . . . 

3 

15 

208 

15,  000 

2,050 

150-175 

Last  Thursday  in  March- 

12 

Rev.  J olin  W.  Bailey,  1).  D 

1 

20 

16,  000 

700 

180 

13 

H.  Bannister,  D.  D 

4 

90 

256 

300,  000 

3,300 

150 

Last  Thursday  in  June. 

14 

Rev.  S.  U.  Bartlett,  D.  D 

0 

55 

125 

1D0,  000 

3,  700 

150 

Last  Thursday  in  April. 

15 

171 

100,  000 

8,  000 
10  000 

125-150 

1st  Thursday  in  April. 

Ifi 

112,  000 

150 

17 

2d  Thursday  in  June. 

18 

Rev.  J.  Bulkley,  D.  D . 

3 

65,  000 

150 

Do. 

19 

Rev.  T.  N.  Hasselquist 

2 

18 

20 

Rev.  J.  "Woodbury  Scribner,  A. 

1 

7 

93-150 

2d  Tuesday  in  June. 

21 

M. 

67 

3,  400 

1,045 

22 

Rt.  Rev.  Henry  W.  Lee,  D.  D., 

2 

7 

15 

40,  000 

5]  000 

250 

3d  week  in  Juno. 

LL.  D. 

23 

Rev.  J.  Conzet 

2 

10 

75 

10,  000 

5,000 

150 

June  1st. 

24 

John  Wheeler,  D.  D 

1 

25 

20 

27 

Rev.  N.  M.  Crawford 

1 

200-250 

2d  Thursday  in  J une. 

23  ! 

Rev.  P.  de  Frame 

7 

68 

3, 000 

150 

Last  Tuesday  in  June. 

29 

Rev.  Robert  Milligan 

2 

122 

110 

125 

2d  Friday  in  J une. 

30 

194 

218,  000 

8, 000 

31st  October. 

31 

2d  Thursday  in  Juno. 

32 

33 

34 

2 

30 

35 

Rev.  Enoch  Pond,  D.  D 

4 

24 

040 

120,  000 

13,  000 

150 

1st  Thursday  in  June. 

30 

Rev.  Oreu  B.  Cheney,  D.  D 

4 

21 

2,  000 

Tuesday  before  the  last 

Wednesday  in  June. 

37 

0 

70 

July  1st. 

38 

Very  Rev.  Jno.  McCaffroy,  D.  D 

3 

29 

320 

15,  000 

150 

3d  Monday  in  Juno. 

39 

7 

75 

40 

Rev.  Alonzo  A.  Minor,  D.  D 

3 

20 

12, 000 

250 

41 

Charles  W.  Eliot,  LL.  I) 

5 

37 

432 

240,  000 

10,  000 

300 

Last  Tuesday  in  June. 

42 

Rev.  William  F.  Warren,  T).  D. . 

14 

90 

005 

250,  000 

4,000 

140 

2d  Wednesday  in  Juno. 

43 

Itev.  Edwards  A.  Park,  D.  I) 

11 

88 

2,  006 

30,  000 

156 

1st  Thursday  in  August. 

4 1 

Rev.  John  S.  Stone,  D.  1) 

4 

11 

125,  000 

350 

1st  Wednesday  in  July. 

45 

Rev.  Alvah  Hovcy,  1).  D 

5 

50 

530 

335,  000 

1,200 

200 

2d  Wednesday  in  June. 

40 

Rev.  Thomas  Worcester 

4 

8 

9 

27,  000 

500 

175 

Not  fixod. 

47  1 

Rev.  A.  Mahan,  D.  D 

48 

49 

Rov.  James  Calder,  D.  D 

4 

32 

50 

Rev.  C.  F.  W.  Walter 

4 

1st  September. 

51 

Rev.  T.  Rambaut,  D.  I) 

4 

52 

00, 000 

3,  000 

310 

1st  Wednesday  in  June. 

52 

15  v.  Not  ban  L.  Rice,  D.  I) 

3 

6 

53 

Rev.  J.  Alizeri 

54 

Rev.  Samuel  M.  Woodbridgo. . . 

4 

22 

779 

175,  000 

1C, 000 

300 

Soptombor  20. 

I 

55 

56 

57 

58 

59 

60 

61 

62 

63 

64 

65 

66 

67 

68 

69 

70 

71 

72 

73 

74 

75 

76 

77 

78 

79 

80 

81 

82 

83 

84 

85 

86 

87 

88 

89 

90 

91 

92 

93 

94 

95 

96 

97 

98 

99 

ICO 

101 

102 

1 A-l 


REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSIONER  OF  EDUCATION. 


STATISTICS  OF  THEOLOGICAL  SEM 


Name. 


Theological  Seminary 

Drew  Theological  Seminary  . . - 
Auburn  Theological  Seminaiy. 


Rochester  Theological  Seminary. 
Union  Theological  Seminary 


Location. 


Princeton,  N.  J 

Madison,  N.  J 

Auburn,  N.  Y 


Hartwick  Theological  Seminary _ 

Theological  seminaryofMadisonUniversity 
Theological  school  of  St.  Lawrence  Uni- 
versity. 

Martin  Luther  (theological)  College 

Newburgh  Theological  Seminary 

St.  J osepli’s  Provincial  Seminary 

Theological  Seminary 

De  Lancy  Divinity  School  

Theological  Seminary  of  Our  Lady  of 
Angels. 

Theological  school  of  Trinity  College 

Biblical  department  of  Baldwin  University 
Theological  Seminary 


Theological  school  of  Ohio  "Wesleyan  Uni- 
versity. 

Theological  department  of  Wilberforce 
University. 

Theological'departmentof  Oberlin  College. 

Heidelberg  Theological  Seminary 

Theological  seminary  of  St.  Charles  Bor- 
romeo. 

Wittenberg  College 

Mount  Saint  Mary’s  of  the  West 


Lane  Theological  Seminary 

Theological  department  of  Capital  Univer- 
sity. 

Theological  Seminary 

St.  Mary’s  Ecclesiastical  Seminary 

Crozer  Theological  Seminary 

Meadville  Theological  School 

Theological  Seminary 

Divinity  School 


Lutheran  Theological  Seminary 
Missionary  Institute 


Western  Theological  Seminary 

Theological  Seminary 

Biblical  department  of  Allegheny  College 
Theological  department  of  Lincoln  Uni- 
versity. 

Chair  of  Biblical  language  and  literature, 
Dickinson  College. 

Theological  Seminary 


St.  Michael’s  Theological  Seminary 

Theological  Seminary 

Protestant  Episcopal  Mission  House 

St.  Charles  Borromeo  Seminary 

Theological  Seminary  of  Ursin'us  College. 

Theological  Seminary 

Theological  Seminary 

Southern  Baptist  Theological  Seminary  . 
Theological  department  of  Cumberland 
University. 

Theological  department  of  Central  Uni- 
versity. 

Theological  department  of  Baylor  Uni- 
versity. 

Colver  Institute 

Union  Theological  Seminary 


Rochester,  N.  Y 

New  York  City,  N.  Y. . 


Hartwick,  N.  Y 
Hamilton,  N.  Y 
Canton,  N.  Y. . . 


Buffalo,  N.  Y 

Newburgh,  N.  Y 

Troy,  N.  Y 

New  York  City,  N.  Y. . 

Geneva,  N.  Y 

SuspensionBridge,N.Y 

Trinity  College,  N.  C . 

Berea,  Ohio 

Gambier,  Ohio 


Delaware,  Ohio  . . 
Near  Xenia,  Ohio 


Oberlin,  Ohio 

Tiffin,  Ohio 

Carthagena,  Ohio. 

Springfield,  Ohio . 
Cincinnati,  Ohio. . 


do 

Columbus,  Ohio . 


Xenia,  Ohio 

Cleveland,  Ohio  . 

Upland,  Pa 

Meadville,  Pa  . . . 
Lancaster,  Pa  .. 
Philadelphia,  Pa 


do 

Selin’s  Grove,  Pa. 


Allegheny  City,  Pa  . . . 

do 

Meadville,  Pa 

Oxford,  Pa 


Carlisle,  Pa 

Bethlehem,  Pa 


Pittsburgh,  Pa 

Gettysburgh,  Pa  . . . 
West  Philadelphia,  Pa. 
Philadelphia,  Pa  . . . 

Freeland,  Pa 

Columbia,  S.  C 

do 

Greenville,  S.  C — 
Lebanon,  Tenn 


Nashville,  Tenn — 
Independence, Tex  ... 


Richmond,  Ya 

Hampden  Sidney,  Ya. . 


1812 

1867 

1821 

1850 

1836 

1816 

1820 

1858 

1854 

1865 

1864 

1817 

1861 

1856 


1826 


1864 


1835 

1850 


1845 

1849 


1829 


1794 


1868 

1844 

1825 

1862 

1864 

1858 

1825 


Denomination. 


Presbyterian 

Methodist  Episcopal. 
Presbyterian 


Baptist 

Presbyterian 


Lutheran  — 

Baptist 

Universalist . 


1865 


1807 

1847 

1825 

1864 

1858 
1870 
1&31 

1859 
1859 
1842 

1866 

1864 

1867 

1824 


Lutheran 

United  Presbyterian. 

Roman  Catholic 

Protestant  Episcopal. 

do 

Roman  Catholic 


Methodist  Episcopal.. 

do 

Protestant  Episcopal  . 

Methodist  Episcopal.. 

African  Methodist 
Episcopal. 

Congregational 

Reformed 

Roman  Catholic 


Lutheran 

Roman  Catholic. 


Presbyterian 
Lutheran 


United  Presbyterian. 
Roman  Catholic 


Baptist 

Unitarian 

Reformed 

Protestant  Episcopal . 

Lutheran 


.do 


Presbyterian 

United  Presbyterian . 


Presbyterian 

Methodist  Episcopal. 
Moravian 


Roman  Catholic 

Lutheran 

Protestant  Episcopal. 
Roman  Catholic 


Presbyterian. 

Lutheran  

Baptist 

Presbyterian. 


Methodist  Episcopal 
Baptist 


do 

Presbyterian . 


o 

a 

a 

6 

55 

56 

57 

58 

59 

60. 

61 

62 

63 

64 

65 

66 

67 

68 

69 

70 

71 

72 

73 

74 

75 

76 

77 

78 

79 

80 

81 

82 

83 

84 

85 

66 

87 

88 

89 

90 

91 

92 

93 

94 

95 

96 

97 

98 

99 

100 

101 

102 

103 

104 

105 

106 

107 


STATISTICAL  TABLES. 


561 


JOES  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES — Continual. 


President  or  senior  professor. 


Rev. Charles  Hodge,  D.D.,  LL.D 
Randolph  S.  Foster,  D.D.,  LL.D 
S.  M.  Hopkins,  D.  D 


Rev.  E.  G.  Rohinson,  D.  D 

Rev.  Henry  B.  Smith,  D.  D., 
LL.  D. 

Rev.  T.  T.  Titus,  A.  M 

Rev.  Geo.W.Eaton,  D.D.,  LL.D 
Rev.  Ebenezer  Fisher,  D.  D . . 


Rev.  J.  A.  A.  Grabau 

A hoard  of  superintendents  . . 
Very  Rev.  H.  Gabriels 


Rev.  James  Rankin e,  D.  D . . . 
Very  Rev.  Robert  E.  Y.  Rice. 


Rev.  B.  Craven,  D.  D 

Rev.  W.  D.  Godman,  D.  D 

Rt.  Rev.  C.  P.  Mcllvaine,  D.D., 
D.  C.  L.,  LL.  D. 

Rev.  Frederick  Merrick 


Rt.  Rev.  Daniel  A.  Payne,  D.  D. 

Rev.  James  H.  Fairchild,  D.  D. 

Rev.  J.  H.  Good,  D.  D 

Rev.  Henry  Drees,  D.  D 


Rev.  S.  Sprecher,  D.  D 

Rev.  F. J.  Pabisch,D.D.,LL.D., 
D.  C.L. 

Rev.  Henry  Smith,  D.  D 


Rev.  S.  "Wilson,  D.  D. 


Rev.  Henry  G.  Weston,  D.  D . . 

Rev.  A.  A.  Livermore 

Rev.  E.  Y.  Gerhart,  D.  D 

Rev.D.R.Goodwin,  D.  D.,LL.D 

Rev.  Charles  F.  Schaeffer,  D.  D, 

H.  Zeigler 

Rev.  M.W.  Jacohus,  D.D.,LL.D 


Rev.  George  Loomis,  D.  D 
Rev. L N. ltendall, D. D ... 


Rev.  Robert  L.  Dashicll,  D.  D. . 

Right  Reverend  Edmund  de 
Schwcinitz,  D.  D. 

Rev.  S.  Wall 

Rev.  J.  A.  Brown,  D.  D 

Rev.  Washington  Rodman 


Rev.  J.  H.  A.  Bomberger  . . 

Rev.  Georgo  Howe,  D.  D 

Rev.  A.  R.  Rude 

Rev.  James  P.  Boyce,  D.  D 

Rev.  B.  W.  McDonnold,  D.D., 
LL.  D. 

Rev.  J.  Braden,  A.  M 


Rev.  We  Carey  Crane,  D.  D. . 

Rev.  Charles  IL  Corey,  A.  M. . . 
Rev.  R.  L.  Dabney,  D.  D . . . 


122  2,927 
97  189 

40 


11 


$5C0,  000 
500, 000 


476 

935 

100 

860 

142 


15 


41 


260 

812 


150 

20 

’iei" 


288 

130 


109 


533 


376 


166 

270 

133 

52 

52 

1,005 


233 

130 

426 

30 


374 


185 

40 


9 400 


267,  000 
375, 000 

15,  000 
180,  000 
60, 000 


30, 000 


200, 000 
20,  000 


100, 000 


60,000 

21, 000 


160,000 

200, 000 


50, 000 


140, 000 
60, 000 


88, 000 


184, 000 


42, 000 


100, 000 


145,715 
29,  000 

50. 000 

35.000 


196,000 


•3 

► rt 
cm 

©a 

<o 

a 

£ 


21,  804 
10, 000 
8,500 

8,000 

30. 000 

2,000 

10. 000 

6, 000 


i,  400 


13, 845 
3, 500 
400 

’7,066 


10, 000 
2,400 
3, 500 


10, 000 
12, 000 


2,000 


11, 000 
8, 000 
6, 100 

1,800 

2,000 


4, 100 

4,000 
12, 000 
600 
10,  000 


18,  340 
4,  COO 
10,  000 

5.000 

400 

400 

1.000 
8,000 


’rt  p 

SJ 

■e.® 

|© 
rt  0 

s « 


w 


$175 

150 

250 

175 

250 

175 

200 

240 


160 

09 

400-500 


262 

125 

’666 


150 

150-225 
175 
Free .. 

150 

225 

150 


100-150 


225 

200 

250-300 

240 


200 


98-113 


200 

200 

150 

300 

300 

200 

150 

150 

110 

100 

100 

100 

60 

250-300 


Time  of  commencement! 


Last  Wednesday  in  April. 
3d  Thursday  in  "May. 
Thursday  after  1st  Sunday 
in  May. 

3d  week'  in  May. 

Monday  before  2d  Thurs* 
day  in  May. 

4th  Wednesday  in  June. 

3d  Tuesday  in  June. 

1st  Thursday  in  July. 


Last  Wednesday  in  March. 
Last  Thursday  in  June. 
Last  Friday  in  June. 

Last  Wednesday  in  June. 

Last  Thursday  in  June. 

Last  Thursday  in  June. 

Third  Wednesday  in  June. 

1st  Wednesday  in  August. 
Last  Wednesday  in  June. 

4 th  week  in  June. 

June  30. 

June  24. 

2d  Thursday  in  May. 

1st  Thursday  in  October. 


3d  Thursday  in  June. 

Last  Wednesday  in  May. 

Thursday  after  3d  Tues- 
day in  Juno. 

Week  before  Trinity  Sun- 
day. 

Week  before  Trinity  Sun- 
day. 

Last  Wednesday  in  April. 


3d  Wednesday  in  June. 


1st  Wednesday  in  Sept. 

Last  of  June. 

4tli  Thursday  in  June. 

3d  Thursday  in  September; 
1st  Monday  in  September. 
Last  Thursday  in  June. 

2d  week  in  May. 

1st  Thursday  in  October. 
Last  Saturday  in  ApriL 
1st  Thursday  in  June. 

3d  week  in  May. 

3d  Thursday  in  June; 

3d  week  in  May. 

2d  Tuesday  in  May. 


562 


REPORT  OF  THE  UO.MMX3  STONER  OF  EDUCATION. 


STATISTICS  OF  THEOLOGICAL  SEM 


Name. 


Location. 


o 


Denomination. 


o 

d 


r 


108 

109 

110 
111 
112 

113 

114 

115 

116 

117 


Theological  Seminary 

St.  John’s  Theological  Seminary 

New  Hampton  Theological  Seminary 

St.  Vincent’s  College 

Nashotah  Theological  Seminary 

Mission  House 

The  Salesianum 

Augsburg  Seminary 

Theological  department  of  Howard  Uni- 
versity. 

Way  land  Theological  Seminary 


Fairfax  County,  Va . . . 

Norfolk,  Va 

Fairfax,  Va 

Wheeling,  W.  Va 

Nashotah  Lakes,  Wis 
Howard’s  Grove,  Wis. 

St.  Francis,  Wis 

Marshall,  Wis 

Washington,  D.  C 

do 


1823 

1869 

1825 

1865 

1847 

1864 
1856 

1869 

1870 

1865 


Protestant  Episcopal.. 

Roman  Catholic j 

Baptist 

Itoman  Catholic ... 

Protestant  Episcopal. . 

Reformed 

Roman  Catholic 

Lutheran 

Union  Evangelical 

Baptist 


g 

,=> 

s 

108 

109 

110 

111 

112 

113 

114 

115 

116 

117 


STATISTICAL  TABLES. 


563 


IN  THE  UNITED  STATES— Continued. 


President  or  senior  professor. 

| Number  of  professors. 

| Number  of  students.  | 

Whole  number  edu- 
cated. 

Amount  of  endow- 
ment. 

Number  of  volumes 
in  library. 

Estimated  annual  ex- 
pense of  each  student. 

Time  of  commencement. 

Rt.Rev.  John  Johns,D.D.,LL.D 

3 

45 

599 

9,  500 

■ 6200 

Last  Thursday  in  June. 

Rev.  M.  O’Keefe 

3 

2 

10 

3 

3, 0C0 

150-250 

Second  Thursday  in  July. 

Rev.  A.  Lonaze 

3 

12 

56 

1,500 

Rev.  A.  D.  Cole,  D.D 

4 

54 

216 

5,000 

June  29. 

Rev.  H.  A.  Mueklmeyer 

3 

15 

35 

$100 

1,  400 

50 

First  Monday  in  Sept. 

Rev.  Joseph  Salzmann,  D.  D. . . 

12 

172 

416 

7,  200 

150-180 

July  1. 

Rev.  A.  Weenaas,  A.  M 

2 

20 

6 

1,000 

100 

Gen.  0.  0.  Howard 

5 

12 

150 

Last  Tuesday  in  June. 

Rev.  G.  M.  P.  King 

2 

45 

250 

75 

Last  Wednesday  in  May. 

$5 

& 

I 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

26 

27 

28 

29 

30 

31 

32 

33 

34 

35 

36 

37 

38 

39 

40 


REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSIONER  OF  EDUCATION, 


! STATISTICS  OF  LAW 


Name. 


Law  school  of  Yale  College 

Law  department  of  University  of  Georgia 

Law  school  of  University  of  Chicago 

Law  department  of  McKendree  College 

Law  school  of  University  of  Indiana 

College  of  law  of  Northwestern  Christian  University 

Law  department  of  the  University  of  Notre  Dame 

Law  department  of  Iowa  State  University  

Law  department  of  Iowa  Wesleyan  University 

College  of  law  of  Kentucky  University 

New  Orleans  Law  School 

Law  school  of  Harvard  University 

Law  school  of  the  University  of  Mississippi 

Law  department  of  Michigan  University 

Law  school  of  Washington  University 

Law  school  of  the  University  of  Albany 

Law  department  of  the  University  of  New  York 

Law  school  of  Columbia  College 

Law  school  of  Hamilton  College 

Law  school  of  St.  Lawrence  University 

Law  school  of  Trinity  College 

Law  school  of  Cincinnati  College  

Ohio  State  and  Union  Law  College 

Law  department  of  Wilberforce  University 

Law  department  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania 

Law  school  of  the  Western  University  of  Pennsylvania  . . . 

Law  department  of  Lincoln  University 

Law  department  of  Dickinson  College 

Law  department  of  South  Carolina  University 

Law  department  of  University  of  Nashville 

Law  department  of  Cumberland  University 

Law  department  of  Baylor  University  .. 

Law  school  of  Richmond  College 

Law  department  of  Washington  and  Lee  University 

Law  department  of  the  University  of  Virginia 

Law  department  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin 

Law  department  of  Columbian  College 

Law  department  of  Howard  University 

Law  school  of  Georgetown  College 

Law  school  of  National  University 


Location. 

City  or  town. 

State. 

New  Haven 

Connecticut  .... 

Athens  

Georgia ......... 

, Chicago 

Illinois 

Lebanon  

Illinois 

. Bloomington 

Indiana  __ 

. Indianapolis 

Indiana __ 

. Notre  Dame 

Indiana  __ 

Iowa  City 

Towa 

. Mount  Pleasant . . . 

Iowa 

Lexington 

Kentucky 

. New  Orleans 

Lonisiana 

Cambridge 

Massachusetts . . 

. Oxford . “ 

Mississippi 

A on  A rhnr 

Michigan  .. 

. St.  Louis 

Missouri 

Albany 

New  York 

New  York 

New  York 

New  York 

New  York 

Clinton 

New  York 

Canton 

New  York 

Near  High  Point.. 

North  Carolina.. 

Cincinnati 

Ohio 

Cleveland 

Ohio 

Near  Xenia 

Ohio  

Philadelphia 

Pennsylvania . . . 

Pittsburgh 

Pennsylvania . . . 

Oxford 

Pennsylvania . . . 

Carlisle 

Pennsylvania . . . 

Columbia 

South  Carolina. . 

Nashville 

Tennessee 

Lebanon  

Tennessee 

Independence 

Texas ...... 

Richmond 

Virginia 

Lexington 

Virginia 

C harlottesville 

Virginia  

Madison 

Wisconsin 

Washington 

Dist.  Columbia.. 

Washington 

Dist.  Columbia.. 

Georgetown 

Dist.  Columbia.. 

Washington 

Dist.  Columbia. . 

u 

o 

I 

fc 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

26 

27 

28 

29 

30 

31 

32 

33 

34 

35 

36 

37 

38 

39 

40 


STATISTICAL  TABLES. 


565 


N THE  UNITED  STATES. 


President  or  senior  professor. 

Number  of 
professors. 

Number  of 
students. 

Number  of 
alumni. 

Number  of 
vols.  in 
library. 

Noah  Porter,  D.  P.,  LL.  D 

4 

23 

2,150 

3 

19 

731 

J.  C.  Burroughs,  D.  D.,  LL.  D . . 

4 

52 

201 

Henry  H.  Horner,  A.  M 

1 

5 

23 

850 

David  McDonald,  LL.  D 

2 

53 

229 

1,  099 

2 

11 

6 

George  Thaclier 

3 

50 

91 

2,000 

4 

12 

3 

28 

1, 000 

Christian  Roselius,  LL.  D 

4 

54 

853 

3,  0C0 

Charles  W.  Eliot,  LL.  D 

7 

154 

1,  689 

15,  000 

2 

7 

500 

James  B.  Angell,  LL.  D 

4 

321 

1,030 

3,  ICO 

Henry  Hitchcock,  A.  M 

9 

53 

33 

2,  000 

Ira  Harris,  LL.  D 

3 

86 

Henry  E.  Davies,  LL.  D 

4 

F.  A.  P.  Barnard,  D.  D.,  LL.  D . 

6 

59 

690 

S.  G.  Brown,  D.  D.,  LL.  D 

1 

14 

65 

5,000 

Richmond  Fisk,  jr.,  D.  D 

2 

11 

15 

600 

B.  Craven,  D.  D 

1 

Bellamy  Storer,  LL.  D 

John  Crowell,  LL.  D 

2 

28 

2,500 

R.  F.  Howard.  A.  M.,  B.  L 

1 

E.  Spencer  Miller,  A.  M 

2 

62 

Goorgo  Woods  T,L.  D 

3 

I.  N.  Randall,  D.  D 

9 

3 

James  H.  Graham,  LL.  D '. . . 

1 

12 

R.  W.  Barnwell,  LL.  D 

1 

3 

Nathaniel  Baxter,  LL.  D 

3 

B.  W.  McDonnold,  D.  D 

2 

86 

William  Carey  Crane,  D.  D 

4 

10 

B.  Puryear,  A.  M 

2 

13 

8 

J.  W.  Brockenbrough,  LL.  D . . 

2 

31 

John  B.  Minor,  LL.  D 

2 

117 

H.  S.  Orton,  LL.  D 

6 

23 

J.  C.  Welling,  LL.  D 

5 

167 

John  M.  Langston,  A.  M 

3 

55 

13 

Rev.  John  Early,  S.  J 

3 

25 

W.  B.  Wedgwood,  L£.  D 

3 

87 

Time  of  commencement. 


Last  Thursday  but  two  in  July, 
August  2d. 

Last  Thursday  in  June. 

First  Thursday  in  June. 

27th  day  of  March. 

Last  Thursday  in  Juno. 

June  18. 

First  Monday  in  April. 

Last  Wednesday  in  Juno> 


Second  Monday  in  May. 


Thursday  after  last  Tuesday 
in  June. 


First  Thursday  in  September. 

First  Wednesday  in  June. 
First  Wednesday  in  July. 

Thursday  before  4th  of  July. 


June  5. 

Last  Thursday  in  May. 


566 


REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSIONER  OF  EDUCATION. 


STATISTICS  OF  MEDICAL,  DENTAL,  AND 


Hame. 


Location. 


L 


MEDICAL  AND  SURGICAL. 


1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 
9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 
21 
22 

23 

24 

25 

26 
'27 
28 

29 

30 

31 

32 

33 

34 

35 

36 


37 

38 

39 

40 

41 

42 

43 

44 

45 

46 

47 

48 

49 

50 

51 

52 

53 

54 

55 

56 

57 


1.  “Regular.” 


Medical  College  of  Alabama 

Toland  Medical  College - 

Medical  department  of  University  of  the  Pacific 

Medical  department  of  Yale  College 

Medical  College  of  Georgia 

Savannah  Medical  College 

Atlanta  Medical  College 

Rush  Medical  College - 

Chicago  Medical  College,  (medical  department  of 
the  Northwestern  University.) 

■Woman’s  Hospital  Medical  College* 

Indiana  Medical  College,  (medical  department  of 
the  State  University.) 

College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons 

Medical  department  of  Iowa  State  University  . 

Medical  department  of  the  University  of  Louisville 

Louisville  Medical  College 

Medical  department  of  the  University  of  Louisiana. . 
Medical  School  of  Maine,  (medical  department  of 
Bowdoin  College.) 

Medical  department  of  Washington  University 

School  of  medicine  of  the  University  of  Maryland  . . 

Medical  school  of  Harvard  University 

New  England  Female  Medical  College  * 

Medical  department  of  Michigan  University  t 

Detroit  Medical  College 

Missouri  Medical  College 

St.  Louis  Medical  College 

Medical  College  of  Kansas  City 

Kansas  City  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons 

Medical  department  of  Dartmouth  College 

College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons 

Albany  Medical  College 

Medical  department  of  the  University  of  New  York 
Woman’s  Medical  College  of  the  New  York  Infirmary* 

Medical  department  of  the  University  of  Buffalo 

Long  Island  College  Hospital 

Bellevue  Hospital  Medical  College 

Geneva  Medical  College,  (medical  department  of 
Hobart  College.) 

Medical  College  of  Ohio 

Cleveland  Medical  College,  (medical  department  of 
University  of  Wooster.) 

Starling  Medical  College 

Cincinnati  College  of  Medicine  and  Surgery 

Miami  Medical  College 

Medical  department  of  Willamette  University 

Medical  department  of  University  of  Pennsylvania. . 

Jefferson  Medical  College 

Woman’s  Medical  Co  lego  of  Pennsylvania* 

Medical  department  of  Lincoln  University 

Medical  College  of  the  State  of  South  Carolina} 

Medical  department  of  University  of  South  Carolina 
Medical  department  of  the  University  of  Nashville 
Memphis  Medical  College,  (medical  department  of 
Cumberland  University.)  § 

Galveston  Medical  College 

Medical  department  of  Vermont  University 

Medical  department  of  the  University  of  Virginia. . 

Medical  Collego  of  Virginia 

Medical  department  of  Georgetown  Collego 

National  Medical  Collego,  (medioal  department  of 
Columbian  College.) 

Medical  department  of  Howard  University  t 


Mobile,  Ala 

San  Francisco,  Cal 

do 

New  Haven,  Conn 

Augusta,  Ga 

Savannah,  Ga 

Atlanta,  Ga 

Chicago,  111 

do  

Indianapolis,  Ind 

Keokuk,  Iowa 

Iowa  City,  Iowa 

Louisville),  Ky 

do  

New  Orleans,  La 

Brunswick,  Me 

Baltimore,  Md 

do 

Boston,  Mass 

do 

Ann  Arbor,  Mich 

Detroit,  Mich 

St.  Louis,  Mo 

do 

Kansas  City,  Mo 

do 

Hanover,  N.  H 

New  York  City,  N.  Y. . . 

Albany,  N.  Y 

New  York  City,  N.  Y. . . 

do 

Buffalo,  N.  Y 

Brooklyn,  N.  Y 

New  York  City,  N.  Y . . . 
Geneva,  N.  Y 

Cincinnati,  Ohio 

Cleveland,  Ohio 

Columbus,  Ohio 

Cincinnati,  Ohio 

do 

Salem,  Oreg 

Philadelphia,  Pa 

do 

do 

Oxford,  Pa 

Charleston,  S.  C 

Columbia,  S.  C 

Nashville,  Tenn 

Memphis,  Tenn 

Galveston,  Tex 

Burlington,  Vt 

Charlottesville,  Va 

Richmond,  Va 

Washington,  D.  C 

do 

do 


Date  of  organization. 

Matriculation  fee. 

Graduation  fee. 

1856 

$25 

$30 

1864 

5 

40 

1859 

5 

40 

1013 

5 

25 

1832 

5 

30 

1856 

5 

30 

1855 

5 

25 

1842 

5 

25 

1859 

5 

20 

1870 

5 

20 

1869 

10 

25 

1849 

5 

30 

1870 

5 

25 

1837 

5 

30 

1836 

5 

30 

1820 

5 

20 

1867 

5 

20 

1807 

5 

20 

1783 

5 

30 

1843 

1850 

5 

30 

1868 

5 

25 

1840 

5 

20 

1842 

5 

20 

1870 

5 

25 

1868 

5 

20 

1796 

5 

25 

1807 

5 

20 

1838 

5 

25 

1841 

5 

30 

1865 

5 

30 

1846 

5 

25 

1860 

5 

25 

1861 

5 

30 

1834 

5 

20 

1819 

5 

25 

1843 

5 

25 

1847 

5 

20 

1851 

5 

25 

1852 

5 

25 

5 

30 

1765 

5 

30 

1826 

5 

30 

1850 

5 

30 

1824 

5 

30 

1850 

5 

30 

1847 

5 

30 

1868 

5 

25 

1825 

25 

15 

1838 

5 

30 

1850 

5 

30 

1821 

5 

30 

1867 

5 



•For  female  students  only. 

1 College  not  yet  opened,  (November  10,  1871,)  on  acconnt.  of  prevailing  yellow  fever  and  the.suspen* 
§ After  the  war,  reorganized  in  1868 ; in  1871  becaino  medical  department  of  Cumberland  University, 


STATISTICAL  TABLES. 


567 


PHAPkMACEUTICAL  INSTITUTIONS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


President  or  dean. 

Number  of  instructors. 

Number  of  students. 

Number  of  alumni. 

Cost  of  lecture  tickets. 

Number  of  volumes  in 
library. 

Commencement  of  lecture 
course. 

11 

Free . . 

14 

$130  00 

July 

7 

22 

44 

130  00 

1st  Monday  in  June 

Chas  ‘ A.  Lindslev,  M.  D.,  dean  . . 

8 

35 

100  00 

2, 0C0 

2d  Thursday  in  September.. 

L.  A.  Dugas.  M.  D.,  LL.  D.,  dean. . 

8 

103 

1,100 

105  00 

5, 000 

1st  Monday'in  November... 

12 

105  00 

4,  000 

1st  Wednesday  in  Nov’ber.. 

8 

120  00 

1st  Monday  in  May 

16 

°13 

1,  483 

55  00 

N.  S.  Davis,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  dean  . . 

17 

107 

’320 

50  00 

1,  000 

1st  Monday  in  October 

W.  H.  Byford,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  pres 

13 

12 

4 

50  00 

9 

100 

60 

Free . . 

October  17 

8 

577 

40  00 

November  1 - . . 

W.  F.  Peck,  M.  D..  dean 

11 

57 

20  00 

October  11 

13 

242 

2,  042 

50  00 

4,  000 

October  3 

E.  S.  Gaillard,  M.  I).,  dean 

October  3 

T.  G.  Richardson,  M.  D.,  dean 

7 

250 

1,  458 

140  00 

2,000 

November  13 

10 

67 

70  00 

4,  000 

February  15 

Chas.  W.  Chancellor,  M.  D.,  dean. 

9 

170 

120  00 

October  1 

Julian  J.  Chisolm,  M.  D.,  dean 

10 

172 

126  00 

October  2 

Calvin  Ellis,  M.  D.,  dean 

25 

301 

120  00 

2, 000 

September  28 

Stephen  Tracy,  M.  D.,  dean 

5 

26 

83 

75  00 

1st  Wednesday  in  Nov’ber. . 

Abram  Sager,  M.  A.,  M.  D.,  dean. 

9 

315 

October  2 

Theo’re  A.  McGraw,  M.  D.,  secr’y . 

12 

61 

67 

50  00 

March  1 

John  S.  Moore,  M.  D.,  dean 

10 

40 

720 

105  00 

1st  Monday  in  October 

J.  T.  Hodgson,  M-  D.,  dean 

9 

162 

1,  089 

135  00 

2d  Monday  in  October 

Joseph  Chew.  M.  D.,  dean 

10 

18 

50  00 

2d  day  of  October 

S.  S.  Todd,  M.  D.,  president 

13 

22 

103  00 

2d  day  of  October 

A.  D.  Smith,  D.  D.,  LL.  D 

11 

44 

77  00 

1, 100 

1st  Thursday  in  August. . . . 

Jas.  W.  McLano,  M.  D.,  secretary 

28 

326 

140  00 

1,  200 

October  1 

J.  V.  Lansing,  M.  D 

4,  500 

1st  Tuesday  in  September . . 

J.  W.  Draper,  M.  I).,  LL.  D.,  pres’t 

8 

231 

140  00 

October  12. . . 

Emily  Blackwell,  M.  D.,  secretary. 

17 

36 

105  00 

1st  Tuesday  in  October 

Julius  F.  Miner,  M.  D.,  dean 

11 

101 

75  00 

500 

1st  Wednesday  in  Nov'ber. . 

S.  G.  Asmor,  M.  I).,  dean 

8 

100  00 

5th  day  of  March  . . 

Austin  Flint,  jr.,  M.  D.,  secretary. 

15 

*420 

1,040 

140  00 

September  13  

John  Towler.M.  D.,  dean . 

6 

20 

566 

72  00 

800 

1st  Wednesday  in  October.. 

James  Graham,  M.  D.,  dean 

10 

1,  634 

40  00 

1,500 

1st  week  in  October 

J.  LangCaseels.M.  D.,LL.  D.,dean 

14 

101 

40  00 

1st  Wednesday  in  October. . 

Francis  Carter,  M.  D.,  dean 

10 

42 

60  00 

October  5 

B.  S.  Lawson,  M.  D.,  dean  

8 

100 

25  00 

October  5 

George  Mendenhall,  M.  D.,  dean.. 

9 

180 

40  00 

1st  Tuesday  in  October  . 

Daniel  Payton,  M.  D 

5 

14 

110  03 

1st  Friday  in  Novem  '.'or. ... 

It.  E.  Rogers,  M.  D.,  dean 

11 

310 

140  00 

September  4 

B.  Howard  Rand,  M.  D.,  dean 

10 

411 

140  00 

2d  Monday  in  September . . . 

Ann  Preston,  M.  D.,  dean 

8 

60 

138 

105  00 

1,  300 

1st  Thursday  in  October 

I.  N.  Ren  dal],  D.  D.,  president 

4 

3 

George  E.  Trescot,  M.  D.,  dean  . . . 

9 

120  00 

let  Monday  in  November... 

T.  B.  Buchanan,  M.  D.,  secretary 

io 

203 

1,383 

50  00 

October  3 

A.  Erskine,  M.  D.,  dean 

8 

23 

60  00 

October  16 

G.  Dowell,  M.  D.,  dean 

Peter  Collier,  Ph.  I).,  M.  D 

*9 

61 

70  66 

1st  'T'hnrsrln.y  in  Afnreh 

S.  Maupin.  A.  M.,  M.  I) 

4 

49 

100  00 

35,  000 

October  1 

James  B.  McCaw,  M.  D.,  dean 

8 

23 

880 

120  00 

1,  200 

October  2 

Johnson  Eliot,  M.  D.,  dean 

10 

81 

135  00 

October  2 . 

John  C.  Riley,  M.  D.,  dean 

12 

54 

135  00 

1st  Momljiy  in  October 

G.  S.  Palmer,  M.  D.,  dean 

10 

100  00 

October  11 

tBotb  sexes  admitted. 

Bion  of  the  habeas  corpus  in  a portion  of  the  State.  [Note  by  Dr.  Troscot.J 
Lebanon,  Tenn.,  still  at  Memphis.  [Nolo  by  Dr.  Erskino.j 


*= 

525 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

26 

27 

28 

29 

30 

31 

32 

33 

34 

35 

36 

37 

38 

39 

40 

41 

42 

43 

44 

45 

46 

47 

48 

49 

50 

51 

52 

53 

54 

55 

56 

57 


568 


REPORT  OF  TIIE  COMMISSIONER  OF  EDUCATION. 


STATISTICS  OF  MEDICAL,  DENTAL,  AND  PHARMA 


Name. 


Location. 


2.  “Eclectic." 

Bennett  College  of  Eclectic  Medicine  and  Surgery.. 

Eclectic  Medical  Institute 

Eclectic  Medical  College 

Electic  Medical  College 


3.  “Botanic.' 


Physio-Medical  Institute 
Physio-Medical  College*. . 


4.  “ Homoeopathic ." 


Hahnemann  Medical  College 

Homoeopathic  Medical  College 

Homoeopathic  Medical  College 

New  York  Medical  College  for  Woment- 

Homoeopathic  Hospital  College^ 

Hahnemann  Medical  College 


II.— DENTAL. 


Baltimore  College  of  Dental  Surgery. 
Dental  school  of  Harvard  University. 

Boston  Dental  College 

Missouri  Dental  College. 


Now  York  College  of  Dentistry 

Ohio  College  of  Dental  Surgery 

Pennsylvania  College  of  Dental  Surgery. 
Philadelphia  Dental  College 


New  Orleans  Dental  College 


III.— PHARMACEUTICAL. 

Chicago  College  of  Pharmacy 

Department  of  Pharmacy,  Iowa  W esleyan  U niver’y . 

Kansas  College  of  Pharmacy 

Louisville  College  of  Pharmacy 

Maryland  College  of  Pharmacy 

School  of  Pharmacy,  University  of  Michigan 

Massachusetts  Coliege  of  Pharmacy 

Mississippi  College  of  Pharmacy 

St.  Louis  College  of  Pharmacy 

College  of  Pharmacy  of  the  City  of  New  York 

College  of  Pharmacy  of  Baldwin  University 

Cincinnati  Collcgo  of  Pharmacy 

Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy 

School  of  Pharmacy  of  Columbian  College 

School  of  Pharmacy  of  Georgetown  College 

New  Orleans  College  of  Pharmacy 


Chicago,  HI 

Cincinnati,  Ohio 

New  York  City,  N.  Y. 
Philadelphia,  Pa 


Cincinnati,  Ohio 
do 


Chicago,  HI 

St.  Louis,  Mo 

New  York  City,  N.  Y. . . 

do 

Cleveland,  Ohio 

Philadelphia,  Pa 


Baltimore,  Md 

Boston,  Mass 

do 

St.  Louis,  Mo 

New  York  City,  N.  Y. 

Cincinnati,  Ohio 

Philadelphia,  Pa 

do 


1868 

1844 

1866 

1848 


1859 

1851 


1859 

1858 

1859 
18G3 
1849 
1847 


1839 

1868 


New  Orleans,  La. 


Chicago,  HI 

Mount  Pleasant,  Iowa. . . 
Leavenworth,  Kans.. 

Louisville,  Kv 

Baltimore.  Mu 

Ann  Arbor,  Mich 

Boston,  Mass 

Jackson,  Miss 

St.  Louis,  Mo 

New  York  City,  N.  Y. . . 

Berea,  Ohio 

Cincinnati,  Ohio 

Philadelphia,  Pa 

Washington,  D.  C 

do 

New  Orleans,  La 


1SCG 

1865 

1845 

1856 

1863 

1867 


1859 

1871 

1869 


1841 

1868 

1667 


1829 

1865 


1821 


1870 

1665 


$25 

25 

30 


25 


30 


10 
20-35 


10 


• At  present  in  abeyance;  formerly  (1851-58)  devoted  to  the  medical  education  of  both  sexes;  this 
open  the  collcgo  during  tho  present  session,  1871-72.  [Note  by  Dr  Curtis.] 
jBoth  sexes  admitted. 


STATISTICAL  tables. 


569 


CEUTICAL  INSTITUTIONS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES — Continued. 


President  or  dean. 

Number  of  professors. 

Number  of  students. 

Number  of  alumni. 

Cost  of  lecture  tickets. 

Number  of  volumes 
in  library. 

Commencement  of  lecture 
course. 

14 

103 

$50  00 

October  3 

7 

213 

70  00 

October  16 

Robert  S.  Newton,  M.  D.,  pres’t. . 

7 

76 

133 

105  00 

500 

October  12 

Win.  H.  Cook,  A.  M.,  M.  D.,  dean. . 

6 

75  00 

October  10 

F.  A.  Lord,  M.  D.,  registrar 

15 

113 

85  00 

2d  Thursday  in  October 

J.  T.  Temple,  M.  D.,  dean 

Carroll  Dunham,  M.  D.,  dean 

16 

94 

341 

100  00 

2d  Tuesday  in  October 

47 

105  00 

H.  F.  Biggar,  M.  D.,  registrar 

17 

86 

780 

90  00 

2, 000 

Last  Wednesday  in  Sept 

H.  N.  Guernsey,  M.  D.,  dean 

11 

134 

100  00 

2d  Monday  in  October 

F.  J.  S.  Gorgas,  M.  D.,  dean 

10 

664 

100  00 

October  15  

N.  C.  Keep,  M.  D.,  dean 

8 

27 

110  00 

First  Wednesday  in  Nov’ber 

Homer  Judd,  M.  D.,  D.D.S.,dean. . 

9 

20 

37 

100  00 

October  16 

Frank  Abbott,  M.  D.,  dean 

8 

30 

47 

150  00 

October  15 

J.  Taft,  D.  D.  S.,  dean 

7 

30 

210 

100  00 

100 

October  16 

E.  Wildmar,  M.  D.,  D.  D.  S.,  dean  . 

7 

74 

100  00 

November  1 

J.  H.  McQuillen,  H.  D.,  D.  D.  S., 

7 

73 

190 

100  00 

November  1 

dean. 

Jas.  S.  Knapp,  D.  D.  S.,  dean 

8 

26 

23 

100  00 

November  27 

A.  E.  Ebert,  dean 

3 

43 

3 

30  00 

800 

First  Monday  in  October 

John  Wheeler,  D.  D.,  president. . 

3 

35  00 

December  13 

B.  W.  Woodward,  president 

F.  C.  Miller,  secretary 

J.  Brown  Baxley,  president 

3 

45 

110 

36  00 

October  10 

A.  B.  Prescott,  M.  D 

3 

39 

October  1 . . . 

George  T.  H.  Markoe,  dean 

3 

30  00 

October  2 

Matt.  F.  Ash,  president 

W.  II.  Crawford,  president 

3 

10  00 

October  2 

IT.  A.  Cassebecr,  jr.  secretary  . . . 

3 

90 

157 

30  00 

550 

September  25 

W.  D.  Godman,  D.  D.,  president. . 

3 

22 

45  00 

November  15  . 

E.  S.  Wayne,  dean 

3 

30  00 

Robert  bridges,  M.  D.,  dean 

3 

242 

821 

36  00 

2,500 

October  1 

John  C.  Biley,  M.  D 

3 

12 

40  00 

1st,  Monday  in  October 

Johnson  Eliot,  M.  D.,  dean 

3 

20 

40  00 

October  2 _ 

S.  Logan,  M.  I).,  dean 

October  15 

1 

o 

3 

4 

1 

2 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 


gave  rise  to  the  precodin"  No.  1 “Botanic;"  charter  has  not  been  surrendered,  and  it  is  proposed  to 
t For  female  students  only. 


I Number, 


STATISTICS  OF  AGRICULTURAL  AND  SCIENTIFIC  SCHOOLS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


570  REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSIONER  OF  EDUCATION 

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SUPPLEMENT.— STATISTICS  OF  INSTITUTIONS  FOR  THE  SUPERIOR  INSTRUCTION  OF  FEMALES,  &c.— Continued. 


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STATISTICAL  TABLES. 


575 


576  REPORT  OP  THE  COMMISSIONER  OF  EDUCATION. 


SUMMARY  OF  EXAMINATIONS  FOR  ADMISSION  TO  THE  UNITED  STATES 
MILITARY  ACADEMY  FOR  FIFTEEN  YEARS,  FROM  1856  TO  1870,  INCLUSIVE. 


Appointed  from— 

Candidates. 

j Accepted,  total. 

Rejected. 

Total. 

On  what  account. 

Physical  disability. 

Literary  incompetency. 

In  the  year — 

During  fifteen  years. 

Deficient 

in— 

S 

GO 

| 1657. 

si 

S 

| 1859. 

o 

'O 

GO 

o 

GO 

C* 

w 

X 

w 

CO 

1864. 

O 

- 

X) 

J 

x | 

5 

X 

•8981 

*6981 

O 

V - 

CD 

W riting,  includ- 
ing orthography . 

ti 

a 

-3 

n 

Arithmetic. 

a ; 
~ 

0 

0 1 

°i 

| Grammar. 

£ 

O 

3 

8 

d 

A 

d 

A 

8 

o 

A 

C 

5 

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Zi 

1 

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A 

o 

o 

£ 

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d ! d 

AjA 

d 

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d 

A 

d 

£ 

d 

A 

A 

d 

& 

l\ 

d d 

AjA 

32 

20 

12 

i 

1 

1 

1 

3 

1 

4 

11 

5 

3 

4 

7 

7 

10 

7 

3 

i 

1 

1 

2 

1 

1 

1 

1 

2 

15 

12 

3 

2 

i 

3 

2 

3 

2 

3 

22 

14 

8 

2 

2 

2 

3 

6 

2 

4 

1 

2 

11 

6 

5 

1 

2 

1 

1 

5 

2 

2 

4 

3 

3 

4 

4 

4 

32 

23 

9 

2 

1 

4 

2 

9 

7 

2 

7 

4 

3 

5 

Illinois 

55 

47 

8 

1 

l 

1 

1 

3 

1 

7 

5 

1 

1 

2 

4 

1 

Indiana 

67 

46 

21 

2 

l 

2 

3 

1 

1 

2 

3 

2 

2 

1 

i 

19 

17 

8 

9 

3 

3 

3 

Inrwa 

24 

19 

5 

1 

2 

1 

1 

4 

4 

3 

3 

J 

6 

3 

3 

J 

2 

3 

2 

1 

2; 

j 

1 

Kentucky 

60 

43 

17 



l 

1 

1 

1 

2 

1 

.. 

3 

2 

5 

17 

8 

"5 

9 

7 

6 

6 

Tirtnisiffriq, 

18 

14 

4 

i 

1 

1 

1 

3 

2 

3 

l! 

! 1 

1 

Maine 

26 

22 

4 

1 

1 

2 

4 

3 

2 

3 

1 

2 

Maryland 

32 

25 

7 

2 

1 

2 

1 

1 

5 

3 

2 

3 

1 

1 

1 

Massachusetts 

43 

42 

1 

1 

1 

1 

Michigan  __ 

29 

20 

9 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

3 

1 

8 

6 

3 

2 

3 

Minnesota 

11 

9 

2 

i 

2 

2 

1 

Mississippi 

24 

16 

8 

1 

1 

6 

7 

' 4 

4 

4 

6 

5 

5 

Missouri 

48 

32 

16 

1 

l 

1 

3 

2 

2 

2 

4 

15 

12 

6 

7 

1 

3 

Nehrasha 

5 

4 

1 

1 

1 

1 6 

1 

Nevada  

7 

1 

6 

2 

1 

i 

2 

6 

1 

3 

1 

i 3 

1 

N ew  Hampshire  . . 

14 

12 

2 

1 

i 

1 

1 

.... 

1 

1 

New  .Tersey 

27 

25 

2 

1 

i 

1 

:: 

New  York 

157 

128 

29 

4 

o 

2 

2 

1 

2 

1 

2 

1 

4 

1 

25 

15 

1 

6 

6 

10 

6 

North  Carolina  ... 

32 

26 

6 

1 

l 

2 

1 

J 1 

6 

2 

1 

4 

1 

1 

Ohio 

111 

80 

31 

T 

3 

o 

1 

I'i 

2 

2 

3 

1 

i 

O 

2 

1 

5 

27 

18 

13 

9 

3 

6 

4 

Oregon 

4 

3 

\ 

l 

1 

1 

Pennsylvania 

127 

101 

26 

6 

1 

2 

2 

2 

1 

2 

1 

.. 

2 

1 

6 

20 

13 

6 

10 

4 

5 

4 

Rhode  Island  . 

7 

7 

South  Carolina. . . . 

22 

17 

5 

1 

2 

1 

1 

1 

4 

2 

3 

1 

2 

2 

Tennessee 

48 

33 

15 

3 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

3 

1 

1 

12 

10 

4 

3 

3 

1 2 

2 

Texas 

8 

5 

3 

i 

2 

3 

1 

3 

2 

1 

1 

Vermont 

13 

12 

1 

1 

1 

1 

Virginia 

46 

34 

12 

1 

3 

i 

2 

l 

1 

4 

11 

8 

4 

6 

3 

3 

2 

West  Virginia 

10 

6 

4 

1 

1 

1 

1 

3 

2 

1 

1 

1 

1 

Wisconsin 

27 

20 

7 

2 

i 

1 

l 

O 

5 

3 

1 

3 

1 

Dist.  Columbia  . . . 

6 

5 

1 

1 

1 

Colorado  Ter 

4 

2 

2 

2 

2 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

New  Mexico 

5 

4 

1 

1 

1 

1 

Utah  Ter 

3 

3 

Washington  Ter . . 

4 

4 

Dakota  Ter 

3 

3 

Arizona  Ter 

2 

2 

Idaho  Ter 

4 

4 

1 

1 

1 

1 

4 

O 

3 

O 

3 

2 

Montana 

1 

Wyoming  Ter 

1 

At  large  

192 

170 

22 

3 

i 

1 

i 

2 

1 

2 

1 

3 

7 

19 

7 

7 

8 

6 

9 

6 

Grand  totals . . 

1,  459 

1,133 

326 

41 

lCjlC 

14 

16 

o 

’.l 

11 

*8 

13jl3 

15 

,4lTi 

i™ 

285 

173 

76^133 

80 

98 

81 

STATISTICAL  TABLES. 


577 


Continued.— SUMMARY  OF  EXAMINATIONS  FOR  ADMISSION  TO  THE  UNITED 
STATES  MILITARY  AND  NAVAL  ACADEMIES  DURING  THE  YEAR  1871. 


STATES 

AND 

TERRITORIES. 

U 

S.  MILITARY  ACADEMY. 

’ u.  S. 

NAVAL  ACADEMY. 

Candidates. 

Accepted  total. 

REJECTED. 

Candidates. 

Accepted  total. 

REJECTED. 

Total. 

On  what  account. 

Total. 

On  what  account. 

| Physical  disability. 

For  deficiency  in- 

Physical  disability. 

For  deficiency  in 

L— » 

Reading. 

jf| 

Arithmetic. 

>* 

P 

rt 

1 

o 

rt 

a 

a 

rt 

u 

O 

£ 

o 

a? 

3 

fci 

a 

03 

Writing  and 
orthography. 

.s 

o 

5 

>s 

,P 

P 

2 

or 

c 

o 

o 

rt 

£ 

3 

rt 

c 

| No.  | History.  | 

A 

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A 

6 

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6 

A 

6 

6 

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£ 

3 

1 

6 

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A 

o 

d 

o 

o 

525 

© 

A 

4 

1 

1 

3 

1 

1 

1 

3 

1 

1 

l 

l 

9 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

l 

1 

1 

1 

l 

4 

4 

2 

2 

2 

3 

3 

3 

3 

2 

1 

1 

5 

3 

2 

2 

2 

2 

l 

Indiana 

4 

3 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

G 

4 

o 

2 

2 

1 

2 

Iowa 

4 

2 

2 

i 

1 

1 

Kentucky 

7 

4 

3 

2 

3 

2 

2 

3 

2 

2 

1 

i 

1 

Louisiana  . . 

2 

2 

1 

Maino 

1 

1 

1 

1 

Maryland 

4 

2 

2 

i 

1 

1 

Massachusetts 

4 

3 

i 

2 

2 

Michigan  

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

Minnesota  . 

1 

i 

Mississippi 

3 

3 

3 

o 

1 

i 

1 

1 

1 

Missouri 

4 

3 

2 

1 

2 

3 

3 

Nebraska 

Nevada 

1 

1 

Np.w  Hampshire 

1 

1 

New  Jersey 

o 

1 

1 

1 

1 

2 

2 

New  York 

15 

10 

5 

2 

1 

2 

3 

2 

11 

9 

2 

2 

2 

1 

2 

North  Carolina 

2 

1 

1 

1 

1 

Ohio  . 

9 

8 

1 

1 

1 

1 

2 

5 

3 

2 

1 

2 

Oregon 

1 

1 

Pennsylvania 

13 

8 

5 

2 

1 

1 

1 

1 

3 

2 

5 

1 

4 

1 

3 

3 

3 

2 

Rhode  Island _ 

2 

j 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

1 

South  Carolina 

2 

1 

1 

Tennessee  . 

4 

3 

1 

1 

2 

1 

■ 5 

3 

2 

1 

Texas 

2 

o 

Vermont 

1 

1 

2 

1 

1 

1 

1 

Virginia 

5 

1 

4 

1 

1 

2 

i 

2 

2 

1 

1 

West  Virginia 

1 

1 

'Wisconsin  ..  _ 

2 

1 

1 

1 

2 

1 

1 

2 

2 

A rizona.  Ter 

1 

Colorado  Ter 

1 

1 

Dakota  Tor 

District  of  Columbia 

Idaho  Ter  . . 

Montana  Ter 

1 

1 

New  Mexico  Ter 

1 

1 

1 

1 

Utah  Ter 

1 

1 

Washington  Ter  

1 

1 

Wyoming  Ter  . . 

Foreign 

*1 

1 

At  largo 

13 

10 

3 

2 

2 

17 

15 

2 

1 

2 

l 

1 

Total 

119 

77 

42 

11 

3 

10 

15 

.4 

i84 

22 

97 

71 

2G 

» 

.... 

15 

21 

11 

10 

A Japaneso  student. 


5 1 

S 

.0 

i 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

;8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

16 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

26 

27 

28 

29 

30 

31 

32 

33 

34 

35 

36 

37 

38 

39 

40 

41 

42 

43 

44 

45 

46 

47 

48 

49 

50 

51 

52 

S3 

54 

55 

56 

57 

58 

59 

60 

61 

6S 

65 

64 


REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSIONER  OF  EDUCATION. 


STATISTICS  OF  NORMAL 


Name. 


Location. 


Principal. 


ft 


State  Normal  School 

Arkadelphia  Normal  School 

Girls’  Normal  School 

State  Normal  School 

State  Normal  School 

Normal  University 

East  Florida  Seminary 

West  Florida  Seminary - 

Normal  dep’t  Atlanta  University 

State  Normal  University 

Cook  County  Normal  School 

Normal  class  of  Westfield  College 

Normal  dep’t  of  Eureka  College 

Addison  Teachers’  Seminary 

County  Normal  School 

Southern  Illinois  Normal  University. 

County  Normal  Schools 

City  Normal  School 

Northwestern  German-English  Nor- 
mal School. 

State  Normal  School 

City  Training  School 

City  Training  School 

Normal  dep’t  of  Iowa  College 

Teachers’  dep’t  of  Tabor  College 

Normal  dep’t  of  Iowa  University 

City  Training  School 

State  Normal  School 

Ely  Normal  School 

Normal  course  of  Georgetown  Coll .. 
Normal  department  Berea  College. .. 

New  Orleans  Normal  School 

Normal  dep’t  Straight  University 

Eastern  State  Normal  School 

Western  State  Normal  School 

State  Normal  School 

County  Normal  School 

State  Normal  School 

State  Normal  School 

State  Normal  School 

State  Normal  School 

City  Normal  School 

City  Normal  School 

Girls’  High  and  Normal  School 

State  Normal  School 

First  State  Normal  School 

Second  State  Normal  School 

Third  State  Normal  School 

State  Normal 

Normal  and  Manual  Labor  School 

North  Missouri  State  Normal  School 

Fruitland  Normal  School 

State  Normal  School 

Coll.of  Normal  Instruct’n.Univ.of  Mo. 

Central  Normal  School 

City  Normal  School 

State  Normal  School 

State  Normal  School 

Farnum  Preparatory  School 

State  Normal  School 

State  Normal  School 

State  Normal  School 

Liberty  Normal  Institute 

State  Normal  School 

State  Normal  School  

State  Normal  School 

State  Normal  School 

State  Normal  School 

State  Normal  School 

Normal  College  of  City  of  New  York. 
Normal  departm’t  Ingham  University, 
Normal  College,  University  of  N.  C. . 

St.  Augustine  Normal  School 

Central  Normal  School 

Western  Reserve  Normal  School. . . . . 
Northwestern  Normal  School 


Talladega,  Ala 

Arkadelphia,  Ark 

San  Francisco,  Cal 

San  Jos6,  Cal 

New  Britain,  Conn 

Wilmington,  Del 

Gainsville,  Fla 

, Fla 

Atlanta,  Ga 

Normal,  111 

Englewood,  111 

Westfield,  111 

Eureka,  111 

Addison,  111 

Peoria,  111 

Carbondale,  111 

Bureau  County,  111 

Chicago,  111 

Galena,  111 

Terre  Haute,  Ind 

Fort  Wayne,  Ind 

Indianapolis,  Ind 

Grinnell,  Iowa 

Tabor,  Iowa 

Iowa  City,  Iowa 

Davenport,  Iowa 

Emporia,  Kans 

Louisville,  Ky  

Georgetown,  Ky 

Berea,  Ky 

New  Orleans,  La 

New  Orleans,  La 

Castine,  Me 

Farmington,  Me 

Baltimore,  Md 

Alleghany  County,  Md 

Westfield,  Mass 

Framingham,  Mass 

Salem,  Mass 

Bridgewater,  Mass 

Boston,  Mass 

Worcester,  Mass 

Boston,  Mass 

Ypsilanti,  Mich 

Winona,  Minn 

Mankato.  Minn 

St.  Cloud,  Minn 

Holly  Springs,  Miss 

Tugaloo,  Miss 

Kirksville,  Mo 

Fruitland,  Mo 

Warrensburgh,  Mo 

. Columbia, Mo 

Sedalia,  Mo 

St.  Louis,  Mo 

Peru,  Nebr 

Trenton,  N.J 

Beverly,  N.  J 

. Plymouth,  N.  H 

. Albany,  N.  Y 

Oswego,  N.Y 

. Liberty,  N.Y 

. Brockport,  N.  Y 

. Cortland,  N.Y 

. Fredonia,  N.  Y 

. Potsdam, N.Y 

. Buffalo,  N.  Y 

. Geneseo,  N.  Y 

. New  York,  N.  Y 

. Le  Hoy,  N.  Y 

. Chapel  Hill,  N.  C 

. Raleigh,  N.  C 

. Worthington,  Ohio 

. Milan,  Ohio 

. Ada,  Ohio 


1869 

1869 

1862 

1849 

1867 


Rev.  John  Jordan 

Ellis  H.  Holmes 

W.T.  Lucky, A.  M. , D.D 
Isaac  N.  Carletou,  A.  M. 
John  C.  Harkness 


E.  A.  Ware,  A.  M 

1857  

1868  D.  S.  Wentworth 


H.  W.  Everest,  A.  M 


A.  Ethridge 


J.  Wernli 


1867 

1867 

1867 


W.  A.  Jones,  A.  M 

Mary  II.  Swann 

Amanda  F.  Funnell 


George  F.  Magoun,  D.  D 


1866 

1863 

1864 


S.  N.  Fellows 

Mrs.  M.  A.  Mcgonegal. 
George  W.  Hoss,  A.  Si. . 


— . . N.  M.  Crawford,  D.  D . . . 
E.H. Fairchild, D.D.... 


1858 

1869 

1867 

1863 

1865 


Mrs.  K.  Shaw 

J.  W.  Healey 

J.  T.  Fletcher,  A.  M 

C.  C.  Rounds,  M.  S 

M.  A.  Newell 


1839 

1839 
1854 

1840 


J.  W.  Dickinson,  A.  M. . 

Annie  E.  Johnson 

D.  B.  Hagar,  A.  M 

A.  J,  Boyden.  A.  M 


1852  Ephraim  Hunt 

1847  D.  P.Mavhew 

Wm.  F.  Phelps,  A.  M .. 

Geo.  M.  Gage 

Ira  Moore 

S.  W.  Garraen 


1867 

1869 

1871 

1867 


j.  Baldwin 

J.  H.  Kerr 

Geo.  P.  Beard,  A.  M 

D.  Read,  LL.D 


1857 

1867 


187C 

1841 

1861 


Anna  C.  Brackett 

II.  H.  Straight,  A.B 

Lewis  M.  Johnson,  A.M. 
Lewis  M.  Johnson,  A.M. 
Prof.  S.H.  Pearl.  A.  M.. 
J.  Alden,  D.D.,  LL.D... 
E.  A. Sheldon 


M.  B.  Hall 


1FC6 

1866 

1867 

1866 

1867 

1867 


1857 
1 8G8 


Henry  S.  Randall 

Jno.W.  Armstrong,  D.D. 
M.McVicar,  Ph.D.,LL.D 


T.  Hunter,  A.  M 

S.  D.  Burchard,  D.  D. . . . 

S.  Pool  : 

Rev.  J.  B.  Smith,  D.  D.. 


W.  Mitchell  6c  J.  Ogden. 
H.  S.  Lehr 


© 

.2 

6 

s 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

11 

12 

13 

14 

15 

1G 

17 

18 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

25 

26 

27 

23 

29 

30 

31 

32 

33 

34 

35 

36 

37 

38 

39 

40 

41 

42 

43 

44 

45 

46 

47 

43 

49 

50 

51 

52 

53 

54 

55 

56 

57 

53 

59 

60 

61 

62 

63 

64 

65 

66 

67 

68 

69 

70 

71 

72 

73 

74 

75 


STATISTICAL  TABLES, 


o79 


JOTTED  STATES. 


185 

250 

164 

124 

86 


167 

"83 


321 

135 


66 


187 


140 

142 

163 


135 

98 

152 

134 


63  0 
129 
216 
154 
82 
50 


321 

52 

87 

30 


2!'2 

125 


fi 

® g 
o Sc 


253 

24 

10 


11 


275 

432 

77 


804 


1,879 

314 


73 


r 3 
P 


a © 
£ a 

3 p 


3 years.. 
2 years.. 
2 years.. 
2 years.. 


2 years. . 

3 years.. 


3 years.. 
2to4yrs 


3 years. 


3 years.. 
2 years.. 
2 years. . 
2 years.. 


2 to  4 yrs 


3 to  4 yrs 

4 years. . 
2 years.. 
2 years.. 
2 years.. 
4 years.. 


4 years . 
6 years. 
2 years. 


3 years . 


400 

1,500 


3, 000 


250 


1,200 

' ’ '500 


1,300 
900 
8,  000 
5,  000 


3,  000 


3.  000 


91 
50 
3,  000 
1,000 


4 years. 


1,200 

241 


|1# 

“p  £ 
qoo 

5.51s 

4j 


$8,  000  00 


12,  500  00 


$100  to  200 


2,  000  00 
4,  400  00 
8, 000  00 


8,  500  00 
8,  500  CO 
8,  500  00 
8,  500  00 


19,000  00 
5,  000  00 


3,531  95 


10, 000  00 

2,  450  00 


750 


16,  000  00 

16, 000  00 


12,  000  00 


180  00 


160  00 
1C3  00 
175 
200  00 


160  00 


140  to  200 


75  14 
150  00 
150  00 
ICO  09 
24  00 
180  00 
ICO  00 


Time  of  anniversary. 


September  25. 
July. 

May. 

Last  week  in  May. 


Third  Thursday  in  June 


First  Monday  of  Sept. 


June  26. 

Third  Saturday  in  Jane 

Third  Thursday  in  March. 

Last  Thursday  in  May. 

Third  Thursday  in  July. 
Last  Tuesday  oi‘ each  term. 
Last  of  Jan.,  & 1st  July. 
Second  week  in  July. 


September. 

Fourth  week  in  June 


Last  Thursday  in  July. 

Third  week  in  June. 

Last  week  in  June. 

Last  Thursday  Jan.&J one 
Juno  and  December. 


July  8 and  February  4. 
July  8. 


September  27. 


131 


5*5 

76 

77 

78 

79 

80 

81 

82 

83 

84 

65 

86 

87 

88 

89 

90 

9i 

92 

93 

94 

95 

96 

97 

98 

99 

100 

101 

102 

103 

104 

105 

106 

107 

108 

109 

110 

111 

112 

113 

114 


REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSIONER  OF  EDUCATION 


STATISTICS  OF  NORMAL 


Name. 


Location. 


Principal- 


Q 


Orwell  Normal  Institute 

National  Normal  School 

McNeely  Normal  School 

Teachers’  Institute  of  Oberlin  College. 
Normal  dep’t  Wilberforce  University. 
Normal  dep’t  Mount  Union  College  . . 
Normal  dep't  Willamette  University 

Normal  course  Pacific  University 

State  Normal  School 

State  Normal  School 

State  Normal  School 

State  Normal  School 

State  Normal  School 

Girls’  Normal  School 

Normal  departm’t  Lincoln  University. 

Normal  course  Palatinate  College 

State  Normal  School 

Normal  class  Avery  Institute 

Normal  class  Fish  University 

Normal  dep’t  Central  Tenn.  College. . 

Normal  Department 

Normal  dep’t  East  Tenn. Wesley anUn. 

State  Normal  School 

State  Normal  School 

State  Normal  School 

Hampton  Normal  Institute 

Richmond  Normal  School 

State  Normal  School 

Normal  department  Storer  College . . . 
Normal  dep’t  West  Virginia  College  . 

State  Normal  School 

State  Normal  School 

State  Normal  School 

Normal  department  Ripon  College  . . 

State  Normal  School 

State  Normal  School 

Stnte  Normal  School 

Normal  dep’t  Howard  University 

Normal  dep’t  University  of  Deseret. . 


Orwell,  Ohio 

Lebanon,  Ohio. 

Hopedale,  Ohio 

Oberlin,  Ohio 

Near  Xenia,  Ohio 

Mount  Union,  Ohio 

Salem,  Oreg 

Forest  Grove,  Oreg 

Millersville,  Pa 

Edinborough,  Pa 

Bloom  sburgh,  Pa 

Mansfield,  Pa 

Kutztown,  Pa . 

Philadelphia,  Pa 

Oxford,  Pa 

Myerstown,  Pa 

Bristol,  R.  I 

Charleston,  S.  C 

Nashville,  Tenn 

Nashville.  Tenn 

Lookout  Mountain,  Tenn.. 

Athens,  Tenn 

Johnson,  Vt 

Randolph,  Vt 

Castleton,  Vt 

Hampton,  Va 

Richmond,  Va  

West  Liberty,  W.  Va 

Harper’s  Ferry,  W.  Va 

Flemington,  W.  Va 

Marshall  Coll.  P.  O.,  W.  Va. 

Fairmont,  W.  Va 

Whitewater,  Wis 

Ripon,  Wis 

Plattevillo,  Wis 

Madison,  Wis 

Oshkosh,  Wis 

Washington,  D.  C . . . ; 

Salt  Lake  City,  Utah 


1865 

1.852 


1859 

1861 

1869 

1862 

1866 

1848 

1854 


1852 


1866 

1866 


1867 

1867 

1868 
1868 
1867 
1870 


1868 

1869 

1866 


1866 

1862 

1867 


H.  U.  Johnson 

A.  Holbrook 

W.  Brinkerhoof 

Jas.  H.  Fairchild,  D.  D . 

D.  A.  Payne,  D.D 

0.  N.  Hartshorne,  LL.D. 

L.  J.  Powell,  A.  M 

S.  H.  Marsh,  D.  D 

E.  Brooks,  A.M 

J.  A.  Cooper 

H.  Carver,  A.M 

C.  H.  Verrill,  A.  M 

J.  S.  Ermeutraut 

G.  W.  Fetter 

1.  N.  Rcndall,  D.D 

H.  R.  Nicks,  A.M 


Prof.  Spence 

J.  Braden,  A.M 

C.  F.  P.  Bancroft,  A.  M. . 
N.  E.  Cobleigh, D.D.... 
S.  H.  Pearl 

E.  Conant 

R.  G.  Williams 

S.  C.  Armstrong 

Andrew  Washburn 

F.  H.  Crago 

N.  C.  Brackett,  A.M.... 
Rev.A.D.  Williams,  A.M 

S.  Ii.  Thompson 

J.  Blair 

Oliver  Arey,  A.  M 

W.  E.  Merriraan,  A.  M. . 
E.  A.  Chari  eton 


len.O.O. Howard,  LL.D. 
iohn  R.  Park,  M.  D 


STATISTICAL  TABLES. 


581 


SCHOOLS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES— Continued. 


a 

tw  £ 

K UMBER  OF  STU- 
DENTS. 

jf  * 

fi 

1 

•3* 

si>> 
&"*"1  ° 

© JL 
CG  J3 

§ to 
c, 

g 

,0 

s 

& 

bi  zj 

u 

a* 

25 

Mule. 

Female. 

TotaL 

© c3 
'c  tii 

ft* 

o 

© 

£ 

a 

o 

o 

°.a 

GJ  ” 

ih 

« a fn 
p-.  o o 
*8  73  o 

Annual  e 3 
to  eacl 
dent. 

Time  of  anniversary. 

76 

4 

120 

120 

240 

8 

$150  00 

June  22. 

77 

4 

239 

145 

384 

78 

6 

110 

165 

175 

43 

150  00 

June  23. 

79 

80 

16 

15 

31 

n 

4 

242 

82 

31 

31 

83 

2 

84 

8 

480 

237 

747 

3,  900 
1,662 
630 

85,  060  00 
5,  000  00 
5,  000  00 
5, 000  00 

200  09 

Third  Thursday  in  July. 

83 

8 

175 

110 

285 

170  00 

86 

10 

210 

151 

361 

184  00 

Third  Thursday  in  June. 

87 

11 

112 

110 

222 

2, 000 

178  00 

88 

89 

11 

1,019 

500 

11,  925  24 

2 75 

February  and  July. 

90 

2 

9 

9 

91 

92 

93 

94 

95 

2 

32 

20 

52 

96 

1 

21 

12 

33 

97 

2 years 

98 

98 

99 

4 

34G 

500 

150  00 

100 

3 

16 

19 

500 

160  00 

Third  "Wednesday  in  Feb. 

101 

5 

54 

32 

86 

3 years 

102 

3 

40 

40 

3 years.. 
2 to  4 yrs 

400 

October  1. 

103 

3 

46 

36 

82 

104 

7 

90 

77 

167 

105 

1 

30 

9 

39 

106 

2 

2 to  4 yrs 

107 

2 

20 

20 

2 to  4 yrs 

108 

9 

80 

110 

190 

109 

110 

3 years. . 

GOO 

8, 000-10, 000 

50  00 

Last  week  in  Juno. 

111 

112 

113 

2 

1 

13 

14 

2 years. . 

114 

2 

REFORMATORY  STATISTICS. 


582 


STATISTICAL  TABLES. 


When  com- 
mitted— 

'9}im  70a  ppo^  | 

. ® O 

• co  m 

CO 

CO 

00  01  « « 

T)<  CS  • • 

CO 

. • . 

it  • O) 

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• • 
• • 
• • 
• • 

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11 

33 

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tH 

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HC*  • ; 

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1 1 

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vreajf  oq^ 

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0 O CO  0 
O CO  gH  0 

115 

tH  O 
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l- 

605 

00  00  T-«  ^ 

^ :o  0 
<M  iH  00 

^ H CO  ©J 
CO  CM 

Committed  during  year. 

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14 

11 

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c- 

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mh  n 

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TBWL 

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48 

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From  report 
for  .year  end- 
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Mar.  31, 1871 
Mar.  31, 1871 
Dec.  31,1870 

® 

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Dec.  1,1870 
Dec.  31,1870 
Sept.  30, 1870 
Oct.  1, 1809 

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Oct.  31,1870 
Dec.  31, 1870 

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Sept.  30, 1870 
Nov.  1,1870 
Nov.  15, 1870 
Dec.  31,1870 

Nov.  30, 1870 
Sept.  1,1870 
Oct.  10,1870 
Oct.  1, 1870 

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$ 

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E.  W.  Hutchinson 

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Benjamin  Evans 

Richard  Matthews 

Rev.  Marcus  Ames 

Charles  Johnson 

L.  H.  Sheldon 

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William  G.  Fairbanks 

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COST  OF  EDUCATION  IN  TIIE  DIFFERENT  STATES  OF  THE  UNION,  1871. 


REPORT  OF  THE  COMMISSIONER  OF  EDUCATION.  583 


584 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


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LIBRARIES, 


585 


LIBRARIES  OF  COLLEGES,  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARIES,  &c. 


When 

founded.  Name. 

1638,  Harvard  College 

1692,  William  and  Mary 

1700,  Yale  College 

1743,  College  of  New  Jersey 

1749,  University  of  Pennsylvania 

1757,  Columbia  College 

1768,  Brown  University 

1769,  Dartmouth  College 

1770,  Rutgers  College 

17S1,  Washington  and  Lee  College 

1783,  Dickinson  College 

1784,  St.  John's  College 

1785,  Charleston  College 

1783,  University  of  Georgia 

1789,  Hampden  Sidney  College 

1789,  University  of  North  Carolina 

1791,  University  of  Vermont  

1792,  Georgetown  College  

1793,  Williams  College 

1794,  Bowdoin  College 

1795,  Union  College 

1798,  Kentucky  University 

1800,  Middlebury  College 

1801,  University  of  South  Carolina 

1302,  Washington  and  Jefferson  College. 

1304,  Ohio  University 

1803,  University  of  East  Tennessee 

1808,  University  of  Nashville 

1898,  Mount  St  Mary’ s College 

1309,  Miami  University 

1312,  Hamilton  College 

1317,  Alleghany  College 

1819,  University  of  Virginia 

1819,  St.  Joseph's  College 

1320,  Colby  University  

1821,  Columbian  College 

1821,  Amherst  College 

1823,  Centre  College 

1825,  Trinity  College 

1325,  Hobart  Free  College 

1326,  Kenyon  College 

1326,  Western  Reserve  College 

1328,  Indiana  University 

1330,  Spring  Hill  College 

1331,  University  of  Alabama 

1831,  University  of  New  York 

1331,  Wesleyan  University 

1332,  Pennsylvania  College 

1332,  Denison  University 

1332,  Randolph-Macon  College 

1832,  Hanover  College 

1332,  St.  Louis  University 

1332,  Lafayette  College 

1833,  Wabash  College 

1333,  Delaware  College 

1333,  Haverford  College 

1334,  Oberlin  College 

1335,  Marietta  College 

1335,  McKendree  College 

1336,  Franklin  and  Marshall  College. . . . 

1336,  Alfred  University 

1837,  University  of  Michigan 

1337,  Indiana  Asbury  University 

1833,  Wake  Forest  College 

1837,  Emory  College 

1838,  Emory  and  Henry  College 

1840,  Davidson  College 

1840,  St.  John’s  College 

1340,  Mercer  University 

1840,  Georgetown  College 

1840,  St.  Xavier’s  College 

1342,  St  Jamcs’9  College 

1842,  Ohio  Wesleyan  University 

1842,  Cumberland  University 

1342,  University  of  Notre  Dame  du  Lac. 

1843,  Holy  Cross 

1845,  Wittenberg  University, 

1846,  Madison  University 

1847,  St  Mary’s  College 

1847,  College  of  St.  Franris  Xavier 

1818,  College  of  the  City  of  New  York..  . 

1848,  University  of  Mississippi 

1849,  Lawrence  University 

1850,  Rochester  University 

1850,  Trinity  College 


COLLEGES.* 

Location. 

. . . . Cambridge,  Mass 

. . . . Williamsburg,  Va 

. . . . New  Haven,  Conn 

. . . . Princeton,  N.  J 

. . . . Philadelphia,  Penn ... 

New  York  CRy,  N.  Y 

. . . . Providenc^  R.  I 

. . . . Hanover,  N.  H 

. . . . New  Brunswick,  N.  J 

. . . . Lexingtotj.,  Va 

. . . . Carlisle,  Penn 

. . . . Annapolis,  Md 

. . . . (Charleston,  S.  C 

. . . . Athens,  Ga 

. . . . Prince  Edward’s  Co.,  Va 

. . . . Chapel  Hill.  N.  C 

. . . . Burlington,  Vt 

. . . . Georgetown,  D.  C 

. ...  Williamstown,  Mass 

. . . . Brunswick,  Me 

Schenectady,  N.  Y 

. . . . Lexington,  Ky 

Middlebury,  Vt 

. . . . Columbia,  S.  C 

. . . . Caunonsburg,  Penn 

Athens,  Ohio 

. . . , Knoxville,  Tenn. , , 

, . . . Nashville,  Tenn 

. . . . Near  Emmettsburg,  Md 

, . . . Oxford,  Ohio 

, . . . Clinton,  N.  Y 

...  Meadville,  Penn 

, . . . Charlottesville,  Va 

, . . . Bardstown,  Ky 

, . . . Waterville,  Me 

. . . . Washington,  D.  C 

. . , . Amherst,  Mass 

. . . . Danville,  Ky 

, . . . Hartford,  Conn 

, . . . Geneva,  N.  Y 

...  Gambier,  Ohio 

, . . . Hudson,  Ohio 

Bloomington,  Ind 

. . . . Spring  llill  (near  Mobile),  Ala 

, . . . Tuscaloosa,  Ala.  . . /. 

. . . New  York  City,  N.  Y 

Middletown,  Conn  

. . . Gettysburg,  Penn 

. . . Granville,  Ohio 

. . . Boydton,  Va 

. . . South  Hanover,  Ind 

...  St.  Louis,  Mo 

. . . Easton,  Pa 

. . . Crawfords ville,  Ind 

. . . Newark,  Del 

. . . West  Haverford,  Pa 

. . . Oberlin,  Ohio 

. . . Marietta,  Ohio 

. . Lebanon,  111 

. . . Lancaster,  Penn 

.. . Alfred,  N.  Y 

. . . Ann  Arbor,  Mich 

. . . Greencastle,  Ind 

. . . Forestville,  N.  C 

. . . Oxford,  Ga 

. . . Washington  Co.,  Va 

...  Mecklenburg  Co.,  N.  C 

. . . Ford  ham,  N.  Y 

. . . Penfield,  Ga 

. . . Georgetown,  Ky 

. . . Cincinnati,  Ohio 

...  Washington,  Co.,  Md 

. . . Delaware  Co.,  Ohio 

. . . Lebanon,  Tenn 

. . . Notre  Dame,  Ind 

. . . Worcester,  Mass 

. . . Springfield,  Ohio 

...  Hamilton,  N.  Y 

...  Wilmington,  Del 

. . . New  York  City 

...  New  York,  City 

. . . Oxford,  Miss 

. . . Appleton,  Wis 

. . . Rochester,  N.  Y 

. . . Randolph  Co.,  N.  C 


No.  of 
volumes. 
..184,000 
. . 4,500 
..  97.000 
..  33,000 
. . 8,500 
..  20,000 
..  38,000 
. . 39,000 
..  12,000 
. . 6,500 
..  26,000 
. . 8,000 
..  8,000 
..  18,500 
. . 7,200 

..  23,000 
..  15,000 
..  36,000 
..  20,000 
..  32,800 
..  18,000 
. . 5.000 
..  14,000 
..  25,000 
..  18,000 
..  5,800 
. . 8,500 
..  11,000 
. . 5,500 
. . 9,5oO 
..  13,000 
..  10,000 
..  36,000 
..  10,000 
..  10,000 
..  8,000 
..  33,000 
. . 6,000 
..  14,000 
..  14,000 
..  18,000 
..  11,000 
. . 5,500 
. . 8,500 
..  12,000 
. . 6,000 
..  25,000 
..  18,000 
. . 11,000 
..  10,500 
. . 5,600 
..  22,500 
..  8,500 
..  11,000 
..  10,000 
. . 7,400 
..  12,000 
..  23,500j 
. . 6,500 
. . 19.000 
. . 6,500 
..  23,000 
..  10, 000 
..  8,000 
. . 7,600 
..  9,000 
. . 6,000 
..  16,000 
. . 9,000 
..  10,000 
. . 17,000 
. . 1O.000 
..  14,000 
..  5,500 
. . 7,50*0 

. . ie.,ooo 

..  6,500 
. . 8,500 


16.000 

16,500 

5.500 
7,000 

8.500 
7,800 


Those  containing  less  than  5,000  volumes  arc  not  noticed. 


586 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


When 

founded.  Name. 

1851,  Mount  St.  Mary’s  of  the  West 

1851,  College  of  Christian  Brothers 

1852,  Lombard  University 

1853,  Roanoke  College 

1853,  Westminster  College 

1854,  Tufts  College 

1854,  Knox  College 

1855,  Northwestern  University 

1856,  St.  Lawrence  University 

1856,  Seaton  Hall  College 

1857,  Loyola  College 

1857,  Washington  University 

Santa  Clara  College 

Iowa  College 

College  of  the  Immaculate  Conception. 

Louisiana  State  University 

Wofford  College 

1859,  Griswold  College 

1859,  St.  Benedict's  College 

1860,  Augustana  College 

1861,  Vassar  College 

1862,  St.  Joseph’s  College 

1863,  Boston  College 

1863,  Manhattan  College 

1864,  Bates  College 

1865,  Cornell  University 

1867,  Howard  University 


No.  of 

Location.  volumes. 

Near  Cincinnati,  Ohio 10,500 

St.  Louis,  Mo 5,500 

Galesburg,  111 6,500 

Salem,  Roanoke  Co.,  Ya 7,500 

Fulton,  Mo 5,400 

Medford,  Mass 10,500 

Galesburgh,  111 6,500 

Evanston,  111 25,500 

Canton,  N.  Y 6,500 

South  Orange,  N.  J 8.300 

Baltimore,  Md 25,000 

St.  Louis,  Mo 6,500 

Santa  Clara,  Cal 11.000 

Grinnell,  Iowa 6,400 

New  Orleans,  La 6,500 

Baton  Rouge,  La 8,400 

Spartensburgh,-*S.  C 5,500 

Davenport,  .Iowa 5,400 

Atchison,  Kansas 12,000 

Genesee,  111 7,500 

Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y 7,500 

Philadelphia,  Pa 6,250 

Boston,  Mass 6,500 

New  York  City 6,200 

Lewiston,  Me 7,300 

Ithaca,  N.  Y 50,000 

W7ashington,  D.  C 6,500 


THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARIES. 

1784,  Theological  Seminary  Reformed  Dutch  Church New  Brunswick,  N.  J 10,000 

1791,  St.  Mary’s  Theological  Seminary Baltimore,  Md 10,000 

18o8,  Andover  Theological  Seminary Andover,  Mass 31,000 

1812,  Princeton  Theological  Seminary Princeton,  N.  J 21,000 

1816,  Divinity  School Cambridge,  Mass 16,000 

1816,  Bangor  Theological  Seminary Bangor,  Me 12,000 

1817,  Episcopal  General  Theological  Seminary New  York 14,500 

1820,  Hamilton  Theological  Seminary Hamilton,  N.  Y 10.000 

1821,  Auburn  Theological  Seminary Auburn,  N.  Y 6,000 

1821,  South-Western  Theological  Seminary Marysville,  Tenn 6,000 

1822,  Episcopal  Theological  School.. Fairfax  Co.,  Ya 9,500 

1824,  Union  Theological  Seminary Hampden,  Sidney,  Ya 6,000 

Gettysburg  Theological  Seminary Gettysburg,  Penn 12,500 

1825,  Newton  Theological  Institution Newton,  Mass 5,500 

1825,  Wittemburg  Theological  Seminary Gettysburg,  Penn 12,500 

1825,  German  Reformed  Theological  Seminary Mercersburg,  Penn 8,500 

1827,  Theological  Department  Kenyon  College Gambier,  Ohio 7,500 

1828,  WTestern  Theological  Seminary Alleghany,  Penn 10,000 

1828,  Theological  Seminary ...  Columbia,  S.  C 18,500 

1829,  Lane  Seminary Cincinnati,  Ohio 15,500 

1832,  Shurtleff  College  Theological  Department Upper  Alton,  111 5,200 

1831,  Theological  Institute Hartford,  Conn 7,500 

1836,  Union  Theological  Seminary New  York 31.000 

1833,  St.  Charles  Brunning  Theological  Seminary Philadelphia,  Penn 10,000 

1840,  Concordia  Seminary <St.  Louis,  Mo -. 6,200 

1844,  Western  Theological  School Meadville,  Penn 9,500 

1844,  St.  Yincent’s  College  Theological  Department Cape  Girardeau,  Mo 7,000 

1844,  Ohio  Wesleyan  Seminary Delaware,  Ohio 8,100 

1844,  Seminary  of  St.  Mary  of  the  Lake Chicago,  111 6,000 

1846,  St.  Yincent’s  College  Theological  Department St.  Yincent,  Pa 12,000 

1850,  Rochester  Theological  Seminary Rochester,  N.  Y 13,000 

1851.  Mount  St.  Mary’s  of  the  West Near  Cincinnati,  Ohio 10,000 

1853,  Danville  Theological  Seminary Danville,  Ky 8.500 

1859,  Southern  Baptist  Theological  Seminary Greenville.  S.  C 5,500 

1859,  Theological  Seminary  of  the  N.  W.  College Chicago^Hl 8, COO 

1859,  Griswold  College  Theological  Department.. Davenport,  Iowa 5,500 

1862,  Episcopal  Divinity  School Philadelphia,  Penn 6,500 

1865,  Oberlin  College  Theological  Department Oberlin,  Ohio 10,500 

1867,  Drew  Theological  Seminary Madison,  N.  J 11,000 


MEDICAL  SCHOOLS  AND  HOSPITAL. 


1755,  Pennsylvania  Hospital  Library Philadelphia,  Penn. 

1765,  Medical  Department  Pennsylvania.  University Philadelphia,  Penn. 

1791,  New  York  Hospital  Library New  York 

1807,  New  York  College  of  Physicians  and  Surgeons New  York  

1831,  University  Medical  School New  York 

University  of  Virginia  Medical  Department 


11,000 

6,000 

8.000 

2,000 

4.500 

85,000 


1817, 

1845, 


1802, 

1841, 

1859, 


LAW  SCHOOLS  AND  LIBRARIES. 


Dane  Law  School Cambridge,  Mass.  . 

New  York  State  and  National  Law  School Poughkeepsie,  N.  Y 

New  York  Law  Library New  York 

Social  Law  Library Boston 

Law  Associations Philadelphia,  Penn. 

Michigan  University  Law  Department Ann  Arber,  Mich. . . 


14.000 

3.000 
6,500 

6.000 
6,0(0 
3,000 


LIBRARIES. 


587 


PRINCIPAL  LIBRARIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  EXCLUSIVE  OF  THOSE  CONNECTED  WITH  COLLEGES,  &C. 


When 

founded. 

1853, 

1838, 

1839, 

1854, 
1826, 
1788, 
1839, 
1831, 

1835, 

1836, 


1838, 
1844, 

1839, 
1867, 
1827, 
1862, 

1839, 
1843, 

1847, 

1840, 

1858, 
1867, 
1855, 

1859, 
1853, 
1807, 
1794, 
1791, 

1848, 
l-4>, 
1820, 
1831, 
1864, 
1--0, 
1857, 
1867, 
1864, 
1867, 
1857, 
1857, 

1860, 
1869, 


1851, 
i-  ;o, 
1610, 
1861, 
J '50, 

1855, 

1854, 

1855, 


1868, 

1862, 

1861, 


1854, 

1864, 

1867, 


1850, 

1862, 

1866, 

1857, 

1852, 

1854, 

1819, 

1860, 

1854, 

1862, 

1860, 

1869, 

1857, 

1810, 

1854, 

I860, 

1857, 
1862, 

1858, 
1852, 
1863, 


Name. 

San  Francisco  Mercantile  Library 

Hartford  Young  Men’s  Institute 

Connecticut  Historical  Society 

Connecticut  State  Library  

New  Haven  YToung  Men’s  Institute 

Wilmington  Young  Men’s  Association 

Savannah  Historical  Society 

Indiana  State  Library 

Catholic  Diocesan  Library 

Keokuk  I ibrary  Association 

Dubuque  Library 

Lexington  City  Library 

Lousiana  State  Library 

Lyceum  *Librarv 

Mechanics’  Library 

Maine  State  Library 

Skowhegan  Library 

Maryland  State  Library 

Baltimore  Peabody  Institute 

Ealtimore  Mercantile  Library 

Maryland  Historical  Society 

Maryland  Institute  Library 

Odd  Fellows’  Library 

Arlington  Public  Library 

Barnstable  Sturgis  Library 

Beverly  Public  Library 

Bolton  Public  Library 

American  Congregational  Library 

Boston  Athenaeum 

Boston  Library 

Massachusetts  Historical  Society 

Mattapan  Literary  Association 

Boston  Public  City  Library 

Mercantile  Library 

Natural  History  Society 

New  Church  Library 

Massachusetts  State  Library 

Young  Men’s  Christian  Association 

North  Bridgewater 

Brighton  Holton  Library  

Brookfield  Merrick  Public  Library 

Brookline  Public  Library  

Dana  Library 

Charlestown  Public  Library 

Chelsea  Public  Library 

Chicopee  Public  Library 

Bigelow  Library 

Concord  Public  Library 

Peabody  Institute 

Deerfield  Library  Association 

Fall  River  Public  Library 

Fitchburg  Public  Library 

Framingham  Public  Library 

Lyceum  Library 

Public  Library 

Public  Library 

Public  Library 

Public  Library 

Public  Library 

Franklin  Library 

Pacific  Mills  Library 

Public  Library 

Young  Men’s  Christian  Association 

Lowell  City  Library 

Public  Library  

Public  Library 

Public  Library 

Public  Library 

Public  Library 

Free  Library 

Public  Library 

Public  Library 

Peabody  Institute 

Phillips'  Free  Public  Library 

Pittsfield  Mercantile  Library 

Public  Library.  ...  

Roxbury  Athenaeum  Library 

Salem  Athenaeum  Library 

Arms  Library 

Public  Library 

Public  Library 

Jackson  Library 

Public  Library 

Public  Library  

Goodenow  Library 


Location. 

San  Francisco,  Cal 

Hartford,  Conn 

do 

do 

New  Haven,  Conn 

Wilmington,  Del  

Savannah,  Ga 

Indianapolis,  Ind 

Vincennes,  Ind 

Keokuk,  Iowa 

Dubuque,  Iowa 

Lexington,  Ky  

Baton  Rouge,  La 

New  Orleans,  La 

do 

Augusta,  Me 

Skowhegan,  Me 

Annapolis,  Md 

Baltimore,  Md 

. . . .do 

...  .do 

. ...do 

... .do 

Arlington,  Mass 

Barnstable,  Mass 

Beverly,  Mass *. 

Bolton,  Mass 

Boston,  Mass 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

do 

North  Bridgewater,  Mass 

Brighton,  Mass 

Brookfield,  Mass 

Brookline,  Mass 

Cambridge,  Mass 

Charlestown,  Mass 

Chelsea,  Mass 

Chicopee,  Mass 

Clinton,  Mass 

Concord,  Mass 

Danvers,  Mass 

Deerfield,  Mass 

Fall  River,  Mass 

Fitchburg,  Mass 

Fnmingham,  Mass 

Gloucester,  Mass. 

Groton,  Mass 

Harvard,  Mass 

Hinsdale,  Mass 

Lancaster,  Mass 

Leicester,  Mass 

Lawrence,  Mass 

do 

Leominster,  Mass 

Lowell,  Mass 

...  .do 

Lunenburg,  Mass 

Lynn,  Mass 

Millbury,  Mass 

Natick,  Mass 

New  Bedford,  Mass 

Newburyport,  Mass 

Newton,  Mass 

Northampton,  Mass 

Peabody , Mass 

Phillipston,  Mass 

Pittsfield,  Mass 

South  Reading,  Mass 

Roxbury,  Mass 

Salem,  Mass 

Shelburne  Falls 

Shelborn,  Mass 

Springfield,  Mass 

Stockbridge,  Mass 

Stoneham,  Mass 

Saul  thorough,  Mass  

South  Sudbury,  Mass.. . . 


No.  of 
volumes. 

. 25,000 
. 22,835 
12,000 
. 3, GOO 

. 11,000 
. 6,189 

..  7,900 

. 26,000 
. 12,000 
..  6,600 
. . 8.0000 
. 14,600 
. 14,000 
. . 12,000 
. . 15,000 
..  31,500 
. 2,315 

..  25,000 
. . 42,588 
..  24,975 
..  17,  m 
..  18,000 
..  13,000 
. . 2,105 

..  1,845 

. . 4,810 

. . 1,300 

. . 10,000 
..  105,000 
..  19,800 
. . 18,500 
. . 3,000 

..  160,000 
..  21,000 
. . 13,000 
. . 1,300 

..  31,500 
. . 5,610 

. . 2,667 

. . 5,108 

2,247 
. . 12,000 
. . 4,800 

, ..  10.955 
. . 2,345 

. . 2,800 


5,984 


2,100 

6,633 

8,500 


1 

2,000 

4,500 

2,953 

5,400 

5,600 

4,256 


15,121 
1,350 
12,872 
1,265 
2,540 
23,000 
13,600 
1,800 
5 400 
14,300 
2,269 

3.500 
3,300 

8.500 
13,755 

3,437 

1 .500 
30,488 

4,000 

3,400 

2,511 

4,284 


588 


EDUCATION  AND  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS. 


When 

founded.  Name.  Location. 

1566,  Public  Library Taunton,  Mass 

1865,  Public  Library Waltham,  Mass 

1868,  Public  Library Watertown,  Mass 

1850,  Public  Library Way  land,  Mass 

1857,  Public  Library Westboro,  Mass 

1858,  Westfield  Athenaeum  Library Westfield,  Mass 

1859,  Public  Library . Westford,  Mass 

1857,  Public  Library Weston,  Mass 

1867,  Public  Library Winchendon,  Mass. .. 

1859,  Public  Library Winchester,  Mass.... 

1856,  Public  Library Woburn,  Mass 

1850,  Public  Library Worcester,  Mass 

1812,  American  Antiquarian  Society do 

1865,  Public  Library  Detroit,  Mich 

1832,  Young  Men’s  Society do 

l->28,  Michigan  State  Library Lansing,  Mich 

1859,  Minneapolis  Athenaeum Minneapolis,  Minn. .. 

1849,  Minnesota  Historical  Society St.  Paul,  Minn 

1865,  St.  Louis  Public  Library St.  Louis,  Mo 

1846,  St.  Louis  Mercantile  Library  Association do 

1855,  Public  City  Library Concord,  N.  II 

1854,  City  Library Manchester,  N.  H 

1817,  Portsmouth  Atheaenum  Library Portsmouth,  N.  H. . . 

1-^47,  Newark  library  Association Newark,  N.  J 

18)8,  Public  Library Newton,  N.  J 

1818,  New  York  State  Library Albany,  N.  Y 

1833,  Young  Men’s  Association do 

1857,  Brooklyn  Mercantile  Library Brooklyn,  N.  Y 

1835,  Buffalo  Young  Men’s  Association Buffalo,  N.  Y 

Grovenor  Library do 

1520,  Apprentices’  Library New  York  City,  N.  Y. 

1848,  Astor  Library do 

1859,  Cooper  Union do.... 

1820,  Mercantile  Library do 

1839,  Society  Library  do 

1834,  New  York  Historical  Society  Library do 

1830,  Rochester  Athenaeum  Library Rochester,  N.  Y 

1834,  Troy  Young  Men’s  Association Troy,  N.  Y 

1858,  Public  Library Syracuse,  N.  Y 

1867,  Cincinnati  Public  Library Cincinnati,  Ohio 

1835,  Mercantile  Library do 

1863,  Theological  and  Religious  Library do 

1 8 >0,  Ohio  School  Library do 

1848,  Cleveland  Library  Association Cleveland,  Ohio 

1868,  Public  Library do 

1817,  Ohio  State  Library Columbus,  Ohio 

Dayton  Public  School  Library. Dayton,  Ohio 

1864,  Portland  Library  Association Portland,  Oreg 

1777,  Pennsylvania  State  Library Harrisburg,  Pa 

1812,  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences Philadelphia,  Pa  ... . 

1814,  Philadelphia  Athenaeum do 

1820,  Mechanics’  Library do 

1821,  Mercantile  Library do 

1731,  Philadelphia  Library  Company do 

1750,  Loganian  Library do 

1854,  Young  Men’s  Christian  Association do 

1821,  Apprentice’s  Library do 

1742,  American  Philosophical  Society do 

1847,  Pittsburg  Mercantile  Library Pittsburg,  Pa 

1807,  Newport  Public  Library Newport,  R.  I 

1730,  Redwood  Library  aud  Athenaeum do 

1753,  Providence  Athenaeum Providence,  R.  I 

1814,  South  Carolina  State  Library Columbia,  S.  C 

1718,  Charleston  Library  Society Charleston,  S.C 

1854,  Tennessee  State  Library Nashville,  Tenn 

1830,  Vermont  State  Library Montpelier,  Yt 

1823,  Virginia  State  Library Richmond,  Va 

1847,  Milwaukee  Young  Men’s  Association Milwaukee,  Wis 

1815,  Library  of  Congress Washington,  D.  C. . . . 

Library  of  House  of  Representatives do 

1837,  Patent  Office  Library  do 

1789,  Library  of  State  Department do 

Library  of  Treasury  Department do 

1814,  Washington  Library do 

1862,  Library  of  Agricultural  Department do ; 


No.  of 
volumes. 
. 4,395 

. 5,900 


4,056 

I, 642 
2,200 
1,644 
3,180 
1,295 
2,200 
3,944 

24.000 

52.000 
21,500 

II, 500 

32.000 
2,368 
5,100 

13,800 

34.238 

3,384 

14,200 

10,400 

17,500 


90.500 

12,121 

40.000 

18.000 
1,000 

46,740 
168,0-  0 
10,000 
154,513 

32.000 

28.000 
21,000 
18,678 

9,370 

33,588 

35,206 

4.500 
25,400 
11,600 

2.500 

34.000 

12.000 

3.500 
41, 0u0 
22,580 
14,61  0 

25.000 

59.000 
85,005 


3,800 

22,029 

18,000 

10,200 

5,225 

18,460 

32,444 

13.000 

21.000 

13.000 
12,265 

21.000 
12,566 

266,000 

28,000 

23,598 

20,000 

3,410 

12,000 

9,500 


APPENDIX 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  RELIGIOUS  INSTITUTIONS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES, 
UNDER  THE  VOLUNTARY  SYSTEM:  OF  EQUAL  RELIGIOUS  RIGHTS 
TO  ALL,  WITHOUT  STATE  PREFERENCES  OR  STATE 
SUPPORT  TO  ANY  FORM  OF  FAITH. 

GIVING 

A condensed  summary  of  the  origin,  rise,  progress,  growth,  doctrines,  and 
present  condition  of  each  religious  sect  and  denomination  in  the  United 
States,  explaining,  from  the  writings  of  each,  the  points  in  which  they 
differ  from  the  others,  and  giving  the  localities  in  which  they  are  most 
numerous.  To  which  is  added  the  progress  and  present  condition  of  each 
denomination  in  the  education  of  the  ministry,  in  denominational  or 
sectarian  schools,  in  Sunday  schools,  in  the  number  and  elegance  of  their 
houses  of  worship,  and  in  the  support  of  Home  and  Foreign  Missions, 
Bible,  Tract,  and  Publication  Societies,  and  other  benevolent  and  charitable 
institutions,  entirely  devoid  of  sectarianism. 


36* 


.The  Growth,  and  Progress  of  Religions  Denominations 
in  the  United  States  for  the  past  Hundred  Tears. 


The  religious  character  of  the  Colonies  in 
1770,  was  substantially  that  which  had  been 
imposed  on  them  at  the  time  of  their  first 
settlement,  and  was  of  necessity  very  diverse 
in  different  sections.  Massachusetts  and 
Connecticut,  (or  rather  the  different  colonies 
which  had  united  under  these  names)  had  been 
founded  by  the  Puritans  or  Independents, 
seceders  from  the  Church  of  England,  who 
had  organized  sometimes  as  independent 
churches  during  the  reigns  of  James  I.  and 
Charles  I.  These  were,  in  1770,  the  pre- 
dominant churches — ‘’the  standing  order,” 
as  they  were  termed,  and  the  established  re- 
ligious body  of  the  colonies,  though  Episco- 
palians, Baptists,  a few  Methodists,  and  a 
considerable  number  of  “ Separates  ” were 
tolerated,  and  by  “ signing  off”  or  avowing 
themselves  adherents  to  one  or  the  other  of 
these  denominations,  and  pledging  them- 
selves to  sustain  it,  their  ecclesiastical  taxes 
could  be,  in  part,  remitted.  The  u Sepa- 
rates” were  mainly  converts  under  the 
preaching  of  Whitfield  and  his  followers  in 
174b'— 50,  who  were  opposed  to  an  estab- 
lished church,  and  believed  in  the  voluntary 
system.  Maine  was  largely  settled  from 
Massachusetts,  and  followed  its  lead  in  re- 
ligious matters.  New  Hampshire  had  two 
distinct  religious  elements  in  its  early  set- 
tlement— the  Puritan  or  Congregational — 
and  the  Presbyterian,  represented  by  the 
Protestant  Irish  settlers  of  several  of  its 
towns.  At  the  period  we  speak  of  there  was 
a larger  measure  of  toleration  of  other  de- 
nominations there  than  in  Massachusetts. 
Rhode  Island  had  been  settled  by  Baptists 
driven  from  Massachusetts  a hundred  and 
forty  y^ars  before,  on  account  of  their  avow- 
al of  their  religious  belief.  It  was  the  only 
one  of  the  New  England  colonies  in  which, 
even  at  that  time  (1770,)  there  was  complete 
liberty  of  conscience,  and  its  population  were 
of  all  denominations,  Baptists,  Quakers,  Sep- 
arates, Independents,  Presbyterians,  Episco- 
palians, Roman  Catholics,  Fifth  Monarchy 
Men,  etc.,  etc  Vermont,  or  “ New  Hamp- 


shire Grants,”  was  not  an  independent  State 
till  after  the  Revolution,  and  its  few  inhab- 
itants were  of  all  shades  of  religious  belief, 
or  of  none,  at  this  time.  New  York,  origi- 
nally settled  by  the  Dutch,  had  had  the  Re- 
formed Dutch  or  Holland  Church  for  its  es- 
tablished church  till  1684,  but  after  its  con- 
quest by  the  English  the  church  of  England 
had  in  turn  become  the  established  religion, 
and  under  some  of  the  colonial  governors, 
Presbyterians,  Baptists,  and  Quakers  were 
persecuted  and  imprisoned.  rlhis  persecu- 
tion had,  however,  ceased  some  years  before 
this  period,  and  though  the  Episcopal  church 
was  still  the  state  church,  its  prestige  waned 
subsequently  during  the  years  of  the  revolu- 
tion, from  the  fact  that,  in  that  colony,  the 
greater  part  of  its  members  were  tories,  and 
sympathizers  with  the  British.  The  Pres- 
byterians wrere  considerably  numerous  in 
New  York,  the  Baptists  and  Methodists  le-s 
so,  and  there  were  a few  Roman  Catholics. 

Pennsylvania  had  been  settled  by  the 
Quaker  Penn,  for  a refuge  for  the  sorely 
persecuted  Quakers  of  England  and  Amer- 
ica, but  it  was  open  to  all  denominations,  and 
to  those  who  had  no  religious  beliefs.  The 
Quakers  or  Friends  wrere  predominant  in 
numbers,  but  Episcopalians,  Presbyterians, 
Baptists,  Methodists,  Lutherans,  and  Roman 
Catholics,  were  all  received  cordially. 

New  Jersey  and  Delaware  had  a moder- 
ate Swedish  and  Danish  (Lutheran)  ele- 
ment, but  the  former  had  a much  larger  con- 
stituency of  Iri-h  Presbyterians,  and  was, 
before  the  Revolution,  probably  the  most 
thoroughly  Presbyterian  colony  of  the  whole 
thirteen.  There  was  not,  however,  at  this 
time,  so  far  as  we  can  learn,  anything  like 
an  established  church  in  the  colony. 

Maryland  wras  founded  and  settled  by 
Lord  Baltimore  and  his  kinsmen,  the  Cal- 
verts and  Carrolls,  all  of  them  Roman  Cath- 
olics ; but  to  their  honor,  be  it  said,  there 
was  complete  religious  toleration  from  the 
first,  and  in  1770  the  Catholics  had  but  a 
slight  majority  among  the  inhabitants ; still 


RELIGIOUS  DENOMINATIONS. 


591 


it  was  the  predominant  faith  of  the  people  of 
the  colony. 

Virginia,  settled  by  the  younger  sons  of 
the  English  nobility  and  their  friends  at  first, 
and  its  population  subsequently  largely  in- 
creased by  the  great  number  of  u redemption- 
ers,”  (paupers,  convicts,  etc.,  sent  over  and 
sold  for  a term  of  years  to  pay  for  their  pass- 
age,) had  up  to  the  commencement  of  the 
Revolution,  recognized  the  church  of  Eng- 
land as  the  established  church  of  the  colony, 
and  at  times  had  persecuted  sharply  other 
denominations.  Through  the  influence  of 
such  men  as  Patrick  Henry,  Thomas  Jeffer- 
son, and  others,  who,  though  not  religious 
men  themselves,  yet  saw  the  necessity  for  re- 
ligious liberty,  that  principle  was  incorpo- 
rated in  its  first  constitution  as  a State. 

North  Carolina  and  South  Carolina  were 
settled  largely  by  Protestant  Irish  (Presby- 
terians,) Huguenots  (Protestant  Reformed 
Church,)  Moravians,  and  other  Germans, 
mostly  Protestant ; their  constitutions  and 
charters  were  favorable  to  religious  liberty. 

Georgia,  the  youngest  of  the  colonies,  was 
largely  settled  by  the  followers  of  Whitfield 
and  Wesley,  and  was,  moreover,  a refuge  for 
persecuted  Protestants  from  the  states  of 
continental  Europe.  The  largest  religious 
liberty  existed  here  from  the  first. 

Such  was  the  religious,  or  rather  denomi- 
national history  of  the  thirteen  colonies  when 
they  came  together  by  their  representatives 
in  the  Continental  Congress.  Every  form 
of  Christian  belief  then  known,  had  its  ad- 
herents in  one  colony  or  another.  Most  of 
them  assimilated  to  a considerable  extent 
by  their  years  of  intercourse  during  the  war, 
abolished  all  restrictions  on  complete  relig- 
ious liberty  (where  any  existed)  before  the 
adoption  of  the  constitution,  but  Massachu- 
setts and  Connecticut  retained  theirs  till  the 
adoption  of  new  and  revised  constitutions  in 
the  early  part  of  the  present  century.  It  is 
to  be  said  in  their  favor,  however,  that  these 
restrictions  were  not,  after  the  revolution,  so 
severe  or  onerous  as  those  under  which  the 
dissenters  in  England  groan  to-day. 

Meanwhile  there  had  grown  up  a second 
tier  of  States  beyond  the  Alleghanies,  which 
were  now  knocking  for  admission  to  the  Union. 
What  were  the  religious  denominations  to 
be  found  in  these  ? In  general,  we  may  an- 
swer, that  they  were  the  same  with  those  of 
the  States  from  which  most  of  their  inhabit- 
ants had  come.  Thus  Ohio,  settled  largely 


from  New  England,  especially  in  its  north- 
ern half,  had  a predominance  of  Congrega- 
tionalists,  with  some  Methodists  and  Bap- 
tists in  that  section,  and  in  the  southern  por- 
tion which  was  peopled  from  Pennsylvania 
and  Virginia,  a large  proportion  of  Presby- 
terians, Lutherans,  Quakers,  and  many  Ger- 
man Methodists,  with  some  Episcopalians 
and  Baptists.  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  had 
at  this  time  more  of  the  Presbyterian  ele- 
ment, modified  by  the  great  awakening  of 
1801-2  to  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian 
creed,  while  Baptists  and  Methodists  alike 
were  gaining  the  affections  of  large  numbers 
of  the  people.  A few  years  later  other  forms 
of  faith  made  great  inroads  into  the  ranks 
of  the  older  denominations.  Alabama,  set- 
tled mostly  from  Georgia  and  Tennessee, 
though  with  some  admixture  of  northern 
men,  drawn  thither  by  its  commercial  facili- 
ties, had  many  representatives  of  most  of  the 
older  denominations,  but  did  not  in  its  early 
history  give  much  heed  to  the  apostles  of  new 
faiths.  The  purchase  of  Louisiana  in  1803, 
added  a considerable  Catholic  element  to  the 
religious  population  of  the  country,  not  only 
in  Louisiana  proper,  but  in  Mississippi,  and  in 
the  states  and  territories  subsequently  organ- 
ized west  of  the  Mississippi.  In  fact  there 
were  scattered  Catholic  churches  in  all  the 
French  and  Spanish  forts  and  trading  sta- 
tions throughout  the  northwest,  and  these, 
though  very  feeble  and  widely  scattered, 
served  as  nuclei  for  mo.e  extensive  establish- 
ments as  the  country  was  settled.  Detroit, 
Michigan;  Vincennes,  Indiana;  Vandalia, 
Kaskaskia,  and  Joliet,  Illinois ; two  or  three 
points  in  Wisconsin,  and  as  many  in  Illinois, 
St.  Louis,  and  some  other  points  in  Missouri, 
Bardstown,  Kentucky,  and  missions  in  Ar- 
kansas and  Kansas,  indicate  how  zealously 
the  French  Catholic  priests  had  planted  their 
outposts  throughout  the  Mississippi  valley.  As 
yet,  however,  the  Catholics  were  not  strong 
anywhere  in  the  United  States,  and  it  was  not 
until  immigration  commenced  on  a large  scale 
from  Ireland  and  Germany  that  they  attain- 
ed to  a prominent  position  among  the  religious 
denominations  of  the  country.  The  German 
immigration,  as  we'll  as  that  at  a later  date  from 
Sweden  and  Norway,  also  largely  increased 
the  number  of  Lutheran  and  German  Reform- 
ed churches,  and  that  from  England,  Scotland, 
and  the  north  of  Ireland,  enured  mainly  to 
the  benefit  of  the  Presbyterians,  and  Meth-* 
odists,  though  a minority  were  Baptists. 


592 


RELIGIOUS  DENOMINATIONS. 


Several  denominations,  some  ot  them  now 
among  the  larger  religious  bodies  of  the 
country,  have  either  originated  here  or 
had  their  principal  development  in  the 
United  States.  The  first  of  these  in  the 
order  of  time  was  the  Shakers,  or  followers 
of  Mother  Ann  Lee.  This  noted  religious 
leader  was  born  and  lived  for  many  years  in 
England,  and  claimed  to  have  received  her 
first  and  principal  revelations  there  ; but  she 
had  not  a score  of  adherents  when  she  came 
to  the  United  States  in  1774,  and  it  was  not 
till  about  1780  that  she  had  any  considerable 
number  of  disciples,  and  it  was  not  till  1805 
that  the  societies  of  the  Shakers  were  estab- 
lished at  any  great  distance  from  their  first 
center,  Watervliet.  The  disciples,  or  fol- 
lowers of  Alexander  Campbell,  were  first 
organized  as  a distinct  body  of  Christians 
about  1810,  but  did  not  increase  very  rapid- 
ly till  about  1831.  They  are  now  about  in 
the  fifth  or  sixth  rank  among  the  religious 
denominations  of  the  country. 

The  United  Brethren  in  Christ,  (not  Mo- 
ravians, but  German  Methodists,)  date  back 
to  17  GO,  when  Otterbein  and  Boehm  com- 
menced their  missionary  labors  ; but  their 
principal'  development  has  taken  place  during 
the  present  century. 

The  Mormons  organized  their  first  com- 
munity or  church  in  1831,  though  the  pro- 
fessed revelations  of  Joseph  Smith  date  some 
years  earlier.  Various  methods  of  classifi- 
cation of  religious  and  irreligious  societies 
have  been  attempted,  but  all  of  them  are 
liable  to  some  objection.  The  most  com- 
mon classification  is  that  of  Roman  Catholics, 
Protestants,  Infidels  or  Unbelievers  in  Chris- 
tianity, and  Pagans.  This  answers  well 
enough  for  a generic  division,  but  when  we 
come  to  a minute  classification  we  find  a 
difficulty.  The  Roman  Catholics,  though 
divided  into  several  orders  or  societies  which 
are  more  or  less  hostile  to  each  other,  such 
as  Jesuits,  Dominicans,  Franciscans,  Bene- 
dictines, Paulists,  Lazarists,  etc.,  have  yet 
this  common  bond  of  union  that  they  all  ac- 
knowledge allegiance  to  the  Pope,  while 
Protestants,  however  we  may  classify  them, 
will  hardly  come  under  any  strict  rule  of 
division.  One  classification  is  into  Trinita- 
rians and  Anti-Trinitarians ; but  to  this  it 
may  be  objected  that  neither  party  are  whol- 
ly Protestant,  the  Roman  Catholics  being 
Trinitarians  as  well  as  most  of  the  Protest- 
ants, and  a part  of  the  Baptists,  and  a por- 


tion of  the  Anglican  churches,  denying  that 
they  are  Protestants,  as  do  likewise  some  of 
the  Anti-Trinitarians.  This  division  is  liable 
to  the  further  objection  that  it  arrays  a very 
large  body  of  religionists  on  one  side  against 
a comparative  handful  on  the  other. 

The  division  into  Orthodox  and  Heterodox, 
is  liable  to  the  objection  that  there  is  no  uni- 
versally recognized  standard  of  Orthodoxy, 
and  to  call  a man  Heterodox  because  his 
belief  on  all  points  was  not  the  same  with 
that  of  some  other  man  would  be  invidious. 
The  division  into  Evangelical  and  Unevan- 
gelical  is  equally  objectionable  on  the  ground 
of  its  indefiniteness,  with  the  added  difficulty 
that  it  would  divide  two  denominations,  the 
Anglican  churches  and  the  Unitarians,  a 
part  of  each  claiming  and  receiving  the  title 
of  Evangelical,  and  the  other  part  rejecting 
it.  The  division  of  the  denominations  into 
Calvinists  and  Arminians  is  perhaps  as  fair 
as  any,  though  several  denominations  have 
both  classes  in  their  membership.  That  into 
Baptists  and  Paedobaptists  is  faulty  because, 
though  no  Baptist,  i.  e.  Immersionist,  is  a 
Paedobaptist,  that  is,  an  advocate  for  the  bap- 
tism of  infants,  yet  many  Paedobaptists 
occasionally  practice  immersion,  as  for  exam- 
ple, the  Methodists,  the  Congregationalists, 
and  the  Episcopalians.  It  is  liable  to  another 
difficulty,  viz.,  that  some  of  the  organizations 
not  reputed  Christian,  such  as  the  Mormons, 
practice  immersion. 

In  the  attempted  subdivision  of  the  Infidel 
or  unbelieving  class,  we  are  met  with  still 
greater  difficulties.  The  Deist,  especially,  if 
an  Israelite,  and  a believer  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament scriptures,  will  object  strenuously  to 
be  ranked  with  the  sceptic  whose  only  God 
is  nature,  and  whose  highest  hope  for  the 
future  is  in  annihilation,  or  with  the  Comtist 
who  recognizes  no  divinity  of  greater  knowl- 
edge or  power  than  himself,  or  the  Atheist, 
who  believes  that  all  things  are  the  result  of 
chance.  Between  these  extremes  there  are 
an  infinitude  of  opinions,  no  two  of  which 
can  be  reconciled  with  each  other,  even  to 
the  extent  of  a common  classification.  Of 
Paganism  there  are  but  comparatively  few 
representatives — the  Indian  tribes  in  the 
West,  the  Chinese,  who  seem  to  be  in  about 
equal  proportions,  Buddhists,  Sintuists,  and 
followers  of  Confucius,  the  Alaskan  Indians, 
and  Esquimaux,  whose  religion  seems  akin 
to  Shamanism,  the  small  colonies  of  Japanese, 
(Buddhists)  and  the  traces  of  Fetictism  found 


tatistics  of  tlie  United  States  in  1870 


RELIGIOUS  DENOMINATIONS. 


593 


in  the  more  ignorant  and  supertitious  of  the 
Sonthern  negroes. 

The  following  table  exhibits  as  accurately 
as  they  can  be  obtained  from  official  and 
other  sources,  the  statistics  of  the  various 
religious  and  irreligious  sects  in  the  United 
States,  as  reported  at  or  near  the  close  of 


1870.  The  denominations  have  been  taken 
generally  in  the  order  of  their  membership  ; 
but  the  smaller  churches  which  affiliate  with 
the  larger  ones  in  their  doctrines  and  ordi- 
nances, have  been  considered  in  the  same* 
connection,  in  preference  to  a rigid  classifica- 
tion on  the  basis  of  number  of  members. 


•uoi;enrmou9(i  aq^ 
jo  sreaipo 

-ua<I  pue  saadedsAvo^sj 

oocoiai—ojcoco  co  eocooi  cmcm  eoeoo-  cm<m<m  »©  nusmioh  cm  eo  t-  ioujo 

NC^rHri^  CM  CM  r-1  CM  CO  i— 1 i— 1 i-l 

•uopeuimouad  aq? 
jo  saueuimag  pjoi 
-So[oaqx  pue  saSaqoQ 

JgCM  JO  lO  rH  CM  r-liOCO  l-  rS  CO^S  ONO  O r-UOCOCOCO  rH  rH r-l  rH 

•uopeunnouap  jo 
joj^uoo  japan  saueu 
-cuag  pue  satraapiBoy 

coco  cm  noo  oot-  uj  t-L-aoiom  10  ia(^  © 

•J«3jf  aq^  Suunp  diqs 
-jaqraaj^  04  suotqppy 

180,000 

108,666 

30,646 

102,110 

6,666 

j 

63,450 

7,899 

8,117 

7,727 

5,922 

27,373 

22,115 

39,010 

12,776 

10,000 

•sjxqoqag 
jooqog  jCepung 

O -H*  t—  t—  l>-  rH  lOOiQ  lO  Oi  O 

gi  33  83  8 q qSl  q 8 8 

OC5  l—  COtCM  OcT  i-H  Cl  O Cl  lO  *0 

05 1'-  CO  ^ ^ H <X> 

ClrH^  CO  r*  CO  Cl  rH 

rH 

•sjooqog  Tepung 

16,393 

3,694 

4,783 

672 

609 

1,019 

2,420 

•sasodanj  qojnq^ 
pan 

‘s^oafqo  ^uajoAauaq 
o;  suotjnquijao;) 

$7,957,138 

8,947,620 

8,440,121 

872,355 

200,000 

827,126 

7,727 

1,187,681 

6,316,000 

6,002,722 

9,654,278 

2,576,453 

525,681 

120,000 

100,000 

200,000 

63,000 

•saogrpj  qajnqo 
jo  atqBX 

$47,253,067 

49.266.000 

19,471,500 

2.965.000 

9,683,600 

13.600.000 

9.712.000 

2.750.000 

2.508.000 

100,000 

1.250.000 

1.360.000 

Adher- 

ent 

Popula- 

tion. 

3.800.000 

5.600.000 

2.280.000 
j 2.805 ,000 

5.284.000 

I 266,000 

1.560.000 

275.000 

200.000 

2.400.000 

325.000 

72.000 

280.000 

320.000 

245.000 

1.524.000 

1.080.000 
1,368,500 

535.000 

364.000 

35.000 
60,^00 

200.0  0 
600,000 

240.000 

120.000 

25.000 

50.000 

250,000 

75.000 
250,000 

•saqstJBj  jo 
‘snopBfiajSuo3 
‘saqajnqki  jo  8Jaquiaj\; 

3,354,000 

1,298,938 

571,241 

753,017 

1,221,349 

66,909 

487,223 

88,000 

70.000 
446,561 

82,014 

18.000 
69,807 

80,000 

61,444 

306,518 

220,000 

425,577 

*217,910 

118,055 

11,855 

30.000 

90.000 
300,000 

80.000 

40.000 

5,000 

30.000 

50.000 

60.000 

Sittings. 

1,200,000 

3,005,620 

3,508,600 

1,300,000 

390.000 

165.000 

450.000 

120.000 
600,000 

595.000 

800.000 
260,000 

483,099 

18,000 

75,000 

133,600 

•saogipa  qajnqo 

3,624 

12,056 

14,076 

760 

4,327 

1,289 

665 

1,817 

428 

2,176 

2,395 

3.249 

1,050 

1,474 

26 

325 

668 

•83qSUB(J  JO 
‘suoijBfi 

-ajfino;)  ‘saqajnqf) 

4,672 

12‘056 

4,560 

4,725 

15,143 

1,386 

2,476 

990 

860 

4,526 

1,469 

187 

729 

2,000 

464 

2,341 

2,605 

3,544 

1,179 

3,663 

64 

347 

913 

5,000 

74 

210 

OTg  ‘hUOt^BI  JOKSV 

‘saua^ifqsaj^  'apoaXg 
‘saaaajajuo  i‘sasaaot(i 

lO  CM  © OC  O O CD  rH-£  CO  CO  CM  OO  CM  © CO  CMr-c^OOi  OO  05 

lOL-CO  C l O i-iCO  r-l  CO  CM  CO  CM  iJHO  CO  CO  CM  OO 

L-  r— 1 CO  r-l 

* a 

3,505 

19,170 

7,586 

3.205 

8,787 

1,145 

1,797 

950 

700 

4,238 

893 

190 

653 

1,310 

498 

2,170 

2,786 

2,086 

626 

1,647 

66 

396 

621 

3,000 

63 

•edoqsia 

|»f5000»iD  Cl  ^ iQ  O 

1 ~ 10  a 

•udonuionajv  1 n 

Denomination 

or 

[Sect. 

Roman  Catholics,.. 
Methodist  Episcopal. 
Meth  Church  Soutl. 
Other  Methodists, . 

Baptists, 

Tree  Will  Baptists,. 

Disciples, 

Mennonites,  Tunk 
ers,  Church  01 

God,  &c. , 

Seventh  Day,  Si? 
Prin.  Anti  Missioi 
and  other  Baptists. 

Presbyterians, 

Presbv'n  Ch.  South. 
Ref 'd  Presbyterians. 

3 distinct  bodies,.. 
United  Presbyterians 
Cumberland  Presby- 
terians,   

Reformed  (Dutch,).  . 
Congregationalists,. . 
Anglican  Church,  or 
Prot.  Episcopal,. . 

Lutheran , 

German  Reformed  . 
United  Brethren  in 

Christ, 

United  Brethren, 

(Moravians,) 

Unitarians, 

Universalists, 

Christian  Connection 
Friends  or  Quakers, 
Hieksite  & Progres 

sive  Friends, 

New  Jerusalem  Ch., 
or  Swedenborgians 

Jews, 

Deistical,  Radical,  or 

Liberal  Clubs, 

Mormons 

Spiritualists, 

CD 

K 

0 

Sol 

•H 

w 


♦These  seem  to  be  members  of  the  congregations  only.  The  number  of  communicants  is  stated  to  be  96,728,  and  unconfirmed  members  68,362. 


CHAPTER  II. 

HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


I.  ROMAN  CATHOLICS.  The  adher- 
ents  of  the  Roman  Church  in  the  United  States 
were,  as  we  have  already  seen,  just  before 
the  American  Revolution,  except  in  Mary- 
land, but  a very  small  proportion  of  the  pop- 
ulation. They  had  small  congregations  in 
New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  perhaps,  two 
or  three  other  large  towns.  In  Baltimore, 
they  were  the  leading  denomination,  and  in 
several  towns  of  Maryland  they  had  congre- 
gations. In  sections  which  soon  after  came 
into  the  Union  as  states  or  organized  terri- 
tories, their  congregations  were  scattered 
somewhat  widely.  In  North  Eastern  Maine, 
the  Arcadian  settlers,  mostly  French  or  of 
French  extraction,  were  generally  devout 
Catholics  ; and  a few  priests  with  their  flocks 
were  found  along  the  northern  line  of  New 
England  and  New  York.  Detroit  had  a 
very  considerable  Catholic  element  in  its 
population  from  the  first ; and  farther  west, 
at  several  points  in  Illinois,  Wisconsin,  Iowa, 
and  especially  in  Missouri  and  below  in  the 
Mississippi  Valley,  among  the  French  and 
creole  population  of  Louisiana  Territory, 
churches  and  cathedrals  were  comparatively 
numerous.  Farther  west,  in  Texas  and 
California,  as  well  as  in  Mexico,  New  Mex- 
ico, and  Arizona,  all  at  this  time  under  the 
control  of  Spain,  and  subsequently  of  the  j 
Mexican  Republic,  Catholicism  had  been  for 
two  centuries  the  established  religion  of  the 
state,  and  Indians,  Mexicans,  and  Spaniards  I 
of  the  pure  blood  were  alike,  nominally  at 
least,  enrolled  among  its  numbers.  The 
missions,  churches  and  cathedrals,  many  of  I 
them  in  ruins,  which  dot  the  prairies  and  j 
oases  of  the  vast  territory  acquired  by  the 
war  of  1846,  show  that  in  former  times,  a 
very  considerable,  though  mainly  a native 
population  was  subservient  to  this  faith.  It 
was  not,  however,  till  after  1820,  when  the  ; 
vast  tide  of  immigration  from  Ireland  and 
from  Catholic  Germany,  with  its  occasional  j 
additions  from  France,  Italy,  and  Spain,  j 


began  to  flow  in  upon  us,  that  the  Roman 
Catholic  church  assumed  anything  like  its 
present  proportional  magnitude.  Its  out- 
posts were  indeed  already  planted,  and  it 
had  its  centers  of  influence,  its  nuclei  around 
which  it  could  gather  its  incoming  hosts. 
But  prior  to  1820,  it  probably  ranked  in  the 
number  of  its  communicants  not  higher  than 
fourth  or  fifth  among  the  religious  denomi- 
nations of  the  country.  It  is  stated  on  good 
authority  (that  of  a Roman  Catholic  arch- 
bishop), that  more  than  five  millions  of  Cath- 
olic emigrants  have  landed  upon  our  shores 
since  1820.  Of  course  many  of  them  have 
apostatized ; many  more,  have  died,  and  their 
children  have  been  reared  in  other  faiths,  or 
in  no  faith  at  all.  In  these  ways  only  can 
we  account  for  the  fact  attested  by  the  high- 
est Roman  Catholic  authority,  that  their 
communicants  do  not  to-day  number  over 
3,500,000.  Their  clergy  have  not  been  want- 
ing in  zeal  or  fidelity  to  their  faith ; and  no 
denomination  in  the  country  has  provided  so 
well  or  so  promptly  for  the  maintenance  of 
religious  worship  as  they.  They  have  not 
been  persecuted  for  their  faith,  or  their  num- 
bers would  be  larger;  but  there  has  been 
on  the  part  of  immigrants  a strong  disposi- 
tion, on  coming  to  this  country,  to  throw  off 
all  religious  restraints  under  the  impression 
that  this  was  one  of  the  requisites  of  national 
freedom. 

With  this  brief  sketch  of  its  history,  we 
proceed  to  give  the  leading  doctrines  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church,  stating  them  in 
this  case,  as  we  shall  in  that  of  all  the  other 
denominations,  in  the  exact  language  of  their 
own  ablest  and  most  representative  writers, 
as  the  only  course  which  will  render  strict  jus- 
tice to  each  denomination.  The  late  Arch- 
bishop Kenrick  of  Baltimore.one  of  the  ablest 
writers  and  most  accomplished  scholars  of 
the  Roman  Church,  thus  states  its  doctrines : 
“ The  chief  doctrines  of  the  Church  regard 
the  unity  of  the  divine  nature  in  three  dis- 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


595 


tinct  divine  persons,  and  the  incarnation  of 
the  second  divine  person,  through  the  mys- 
terious operations  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  the 
Virgin  Mary,  and  his  death  on  the  cross  for 
the  expiation  of  the  sins  of  mankind.  The 
belief  of  the  incarnation  is  the  ground  and 
motive  of  the  high  veneration  which  is  enter- 
tamed  for  the  Virgin,  who  is  styled  Mother  of 
God,  because  Christ  her  son  is  God  incarn- 
ate.” (Since  the  death  of  Ab’p  Kenrick,  the 
dogma  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  of  the 
Virgin  Mary,  regarding  her  as  born  as  free 
from  sin  as  Christ  himself,  has  been  pro- 
claimed by  the  Pope  as  a fundamental  doc- 
trine of  the  church.)  “To  her  is  ascribed 
all  sanctity  and  perfection  which  can  be 
bestowed  on  a mere  creature,  and  she  is  held 
to  have  been  free  from  all  stain  of  sin  by  a 
special  privilege  granted  her,  that  she  might 
be  worthy  of  the  dignity  for  which  she  was 
divinely  chosen.  The  mystery  of  the  re- 
demption is  prominent  in  the  teaching  and 
worship  of  the  church.  Christ  suffered  and 
died,  as  man,  to  atone  for  the  sins  of  our  first 
parents,  and  the  sins  of  all  mankind.  His 
death  fully  expiated  the  guilt  of  sin,  and 
presented  an  atonement  in  every  re-peet  per- ! 
feet.  Yet  all  men  are  not  justified  and  | 
saved,  but  those  only  to  whom  the  redemp- 1 
tion  is  applied  by  means  divinely  prescribed.  I 
Baptism  is  believed  to  be  a remedy  for  orig-  I 
inal  sin,  applicable  even  to  infants.  Adults  j 
having  the  use  of  reason  must  believe  in 
Christ  and  repent  of  sin,  in  order  to  receive 
the  benefit  of  the  atonement.  From  those 
who  have  forfeited  baptismal  grace,  frui  s of 
penance  are  required  as  evidences  of  their 
sincere  conversion  to  God,  and  as  conditions 
to  entitle  them  to  the  application  of  the  mer- 
its of  Christ.  Nothing  that  man  can  do,  can 
take  away  the  guilt  of  sin,  or  prove  an  ade- 
quate satisfaction  for  it ; but  God  requires 
the  humiliation  of  the  sinner,  and  accepts  his  ! 
penitential  works,  which  derive  value  from  ' 
the  ran  om  offered  by  Christ.  They  add 
nothing  to  it,  but  they  become  acceptable  j 
through  it.  Christ  is  the  spiritual  Mediator 
through  whose  blood  we  must  sue  for  par- 
don and  salvation.  The  worship  of  the 
church  is  given  to  God  only — the  one  Eter- 
nal Being  in  the  three  divine  persons — and  j 
the  incarnate  Word,  God  consubstantial  to 
the  Father.  Inferior  religious  honor,  which 
may  be  called  worship  in  a qualified  sense,  i 
is  given  to  the  Virgin  Mary,  on  account  of 
the  gifts  and  graces  with  which  God  has 
endowed  her,  and  her  exalted  dignity  as 


Mother  of  God  incarnate.  The  angels, 
namely,  incorporeal  spirits  reigning  with 
God,  are  honored  as  his  creatures,  in  whom 
his  perfections  are  reflected,  and  his  messen- 
gers through  whom  he  has  manifested  his 
will.  Saints,  those  who  have  pioved  faith- 
I ful  in  the  divine  service  to  the  end,  and  are 
; already  crowned  with  glory  in  the  kingdom 
! of  God,  are  venerated  likewise  for  their  tri- 
j umphant  virtue  ; the  martyrs  especially,  who 
I died  amid  torments  rather  than  deny  Christ, 

| and  the  virgins,  who  throughout  life  pre- 
I served  the  purity  of  their  affections,  are 
j deemed  worthy  of  high  honor.  But  there  is 
j an  essential  difference  between  the  honor 
given  to  the  creatures  of  God,  and  that 
which  belongs  to  God  alone.  lie  receives 
the  submission  of  the  understanding  and  the 
will,  the  homage  of  the  affections.  He  is 
acknowledged  to  be  the  essential  Being,  the 
supreme  Lord,  the  beginning  and  the  end  of 
all  things.  Sacrifice  is  given  to  him  only. 
Prayer,  in  its  strict  acceptation,  can  be  offer- 
ed to  him  only,  the  Giver  of  every  good  gift. 
Grace  and  salvation  depend  upon  his  bounty 
and  mercy.  Litanies  and  prayers  to  the 
saints  are  only  appeals  to  them  to  intercede 
with  God  for  us  through  Jesus  Christ.  They 
are  not  supposed  to  be  omniscient  or  omni- 
present ; but  they  know,  in  God,  the  pious 
desires  as  well  as  the  penitential  sighs  of  the 
faithful.  Respect  is  paid  to  the  crucifix, 
which  recalls  to  our  mind  the  sufferings  of 
Christ  for  our  redemption,  but  it  does  not  ter- 
minate in  the  symbol  or  material  object.  The 
kissing  of  the  image,  the  bending  of  the  knee, 
the  prostration  of  the  body  in  the  ceremonial  of 
Good  Friday,  are  all  directed  to  Christ,  our 
Redeemer.  So  the  images  of  the  saints 
awake  the  remembrance  of  their  virtues. 
The  bowring  of  the  head  to  a statue,  or  the 
burning  of  incense  before  a shrine,  is  refer- 
red to  the  saint  whose  memory  is  honored 
for  his  love  of  God  and  his  zeal  for  the 
divine  glory.  Relics,  that  is  objects  used  by 
the  saints,  or  particles  of  their  remains,  are 
venerated  for  the  relation  they  bear  to  them. 
The  fall  of  the  first  parents  of  the  human 
race  is  the  fundamental  doctrine  on  which  he 
belief  of  the  mystery  of  redemption  depends. 

. . . . Original  sin  is  that  transgression 
which  is  common  to  the  whole  human  fam- 
ily, each  one  being  estranged  from  God,  and 
liable  to  his  wrath,  in  consequence  of  the  act 
of  the  heads  of  the  race.  The  natural  pow- 
ers have  been  weakened  by  the  fall.  The 
freedom  of  the  human  will  remains,  but  it  is 


596 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFPERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


less  vigorous  than  in  our  first  parents.  Our 
nature  is  not  vitiated  and  dependent,  but  it 
is  prone  to  evil  and  exposed  to  violent  temp- 
tation  A Redeemer  was  given 

us,  in  the  person  of  Christ,  who,  being  God- 
man,  atoned  by  his  sufferings  for  the  sin  of 
our  first  parents,  and  merited  for  us  all  grace 
by  which  temptation  may  be  overcome. 
Actual  sin  is  the  willful  transgression  of  the 
divine  law  by  individuals  having  the  use  of 
reason.  Mortal  sin  is  any  act,  speech,  desire, 
or  thought  grievously  opposed  to  the  natural 
or  divine  law.  Sins  which  imply  no  direct 
or  grievous  opposition  to  the  law  of  God,  are 
styled  venial,  because  their  pardon  is  easily 
obtained,  since  they  do  not  separate  the  soul 
from  God.  Slight  impatience,  rash  words, 
vain  self-complacency,  may  be  venial.  De- 
liberate hatred,  gross  calumny,  acts  of  vio- 
lence, not  to  speak  of  drunkenness,  lust,  and 
murder,  are  mortal  sins.  The  distinction  of 
sins  is  not  derived  from  the  individual  who 
commits^them,  although  they  may  be  aggra- 
vated by  his  personal  obligations.  Forgive- 
ness of  sins,  even  the  most  heinous,  is  prom- 
ised to  the  penitent.  Sorrow  for  having  com- 
mitted them  is  a necessary  disposition  in  order 
to  obtain  it.  Perfect  sorrow,  which  is  called 
contrition,  springs  from  divine  love,  and 
leads  us  to  detest  sin  as  opposed  to  the  good- 
ness of  God  and  to  his  eternal  perfection. 
Attrition,  is  sorrow  of  a less  perfect  kind, 
arising  from  an  experience  of  the  evil  conse- 
quences of  sin,  and  the  dread  of  the  punish- 
ments which  await  it  hereafter.  If  it  wean 
the  .heart  from  sin,  and  inspire  an  effectual  j 
detestation  of  it,  so  as  to  be  accompanied 
with  a firm  resolution  of  amendment,  it  is 
held  to  be  useful  and  salutary,  and  such  as 
may  dispose  for  pardon  in  the  sacrament  of 

penance The  forgiveness  of 

sin  properly  belongs  to  God,  who  is  offended. 
Christ,  as  God-man,  forgave  sin,  and  author- 
ized the  apostles  to  impart  forgiveness  or 
withhold  it.  The  power  is  judicial,  since 
they  may  bind  or  loose,  retain  or  forgive ; 
on  which  account  a confession  of  sin  is  re- 
quired from  every  applicant  for  its  exercise. 
When  this  is  made  with  sincerity,  humility, 
sorrow,  a willingness  to  repair  the  wrong 
committed,  and  a determination  to  shun  the 
occasions  of  sin,  the  priest  absolves  the  pen- 
itent. This  absolution  is  a judicial  sentence, 
deriving  its  force  from  the  divine  institution,  j 
The  sacraments  (seven  in  number)  are  rites 
instituted  by  Christ  our  Lord,  as  instru-  j 
ments  and  means  of  grace  to  apply  to  our  | 


souls  the  merits  of  his  sufferings  and  death. 
They  are  said  to  contain  and  confer  grace, 
technically  ex  opere  operato , because  they  are 
effectual  means  divinely  chosen  to  impart  it, 
where  no  obstacle  is  presented  by  the  re- 
ceiver. Certain  dispositions,  however,  are 
required  on  the  part  of  adults  who  desire  to 
partake  of  them.  Faith  and  compunction 
are  necessary  on  the  part  of  the  applicant 
for  baptism . Sorrow,  with  a firm  purpose  Ox 
amendment,  is  required  from  the  professed 
penitent,  in  the  sacrament  of  penance.  The 
strengthening  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is 
granted,  by  the  laying  on  of  hands  with 
prayer,  to  the  baptized  believer,  whose  heart 
is  free  from  willful  sin.  Sin  is  forgiven  to 
the  dying  man  who  with  penitence  and  hope 
receives  the  mystic  unction,  and  for  whom 
the  prayer  of  faith  is  offered  up.  The  impo- 
sition of  hands  is  available  for  the  communi- 
cation of  sacerdotal  power,  even  to  the 
unworthy  candidate,  but  grace  is  given  to 
him  who  is  called  by  God,  and  who  with 
humility  corresponds  to  the  divine  vocation. 
Marriage  is  a great  mystery,  the  image  of 
the  union  of  Christ  and  the  Church,  to  be 
celebrated  with  purity  ol  affection.  The 
Eucharist,  the  chief  sacrament,  is  to  be  ap- 
proached with  hearts  cleansed  from  sin, 
under  penalty  of  becoming  guilty  of  the  body 
and  blood  of  the  Lord,  and  incurring  con- 
demnation  

It  is  not  easy  to  reconcile  the  exercise  of 
free  will  with  the  divine  foresight.  We  can- 
not understand  how  it  is  possible  for  us  to 
act  independently,  and  of  our  own  determin- 
ation, when  God  has  foreseen  our  action. 
It  is  sufficient  to  know  and  feel  our  freedom, 
without  sounding  the  depths  of  divine  knowl- 
edge. It  suffices  then  to  admit  that  without 
the  grace  of  Christ  we  can  do  nothing,  and 
to  hold  that  we  can  do  all  things  in  Him 
who  strengthens  us.  Everlasting  beatitude, 
consisting  in  the  contemplation  and  enjoy- 
ment of  God,  is  the  reward  promised  by 
Him  on  condition  of  the  fulfilment  of  His 
commandments,  and  bestowed  gratuitously  on 
baptized  infants  or  others  incapable  of  per- 
sonal acts.  The  punishment  of  grievous  sin 
is  eternal.  Impenitent  sinners  are  forever 
separated  from  God,  and  suffer  torments. 
Those  who  die  guilty  of  slight  faults  or  debt- 
ors to  divine  justice,  are  withheld  for  a time 
from  the  enjoyment  of  Heaven  (and  suffer 
the  pains  of  purgatory).  The  glory  of 
heaven  is  immediately  attained  by  baptized 
infants  dying  before  the  use  of  reason,  by 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


597 


adults  dying  immediately  after  baptism,  by  I 
martyrs,  and  by  all  who  die  with  perfect 
love  of  God,  and  free  from  sin  or  debt  of  j 
punishment.  The  soul  only  is  admitted  to 
happiness.  The  body  is  subject  to  dissolu- 
tion, but  is  to  be  raised  at  the  end  of  time, 
in  order  to  be  reunited  to  the  soul,  and  made 
partaker  of  her  glory. 

The  teaching  of  Christ  our  Lord,  becomes 
known  to  us  especially  by  the  preaching  of 
the  ministry,  tracing  back  their  commission 
to  the  apostles.  Solemn  definitions  of  faith 
are  the  most  authoritative  forms  of  this 
preaching.  They  are  declarations  not  mere- 
ly of  doctrines  contained  in  the  written 
word,  but  of  revealed  truths,  whether  writ- 
ten or  unwritten.  Christ  himself  left  noth- 
ing in  writing ; several  of  his  apostles  wrote 
much,  and  two  other  sacred  writers  com- 
posed narratives  of  his  life  and  teaching ; 
but  many  things  belong  to  the  deposit  of  doc- 
trine which  were  not  explicitly  placed  on 
record.  The  body  of  bishops  feel  themselves 
authorized  to  propose  as  revealed  truth 
whatever  has  come  down  from  the  beginning 
in  the  church,  and  been  generally  acknowl-  [ 
edged  to  appertain  to  doctrine.  In  cases  of 
difficulty,  when  doubts  have  been  raised  with 
regard  to  some  tenet,  they  feel  themselves 
competent  to  examine  the  evidence,  and 
decide  whether  the  doctrine  has  been  re- 
vealed. After  a definition,  it  is  no  longer 
allowed  to  question  a truth  sealed  with  their 
approval.  Infallibility  in  judgment  is  claim- 
ed for  the  body  of  bishops  with  their  head, 
the  bishop  (pope)  of  Rome.  (The  infallibil- 
ity of  the  pope  was  declared  one  of  the  car- 
dinal doctrines  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church  by  the  Council  of  Rome  in  1870 — 
71.)  By  the  infallibility  in  judgment  of  the 
bishops,  is  meant  the  providential  guidance 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  by  which  they  are  direc- 
ted and  enlightened  in  doctrinal  decisions, 
that  they  may  not  mistake  error  for  truth  or 
propose  as  divinely  revealed  what  wants  the 
seal  of  divine  authority.  The  tribunal  of 
the  pope  is  universally  acknowledged  (in  the 
Roman  Catholic  church)  as  competent  to 
pronounce  judgment  in  controversies  which 
regard  faith,  and  its  decrees,  directed  to  the 
body  of  bishops  or  to  the  church  at  large, 
proposing  doctrines  under  penalty  of  excom- 
munication, when  acquiesced  in  by  the  bish- 
ops, are  final  and  irreversible. 

The  Church  accepts  the  Divine  Scriptures 
is  the  word  of  inspiration,  written  under  the 
impulse  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  and  to  be  re- 


ceived with  all  faith  and  veneration.  To 
the  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  according 
to  the  Jewish  Cahon,  she  adds  certain  other 
books  (usually  known  as  the  Apocrypha)  on 
ancient  testimony,  usage,  and  tradition  de- 
rived from  the  apostles.  The  books  of  the 
New  Testament  included  in  the  Canon,  are 
I those  adopted  as  inspired  by  the  Council  of 
Trent.  The  Church  claims  the  supreme 
j authority  of  determining  the  meaning  of  the 
[ Scriptures,  in  conformity  with  the  general 
teaching  of  the  fathers,  that  is,  the  ancient 
Christian  writers.  Faith,  according  to  the 
Roman  Catholic  view,  is  the  assent  of  the 
human  mind  to  divine  truth  as  it  is  proposed 
and  attested  by  the  church  of  God.  The 
truth  must  be  revealed,  and  it  must  be  pro- 
pounded by  the  church.  Faith  is  necessary 
to  salvation,  so  that  without  it,  it  is  impossi- 
ble to  please  God.  The  wanton  and  proud 
rejection  of  a single  point  of  revealed  doc- 
trine involves  shipwreck  of  faith.  Hence, 
the  plea  of  invincible  ignorance  is  the  only 
one  which  Roman  Catholic  divines  admit  as 
of  any  avail  in  behalf  of  those  who  reject 
any  of  the  doctrines  which  the  Church  has 
propounded  as  revealed,  and  only  God  can 
determine  with  certainty  the  individual  for 
whom  such  plea  may  be  available.  All  bap- 
tized children  are  claimed  by  the  church  as 
her  own,  since  baptism  is  the  sacrament  of 
regeneration,  and  they  continue  such  until 
by  their  willful  profession  of  condemned 
error  they  forfeit  their  birthright.  The  prin- 
ciples of  the  Catholic  Church  with  regard  to 
civil  duties,  are  highly  conservative.  She 
feels  bound  to  respect  established  authority, 
and  enforce,  by  moral  suasion,  obedience  to 
those  in  high  station,  and  she  uses  every  fit 
occasion  to  insinuate  the  axiom,  that  religion 
is  the  only  sure  basis  and  strong  bond  of  secur- 
ity. The  duties  of  her  members  are  depen- 
dent on  the  providential  position  in  which 
they  find  themselves.  They  are  to  support 
law  and  order,  and  fulfil  faithfully  every 
obligation  to  society. 

By  discipline , Catholics  understand  all 
that  appertains  to  the  government  of  the 
Church,  the  administration  of  the  sacraments 
and  the  observance  and  practice  of  religion. 
The  essential  worship  consists  in  the  sacri- 
fice of  the  mass,  which,  although  mystical 
and  commemorative,  is  real  and  propitiatory, 
being  a continuation  of  the  sacrifice  of  the 
cross.  Vespers,  or  evening  prayers,  are  sol- 
emnly sung,  the  psalms  of  David,  the  song 
of  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  pious  hymns  and 


598 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


prayers  being  used.  In  the  cathedral 
churches,  other  portions  of  the  divine  office 
are  sung  at  various  hours  of  each  day,  by 
clergymen,  called  canons,  devoted  to  this 
duty.  Numerous  festivals  are  also  cele- 
brated to  honor  the  divine  mysteries  and 
present  them  to  the  devout  contemplation  of 
the  faithful.  Many  are  solemnized  in  honor 
of  the  Virgin  Mary,  the  apostles,  martyrs, 
confessors,  virgins,  and  saints  of  every  class, 
whose  virtues  are  thus  set  before  the  faith- 
ful for  their  imitation.  Fasting  is  also  a 
part  of  church  discipline.  Forty  days  before 
Easter  (the  Lenten  Fast)  are  devoted  to 
this  exercise.  Ember  days,  viz.,  Wednes- 
day, Friday,  and  Saturday,  in  each  of  the 
four  seasons,  are  observed  as  fasts  to  obtain 
the  divine  blessing,  and  worthy  ministers  for 
the  church,  ordinations  being  held  at  those 
times.  The  eve  of  great  solemnities  is 
observed  by  fasting,  in  order  to  prepare  by 
penance  for  their  celebration.  Abstinence 
(from  meat)  is  observed  on  each  Friday  of  the 
year,  and  in  some  dioceses,  on  Saturday  also. 
All  these  penitential  observances  are  mat- 
ters of  church  law,  which  admits  of  dispen- 
sation. The  rites  of  the  mass,  and  the  cere- 
monies used  in  the  administration  of  the  sac- 
raments, appertain  to  discipline,  which  ad- 
mits of  variety  and  change,  although  great 
deference  is  shown  for  ancient  usage.  For 
this  reason,  the  Latin  liturgy,  used  from 
early  times  in  the  Roman  church,  is  still 
employed  by  the  celebrant,  although  instruc- 
tions are  given  in  the  vernacular  language, 
and  facilities  are  offered  to  the  faithful  for 
praying  in  a manner  suited  to  their  capacity. 
The  changes  which  have  been  made  are  in 
the  maimer  of  administering  baptism,  and 
the  Eucharist,  and  penitential  discipline. 
The  solemn  mode  of  baptism  was  originally 
by  immersion.  The  candidate  used  to 
descend  into  fonts,  or  streams,  or  rivers,  and 
sink  beneath  the  waters  under  the  pressure 
of  the  hands  of  the  sacred  minister.  In  cases 
of  necessity  and  danger,  less  solemn  modes 
were  used,  which,  from  being  frequent  at 
length,  after  the  lapse  of  ages,  became  uni 
versal.  In  like  manner,  the  Eucharist,  hav- 
ing been  instituted  by  our  Lord  under  the 
forms  of  bread  and  wine,  was  generally  ad- 
ministered under  both  kinds  for  many  ages. 
Exceptional  cases  were  always  admitted, 
which  at  length  proved  so  numerous  as  to 
supersede  altogether  the  ancient  usage.  The 
church  claims  the  right  to  regulate,  at  her 
just  discretion,  whatever  regards  the  manner 


of  administering  the  sacraments,  while  she 
holds  their  substance  to  be  inviolable.  The 
change  in  regard  to  penance,  has  reference 
mainly  to  the  issue  of  indulgences,  i.  e.  par- 
dons for  offences  justly  liable  to  penitential 
discipline.  These,  which  were  generally 
plenary , were  not  directed  to  the  forgiveness 
of  sin  which  needed  the  sacramental  remedy, 
but  to  the  remission  of  the  temporal  punish- 
ment, which  was  often  exacted  by  divine  jus- 
tice from  those  whose  sins  had  been  par- 
doned. They  served  as  incentives  to  works 
of  piety,  such  as  almsgiving,  fasting,  and 
prayers.  4 

The  organization  of  the  church  consists  in 
its  government  by  bishops,  each  in  charge  of 
a special  flock,  with  subordination  one  to 
another,  and  the  dependence  of  all  on  the 
bishop  of  Rome  (the  pope),  as  shepherd  of 
the  whole  fold  of  Christ.  The  Episcopal 
character  is  the  same  in  all  bishops,  but  gov- 
erning authority,  which  is  called  jurisdiction, 
is  possessed  in  various  degrees — in  its  ful- 
ness, by  the  pope,  who  is  the  fountain,  the 
streams  of  which  flow  to  all  others.  He 
alone  has  apostolic  authority,  which  may  be 
everywhere  exercised,  with  due  regard  to 
the  local  prelate,  and  which  is  suited  to  every 
emergency.  Next  to  him,  in  governing 
authority,  are  the  cardinals,  in  whom,  during 
the  vacancy  of  the  Roman  see,  this  plenitude 
of  jurisdiction  is  believed  to  reside.  Each 
bishop  governs  his  own  diocese,  not  as  papal 
vicar,  but  as  ordinary  or  proper  ruler,  al- 
though in  some  tilings  his  authority  is  en- 
larged as  delegate  apostolic.  Several  dio- 
ceses form  a province  which  is  governed  by 
an  archbishop.  Many  ecclesiastical  provin- 
ces are  sometimes  united  as  a nation,  under 
a primate  who  ranks  above  other  prelates. 
The  vicar  apostolic  is,  in  some  sense,  a mis- 
sionary bishop.  The  general  government  of 
the  church  is  carried  on  at  Rome,  where  the 
pope  is  assisted  by  the  body  of  cardinals, 
several  of  whom  compose  standing  commit- 
tees to  examine  and  prepare  the  matters  for 
final  action.  Nearly  thirty  belong  to  the 
College  of  Propaganda,  which  is  charged 
with  a general  superintendence  of  missionary 
countries.  The  appointment  of  bishops  is 
made  on  the  recommendation  of  the  local 
prelates,  with  the  advice  of  the  cardinals. 

The  religious  orders  in  the  church  are 
like  corporations  in  a civil  government,  hav- 
ing special  exemptions  and  privileges  to 
enable  them  successfully  to  pursue  the  objects 
of  their  respective  institutes.  They  derive 


•oxuaaiv  divvD  isiaoHiaw 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


599 


these  from  the  pope,  who,  in  virtue  of  his 
apostolical  authority,  exempts  the  members 
from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  bishops  in  what 
regards  their  domestic  discipline,  but  leaves 
them  dependent  on  them  for  faculties  to  be 
exercised  in  behalf  of  the  faithful.  The 
older  religious  orders  of  Europe  all  have 
their  houses  here;  the  Benedictines,  Domin- 
icans, Franciscans,  Carmelites,  Augustini- 
ans,  Lazari-ts,  and  the  followers  of  Loyola, 
or,  as  they  are  often  called,  Jesuits.  A new 
religious  order,  that  of  St.  Paul  the  apostle, 
or  as  they  are  usually  called,  Pauli.-ts,  was 
founded  a few  years  since  in  New  York,  and 
has  been  very  efficient  in  missionary  labors. 
There  are  also  teaching  orders,  like  the 
Brothers  of  the  Christian  Schools,  and  char- 
itable orders  of  both  sexes,  like  the  Sisters 
of  Charity,  Brothers  and” Sisters  of  the  Sa- 
cred Heart  of  Jesus,  Sisters  of  Mercy,  Little 
Sisters  of  the  Poor,  &c.,  &c.  These  charit- 
able orders  h tve  effected  much  good  in  the 
founding  and  management  of  schools,  in  vis- 
iting the  sick  and  prisoners,  in  managing 
hospitals,  reformatories,  &c.  Of  late  years, 
the  Roman  Catholics  have  not  only  largely 
increased  their  colleges,  but  have  multiplied 
their  schools,  claiming  that  their  children 
should  be  instructed  in  religious  as  well  as  in 
secular  knowledge.  They  have  also  estab- 
lished many  orphan  asylums,  reformatories, 
and  Magdalen  asylums. 


II.  BAPTISTS. 

I.  Regular  Baptists.  The  Baptist 
churches  of  the  United  States  rank  among 
the  most  numerous  and  influential  of  the 
evangelical  religious  denominations  in  the 
country,  and  while  generally  either  moderate 
or  strict,  (but  not  high,)  Calvinists  in  their 
theology,  and  strictly  congregational  in  their 
church  government,  are  distinguished  from 
other  denominations  holding  to  Calvinistic 
doctrines  and  a congregational  polity,  by  their 
views  on  the  mode  and  subjects  of  baptism. 
They  hold  that  immersion  is  the  only  true 
mode  of  baptism,  and  a personal  profession 
of  faith  in  Christ  the  necessary  prerequisite 
for  every  subject  of  that  ordinance. 

It  is  usually  stated  that  Roger  Williams, 
the  founder  of  the  colony  of  Rhode  Island, 
was  also  the  founder  of  the  Baptist  denomi- 
nation in  the  United  Stat  -s.  The  statement 
is  but  partially  true.  Four  years  before 
Williams’s  baptism,  in  1635,  Hansard  Knol- 


Iys,  an  English  or  rather  Welsh,  Baptist 
preacher,  had  emigrated  to  New  England 
with  a portion  of  his  flock  and  settled  as  a 
pastor  at  Doyer,  New  Hampshire,  and  though 
he  afterward  returned  to  England,  his  church 
remained.  Baptist  sentiments  were  propa- 
gated in  the  Rhode  Hand  colony,  but  much 
more  by  John  Clarke,  a friend  and  associate 
of  Williams,  than  by  Williams  himself;  in- 
deed, the  latter,  whose  memory  is  deserving 
of  all  honor  for  his  noble  defence  and  main- 
tenance of  complete  liberty  of  conscience, 
held  certain  views  in  the  latter  part  of  his 
life,  which  caused  him  to  stand  aloof,  so  far 
as  communion  went,  from  the  Baptist  as  well 
as  from  other  churches.  There  were,  how- 
ever, a considerable  number  of  Baptists  who 
emigrated  from  England,  Holland,  and  Ger- 
many with’ n the  next  hundred  and  thirty 
years,  and  Baptist  churches  existed  in  most 
of  the  thirteen  colonies  at  the  commencement 
of  the  Revolution ; yet  their  membership 
was  small.  In  1762  there  were  but  56 
churches  with  less  than  6,000  members  in 
the  denomination.  In  1776  they  reckoned 
nearly  150  churches  with  a membership  of 
about  13,000.  From  the  time  of  the  revo- 
lution, their  growth  was  very  rapid,  exceeded 
only  by  that  of  the  Methodist  churches. 

Every  church  among  the  Baptists  is  com- 
pletely independent  of  every  other  aed  fully 
competent  td  establish  its  own  doctrinal 
views,  its  own  course  of  polity  and  discipline, 
and  to  elect,  license,  and  ordain  its  own  offi- 
cers whether  they  are  deacons,  licensed 
preachers,  ordained  ministers  or  pastors.  The 
Baptists  acknowledge  no  church  courts,  no 
hierarchy,  presbytery,  synod,  directory, 
classis,  general  assembly,  annual  or  general 
conference,  dean  or  bishop  as  having  any 
power  over  the  individual  church , which  they 
regard  as  the  final  arbiter  in  all  matters  of 
discipline,  polity,  and  doctrine.  In  these 
matters  they  are  the  most  absolutely  pure 
and  simple  congregationalists,  the  completest 
democracy  in  the  world.  They  have,  it  is 
true,  their  associations  and  conventions,  and 
their  church  councils,  but  these  are  only  for 
devotional,  charitable,  and  advisory  purposes; 
they  possess  no  disciplinary  powers.  It  fol- 
lows as  a necessary  corollary  from  this,  that 
though  all  the  Baptist  churches  acknowledge 
and  receive  “the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments  as  their  only  and  all  suffi- 
cient rule  of  faith  and  practice”  they  have 
no  articles  of  faith  or  cree  1 which  are  univer- 
sally received.  Many  of  the  oldest  and 


600 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOM,  .'ATIONS. 


most  influential  churches  have  never  had 
articles  of  faith.  Where  they  are  used,  each 
church  prepares  its  own  or  adopts  one  al- 
ready prepared  as  it  pleases,  yet  most  of 
them  agree  in  the  principal  points  of  doctrine. 
The  Regular  Baptists  are  in  general  Mode- 
rate Calvinists,  accepting  “for  substance  of 
doctrine”  the  view  of  the  general  sufficiency 
but  particular  application  ol  the  Atonement 
enunciated  by  Rev.  Andrew  Fuller,  in  his 
theological  works.  A confession  of  faith, 
embodying  these  doctrines  and  known  as  the 
New  Hampshire  Confession  of  Faith,  was 
prepared  more  than  forty  years  ago  and  has 
perhaps  been  adopted  by  more  churches 
than  any  other ; yet  while  it  represents  f tirly 
the  views  of  the  great  body  of  regular  Bap- 
tists, it  cannot  be  considered  an  authoritative 
document.  We  give  below  the  articles  of 
this  confession. 

I.  Of  the  Scriptures.  We  believe  that 
the  Holy  Bible  was  written  by  men  divinely 
inspired,  and  is  a perfect  treasure  of  heav- 
enly iii'truction,  that  it  has  God  for  it-!  au- 
thor, salvation  for  its  end,  and  truth  without 
any  mixture  of  error  for  its  matter;  that  it 
reveals  the  principles  by  which  God  will 
judge  us ; and  therefore  is,  and  shall  remain 
to  the  end  of  the  world,  the  true  centre  of 
Christian  union,  and  the  supreme  standard 
by  which  all  human  conduct,  creeds,  and  opin 
ions  should  be  tried. 

II.  Of  the  True  God.  We  believe  that 
there  is  one,  and  only  one,  living  and  true 
God,  an  infinite,  intelligent  Spirit,  whose 
name  is  Jehovah,  the  Maker  and  Supreme 
Ruler  of  Heaven  and  Earth ; inexpressibly 
glorious  in  holiness,  and  worthy  of  all  possi- 
ble honor,  confidence,  and  love ; that  in  the 
unity  of  the  Godhead  there  are  three  per- 
sons. the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy 
Ghost ; equal  in  every  divine  perfection,  and 
executing  distinct  but  harmonious  offices  in 
the  great  work  of  redemption. 

III.  Of  the  Fall  of  Man.  We  believe 
that  Man  was  created  in  holiness,  under  the 
law  cf  his  Maker ; but  by  voluntary  trans- 
gression fell  from  that  holy  and  happy  state ; 
in  consequence  of  which  all  mankind  are 
now  sinners,  not  by  constraint  but  choice, 
being  by  nature  utterly  void  of  that  holiness 
required  by  the  law  of  God,  positively  in- 
clined to  evil ; and  therefore  under  just  con- 
demnation to  eternal  ruin,  without  defence 
or  excuse. 

IV.  Of  the  Way  of  Salvation.  We  be- 
lieve that  the  salvation  of  sinners  is  wholly 


of  grace ; through  the  Mediatorial  offices  of 
the  Son  of  God  ; who  by  the  appointment  of 
the  Father,  freely  took  upon  Him  our  na- 
ture, yet  without  sin  ; honored  the  Divine 
law  by  his  personal  obedience,  and  by  his 
death  made  a full  atonement  for  our  sins ; 
that  having  risen  from  the  dead.  He  is  now 
enthroned  in  Heaven,  and  uniting  in  His 
wonderful  person  the  tenderest  sympathies 
with  divine  perfections,  He  is  every  way 
qualified  to  be  a suitable,  a compassionate, 
and  an  all-sufficient  Saviour. 

V.  Of  Justification.  We  believe  that 
the  great  Gospel  blessing  which  Christ  se- 
cures to  such  as  believe  in  Him  is  Justifica- 
tion, that  Justification  includes  the  pardon 
of  sin,  and  the  promise  of  eternal  life  on 
principles  of  righteousness ; that  it  is  be- 
stowed, not  in  consideration  of  any  works 
of  righteousness  which  we  have  done,  but 
solely  through  faith  in  the  Redeemer’s  blood, 
by  virtue  of  which  faith  His  perfect  right- 
eousness is  freely  imputed  to  us  of  God,  that 
it  brings  us  into  a state  of  most  blessed 
peace  and  favor  with  God,  and  secures  every 
other  blessing  needful  for  time  and  eternity. 

VI.  Of  the  Freeness  of  Salvation.  We 
believe  that  the  blessings  of  salvation  are 
made  free  to  all  by  the  Gospel ; that  it  is  the 
immediate  duty  of  all  to  accept  them  by  a 
cordial,  penitent,  and  obedient  faith ; and  that 
nothing  prevents  the  salvation  of  the  great- 
est sinner  on  earth,  but  his  own  inherent 
depravity  and  voluntary  rejection  of  the 
Gospel,  which  rejection  involves  him  in  an 
aggravated  condemnation. 

VII.  Of  Grace  in  Regeneration.  We 
believe  that  in  order  to  be  saved,  sinners 
must  be  regenerated,  or  born  again,  that  re- 
generation consists  in  giving  a holy  disposi- 
tion to  the  mind  ; that  it  is  effected  in  a man- 
ner above  our  comprehension  by  the  power 
of  the  Holy  Spirit,  in  connection  with  Divine 
truth,  so  as  to  secure  our  voluntary  obedience 
to  the  Gospel ; and  that  its  proper  evidence 
appears  in  the  holy  fruits  of  repentance,  and 
faith,  and  newness  of  life. 

VIII.  Of  Repentance  and  Faith.  We 
believe  that  Repentance  and  Faith  are  sa- 
cred duties,  and  also  inseparable  graces, 
wrought  in  our  souls  by  the  regenerating 
Spirit  of  God,  whereby  being  deeply  con- 
vinced of  our  guilt,  danger,  and  helplessness, 
and  of  the  way  of  salvation  by  Christ,  we 
turn  to  God  with  unfeigned  contrition,  con- 
fession, and  supplication  for  mercy ; at  the 
same  time  heartily  receiving  the  Lord  Jesus 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


601 


Chn-t  as  our  Prophet,  Priest,  and  King,  and 
relying  on  Him  alone  as  the  only  and  all- 
sufficient  Saviour. 

IX.  Of  God’s  Purpose  of  Grace.  We 
believe  that  Election  is  the  eternal  purpose 
of  God,  according  to  which  He  graciously 
regenerates,  sanctifies,  and  saves  sinners ; 
that  being  perfectly  consistent  with  the  free 
agency  of  man,  it  comprehends  all  the  means 
in  connection  with  the  end  ; that  it  is  a most 
glorious  display  of  God’s  sovereign  goodness, 
being  infinitely  free,  wise,  holy,  and  unchange- 
able ; that  it  utterly  excludes  boasting,  and 
promotes  humility,  love,  prayer,  praise,  trust 
in  God,  and  active  imitation  of  his  free  mer- 
cy, that  it  encourages  the  use  of  means  in 
the  highest  degree ; that  it  may  be  ascer 
tained  by  its  effects  in  all  who  truly  believe 
the  Gospel ; that  it  is  the  foundation  of 
Christian  assurance,  and  that  to  ascertain  it 
with  regard  to  ourselves  demands  and  de- 
serves the  utmost  diligence. 

X.  Of  Sanctification.  We  believe  that 
Sanctification  is  the  process  by  which,  accord- 
ing to  the  will  of  God,  we  are  made  partak- 
ers of  his  holiness ; that  it  is  a progressive 
work  ; that  it  is  begun  in  regeneration  ; and 
that  it  is  carried  on  in  the  hearts  of  believers 
by  the  presence  and  power  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  the  Sealer  and  Comforter,  in  the  con- 
tinual use  of  the  appointed  means — espe- 
cially, the  word  of  God,  self-examination, 
self-denial,  watchfulness,  and  prayer. 

XI.  Of  the  Perseverance  of  Saints.  We 
believe  that  such  only  are  real  believers  as 
endure  unto  the  end  ; that  their  persevering 
attachment  to  Christ  is  the  grand  mark  which 
distinguishes  them  from  superficial  professors; 
that  a special  Providence  watches  over  their 
welfare ; and  they  are  kept  by  the  power  of 
God  through  faith  unto  salvation. 

XII.  Of  the  Harmony  of  the  Law  and 
Gospel.  We  believe  that  the  Law  of  God 
is  the  eternal  and  unchangeable  rule  of  His 
moral  government ; that  it  is  holy,  just,  and 
good  ; and  that  the  inability  which  the  Scrip- 
tures ascribe  to  fallen  men  to  fulfil  its  pre- 
cepts, arises  entirely  from  their  love  of  sin  ; 
to  deliver  them  from  which,  and  to  restore 
them  through  a Mediator  to  unfeigned  obedi- 
ence to  the  holy  Law,  is  one  great  end  of  the 
Gospel,  and  of  the  Means  of  Grace  connected 
with  the  establishment  of  the  visible  church. 

XIII.  Of  a Gospel  Church.  We  believe 
that  a visible  church  of  Christ  is  a congrega- 
tion of  baptized  believers,  associated  by  cov- 
enant in  the  faith  and  fellowship  of  the  Gos- 


pel; observing  the  ordinances  of  Christ; 
governed  by  his  laws ; and  exercising  the 
gifts,  rights,  and  privileges  invested  in  them 
by  His  word ; that  its  only  scriptural  officers 
are  Bishops  or  Pastors,  and  Deacons,  whose 
qualifications,  claims,  and  duties  are  defined 
in  the  Epistles  to  Timothy  and  Titus. 

XIV.  Of  Baptism  and  the  Lords  Sup - 
per.  We  believe  that  Christian  Baptism  is 
the  immersion  in  water  of  a believer,  into 
the  name  of  the  Father,  and  Son,  and  Holy 
Ghost ; to  show  forth  in  a solemn  and  beau- 
tiful emblem,  our  faith  in  the  crucified, 
buried,  and  risen  Saviour,  with  its  effect,  in 
our  death  to  sin  and  resurrection  to  a new 
life ; that  it  is  pre-requisite  to  the  privileges 
of  a church  relation  ; and  to  the  Lord’s  Sup- 
per, in  which  the  members  of  the  church  by 
the  sacred  use  of  bread  and  wine,  are  to 
commemorate  together  the  dying  love  of 
Christ ; preceded  always  by  solemn  self-ex- 
amination. 

XV. '  Of  the  Christian  Sabbath.  We  be- 
lieve that  the  first  day  of  the  week  is  the 
Lord’s  Day,  or  Christian  Sabbath ; and  is  to 
be  kept  sacred  to  religious  purposes,  by  ab- 
staining from  all  secular  labor  and  sinful 
recreations,  by  the  devout  observance  of  all 
the  means  of  grace,  both  private  and  public, 
and  by  preparation  for  that  rest  that  remain- 
eth  for  the  people  of  God. 

XVI.  Of  Civil  Government.  We  be- 
lieve that  Civil  Government  is  of  Divine 
appointment,  for  the  interests  and  good  order 
of  human  society  ; and  that  magistrates  are 
to  be  prayed  for,  conscientiously  honored, 
and  obeyed ; except  only  in  things  opposed 
to  the  will  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  is 
the  only  Lord  of  the  conscience,  and  the 
Prince  of  the  kings  of  the  earth. 

XVII.  Of  the  Righteous  and  the  Wicked. 
We  believe  that  there  is  a radical  and  essen- 
tial difference  between  the  righteous  and  the 
wicked ; that  such  only  as  through  faith  are 
justified  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and 
sanctified  by  the  Spirit  ot  our  God,  are  truly 
righteous  in  His  esteem ; while  all  such  as 
continue  in  impenitence  and  unbelief  are  in 
His  sight  wicked,  and  under  the  curse  ; and 
this  distinction  holds  among  men  both  in  and 
after  death. 

It  is  usual  also  in  Baptist  churches  to 
have  a Church  Covenant,  to  which  the  mem- 
bers, when  received,  give  their  assent,  as  it 
is  read  by  the  pastor.  This  covenant  pledges 
them  to  the  duties  of  the  Christian  life,  to 
the  observance  of  the  worship,  ordinances, 


602 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


discipline,  and  doctrines  of  the  church,  and 
to  a strict  avoidance  of  all  temptations  to 
evil,  and  of  all  habits  which  may  bring  dis- 
honor or  reproach  upon  their  profession,  and 
to  live  in  harmony  and  peace  and  in  Chris- 
tian fidelity  with  the  members  of  the  church. 
In  case  of  discipline,  the  usual  cha’  ge  against 
the  offender  is  the  violation  of  his  covenant 
vows.  With  rare  exceptions  the  Baptist 
churches  are  associated  ; that  is,  the  churches 
of  each  convenient  district  unite  in  an  asso- 
ciation of  churches,  varying  in  numbers  from 
four  or  five  to  fifty  or  sixty.  Each  church 
is  represented  at  the  annual  meetings  of 
these  associations  by  the  pastor  and  a num- 
ber of  lay  delegates.  The  functions  of  these 
associations  are  wholly  advisory,  except  that 
sometimes  there  is  formed  from  them  a So- 
ciety or  Board  for  missionary  work,  which 
may  or  may  not  be  incorporated,  but  which, 
while  responsible  to  the  association  which 
created  it,  takes  upon  itself,  with  their  sanc- 
tion, the  raising  of  the  necessary  monies  for 
its  work,  and  the  management  of  that  work 
in  all  its  details.  The  Baptist  churches  have 
also  in  most  of  the  states  and  territories, 
state  conventions,  composed  in  the  smaller 
states  of  the  pastor  and  two  or  three  lay 
delegates  from  each  church ; in  the  larger 
states,  of  clerical  and  lay  delegates  appointed 
by  the  associations.  These  conventions  are 
generally  occupied  with  the  domestic  mis- 
sionary work  of  the  states,  aiding  feeble 
churches,  establishing  new  ones,  assisting  in 
the  cause  of  ministerial  and  denominational 
education,  &c.  In  these  bodies,  as  in  the 
associations,  the  strictly  democratic  principle 
of  having  all  power  inhere  in  and  proceed 
from  the  membership  of  the  church  is  fully 
observed. 

The  Baptist  denomination  in  the  United 
States  maintains  general  organizations  for 
Foreign  Missionary  purposes,  for  Home 
Missions,  Church  Extension,  and  the  educa- 
tion of  Freedmen  for  the  ministry;  for  the 
translation,  publication,  and  circulation  of 
the  scriptures  in  our  own  country  and  in 
foreign  lands  ; for  the  publication  of  tracts, 
Sunday  school,  and  denominational  works ; 
for  the  promotion  of  theological,  collegiate, 
and  academical  education,  and  a consolidated 
American  Baptist  Missionary  Convention 
for  missionary  and  educational  work,  mainly 
among  the  freedmen. 

The  ten  societies  of  the  denomination  re- 
ceived in  1870  the  following  sums  : for  For- 
eign Missions,  $229,708.44;  for  Home  Mis- 


sions, Church  Extension,  &c.,  $237,645.50 ; 
Bible,  Sunday  school,  and  denominational 
publications  and  circulation,  $384,324.17 
making  a total  of  $851,738.11  for  missionary 
and  educational  purposes.  The  contribu- 
tions for  church  purposes,  and  church  exten- 
sion, education,  &c.,  not  passing  through 
these  channels,  the  same  year  was  about 
$8,100,000  more. 

The  statistics  of  the  denomination  for 
1870  were  as  follows:  799  associations,  17,- 
745  churches,  10,818  ordained  ministers; 
whole  number  of  members  1,419,492,  a net 
gain  of  198,144  during  the  year.  There 
were  connected  with  these  churches  5,251 
Sunday  Schools  reported  with  56,515  teach- 
ers, and  473,664  scholars.  The  number  of 
volumes  in  the  Sunday  School  libraries  re- 
ported was  647,102,  and  the  benevolent  con- 
tributions of  the  schools  $122,143.  There 
were  the  same  year  38  colleges  and  theo- 
logical seminaries  belonging  to  the  denomi- 
nations, besides  18  or  20  others,  mostly  for 
female  education,  founded  by  Baptists  and 
mainly  under  their  control.  These  institu- 
tions had  about  350  instructors  and  professors 
and  over  6,000  students.  The  college  prop- 
erty of  these  institutions  is  somewhat  more 
than  $6,500,000. 

They  supported  in  1870,  24  weekly,  3 
semi-monthly,  12  monthly,  and  3 quarterly 
periodicals  devoted  to  the  interests  of  the 
denomination,  its  Sunday  Schools,  and  Mis- 
sion enterprises. 

II.  Freewill  Baptists.  This  denomi- 
nation originated  in  1780,  in  which  year 
Benjamin  Randall,  a native  of  Newcastle,  N. 
H.,  born  in  1749,  and  in  1771  converted 
under  the  preaching  of  George  Whitfield, 
organized  the  first  Freewill  Baptist  church, 
at  New  Durham,  N.  II.  Randall  was  a man 
of  but  moderate  education,  but  he  possessed 
a strong  and  brilliant  intellect,  and  having 
become  convinced,  in  1776,  that  the  views  of 
the  Baptists  were  correct  in  regard  to  the 
mode  and  subjects  of  baptism,  he  joined 
them,  and  very  soon  after  commenced  preach- 
ing. He  was  a diligent  student,  and  the 
Calvinistic  doctrines  of  the  Baptist  churches 
being  distasteful  to  him,  he  adopted  after 
careful  examination  the  views  of  Arminius, 
substantially  as  held  by  the  New  Connec- 
tion of  General  Baptists  in  England,  and  the 
Methodists  in  this  country.  Mr.  Randall 
preached  these  doctrines  with  great  success, 
and  in  1780  established  his  first  church  hold- 
ing these  doctrines.  He  also  adopted  the 


/. 

■ 


■ 


' 

■ 

. 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


603 


principle  of  free  or  open  communion.  The 
growth  of  the  denomination  has  been  consid- 
erably rapid,  though  it  has  been,  from  their 
strong  anti-slavery  principles,  confined  en- 
tirely to  the  northern  states,  and  its  churches 
have  been  multiplied  rather  in  the  country 
than  in  the  large  cities.  Almost  two  thirds 
of  its  membership  reside  in  New  England 
and  New  York.  Their  views  of  doctrine 
correspond  with  the  Regular  Baptists  on  all 
points  except  the  following,  which  we  give 
from  their  Confession  of  Faith: 

“The  Atonement.  As  sin  cannot  be  pardon- 
ed without  a sacrifice,  and  the  blood  of  beasts 
could  never  actually  wash  away  sin,  Christ 
gave  himself  a sacrifice  for  the  sins  of  the 
world,  and  thus  made  salvation  possible  for 
all  men.  Through  the  redemption  of  Christ, 
man  is  placed  on  a second  state  of  trial ; 
this  second  state  so  far  differing  from  the 
first  that  now  men  are  naturally  inclined  to 
transgress  the  commands  of  God,  and  will 
not  regain  the  image  of  God  in  holiness  but 
through  the  atonement,  by  the  operation  of 
the  Holy  Spirit.  All  wdio  die  short  of  the 
age  of  accountability  are  rendered  sure  of 
eternal  life.  Through  the  provisions  of  the 
atonement,  all  are  abilitated  to  repent  of 
their  sins,  and  yield  to  God ; the  Gospel  call 
is  to  all,  the  Spirit  enlightens  all,  and  men 
are  agents  capable  of  choosing  or  refusing.” 

“ Regeneration  is  an  instantaneous  renova- 
tion of  the  soul,  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  where- 
by the  penitent  sinner,  believing  in,  and  giv- 
ing up  all  for  Christ,  receives  new  life,  and 
becomes  a child  of  God.  This  change  is 
preceded  by  true  conviction,  repentance  of, 
and  penitent  sorrow  for  sin ; it  is  called  in 
Scripture,  “being  born  again,”  “born  of  the 
Spirit,”  “ passing  from  death  unto  life.”  The 
soul  is  then  justified  with  God.” 

“ Santification  is  a setting  apart  the  soul 
and  body  for  holy  service,  an  entire  con- 
secration of  all  our  redeemed  powers  to 
God ; believers  are  to  strive  for  this  with  all 
diligence.” 

“ Perseverance . As  the  regenerate  are  plac- 
ed in  a state  of  trial  during  life,  their  future 
obedience  and  final  salvation  are  neither 
determined,  nor  certain  ; it  is,  however,  their 
duty  and  privilege  to  be  steadfast  in  the 
truth,  to  grow  in  grace,  persevere  in  holi- 
ness, and  make  their  election  sure.” 

“ Communion.  Communion  is  a solemn  par- 
taking of  bread  and  wine,  in  commemoration 
of  the  death  and  sufferings  of  Christ.” 

The  custom  or  ordinance  of  “ washing  the 


saints’  feet,”  once  practised  to  a considerable 
extent  by  this  denomination,  is  still  optional 
with  them,  but  has  generally  been  aban- 
doned. In  their  church  polity  the  Freewill 
Baptists  are  not  so  independent  or  demo- 
cratic as  the  Regular  Baptists,  having  adop- 
ted, with  their  doctrines,  some  of  the  views 
of  the  Methodists  on  church  government. 
They  have  but  two  classes  of  officers  in  the 
church, — elders  and  deacons.  Each  church 
elects  its  own  pastor,  and  exercises  discipline 
over  its  own  members ; but  as  a church  is 
accountable  to  the  yearly  meeting,  which 
has,  also,  the  power  of  receiving  appeals  and 
trying  them.  The  ecclesiastical  organiza- 
tions of  the  denomination  are  the  church,  the 
quarterly  meeting  or  conference,  the  annual 
meeting,  and  the  general  conference,  which 
meets  triennially.  The  quarterly  conference 
consist  of  the  ministers  of  its  territory,  and 
such  lay  members  as  the  churches  may 
select.  A council  from  the  quarterly  confer- 
ence organizes  churches,  and  ordains  minis- 
ters, and  the  ministers  are  accountable  to  it 
and  not  to  their  churches.  The  annual  con- 
ferences are  composed  of  delegates  appointed 
by  the  quarterly  conferences,  and  the  gen- 
eral conference  delegates  are  chosen  from  the 
annual  conferences.  The  statistics  of  the 
denomination  for  1870,  are  as  follows;  One 
general  conference  ; thirty  yearly  meetings  ; 
155  quarterly  meetings ; 1386  churches ; 1 145 
ordained  ministers,  and  66,909  communi- 
cants. We  have  no  report  of  their  Sunday 
Schools,  and  no  recent  one  of  their  benevo- 
lent contributions.  Their  donations  to  the 
foreign  missionary  cause  in  1866,  were 
$1 2,166,  but  have  since  been  considerably  in- 
creased. They  have  abo  a Home  Mission 
Society,  and  an  Education  Society.  They 
have  four  colleges : Bates  College,  Lewiston, 
Me.,  which  is  liberally  endowed,  and  has  12 
instructors  and  103  students;  Hillsdale  Col- 
lege, at  Hillsdale,  Mich.;  West  Virginia 
College,  at  Flemington,  W.  Va.,  and  Bidge- 
ville  College,  Ridgeville,  Ind.  They  have 
also  a Theological  Seminary  at  New  Hamp- 
ton, N.  H.,  and  a Theological  Department 
of  Bates  College,  Me.  There  are  also  thir- 
teen academies,  seminaries,  &c.,  and  a soci- 
ety for  the  promotion  of  Education  in  the 
South.  They  have  a printing  establishment, 
the  property  of  the  denomination,  at  Dover, 
N.  II.,  and  issue  a weekly  paper,  the  “Mor- 
ning Star,”  a monthly  juvenile  paper,  and 
an  annual,  the  “ Freewill  Baptist  Register.” 
The  Free  Communion  Baptists  or  Free 


604 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


Baptists,  a separate  denomination  until  1841 , 
united  with  them  in  that  year ; but  the 
Freewill  Baptist  General  Conference  with- 
drew subsequently  from  4000  of  their  own 
members  in  North  Carolina,  on  the  question 
of  slavery,  and  refused  to  receive  about  12,- 
000  more  from  Kentucky,  who  applied,  on 
the  same  grounds. 

III.  The  Seventh  Day  Baptists,  dif- 
fer from  Regular  Baptists  only  in  the  obser- 
vance of  the  seventh,  instead  of  the  first  day 
of  the  week  for  religious  wrorship.  Their 
first  church  in  the  United  States  was  organ- 
ized in  1671.  They  practice  restricted  com- 
munion, are  Calvinistic  in  doctrine,  and 
independent  in  church  polity.  They  had  in 
1870,  seventy-five  churches,  eighty-two  min- 
isters, and  7,336  members.  They  sustain 
missions  in  China  and  Palestine,  and  have  a 
Home  Missionary  organization,  an  Educa- 
tion Society,  and  a tract  and  publishing 
house.  They  issue  a weekly,  a monthly, 
and  a quarterly  religious  periodical.  They 
have  a flourishing  co  lege,  Alfred  University, 
at  Alfred,  Alleghany  Co.,  N.  Y.,  with  16 
teachers  and  364  students,  and  a good  acad- 
emy, the  “De  Ruyter  Institute,”  at  De  Ruy- 
ter,  Madison  Co.,  N.  Y.  There  are  also  a 
few  churches  of  German  Seventh  Day 
Baptists,  seceders  from  the  Tunkers  or 
German  Baptists,  in  Franklin,  Bedford,  and 
York  counties,  Pa.  They  are  inclined  to 
monasticism,  or  the  community  life,  and  num- 
ber but  a few  hundreds. 

IY.  The  Six  Principle  Baptists  are 
a small  body,  mostly  confined  to  Rhode  Isl- 
and, but  having  a few  congregations  in  Mas- 

o o o 

sachusetts,  New  York,  and  Pennsylvania. 
They  are  Arminian  in  doctrine.  Their  six 
principles  are  those  stated  in  Hebrews,  vi : 1 , 
2.  Their  rite  of  “ laying  on  of  hands  ” is 
analogous  to  Episcopal  confirmation,  and  is 
their  principal  distinguishing  point.  Their 
ministers  are  not  generally  well  educated, 
and  receive  no  stated  support.  They  are 
generally  opposed  to  missions  and  to  most  of 
the  reforms  of  the  day.  The  denomination 
originated  in  1639,  but  has  not  grown  rap- 
idly. It  now  numbers  about  20  churches, 
18  ordained  ministers,  and  3,300  members. 
They  have  no  periodical,  and  no  schools  or 
colleges. 

The  Old  School  or  Anti- Mission 
Baptists,  are  diminishing  every  year  in 
numbers,  but  have  their  churches  scattered 
through  most  of  the  states  of  the  Union, 
except  New  England.  They  are  generally 


hyper-calvinistic  or  anti-nomians,  in  doc- 
trine, and  oppose  strongly  missions,  Sunday 
schools,  temperance  societies,  and  all  agen- 
cies not  mentioned  in  the  Scriptures.  rl  heir 
ministers  are  not  generally  educated,  and 
seldom  or  never  receive  any  salary.  Fifty 
years  ago  the  number  of  these  churches  was 
very  large,  but  they  have  dwindled  to  a few 
hundreds,  and  their  membership  to  perhaps, 
45,000.  They  have  no  schools  or  colleges, 
but  have  several  periodicals,  one  of  them, 
“ The  Signs  of  the  Times,”  being  published 
semi-monthly,  at  Middletown,  Orange  Co., 
N.  Y. 

YI.  The  Disciples  of  Christ,  or 
Church  of  Christ,  or,  as  they  are  often 
called,  though  they  do  not  acknowledge  the 
name,  Camfbellites,  are  a body  of  Baptists, 
who  owe  their  origin,  as  a distinct  denomina- 
tion, mainly  to  the  labors  of  Thomas  and  Al- 
exander Campbell,  two  Presbyterian  clergy- 
men, father  and  son,  who  settled  in  Western 
Pennsylvania,  in  1808.  They  originally 
belonged  to  the  “ Seceders,”  one  of  the 
denominations  which  had  come  off  from  the 
Scottish  Kirk.  The  first  effort  of  Mr. 
Thomas  Campbell,  in  which  his  eon  joined 
him  very  heartily,  was  to  effect  a union  of 
the  different  Protestant  denominations  of 
that  region,  by  an  agreement  to  reject  all 
creeds  and  confessions  of  faith,  and  take  the 
Scriptures  only  as  the  rule  of  faith  and  prac- 
tice, seeking  to  come  at  their  meaning  by 
earnest  prayer,  and  careful  study.  A con- 
siderable number  joining  in  this  wmrk,  a 
small  congregation  was  formed  in  Washing- 
ton Co.,  Penn.,  known  as  the  “ Brush  Run 
Church,”  Sept.  10,  1810.  Of  this  church 
Thomas  Campbell  was  the  elder  or  pastor, 
and  by  it,  his  son,  Alexander,  was  ordained 
to  the  ministry.  Careful  and  prayerful  study 
of  the  Bible  for  nearly  two  years,  brought 
the  Campbells  and  several  of  their  followers 
to  the  conclusion  that  the  Scriptures  taught 
“ the  immersion  of  believers,”  and  they  with 
five  others,  were  accordingly  baptized  in 
June,  1812,  by  a Baptist  minister.  Within 
the  next  three  years,  their  adherents  had 
increased  to  five  or  six  considerable  congre- 
gations, and  they  united  with  the  Redstone 
Baptist  Association,  stipulating,  however,  in 
writing  “ that  no  terms  of  union  or  commun- 
ion, other  than  the  Holy  Scriptures,  should 
be  required.”  Some  difficulty  arising  in  the 
Association  in  consequence  of  their  meas- 
ures, they  withdrew  and  joined  the  Mahon- 
ing (Ohio)  Association,  which  soon  became 


KEY  TO  THE  DECLARATION  OF  INDEPENDENCE. 


1 George  Wythe, 

2 Wm.  Whipple, 

3 Josiah  B artlett, 

4 Thomas  Lynch,  Jun., 

5 Bev.ia.  Harrison, 

6 Richard  Henry  Lee, 

7 S aml.  Adams, 

8 George  Clinton, 

9 Wm.  Paca, 

10  Samuel  Chase, 

11  Richd. Stockton, 

12  Lewis  Morris, 


Wm.  Floyd, 

Arthur  Middleton, 
Thos.  Heyward,  Jun., 
Charles  Carroll,  of 
Carrollton, 

Robt.  Morris, 
Thomas  Willing, 
Benjamin  Rush, 
Elbridge  Gerry, 
Robt.  Treat  Paine, 
Wm.  Hooper, 

Step.  Hopkins, 

48  Phil.  Li 


24  William  Ellery, 

25  Geo.  Clymer, 

26  Joseph  Hewes, 

27  Geo.  Walton, 

28  James  Wilson, 

29  A bra.  Clark, 

2,0  Fras.  Hopkixson, 

31  John  Adams, 

32  Roger  Sherman, 

33  Rob.  R.  Livingston, 

34  Th  Jefferson, 

35  Benja.  Franklin, 
vingston. 


36  Thos.  Nelson,  Jr., 

37  Faans  Lewis, 

38  Jns.  Witherspoon, 

39  Samel.  Huntington, 

40  Wm.  Williams, 

41  Oliver  Wolcott, 

42  Chas.  Thompson, 

43  John  Hancock, 

44  Geo.  Read, 

45  John  Dickinson, 

4li  Edward  Rutledge, 
47  Tho.  M’Kean, 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


605 


fully  identified  with  the  movement.  In  1823  j 
Alexander  Campbell,  a man  of  extensive  1 
scholarship,  and  remarkable  logical  and  dia- ! 
lectic  powers,  commenced  the  publication  of  i 
“ The  Christian  Baptist.”  This  periodical  j 
was  edited  with  great  ability,  and  through  its  i 
very  large  circulation,  aided  by  his  extensive  1 
tours,  and  his  public  discussions  with  the  j 
leading  men  of  different  denominations,  his 
peculiar  views  spread  widely  among  the  j 
Baptists  and  other  denominations,  through- 
out the  Middle  and  Northwestern  States. 
Though  acknowledging  no  creed  or  confes- 
sion of  faith,  and  making  his  motto  “ Faith 
in  the  Testimony  of  God,  and  obedience  to 
the  commandments  of  Christ,  the  only  bond 
of  union  ” Mr.  Campbell  did  use  a phraseol- 
ogy in  the  enunciation  of  his  doctrines  which 
was  liable  to  perversion,  and  was,  in  fact, 
often  perverted.  lie  insisted  that  the  Scrip- 
tures commajided  “baptism  for  the  remis- 
sion of  sins,”  and  as  Peter  replied  in  Acts,  i 
ii : 38,  to  those  who  asked  wl.at  they  shou’d 
do : “ Repent  and  be  baptized,  every  one  of 
you,  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,  for  the 
remission  of  sins,  and  ye  shall  receive  the 
gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost,”  so  he  would  have 
tne  Christian  minister  now  baptize  all  who 
professed  to  be  penitent,  for  the  remission  of 
their  sins,  and  the  assurance  of  pardon,  and 
the  gifts  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  His  own  views 
were  decided  that  penitence  and  faith  were 
necessary  to  salvation,  but  that  the  assur- 
ance of  this  pardon  and  salvation  was  to  be 
attained  through  submission  to  this  initiatory 
rite.  To  many  of  the  Baptist  churches,  it 
seemed  that  this  was  opening  the  door  to  a 
belief  in  baptismal  regeneration,  a doctrine 
abhorrent  to  them  as  to  most  Protestants, 
and  in  1827  the  excision  of  Mr.  Campbell’s 
followers  commenced,  and  was  carried  on 
unsparingly  for  many  years  after.  Their 
exclusion  from  the  regular  Baptist  churches 
led  to  their  forming  churches  and  associa- 
tions of  ilieir  own,  and  their  numbers  were  j 
largely  augmented  by  the  accession  of  a J 
body  known  as  Reformers,  who,  by  an  in- 
dependent  process,  had  reached  substantial- 1 
]y  the  same  conclusions  with  them.  The 
“ Disciples,”  owing  to  their  somewhat  pecu- 
liar and  vague  phraseology  in  avowing  their 
faith,  have  been  charged  with  Unitarianism, 
as  well  as  some  other  heresies ; but  it  is  now  ! 
very  generally  conceded  that  they  are  Trini- 
tarians, and  that  they  do  not  differ  in  the  | 
cardinal  doctrines  of  the  Bible  from  other  | 
Evangelical  Christians.  That  their  formula  ! 
37* 


on  the  subject  of  baptism  has  led  some  astray 
and  prejudiced  the  minds  of  others,  is  prob- 
ably true;  but  judged  by  the  tests  of  Christ- 
ian activity  and  evangelical  labor,  they  are 
perhaps  little,  if  at  all,  behind  other  denomina- 
tions. Their  only  distinctive  practice,  aside 
from  the  baptismal  formula,  is  the  observance 
of  the  ordinance  of  the  Lord’s  Supper  weekly. 
They  recognize  three  orders  of  church  offi- 
cers, viz : 1.  Elders,  presbyters,  or  bishops, 
terms  which  they  regard  as  synonymous;  2. 
Deacons ; 3.  Evangelists.  The  last  are  their 
itinerant  ministry  or  missionaries,  and  are 
supported  by  voluntary  contributions.  They 
are  very  earnest  in  their  support  of  education- 
al institutions,  and  of  organizations  for  the 
distribution  of  the  Scriptures.  Their  disting- 
ui-hed  leader  died  in  1866.  at  the  age  of  77.  af- 
ter performing  an  amount  of  intellectual  labor 
greater  than  falls  to  the  lot  of  one  educated 
man  in  a thousand.  He  had  written  largely 
on  theological  subjects,  edited  for  more  than 
forty  years  a very  able  religious  periodical, 
conducted  successfully  five  or  six  protracted 
public  discussions,  founded,  and  taught  large 
classes  in  a college  of  good  repute,  and 
preached  many  thousand  sermons. 

The  “Disciples”  at  the  time  of  his  death 
had  1,642  preachers  (elders  or  bishops)  a 
large  number  of  evangelists,  and  424,250 
members.  Their  present  number  of  preach- 
ers of  both  classes  is  estimated  at  about 
3,000,  their  congregations  at  nearly  5,000, 
and  their  membership  at  about  512,000. 
The  educational  institutions,  organized  and 
supported  by  the  “ Disciples,”  are  Ken- 
tucky University  at  Lexington,  Ky.;  Bethany 
College,  Bethany,  West  Virginia ; a College 
at  Indianopolis,  Ind. ; Eureka  College  and 
Abingdon  College,  at  Eureka  and  Abingdon, 
111. ; Oskaloosa  College,  Iowa ; Wilmington 
College,  Wilmington,  Ohio  ; Franklin  Col- 
lege, near  Nashville,  Tenn. ; Woodland  Col- 
lege, California ; JefTersontown  and  Emin- 
ence, Kentucky ; female  colleges  at  Colum- 
bia, Missouri,  Versailles,  and  JIarrodsburg, 
Ky.,  and  Bloomington,  111. ; and  12  Acade- 
mies and  Seminaries.  They  have  twenty- 
three  periodicals,  of  which  9 are  weekly,  13 
monthly,  and  one  quarterly.  The  “ Millen- 
nial Harbinger ,”  a monthly,  succeeded  the 
“ Christian  Baptist ,”  Dr.  Campbell’s  first 
periodical,  and  was  edited  by  him  till  his 
death. 

VII.  TnK  Christian  Connection,  often 
but  unproperly  called  Ciirist-ians,  are  a 
body  of  religionists  who  claim  a threefold 


606 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


origin.  In  North  Carolina,  in  1793,  a con- 
siderable number  of  churches  seceded  from 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  under  the 
leadership  of  Rev.  J.  O.  Kelley,  and  others, 
and  first  took  the  name  of  Republican  Meth- 
odists, but  afterward  making  the  Bible  their 
sole  standard  of  faith,  and  having  become 
convinced  of  the  necessity  of  immersion  on 
the  profession  of  faith,  they  adopted  the 
name  of  “ Christians  .”  In  1 800,  Dr.  Abner 
Jones,  Elias  Smith,  and  other  members  of  a 
Baptist  church  in  Hartland,  Vermont,  know- 
ing nothing  of  the  action  of  these  North 
Carolina  churches,  separated  from  the  church 
with  which  they  were  connected  and  organ- 
ized a church  at  Lyndon,  Vermont,  on  the 
principle  of  “making  the  Bible  alone  their 
confession  of  faith.”  This  soon  grew  in 
numbers  and  other  churches  were  consti- 
tuted on  the  same  principle.  In  1801,  after 
the  great  revival  in  Kentucky  and  Tennes- 
see, which  led  to  the  organization  of  the 
Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church,  Rev.  B. 
W.  Stone,  and  four  other  Presbyterian  min- 
isters of  Kentucky,  withdrew,  and  adopting 
soon  after  the  name  of  “ Christians,”  organ- 
ized churches  and  formally  proclaimed  their 
principles  in  1804.  These  three  bodies 
originating  in  as  many  denominations,  came 
together  in  a general  convention  two  or  three 
years  later  and  became  one  body.  They 
have  two  Quadrennial  Conferences,  the 
United  States  and  the  Southern.  Their 
first  weekly  periodical,  “ The  Herald  of  Gos- 
pel Liberty  ,”  was  one  of  the  first  if  not  the 
first  of  the  religious  newspapers  published  in  I 
the  United  States,  and  is  still  maintained. 

Admitting  no  creed  or  confession  of  faith,  [ 
and  allowing  all  its  adherents  to  interpret  i 
the  Scriptures  for  themselves,  the  Christian 
Connection  necessarily  allows  a wide  range 
of  doctrinal  belief,  and  it  is  somewhat  diffi- 
cult to  determine  what  are  their  doctrinal  i 
views.  A considerable  portion,  especially  ' 
in  the  Western  and  Central  States,  are  not  j 
Trinitarians.  They  hold  that  there  is  one  j 
God,  the  God  of  the  Bible ; that  Christ  is  a 
divine  being,  pre-existent,  and  the  mediator 
between  God  and  man  ; that  Christ’s  suffer-  I 
ings  and  death  atone  for  the  sins  of  all  men,  j 
who,  by  repentance  and  faith,  may  be  saved.  | 
They  believe  immersion  the  only  proper 
mode,  and  believers  the  only  proper  subjects  ! 
of  baptism.  Communion  at  the  Lord’s  table  ! 
is  open  to  believers  of  all  denominations.  In 
regard  to  church  government  and  polity, 
each  church  is  theoretically  and  practically  | 


independent.  They  have  annual  State  Con- 
ferences, composed  of  ministerial  and  lay 
delegates  from  the  churches  which  receive 
and  ordain  pastors,  but  can  pass  no  laws 
binding  the  several  churches.  Their  Gen- 
eral Convention  or  Conference  has  Mission- 
ary, Educational,  Publishing,  and  Sabbath 
School  departments,  each  of  which  are  in  a 
prosperous  condition.  They  have  a publish- 
ing establishment  at  Dayton,  Ohio,  from 
which  are  issued,  the  Gospel  Herald , a week- 
ly, the  Sunday  School  Herald,  a monthly 
periodical,  a Quarterly  Review,  and  a Chris- 
tian Register,  annually,  and  the  books  and 
tracts  of  the  denomination.  The  “ Herald 
of  Gospel  Liberty ,”  now  (1871)  in  its  sixty- 
third  year,  is  still  published  at  Newburyport 
Mass.  There  was  also,  previous  to  the  war. 
a publishing  establishment  of  the  denomina- 
tion at  Suffolk,  Va , and  “ The  Christian 
Sun,”  the  organ  of  the  Southern  churches, 
was  published  there.  The  printing  estab- 
lishment was  destroyed  and  its  funds  lost 
during  the  war,  but  the  paper,  though  dis- 
continued for  the  time,  was  revived  in  1867. 
There  is  great  difficulty  in  ascertaining  ac- 
curately the  statistics  of  the  “ Christian  Con- 
nection.” At  the  West  they  are  often  con- 
founded with  “ The  Disciples,”  with  whom 
many  of  them  fraternize.  They  have  about 
70  Conferences,  and  it  is  estimated  3,000 
ministers,  5,000  churches,  and  about  300,000 
members.  Their  educational  institutions  are 
Antioch  College,  Ohio,  which  has  been  aided 
largely  by  the  Unitarians,  Union  Christian 
College,  Indiana,  Le  Grand  Institute,  Iowa, 
Wolfsborough  Seminary,  New  Hampshire, 
and  Starkey  Seminary,  New  York.  We 
can  obtain  no  statistics  of  their  Sabbath 
Schools. 

VIII.  The  Mennonites,  a denomination 
of  Baptists,  first  known  in  Holland  as  the 
followers  of  Simonis  Menno  in  the  sixteenth 
century.  They  settled  in  and  about  Ger- 
mantown, Penn.,  in  1 683,  and  in  Lancaster 
County,  Penn.,  in  1709.  They  have  since 
spread  over  a great  portion  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  have  churches  also  in  Maryland,  Vir- 
ginia, Ohio,  Indiana,  New  York,  and  Cana- 
da. Their  doctrines  are,  in  general,  similar 
to  those  of  the  regular  Baptist  churches,  ex- 
cept that  some  of  them  admit  the  validity  of 
sprinkling  as  baptism.  They  observe  the 
ordinance  of  “Washing  the  Saints’ feet,”  and 
forbid  their  members  to  marry  any  except 
those  who  are  members  of  the  church.  They 
resemble  the  Friends  in  their  aversion  to 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


607 


legal  oaths,  to  war,  and  to  capital  punish- 
ment. They  are  divided  into  three  parties, 
or  sub-sects : the  Old  Mennonites,  the  Re- 
formed Mennonites,  who  came  off  in  1811 ; 
and  the  Amish  Church  or  Hooker  Men- 
nonites. All  profess  to  agree  to  the  stand- 
ard or  confession  of  faith  adopted  at  Dort, 
Holland  in  1632.  The  statistics  of  the  de- 
nomination, as  wrll  as  its  history,  are  very 
imperfectly  known.  According  to  their 
journals  they  had,  in  1859,  128,000  mem- 
bers in  America;  but  later  statistics  (in 
1869)  which  do  not,  however,  include  Can- 
ada, where  they  are  considerably  numerous, 
put  their  number  in  the  United  States  at 
60,000,  with  about  400  churches,  and  per- 
haps 450  ministers.  In  I860,  the  eighth 
census  reported  their  church  edifices  as  hav- 
ing only  sittings  for  37,000,  but  these  returns 
were  so  fallacious  that  little  dependence 
could  be  placed  upon  them.  The  denomina- 
tion are  not  apparently  increasing  with  any 
great  rapidity.  They  have  one  English,  and 
two  German  newspapers,  and  a German  and  | 
an  English  Almanac,  all  published  at  Elk- 
hart, Ind.,  except  one  of  the  German  papers, 
which  is  issued  from  Milford  Square,  Penn., 
There  are  no  colleges,  we  believe,  under 
their  special  care  or  patronage. 

IX.  Brethren,  German  Baptists, 
Tunkers  or  Hunkers.  A small  body  of 
Bapti-ts,  who  originated  at  Schwartzenau, 
Germany,  in  1708,  but  were  driven  to  Amer- 
ica by  persecution  in  1719.  They  are  found 
mostly  in  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  and  Virginia, 
Maryland,  and  Indiana.  In  doctrine  they 
incline  to  Arminianism,  believing  in  a gene- 
ral redemption,  though  in  other  doctrines, 
they  refer  to  the  confession  of  Dort,  which 
is  Calvini-tic.  They  have  been  charged 
with  believing  in  the  final  restoration  of  the 
wicked  to  heaven  and  happiness,  but  the  doc- 
trine is  not  a part  of  their  public  teaching, 
and  is  not  perhaps  generally  held  by  them. 
They  practice  trine  imuier.'ion,  and  in  bap- 
tism incline  the  body  forward  instead  of 
backward  as  other  Baptists  do.  They  also 
practice  laying  on  of  hands  and  prayer,  while 
the  person  baptized  is  still  in  the  water. 
The  Lord's  Supper  is  celebrated  with  its  ac- 
companying usages  of  love  feasts,  the  wash 
ing  of  feet,  the  kiss  of  charity,  and  the  right  I 
hand  of  fellowship.  They  also  anoint  the  i 
sick  with  o;l  for  their  recovery.  In  other  i 
matters  they  resemble  the  Friends,  using 
great  plainness  of  dress  and  speech,  refusing  j 
to  take  legal  oaths,  and  to  engage  in  war.  | 


| They  will  not  go  to  law,  and  generally  will 
not  take  interest  on  money  lent.  They  have 
| bishops  or  ministers,  elders  or  teachers,  dea- 
cons, and  deaconesses,  the  latter  being  aged 
women  set  apart  for  this  special  work.  The 
ministers  or  bishops  alone  receive  ordination. 
Until  recently,  questions  were  decided  by  lot 
instead  of  by  voting.  Their  statistics  in 
1866  were  200  churches,  150  ministers  or 
bishops,  about  500  elders,  and  20,000  mem- 
bers. They  have  recently  established  Sab- 
bath Schools,  though  a branch  of  them,  (the 
Seventh  Day  Dunkers,)  maintained  a Sunday 
School  at  Ephratah,  Penn.,  from  1740  to 
1770. 

X.  Church  of  God  or  Winebrenne- 
rians,  a denomination  of  Baptists,  organiz- 
ed in  1830,  by  Rev.  John  Winebrenner,  for- 
merly a minister  of  the  German  Reformed 
Church  at  Harrisburg,  Pa.,  where  he  was 
settled  in  1821.  He  was  very  successful  in 
his  pastorate,  and  great  revivals  took  place 
in  his  congregations,  but  he  was  charged 
with  deviating  from  the  doctrines  and  prac- 
tice of  the  German  Reformed  Church.  In 
1830  he  withdrew  from  the  church,  and  held 
a meeting  with  some  other  preachers,  in 
which  it  was  resolved  that  the  only  scriptural 
name  for  the  one  true  Church  was  “ The 
Church  of  God,”  and  that  they  would  hence- 
forth belong  to  that  church  only.  At  the 
same  time  Mr.  Winebrenner  avowed  the 
change  of  views  to  which  he  had  been  led, 
which  was  accepted  by  the  others. 

The  doctrines  then  advanced  are  substan- 
tially those  of  “ The  Church  of  God”  to-day. 
The  general  tone  of  her  doctrines  is  thor- 
oughly evangelical  though  inclined  rather  to 
the  Arminian  than  the  Calvinistic  view.  So 
far  as  baptism,  in  mode  and  subjects,  is  con- 
cerned they  are  in  unison  with  the  regular 
Baptists.  Their  peculiar  views  of  doctrine 
and  polity  are  thus  expressed  by  themselves: 
— She  (“The  Church  of  God”)  believes  in 
three  positive  ordinances  of  perpetual  stand- 
ing in  the  church,  viz.,  Bapti-m,  Feet-Wash- 
ing,  and  the  Lord’s  Supper. — She  believes 
that  the  ordinance  of  feet-washing,  that  is, 
the  literal  washing  of  the  saints’  feet,  accord- 
ing to  the  words  and  example  of  Christ,  is 
obligatory  on  all  Christians,  and  ought  to  be 
observed  by  all  the  churches  of  God. 

She  believes  that  the  Lord’s  Supper  should 
be  often  administered,  and  to  be  consistent, 
to  Christians  only,  in  a sitting  posture  and 
always  in  the  evening. 

She  believes  in  the  propriety  and  utility 


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HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


of  holding  fast  days,  experience  meetings, 
anxious  meetings,  camp  meetings,  and  other 
special  meetings  of  united  and  protracted 
efforts  for  the  edification  of  the  church,  and 
the  conversion  of  sinners. 

She  believes  in  the  personal  coming  and 
reign  of  Jesus  Christ.  There  are  also  arti- 
cles in  her  confession  of  faith  against  the 
manufacture,  traffic,  and  use  of  ardent  spir- 
its as  a beverage,  against  slavery  as  impolitic, 
and  unchristian,  and  against  civil  wars  as 
unholy  and  sinful  and  that  the  saints  of  the 
Most  High  ought  never  to  participate  in 
them. 

Her  church  government  is  somewhat  pe- 
culiar. She  claims  to  be  independent  and 
Congregational,  yet  each  church  has  its  coun- 
cil, composed  of  the  preachers  in  charge, 
and  the  elders  and  deacons,  which  has  all 
the  powers  of  the  session  of  a Presbyterian, 
or  the  consistory  of  a Reformed  church. 

She  has  also  her  annual  Elderships,  con- 
sisting of  all  the  pastors,  and  an  equal  num- 
ber of  ruling  elders  within  a given  district, 
and  her  Triennial  General  Eldership,  con- 
sisting of  delegates  from  the  Annual  Elder- 
ships,  who,  if  preachers,  must  have  been  at 
least  five  years  in  the  ministry.  This  Gen- 
eral Eldership  owns  and  controls  all  the 
common  property  of  the  church.  Her  offi- 
cers are  ministers,  who  may  be  either  sta- 
tioned pastors,  itinerants  on  circuits,  or  mis- 
sionaries at  large ; ruling  elders,  and  deacons. 
The  church  has  a domestic  and  a foreign 
missionary  society,  and  a printing  establish- 
ment. They  issue  a weekly  paper  “ The 
Church  Advocate ,”  a Sunday  School  paper, 
and  a German  weekly  paper.  They  have 
two  colleges,  one  at  Centralia,  Kansas,  and 
another  as  yet  only  partly  organized.  Their 
numbers  were  estimated  in  1870,  at  400 
churches,  350  ordained  ministers,  and  30,000 
members.  They  are  found  mostly  in  Penn- 
sylvania, Ohio,  Indiana,  Illinois,  Iowa,  Mich- 
igan, and  Kansas. 


IV.  PRESBYTERIANS. 

I.  The  Presbyterian  Church  in  the 
U.  S.  America.  (North.)  This  large  and 
respectable  body  of  Christians,  trace  their 
origin  as  a denomination  in  this  country  to 
the  Scottish  Kirk,  or  Established  Church  of 
Scotland,  to  which  most  of  the  early  Pres- 
byterians in  this  country  had  belonged  pre- 
vious to  their  emigration  hither.  The  first 


Presbyterian  church  in  the  Colonies  is  be- 
lieved to  have  been  the  Rehoboth  church  in 
Maryland,  organized  in  1690  ; that  on  Eliz- 
abeth River,  Virginia,  was  formed  about  the 
same  time,  and  those  of  Freehold,  and 
Woodbridge,  N.  J.,  not  later  than  1 692.  The 
first  presbytery,  (that  of  Philadelphia,)  was 
formed  in  1706,  and  a synod  of  four  presby- 
teries in  1716.  A division  took  place  be- 
tween the  “Old  Side”  and  the  “ New  Side” 
or  “ New  Lights,”  in  the  synod  (the  synod 
of  Philadelphia)  in  1741 ; the  “Old  side  in- 
sisting upon  a thoroughly  educated  ministry, 
and  the  strict  observance  of  Presbyterial 
order  in  accordance  with  the  rules  of  the 
Scottish  Kirk,  while  the  “ New  Side”  or  “New 
Lights,”  who  had  been  to  some  extent  under 
the  influence  of  Whitfield  and  his  followers, 
required  conclusive  evidence  of  experimental 
religion  in  the  candidates  for  the  ministry, 
and  a good,  but  not  necessarily  a collegiate  ed- 
ucation, and  were  less  strenuous  on  the  minu- 
tiae of  Presbyterial  order.  This  division 
continued  for  17  years,  when  the  two  parties 
came  together  and  the  two  synods  were 
united  under  the  name  of  the  “ Synod  of 
New  York,  and  Philadelphia.”  At  the  close 
of  the  Revolutionary  war,  there  were  about 
170  Presbyterian  ministers,  and  rather  more 
than  that  number  of  churches,  with  an  en- 
tire membership  of  less  than  20,000.  In 
1788  a committee  of  the  Synod  had  com- 
pleted the  revision  of  the  standards  of  doc- 
trine and  polity  of  the  church,  and  recom- 
mended its  reorganization  into  four  synods, 
and  a General  Assembly  over  the  whole. 
This  recommendation  was  adopted,  and  tak- 
ing a new  departure  from  the  great  revivals 
of  1800,  1801,  and  1802,  the  church  began 
to  grow  with  considerable  rapidity.  In  1801 
a “ plan  of  Union”  was  arranged  between 
the  Presbyterians  and  Congregationalists  in 
the  new  settlements  to  prevent  disagreement 
between  the  two  denominations,  and  to  facil- 
itate their  cooperation  in  missionary  enter- 
prises. This  continued  36  years.  There 
had  been  evidently  two  parties  in  the  Pres- 
byterian church  prior  to  1830,  but  there  had 
been  no  decided  collision  between  them  until 
about  1835,  when  some  test  cases  led  to  a 
division,  and  the  excision  of  four  synods 
from  the  General  Assembly  in  1837.  At 
this  time  the  New  School  General  Assembly 
was  formed,  and  for  thirty-three  years  there 
were  two  General  Assemblies,  both  calling 
themselves  the  General  Assembly  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  the  United  States  of 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


609 


America;  both  holding  professedly  to  the 
same  standards  and  alike  in  church  polity  as 
well  as  in  doctrine.  They  were  distinguished 
as  the  Old  School  and  the  New  School  Gen- 
eral Assemblies.  Each  had  their  missionary, 
and  publication  organizations,  though  the 
New  School  body  cooperated  for  many  years 
with  the  American  Board  of  Commissioners 
for  Foreign  Missions,  and  the  American 
Home  Missionary  Society.  In  1870,  after 
a discussion  and  balloting  for  nearly  two 
years  on  the  details,  the  two  General  Assem- 
blies, with  their  entire  constituency  reunited, 
and  now  form  one  body.  The  Southern 
synods,  the  larger  portion  of  them  belonging 
to  the  Old  School  branch,  seceded  from  the 
General  Assembly,  those  heretofore  belong- 
ing to  the  New  School  in  1857,  and  those  of 
the  Old  School  in  1861,  and  eventually  coa- 
lesced in  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  south.  Overtures  have 
since  been  made  to  them  for  reunion  with 
the  now  United  church  in  the  Northern 
states,  but  they  have  been  thus  far  repelled. 

The  Presbyterian  church  recognizes  and 
avows  the  necessity  of  doctrinal  standards  of 
faith,  and  adopts  as  its  standard,  The  West- 
minster Assembly’s  Confession  of  Faith,  and 
Exposition  of  doctrine,  as  contained  in  the 
shorter  and  larger  catechisms  of  that  body. 
We  have  not  space  to  give  the  whole  of 
these,  but  insert  below,  those  which  are  dis- 
tinctive in  their  character,  giving  only  the 
answers  to  the  questions  of  the  shorter  cate- 
chism, as  these  contain  the  declarative  por 
tion  of  the  confession.  It  is  hardly  necessary 
to  say  that  this  confession  is  always  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  principles,  and  often  uses 
the  very  phraseology  (translated)  of  Calvin 
in  his  celebrated  Institutes,  and  is  sustained 
by  abundant  references  to  scripture  on  each 
point. 

“ 1 . Man’s  chief  end  is  to  glorify  God,  and 
to  enjoy  Him  forever. 

2.  The  Word  of  God,  which  is  contained 
in  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Tes- 
taments, is  the  only  rule  to  direct  us  how  we 
may  glorify  and  enjoy  him  forever. 

3.  The  Scriptures  principally  teach  what 
man  is  to  believe  noncerning  God,  and  what 
duty  God  requires  of  man. 

4.  God  is  a spirit,  infinite,  eternal  and  un- 
changeable, in  his  being,  wisdom,  power,  ho- 
liness, justice,  goodness,  and  truth. 

5.  There  is  but  one  only,  the  living  and 
true  God. 

6.  There  are  three  persons  in  the  God- 


head, the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  these  three  are  one  God,  the 
same  in  substance,  equal  in  power  and  glory. 

7.  The  decrees  of  God  are  his  eternal 
purpose,  according  to  the  counsel  of  his  will, 
whereby  for  his  own  glory,  he  hath  fore-or- 
dained whatsoever  comes  to  pass. 

8.  God  executes  his  decrees  in  the  works 
of  creation  and  providence. 

9.  The  work  of  creation  is,  God’s  making 
all  things  of  nothing,  by  the  word  of  his 
power,  in  the  space  of  six  days,  and  all  very 
good. 

10.  God  created  man,  male  and  female, 
after  his  own  image,  in  knowledge,  right- 
eousness, and  holiness,  with  dominion  over 
his  creatures. 

11.  God’s  works  of  providence  are,  his 
most  holy,  wise,  and  powerful  preserving 
and  governing  all  his  creatures,  and  all  their 
actions. 

12.  When  God  had  created  man,  he  en- 
tered into  a covenant  of  life  with  him,  upon 
condition  of  perfect  obedience ; forbidding 
him  to  eat  of  the  tree  of  knowledge  of  good 
and  evil,  upon  the  pain  of  death. 

13.  Our  first  parents  being  left  to  the 
freedom  of  their  own  will,  fell  from  the 
estate  in  which  they  were  created,  by  sin- 
ning against  God. 

14.  Sin  is  any  want  of  conformity  unto, 
or  transgression  of,  the  law  of  God. 

15.  The  sin  whereby  our  first  parents  fell 
from  the  estate  wherein  they  were  created 
was  their  eating  the  forbidden  fruit. 

16.  The  covenant  being  made  with  Adam, 
not  only  for  himself,  but  for  his  posterity ; 
all  mankind  descending  from  him  by  ordin- 
ary generation,  sinned  in  him,  and  fell  with 
him,  in  his  first  transgression. 

17.  The  fall  brought  mankind  into  an  es- 
tate of  sin  and  misery. 

18.  The  sinfulness  of  that  estate  where- 
into  man  fell,  consists  in  the  guilt  of  Adam’s 
first  sin,  the  want  of  original  righteousness, 
and  the  corruption  of  his  whole  nature, 
which  is  commonly  called  original  sin,  to- 
gether with  all  actual  transgressions  which 
proceed  from  it. 

19.  All  mankind  by  their  fall  lost  com- 
munion with  God,  are  under  his  wrath  and 
curse,  and  so  made  liable  to  all  the  miseries 
of  this  life,  to  death  itself,  and  to  the  pains 
of  hell  forever. 

20.  God  having  out  of  his  mere  good 

pleasure,  from  all  eternity,  elected  some  to 

i everlasting  life,  did  enter  into  a covenant  of 
I O 3 


610 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


grace  to  deliver  them  out  of  the  estate  of  sin 
and  misery,  and  to  bring  them  into  an  estate 
of  salvation  by  a Redeemer. 

21.  The  only  Redeemer  of  God’s  elect  is 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who,  being  the  Eter- 
nal Son  of  God,  became  man,  and  so  was  and 
continues  to  be  God  and  man,  in  two  dis- 
tinct natures  and  one  person,  forever. 

22.  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  became  man, 
by  taking  to  himself  a true  body  and  a rea- 
sonable soul,  being  conceived  by  the  power 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  the  womb  of  the  Vir- 
gin Mary,  and  born  of  her,  yet  without  sin. 

23.  Christ,  as  our  Redeemer,  executes  the 
offices  of  a prophet,  of  a priest,  and  of  a 
king,  both  in  his  estate  of  humiliation  and 
exaltation. 

24.  He  executes  the  office  of  a Prophet  in 
revealing  to  ns,  by  his  Word  and  Spirit,  the 
will  of  God  for  our  salvation. 

25.  He  executes  the  office  of  a Priest,  in 
his  once  offering  up  himself  a sacrifice,  to  sat- 
isfy divine  justice,  and  reconcile  us  to  God ; 
and  in  making  continual  intercession  for  us. 

26.  He  executes  the  office  of  a King,  in 
subduing  us  to  himself,  in  ruling  and  defend- 
ing us,  an  l in  restraining  and  conquering  all 
his  and  our  enemies. 

27.  Christ’s  humiliation  consisted  in  his 
being  born,  and  that  in  a low  condition,  made 
under  the  law,  undergoing  the  miseries  of 
this  life,  the  wrath  of  God,  and  the  accursed 
death  of  the  cross  ; in  being  buried,  and  con- 
tinuing under  the  power  of  death  for  a time. 

28.  His  exaltation  consists  in  his  rising 
again  from  the  dead  on  the  third  day,  in  his 
ascending  up  into  Heaven,  in  his  sitting  on 
the  right  hand  of  God  the  Father,  and  in  his 
coming  to  judge  the  world  at  the  last  day. 

29.  We  are  made  partakers  of  the  re- 
demption purchased  by  Christ,  by  the  effect 
ual  application  of  it  to  us  by  his  Holy  Spirit. 

30.  The  Spirit  applies  to  us  the  redemp- 
tion purchased  by  Christ,  by  working  faith 
in  us,  and  thereby  uniting  us  to  Christ,  in 
our  effectual  calling. 

31.  Effectual  calling  is  the  work  of  God’s 
Spirit,  whereby  convincing  us  of  our  sin  and 
misery,  enlightening  our  minds  in  the  knowl  - 
edge  of  Christ,  and  renewing  our  wills,  he 
doth  persuade  and  enable  us  to  embrace 
Jesus  Christ,  freely  offered  to  us  in  the  gos- 
pel. 

32.  They  that  are  effectually  called,  do, 
in  this  life,  partake  of  justification,  adoption, 
sanctification,  and  the  several  benefits,  which; 


in  this  life,  do  either  accompany  or  flow  from 
them. 

33.  Justification  is  an  act  of  God’s  free 
grace,  wherein  he  pardons  all  our  sins,  and 
accepts  us  as  righteous  in  his  sight,  only  for 
the  righteousness  of  Christ,  imputed  to  us, 
and  received  by  faith  alone. 

34.  Adoption  is  an  act  of  God’s  free  grace, 
whereby  we  are  received  into  the  number, 
and  have  a right  to  all  the  privileges  of,  the 
sons  of  God. 

35.  Sanctification  is  the  work  of  God’s  free 
grace,  whereby  we  are  renewed  in  the  whole 
man,  after  the  image  of  God,  and  are  ena- 
bled more  and  more  to  die  unto  sin,  and  live 
unto  righteousness. 

36.  The  benefits  which,  in  this  life,  do 
accompany  or  flow  from  justification,  adop- 
tion and  sanctification,  are,  assurance  of  God’s 
love,  peace  of  conscience,  joy  in  the  Holy 
Ghost,  increase  of  grace,  and  perseverance 
therein  to  the  end. 

37.  The  souls  of  believers  are,  at  their 
death,  made  perfect  in  holiness,  and  do  im- 
mediately pass  into  glory ; and  their  bodies 
being  still  united  to  Christ,  do  rest  in  their 
graves  till  the  resurrection. 

38.  At  the  resurrection,  believers  being 
raised  up  in  glory,  shall  be  openly  acknowl- 
edged and  acquitted  in  the  day  of  judgment, 
and  made  perfectly  blessed  in  the  full  enjoy- 
ment of  God  to  all  eternity. 

39.  The  duty  which  God  requires  of  man 
is  obedience  to  his  revealed  will. 

40.  The  rule  which  God  at  first  revealed 
to  man  for  his  obedience,  was  the  moral  law. 

41.  The  moral  law  is  summarily  compre- 
hended in  the  ten  commandments. 

42.  The  sum  of  the  ten  commandments  is, 
to  love  the  Lord  our  God,  with  all  our  heart, 
with  all  our  soul,  with  all  our  strength,  and 
with  all  our  mind ; and  our  neighbor  as  our- 
selves.” 

(Then  follow  in  the  Catechism,  forty 
questions  and  answers,  comprising  the  words 
of  the  ten  commandments  and  expositions  of 
their  teaching,  not  necessary  to  be  inserted 
here,  and  the  Catechism  then  proceeds  with 
answer.) 

“ 82.  No  mere  man,  since  the  fall,  is  able, 
in  this  life,  perfectly  to  keep  the  command- 
ments of  God,  but  doth  daily  break  them,  in 
thought,  word,  and  deed. 

83.  All  transgressions  of  the  law  are  not 
equally  heinous,  some  sins  in  themselves 
and  by  reason  of  several  aggravations, 


niSTOUY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


611 


being  more  henious  in  the  sight  of  God  than  | 
others. 

84.  Every  sin  deserves  God’s  wrath  and 
curse,  both  in  this  life,  and  that  which  is  to 
come. 

85.  To  escape  the  wrath  and  curse  of 
God,  due  to  us  for  sin,  God  requireth  of  us 
faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  repentance  unto  life, 
with  the  diligent  use  of  all  the  outward 
means  whereby  Christ  communicateth  to  us 
the  benefits  of  redemption. 

86.  Faith  in  Jesus  Christ  is  a saving 
grace,  whereby  we  receive  and  rest  upon 
him  alone  for  salvation,  as  he  is  offered  to 
us  hi  the  gospel. 

87.  Repentance  unto  life  is  a saving  grace 
whereby  a sinner,  out  of  a true  sense  of  his 
sin,  and  apprehension  of  the  mercy  of  God 
in  Christ,  doth  with  grief  and  hatred  of  his 
sin  turn  from  it  unto  God,  with  full  purpose 
of,  and  endeavor  after,  new  obedience. 

88.  The  outward  and  ordinary  means 
whereby  Christ  communicateth  to  us  the 
benefits  of  redemption,  are  his  ordinances, 
especially  the  word,  sacraments,  and  prayer ; 
all  which  are  made  effectual  to  the  elect  for 
salvation. 

83.  The  Spirit  of  God  maketh  the  read- 
ing, but  especially  the  preaching  of  the  word, 
an  effectual  means  of  convincing  and  con- 
verting sinners,  and  of  building  them  up  in 
holiness  and  comfort,  through  faith,  unto  sal- 
vation. 

90.  That  the  word  may  become  effectual 
to  salvation,  we  must  attend  thereunto  with 
diligence,  preparation,  and  prayer  ; receive  it 
with  faith  and  love ; lay  it  up  in  our  hearts, 
and  practise  it  in  our  lives. 

81.  The  sacraments  become  effectual 
means  of  salvation,  not  from  any  virtue  in 
them,  or  in  him  that  doth  administer  them  ; 
but  only  by  the  blessing  of  Christ,  and  the 
working  of  His  Spirit,  in  them  that  by  faith 
receive  them. 

92.  A sacrament  is  a holy  ordinance  insti- 
tuted by  Christ  wherein  by  sensible  signs, 
Christ  and  the  benefits  of  the  new  covenant 
are  represented,  sealed,  and  applied  to  be- 
lievers. 

93.  The  sacraments  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment are  Baptism  and  the  Lord’s  Supper. 

94.  Baptism  is  a sacrament  wherein  the 
washing  with  water,  in  the  name  of  the 
Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Iloly 
Ghost,  doth  signify  and  seal  our  engrafting 
into  Christ,  and  partaking  of  the  coventmt  of 
grace,  and  our  engagement  to  be  the  Lord’s. 


95.  Baptism  is  not  to  be  administered  to 
any  that  are  out  of  the  visible  church  till  they 
profess  their  faith  in  Christ  and  obedience  to 
him  ; but  the  infants  of  such  as  are  members 
of  the  visible  church  are  to  be  baptized. 

86.  The  Lord’s  Supper  is  a sacrament 
wherein  by  giving  and  receiving  bread  and 
wine,  according  to  Christ’s  appointment,  his 
death  is  showed  forth ; and  the  worthy  re- 
ceivers are,  not  after  a corporeal  and  carnal 
manner,  but  by  faith,  made  partakers  of  his 
body  and  blood,  with  all  his  benefits,  to  their 
spiritual  nourishment  and  growth  in  gace. 

97.  It  is  required  of  them  that  would 
worthily  partake  of  the  Lord’s  Supper,  that 
they  examine  themselves  of  their  knowledge 
to  discern  the  Lord’s  body,  of  their  faith  to 
fled  upon  him,  of  their  repentance,  love  and 
new  obedience,  lest,  coming  unworthily,  they 
eat  and  drink  judgment  to  themselves. 

98.  Prayer  is  an  offering  up  of  our  desires 
to  God  for  things  agreeable  to  his  will,  in  the 
name  of  Christ,  with  confession  of  our  sins, 
and  thankful  acknowledgment  of  his  mercies. 

99.  The  whole  word  of  God  is  of  use  to 
direct  us  in  prayer,  but  the  special  rule  of 
direction  is  that  form  of  prayer  which  Christ 
taught  his  disciples,  commonly  called  the 
Lord's  Prayer. 

100.  The  preface  of  the  Lord’s  Prayer 
( Oar  Father  which  art  in  Heaven ) teacheth 
us  to  draw  near  to  God  with  all  holy  rever- 
ence and  confidence,  as  children  to  a Father, 
uble  and  ready  to  help  us;  and  that  we 
should  pray  with  and  for  others. 

101.  In  the  first  petition  ( Hallowed  be  thy 
name),  we  pray  that  God  would  enable  us, 
and  others,  to  glorify  him  in  all  that  whereby 
he  maketh  himself  known,  and  that  he  would 
dispose  ail  things  to  his  own  glory. 

102.  In  the  second  petition  {Thy  kingdom 
come),  we  pray  that  Satan’s  kingdom  may 
be  destroyed,  and  that  the  kingdom  of  grace 
may  be  advanced,  ourselves  and  others 
brought  into  it,  and  kept  in  it,  and  that  the 
kingdom  of  glory  may  be  hastened. 

103.  In  the  third  petition  {Thy  will  be 
j done  on  earth  as  it  is  in  Heaven),  we  pray, 

I that  God,  by  his  grace,  would  make  us  both 

able  and  willing  to  know,  obey,  and  submit 
to  his  will  in  all  things,  as  the  angels  do  in 
Heaven. 

104.  In  the  fourth  petition  ( Give  us  this 
day  our  daily  bread),  we  pray  that  of  God’s 
free  gift,  we  may  receive  a competent  por- 
tion of  the  geo  ! things  of  this  life,  and  eniov 

I his  hies  dug  vit'.i  them. 


612 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


105.  In  the  fifth  petition  ( Forgive  us  our 
debts,  as  ive  forgivp  our  debtors ),  we  pray, 
that  God,  for  Christ’s  sake,  would  freely 
pardon  our  sins ; which  we  are  the  rather 
encouraged  to  ask,  because  by  his  grace,  we 
are  enabled  from  the  heart  to  forgive  others. 

106.  In  the  sixth  petition  (And  lead  us  not 
into  temptation,  but  deliver  us  from  evil),  we 
pray  that  God  would  either  keep  us  from  be- 
ing tempted  to  sin,  or  support  and  deliver  us 
when  we  are  tempted. 

107.  The  conclusion  of  the  Lord’s  Prayer 
(For  thine  is  the  kingdom,  and  the  power  and 
the  glory,  forever,  Amen.)  teacheth  us  to  take 
our  encouragement  to  prayer  from  God  only, 
and  in  our  prayers  to  praise  Him,  ascribing 
kingdom,  power,  and  glory  to  Him.  And  in 
testimony  of  our  desire  and  assurance  to  be 
heard,  we  say,  amen. 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  95th  article,  that 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  as  well  as  some  of 
the  denominations  which  follow  in  this  vol 
ume,  is  Pcedo -baptist  or  holds  to  the  doctrine 
of  infant  baptism,  in  distinction  from  the 
churches  of  the  Baptist  group  which  admin- 
ister baptism  only  to  believers.  It  also  dif- 
fers from  all  the  churches  which  we  have 
previously  described,  in  its  church  govern- 
ment and  polity.  The  Presbyterial  form 
of  church  government  characterizes  (under 
somewhat  different  names,  but  with  the  same 
meaning)  all  the  churches  which  are  affiliat 
ed  with  the  Presbyterian,  and  it  may  there- 
fore be  described  here  once  for  all.  Their 
government  is  representative  rather  than 
democratic.  They  recognize  two  classes  of 
elders  (presbyters);  the  teaching  elder  or 
minister  of  the  word,  and  the  ruling  elder, 
a representative  of  the  people,  and  their 
agent  and  ruler  in  matters  pertaining  to  the 
church.  While  they  have  blit  one  teaching 
elder  or  preacher,  generally  a pastor,  to  the 
church,  they  have  two,  four,  or  more,  ruling 
elders,  who,  with  the  teaching  elder  and  dea 
cons,  constitute  the  church  session,  which 
governs  the  church  in  all  matters  of  doctrine 
and  discipline,  and  being  elected  for  that 
purpose  also,  has  charge  of  the  temporalities 
of  the  church.  The  church  court  next  above 
the  church,  and,  in  ordinary  cases,  the  lead- 
ing judicatory,  is  the  presbytery,  composed 
of  the  teaching  elders  or  preachers,  and  one 
ruling  elder  in  each  church  within  its  bounds. 
The  ordaining,  recognition,  and  dismissal  of 
pastors  are  conducted  by  the  presbytery,  on 
the  application  of  the  minister  and  the  church , 


with  which  he  is,  or  is  to  be,  officially  con- 
nected. (It  is  note  worth  that  very  often 
the  minister  is  not  a member  of  the  church 
to  which  he  ministers.)  Difficult  cases  of 
discipline,  or  those  in  which  there  are  two 
parties  in  a church,  come  before  the  presby- 
tery for  adjudication ; and  all  charges  of  her 
esy,  or  misconduct  against  any  of  its  minis-* 
ters,  is  brought  before  it  for  trial  and  inves- 
tigation. Above  the  presbytery  in  the  gra- 
dation of  church  courts,  is  the  synod,  compos- 
ed of  a certain  number  of  presbyteries,  and 
when  in  session  consisting  of  delegates  from 
each  presbytery,  lay  and  clerical.  It  is  a 
court  of  appeal  from  the  presbytery,  and  its; 
wider  range  of  territory  and  larger  number 
of  able  ministers  and  elders  gives  it  some 
advantages.  The  final  court  of  resort  in  all 
church  matters  is,  however,  the  General 
Assembly  or  General  Synod,  composed  of 
commissioners,  clerical  and  lay,  from  the 
Synods.  This  General  Assembly  possesses 
entire  control  over  the  church  action,  the 
doctrinal  soundness,  and  the  educational  and 
benevolent  institutions  of  the  denomination, 
and  is,  in  its  assembled  capacity,  the  embod- 
iment of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  Amer- 
ica, or  of  the  other  organizations  which  it 
represents.  Its  sessions  are  annual,  and  usu- 
ally continue  for  two  or  three  wreeks,  and 
sometimes  even  longer.  The  Presbyterian 
Churches  seem  to  have  for  their  specialty 
the  discussion  of  the  doctrines  of  their  con- 
fession of  faith,  and  the  detection  of  any  and 
every  form  of  heresy.  Months  and  years  of 
their  history  have  been  devoted  to  these  dis- 
cussions, and,  wdiile  these  are  certainly  im- 
portant, there  is  danger  that  in  these  dialec- 
tic struggles  their  strength  will  be  so  far 
expended  that  they  will  hardly  keep  pace 
with  the  other  denominations  in  growth  and 
progress.  Still  they  are  one  of  the  strongest 
and  most  efficient  of  the  evangelical  denomi- 
nations in  the  United  States,  and  are  likely 
to  do  more  efficient  work  in  the  future 
than  they  hare  in  the  past.  They  have 
shown  a most  commendable  liberality  recent- 
ly. During  the  year  en  ling  in  May,  1871, 
the  new  reunited  Presbyterian  Church  had 
contributed  to  a memorial  fund  for  building 
and  paying  the  debts  on  church  edifices,  en- 
dowing colleges  and  theological  seminaries, 
planting  new  missions,  etc.,  etc.,  the  magnifi- 
cent sum  of  $8,600,000,  aside  from  their 
regular  contributions  to  missionary,  publica- 
tion, educational,  and  other  objects,  and  the 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


613 


expenditure  for  current  church  expenses,  sal- 
aries, etc.,  which  amounted  to  about  $8,000,- 
000  more. 

The  statistics  of  the  “ Presbyterian  Church 
in  the  U.  S.  A.,”  for  1870,  were  as  follows : 

There  were  51  synods;  259  presbyteries; 
4.238  ordained  ministers ; 338  licentiates  and 
541  candidates  for  licensure;  4,526  churches; 
446,561  communicants ; 32,003  were  added 
on  examination,  and  21.447  on  certificate; 
10,122  adults  and  16,476  infants  baptized; 
448,857  members  of  the  Sabbath  Schools. 
The  benevolent  contributions  (not  including 
any  part  of  the  memorial  fund  mentioned 
above)  $3,440,121.  The  net  gain  in  the 
number  of  communicants  in  the  year  1870-1 
was  8,817,  and  the  whole  number  of  mem- 
bers reported  May,  1871,  455,378. 

II.  Presbyterian  Church,  in  the 
United  States  (South)  — This  body  is  com- 
posed of  the  seceders,  who  came  off  from  (lie 
New  School  Presbyterian  Church  in  1857, 
and  who  joined  the  Southern  General  Assem 
bly  in  1863,  and  the  seceders  from  the  Oxl 
School  Presbyterian  Church,  who  left  it  in 
1861,  and  immediately  formed  the  Southern 
General  Assembly.  The  secession,  in  both 
instances,  was  based  mainly  on  the  position  | 
of  the  two  Northern  General  Assemblies  on 
the  question  of  Slavery,  and  in  the  latter 
case  also  because  that  in  the  war  then  just 
commenced,  the  Old  School  General  Assem  • 
bly  avowed  its  loyalty  and  adherence  to  the  i 
Union.  During  the  war  there  were  hasty, 
and,  perhaps,  injudicious  resolutions  passed 
on  both  sides,  and  to  the  overtures  which  have 
since  been  made  by  the  re-united  Presbyte- 
rian Church  for  their  return,  the  Southern 
General  Assembly  has  replied  “that  they 
do  not  approve  of  a union  with  the  Northern 
Church  because  it  is  a total  surrender  of  all 
fundamental  doctrines,  and  embraces  all 
shades  of  belief.”  “ The  Southern  Church,” 
they  say,  “ is  the  only  surviving  heir  of  true, 
unfailing  testimonies,  and  there  are  impassa- 
ble barriers  to  official  intercourse  between  j 
the  two  churches.” 

Their  doctrinal  standards,  and  their  church  J 
government  and  polity,  are  identical  with 
that  of  the  Northern  church. 

Their  statistics  in  1870  were  as  follows  : 
There  were  1 1 synods,  55  presbyteries,  8 40 
ordained  ministers,  52  licentiates,  and  161 
candidates,  for  licensure;  1,469  churches, 
82,014  members  reported  (206  churches  did 
not  report  the  number  of  members) ; 5,048 
members  added  on  examination,  and  2,851 


on  certificate;  1,529  adults,  and  3,555  chil- 
dren baptized ; 47,317  Sunday  School  schol- 
ars, $s72,335  contributed  to  benevolent  ob- 
jects and  church  expenses. 

in.  United  Presbyterian  Church 
of  North  America.  The  body  bearing 
this  name  in  the  United  States  is  entirely 
different  in  its  origin  from  the  United  Pres- 
byterian Church  of  Scoiland  and  Canada, 
though  holding  nearly  the  same  views  of 
doctrine  and  polity.  The  Scottish  United 
Presbyterian  Church  is  composed  of  the 
United  Secession  Church  (itself  a coalition 
of  the  Burgher  and  Anti- Burgher  Synods) 
and  the  Relief  church,  both  secessions  from 
the  established  Kirk  of  Scotland  on  the 
ground  of  its  corruption  in  doctrine  and  prac- 
tice, and  its  enforcement  of  the  settlement 
of  ministers  named  by  the  heritors  or  aris- 
tocracy, against  the  will  of  the  people.  These 
two  organizations  came  together  and  formed 
the  Scottish  United  Presbyterian  Church 
(which  has  a large  and  efficient  branch  in 
Canada)  in  1847.  The  United  Presbyte- 
rian Church,  in  the  United  States,  was  con- 
stituted in  1S58  by  the  union  of  the  Asso- 
ciate Reformed,  and  the  Associate  Presby- 
terian churches.  Of  these  two  bodies,  the 
former  was  an  agglomeration  of  small  bodies 
of  Covenanters,  Associates,  Reformed,  and 
Burgher  Presbyterians,  which  came  together 
in  1782  and  formed  a synod  composed  of  three 
presbyteries  at  Philadelphia.  In  1803  they 
had  increased  so  as  to  form  four  provincial 
synods,  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Scioto,  and 
the  Carolinas,  under  one  representative  gen- 
eral synod.  Two  of  these  provincial  synods 
(Scioto  and  the  Carolinas)  afterward  became 
independent.  The  “Associate  Presbyterian 
Church”  had  a somewhat  similar  history 
though  it  retained  its  allegiance  to  the  Scot- 
tish synod  of  the  church  of  the  same  name 
until  1818.  It  had  had  several  small  seces- 
sions from  its  ranks,  which  have  since  formed 
small  presbyterian  bodies.  At  the  time  of 
the  union  of  these  two  churches  in  the  United 
Presbyterian  Church,  in  1858,  a few  churches 
and  ministers  protested  against  the  union, 
and  have  since  connected  themselves  witli 
some  of  the  smaller  organizations.  The 
United  Presbyterian  Church  has  two  col- 
leges, two  academies  and  theological  semin- 
aries at  Alleghany,  Penn.,  Xenia,  Ohio,  Mon- 
mouth, Illinois,  and  Newburgh,  New  York. 
Its  statistics  in  1870  were:  8 synods,  56 
presbyteries,  553  ordained  ministers,  43  li- 
centiates, 55  students  for  the  ministry,  729 


614 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


congregations,  60,807  members,  of  whom 
4,182  were  received  on  profession,  and  3,935 
on  certificate;  6< < 9 Sabbath  Schools  were 
repor  ted  with  6,761  officers  and  teachers, 
and  42,907  scholars.  The  total  contribu- 
tions to  benevolent  and  church  purposes 
were  $827,126.  The  denomination  have 
5 foreign  missions,  19  foreign  mission  sta- 
tions, 12  mission  churches,  26  missionaries 
and  helpers,  and  contributed,  in  1870,  $63,- 
500  for  foreign  missionary  purposes.  They 
have  also  successful  Home  .Mission  and 
Freedmen’s  Mission  Boards,  and  expended 
on  them  $49,48 1 , in  1870.  The  net  increase 
of  members  in  1870,  over  the  previous  year, 
was  4, 1 83,  but  the  number  of  ministers  had 
decreased  by  12.  The  contributions  were 
about  $43,300  more  than  the  previous  year. 

IV.  Gkneral  Synod  of  the  Reform- 
ed Presbyterian  Church.  This  body 
in  its  present  organization,  originated  in 
1782  from  the  m.nisters  of  the  Reformed 
Presbyterian  church  who  refused  to  consent 
to  the  union  with  the  Associate  Church  and 
mainta  ned  their  original  organization.  These 
were  subsequently  strengthened  by  the  ar- 
rival of  several  ministers  of  the  Reformed 
Presbyterian  Church  of  Scotland  in  1793, 
and  subsequently.  They  were  organized 
into  a synod  of  three  presbyteries  in  1808, 
and  in  1825  constituted  a general  synod. 
Their  doctrines  are  those  of  the  Westminster 
Assembly’s  Confession  of  Faith  and  Cate- 
chisms, with  the  addition  of  the  Declaration 
and  Testimony,  in  which  they  express  their 
hostility  to  the  interference  of  civil  govern- 
mentwith  the  affairs  of  the  church,  and  their 
unwillingness  to  be  bound  by  it  in  matters 
of  conscience.  On  this  point  there  has  been 
a division  among  them,  and  a secession  has 
resulted.  The  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church 
are  the  lineal  and  spiritual  successors  of  the 
Covenanters  or  Cameronians,  and  like  them 
have  protested  earnestly  and  steadily  against 
a State  church  and  the  interference  of  the 
State  with  their  ministry  and  their  religious 
privileges.  Even  in  the  last  century  they 
were  persecuted  for  these  views  in  Scotland, 
and  it  was  natural  that  they  should  adhere 
to  them  with  the  greater  tenacity,  but  in  this 
country  where  the  State  did  not  interfere 
with  rel  gious  worship,  and  there  was  no 
established  church,  many  of  the  ministers  of 
the  Reformed  Presbyterian  Church  felt  that 
there  was  no  necessity  for  maintaining  that 
hostility  or  non-intercourse  with  the  civil 
government  which,  under  the  circumstances, 


in  Scotland,  was  right  and  proper ; and  they 
accordingly  participated,  as  citizens,  in  voting 
and  in  such  civil  duties  as  they  deemed  right, 
while  protesting  against  all  interference  of 
the  civil  power  in  matters  of  conscience.  They, 
like  all  the  Reformed  Presbyterians,  were 
strongly  opposed  to  slavery,  and  would  have 
no  communion  with  slaveholders  or  those  who 
defended  slavery.  A part  of  their  minhters, 
whose  feelings  on  the  subjects  of  the  civil 
power  were  intense,  and  v ho  regarded  our 
naiional  constitution  and  government  as  in- 
fidel and  Godless,  withdrew  from  the  Gen- 
eral Synod  on  these  grounds  in  1833  and 
formed  a separate  organization  which  is  now 
somewhat  more  numerous  than  the  General 
Synod.  All  the  Reformed  Presbyterians 
refuse  to  use  any  other  than  inspired  hymns 
and  psalms  in  their  worship,  and  for  the 
want  of  any  more  literal  metrical  translation 
of  the  Psalms  of  David  sing  from  Rouse’s 
version  of  the  Psalms,  which,  though  rough 
and  often  uncouth  in  its  translation,  has  the 
merit  of  following  very  closely  the  inspired 
original.  The  number  of  ministers  of  the 
General  Synod  in  1870  was  31,  of  churches 
43,  and  of  members  about  4,000. 

Y.  The  Synod  of  the  Reformed  Pres- 
byterian Church,  referred  to  above,  which 
seceded  in  1833,  is  now  much  larger  than 
the  General  Synod,  having,  in  1870,  87 
churches,  86  ministers,  8,577  members,  re- 
ceived 435  by  profession  and  288  by  certifi- 
cate, and  expended  for  benevolent  purposes 
and  church  expenses  about  $144,000. 

VI.  The  Associate  Reformed  Synod 
of  the  South,  is  the  original  Associate  Re- 
! formed  Synod  of  the  Carolinas,  which,  in 
1821,  became  an  independent  synod  and  re- 
! fusing  to  follow  the  other  associate  reformed 
I churches  in  their  union  with  the  Associate 
I Presbyterians  to  form  the  United  Presby- 
! terian  church,  has  existed  as  a distinct  body. 
It  is  small  in  numbers.  It  does  not  differ  in 
J doctrine  from  the  Associate  Reformed  Church 
! or  the  Reformed  Presbyterians,  except  on 
the  subject  of  slavery,  which  it  tolerated  in 
its  membership.  Its  growth  was  very  slight 
J f»r  some  years,  but  from  1842  to  1852  it 
increased  quite  rapidly;  since  1863  there  has 
been  a decided  falling  off ; twenty-six  of  its 
ministers,  and  some  of  the  churches,  having 
i joined  other  Presbyterian  bodies.  In  1870, 
its  statistics  were : ordained  ministers,  57 ; 
probationers,  7 ; theological  students,  6 ; 
churches,  66  ; members,  about  6,  ' 00.  They 
have  a small  theological  school  at  Due  West, 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


615 


S.  C.,  and  the  organ  of  the  church,  The  As- 
sociate Reformed  Presbyterian , is  published 
at  the  same  place. 

VII.  The  Cumberland  Presbyterian 
Church.  This  body  is  Presbyterian  in  its 
church  government  and  polity  but  differs 
from  the  other  Presbyterian  churches  in  its 
doctrines.  It  had  its  origin  in  the  great  re- 
vival in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  in  1799 
to  1 803.  That  revival  was  mostly  among  a 
people  nominally  attached  to  the  Presby- 
terian Church,  and  in  the  camp  meetings 
which  the  scattered  population  rendered 
necessary,  there  was  a pressing  demand  for 
a greater  number  of  ordained  ministers  to 
preach  and  to  administer  the  ordinanc  s. 
Under  this  demand  some  of  the  members  of 
the  newly  organized  Cumberland  Presbytery, 
felt  that  it  would  be  desirable  to  select  men 
of  piety,  promise,  and  a fair  education,  from 
the  laity,  and  license  and  ordain  them  for 
the  work  of  the  ministry.  'I  his  was  accord- 
ingly done  in  a few  instances  with  good  re- 
sults. The  Synod  of  Kentucky,  however, 
regarded  this  proceeding  as  irregular  and 
passed  a resolution  requiring  the  presbytery 
to  present  them  for  examination  to  a com- 
mission of  the  synod,  and  directing  the  young 
men  to  appear.  Both  the  presbytery  and 
the  young  men  refused  to  submit  to  this  ex- 
amination, and  the  Synod,  in  1805,  in  con- 
sequence prohibited  them  from  exercising 
the  functions  of  the  ministry.  The  proscrib- 
ed ministers,  however,  continued  in  the  ex- 
ercise of  their  ministerial  duties,  and  after  in 
vain  appealing  to  the  Synod  for  a repeal  of 
their  action,  there  was  organized,  in  1810, 
in  Dickson  County,  Tennessee,  a Cumber- 
land Presbytery  entirely  independent  of  the 
Synod,  and  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
Tne  special  difference  between  them  and  the 
Kentucky  Synod  is  thus  set  forth  in  the 
record  of  their  constitution : “All  candidates 
for  the  ministry  who  may  hereafter  be  licens- 
ed by  this  presbytery,  and  all  the  licentiates 
or  probationers  who  may  hereafter  be  or- 
dained by  this  presbytery,  shall  be  required 
before  such  licensure  and  ordination,  to  re 
ceiveand  accept  the  Confession  of  Faith  and 
Discipline  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  ex- 
cept the  idea  of  fatality  that  seems  to  be 
taught  under  the  mysterious  doctrine  of  pre- 
destination. It  is  to  be  understood,  however, 
that  such  as  can  clearly  receive  the  Confes- 
sion of  Faith  without  an  exception,  will  not 
be  required  to  make  any.  Moreover,  all 
licentiates,  before  they  are  set  apart  to  the 


whole  work  of  the  ministry,  or  ordained, 
shall  be  required  to  undergo  an  examination 
in  English  grammar,  geography,  astronomy, 
natural  and  moral  philosophy,  and  church 
history.  It  will  not  be  understood  that  ex- 
aminations in  experimental  religion  and 
theology  will  be  omitted.  The  presbytery 
may  also  require  an  examination  on  any 
part  or  all  of  the  above  branches  of  knowl- 
edge before  licensure,  if  they  deem  it  expe- 
dient.” 

The  growth  of  this  new  organization  was 
rapid;  in  1813  they  had  three  large  presby- 
teries, and  a synod  was  formed  in  October 
of  that  year.  A committee  was  appointed 
immediately  by  this  Synod  to  prepare  a Con- 
fession of  Faith,  Catechism,  and  form  of 
Church  Government.  These,  when  reported, 
were  adopted  at  a subsequent  session,  and 
remain  unchanged  to  the  present  time.  As 
would  be  inferred  from  the  constitution  of 
the  Presbytery  just  quoted,  their  doctrines 
are  less  strongly  Calvinistic  than  those  of 
the  Presbyterians  generally.  Rev.  Dr. 
Beard,  formerly  President  of  Cumberland 
College,  Princeton,  Ky.,  thus  summarizes 
their  doctiines:  “That  the  Scriptures  are 
the  only  infallible  rule  of  faith  and  practice ; 
that  God  is  an  infinite,  eternal,  and  un- 
changeable Spirit,  existing  mysteriously  in 
three  persons,  the  three  being  equal  in  power 
and  glory ; that  God  is  the  creator  and  pre- 
server of  all  things ; that  the  decrees  of  God 
extend  only  to  what  is  for  II is  glory  ; that 
lie  has  not  decreed  the  existence  of  sin,  be- 
cause it  is  neither  for  II  is  glory  nor  for  the 
good  of  Ilis  creatures ; that  man  was  created 
upright  in  the  image  of  God ; but  that,  by 
the  transgression  of  the  federal  head,  he  has 
become  totally  depraved,  so  much  so  that  he 
can  do  no  good  thing  without  the  aid  of  di- 
vine grace.  That  Jesus  Christ  is  the  medi- 
ator between  God  and  man ; and  that  he  is 
both  God  and  man  in  one  person ; that  he 
obeyed  the  law  perfectly,  and  died  on  the 
cross  to  make  satisfaction  for  sin ; and  that 
in  the  expressive  language  of  the  apostle,  He 
tasted  death  for  every  man.  That  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  the  efficient  agent  in  our  conviction, 

I regeneration,  and  sanctification ; that  repent- 
ance and  faith  are  necessary  in  order  to  ac? 
ceptance,  and  that  both  are  inseparable  from 
a change  of  heart;  that  justification  is  by 
faith  alone  ; that  sanctification  is  a progress- 
ive work  and  not  completed  till  death;  that 
those  who  believe  in  Christ,  and  are  regen- 
, crated  by  His  spirit  will  never  fall  away  and 


616 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


be  lost ; that  there  will  be  a general  resur- 
rection and  judgment ; and  that  the  righte- 
ous will  be  received  to  everlasting  happiness, 
and  the  wicked  consigned  to  everlasting 
misery.” 

The  church  polity  of  the  Cumberland 
Presbyterian  church  does  not  differ  from 
that  of  the  Presbyterian  church ; it  has  its 
teaching  and  ruling  elders,  its  sessions, 
presbyteries,  synods,  and  since  1829  a Gen- 
eral Assembly ; but  as  a matter  of  conven- 
ience, they  have  adopted  the  itinerant  system 
of  the  Methodists,  and  have  many  of  their 
churches  arranged  in  circuits.  They  practice 
infant  baptism,  and  in  the  baptism  of  adults, 
immerse,  sprinkle,  or  pour  as  the  candidate 
prefers.  They  have  a university,  and  two 
colleges,  two  theological  seminaries,  and  a 
number  of  academies  of  high  grade.  Their 
Board  of  Publication  has  a small  capital, 
about  $7,000,  but  is  very  efficient.  They 
publish  three  or  four  periodicals.  Their 
statistics  in  1870  were  estimated  by  their  own 
organs  as  follows:  25  synods,  100  presbyte- 
ries, 1674  ordained  ministers,  280  licentiate-, 
320  candidates  for  the  ministry,  about  2,000 
churches,  and  over  80,000  members.  Nearly 
10,000  communicants  were  added  to  the 
church  in  1870. 

VII L The  Reformed  (late  Dutch ) 
Church.  This  is  the  oldest,  though  by  no 
m.’ans  the  largest  of  the  Protestant  churches 
in  the  United  States,  being  an  offshoot  of 
the  Reformed  Church  of  Holland,  and  first 
planted  in  New  Amsterdam,  now  New  York 
City,  in  1614,  though  no  church  was  fully 
organized  before  1628.  Its  growth  was  slow 
for  150  years,  being  confined  almost  exclu- 
sively to  the  Dutch  speaking  portion  of  the 
citizens,  and  its  pulpit  exercises  being  entirely 
in  Dutch  until  near  the  commencement  of 
the  present  century.  It  was  dependent  upon 
the  church  in  Holland  for  the  education  and 
ordination  of  its  ministry  until  1771,  when 
through  the  efforts  of  Rev.  Dr.  Livingston, 

O B O 7 

the  Classis  of  Amsterdam,  with  which  all 
the  churches  here  were  connected,  recom- 
mended them  to  organize  as  an  independent 
church  and  make  provision  for  the  education 
of  their  ministry.  Queen's  (afterward  Rut- 
ger’s) College,  at  New  Brunswick,  was 
founded  about  1770,  and  a professorship  of 
theology  (at  first  separate  from  the  college) 
established  in  New  York,  with  Dr.  Livings- 
ton as  professor,  in  1781.  After  the  general 
substitution  of  English  for  Dutch  in  the 
preaching  of  its  ministers,  the  church  began  [ 


to  grow  and  has  maintained  a prominent 
position  in  New  York,  New  Jersey,  and 
Eastern  Pennsylvania,  where  alone  they 
have  any  considerable  membership.  They 
have  outside  of  these  states  52  churches, 
mostly  in  Michigan,  Illinois,  and  Wisconsin, 
and  fifteen  on  mi-sionary  ground  in  India. 

The  doctrines  of  the  Reformed  church,  as 
laid  down  in  the  Belgic  confession,  the  Hei- 
delberg catechism,  and  the  Canons  of  the 
synod  of  Dort,  do  not  vary  in  any  important 
point  from  those  of  the  Westminster  confes- 
sion of  faith  and  catechisms,  and  are  properly 
reckoned  among  the  Calvinistic  confessions 
of  faith.  The  polity  of  the  church  is  also 
Presbyterian,  though  with  different  names 
for  the  same  things.  The  Consistory , which 
answers  to  the  church  session  in  the  Presby- 
terian church,  is  composed  of  the  dominie  or 
pastor,  the  elders,  and  the  deacons.  The 
elders  are  chosen  for  two  years,  and  after  an 
interval  of  a year  may  be  again  elected. 
The  classis  answers  to  the  pre.-bytery,  and 
the  particular  synods  to  the  synods  of  the 
Presbyterian  church,  while  they  have  a 
General  Synod  instead  of  a General  Assem- 
bly. They  are  active  in  their  missionary 
enterprises,  having  missions  in  Amoy,  China, 
and  its  vicinity,  and  in  Arcot,  India.  Until 
1857  they  were  connected  in  these  mission- 
ary enterprises  with  the  American  Board  of 
Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions,  but  in 
that  year  they  withdrew  amicably  and  have 
since  conducted  them  successfully  alone,  and 
have  added  a mission  in  Japan.  They  have 
an  old  and  flourishing  college  (Rutger’s)  at 
New  Brunswick,  and  a Theological  seminary 
at  the  same  place.  They  have  a publish  ng 
establishment  which  issues  four  periodicals, 
and  the  denominational  Psalmody  and  other 
books. 

Their  statistics  for  1870  were,  one  Gene- 
ral Synod,  eight  particular  synods,  33  classes, 
464  churches,  493 ministers,  and  5 candidates, 
38,552  families,  61,444  members,  3421  in- 
fants and  974  adults  baptized,  3,628  received 
on  confession,  and  2,294  by  certificate,  48,- 
411  Sunday  School  scholars.  Benevolent 
contributions,  $1,187,681.63,  including  those 
for  congregational  purposes.  In  1868  the 
different  classes  voted  to  drop  the  word 
Dutch  from  their  title,  and  be  hencefoith 
known  as  The  Reformed  Church. 

IX.  The  True  Reformed  Dutch 
Church.  In  1822  Rev.  Solomon  Froeligh, 
D.  D.,  of  Hackensack,  and  a few  other  min- 
( isters  seceded,  with  their  congregations,  from 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


617 


the  Reformed  (Dutch)  Church  on  the  afeged 
ground  of  the  prevailing  laxness  in  doctrine 
and  discipline,  and  organized  a church  with 
the  above  title.  It  has  made  very  little  prog- 
ress, but  had  in  1862  less  than  20  congrega- 
tions, and  about  1 500  members. 

X.  The  Reformed  Church  in  the 
United  States,  (late  German).  This,  the 
last  though  by  no  means  the  least  of  the  Amer- 
ican churches  which  conform  to  tire  Presby- 
terian polity  though  they  do  not  bear  the 
Presbyterian  name,  is  a descendant,  though 
with  some  modifications  of  doctrine,  of  the 
Reformed  churches  of  Holland,  Germany, 
France,  and  Switzerland.  Rev.  Dr.  E.  V. 
Gerhart,  the  President  of  its  General  Synod, 
and  its  principal  historiographer,  states  that 
the  first  members  of  the  Reformed  Church 
of  Germany,  who  came  to  the  United  States 
in  any  considerable  numbers,  were  a body 
of  Palatines,  who  tempted  by  William  Penn’s 
offer  of  lands,  migrated  to  Pennsylvania  and 
the  adjacent  colonies,  in  the  early  part  of 
the  eighteenth  century,  and  many  of  whom 
settled  east  of  the  Susquehanna.  It  was 
among  a colony  of  about  400  of  these  Pala- 
tines who  settled  in  Montgomery  county, 
Penn.,  about  1727,  that  Rev.  Michael  Weiss, 
one  of  their  number,  organized  the  first  Ger- 
man Reformed  Church.  In  the  twenty  years 
which  followed,  they  were  without  ministers, 
teachers,  or  church  organizations  except  this 
parent  church,  and  though  they  had  nearly 
thirty  thousand  of  their  people,  mostly  speak- 
ing German  only,  within  a moderate  circuit, 
they  were  like  sheep  without  a shepherd. 
Rev.  Michael  Schlatter,  a German  Reformed 
minister  from  St.  Gall,  Switzerland,  came 
over  in  1740  as  a missionary  from  the  syn- 
ods of  North  and  South  Holland,  to  look 
after  their  welfare.  A man  of  great  energy, 
skill, and  judgment,  hesueceeded,  aftera  time, 
in  evoking  order  from  this  chaos.  He  or- 
ganized churches,  administered  the  sacra-, 
ments,  located  pastors,  established  schools, 
and  at  the  end  of  a year  and  a half,  in  Sep- 
tember, 1747,  was  able  to  form  the  first 
synod  or  coetus  of  the  German  Reformed 
Church,  consisting  of  five  ministers,  and 
twenty-six  elders,  who  represented  forty-six 
churches,  and  a population  of  thirty  thou- 
sand. He  then  returned  to  Europe  and 
succeeded  in  creating  a large  fund,  the  inter- 
est of  which  was  devoted  to  sustaining  min- 
isters and  school  teachers  among  these  peo- 
ple, and  brought  back  with  him  to  America  I 
five  young  ministers,  and  the  promise  of  a 


number  more.  This  .first  coetus  or  synod 
was,  like  the  Reformed  Dutch  church,  suboi> 
dinate  to  the  classis  of  Amsterdam,  until 
1793,  when  it  resolved  to  become  independ- 
ent, the  number  of  churches  having  increased 
to  one  hundred  and  fifty,  though  there  were 
yet  but  twenty-two  ordained  ministers.  On 
becoming  independent,  the  coetus  became 
the  synod,  and  the  church  took  the  name  of 
The  High  German  Reformed  Church  in  dis- 
tinction from  the  Low  German  or  Dutch 
Reformed  Church.  There  was  yet  a great 
scarcity  of  ministers,  and  as  they  had  no 
college  or  theological  seminary,  it  was  found 
impossible  to  educate  their  ministry  thor- 
oughly, and  many  errors  and  irregularities 
crept  into  the  church.  The  standard  of 
faith  in  the  Reformed  German  church  was 
like  that  of  its  Plolland  sister,  the  Heidel- 
berg catechism,  but  unlike  the  Dutch  church, 
it  did  not  adopt  the  Belgic  confession  or  the 
canons  of  the  synod  of  Dort,  as  defining  the 
sense  in  which  the  postulates  of  the  cate- 
chism should  be  held.  The  rationalism 
which  during  the  years  1790-1830  was  per- 
vading so  many  of  the  German  churches, 
was  not  without  its  effect  here ; and  this 
effect  was  produced  more  readily  because 
the  services  of  the  church  were  conducted 
wholly  in  German  until  1825.  After  a long 
struggle,  a theological  seminary  was  estab- 
lished in  1824,  and  after  two  or  three  re- 
movals, finally  located  at  Mercersburg,  Pa., 
in  1835.  A religious  periodical  in  English 
was  established  in  1828,  and  one  in  German 
in  1836;  In  1830  a high  school  was  estab- 
lished at  Yorkt  which  was  removed  to 
Mercersburg  in  1835,  and  in  1836  became 
Marshall  College.  Seventeen  years  later 
(1853)  it  was  consolidated  with  Franklin 
College  at  Lancaster,  and  removed  to  that 
city.  The  influence  of  the  theological  school, 
under  the  hands  of  its  able  professors  Nevin, 
Rauch,  Schaff,  and  Gerhart,  was  felt  in  crys- 
talizing  the  church  into  a unity  of  doctrine 
and  faith  which  was  greatly  in  contrast  with 
its  previous  history.  Not  that  there  were 
no  dissidents  ; in  their  own  ranks  there  were 
two  parties  who  opposed  the  Mercersburg  phi- 
losophy and  theology,  as  it  began  to  be  called ; 
those  whose  sympathies  were  with  the  Meth- 
odist church,  and  for  whom  it  was  too  Cal- 
vinistic,  aild  those  who  adhered  to  the  Belgic 
confession  and  the  canons  of  the  synod  of 
Dort,  or  rather  went  beyond  them  in  their 
higher  Calvinistic  leanings.  There  was  also 
strong  opposition  manifested  to  the  avowal 


618 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


boldly  made  by  the  Mercersburg  theologians 
that  the  Church  of  Rome,  despite  its  many 
errors,  was  a part  of  the  Church  of  Christ, 
and  that  Protestantism  was  a historical  con- 
tinuation of  the  Church  Catholic;  opposition 
also  came  from  without  to  the'e  views ; but 
on  the  whole  they  may  be  safely  asserted  to 
be  the  views  to-day  of  the  great  majority  of 
that  church.  It  is  a cardinal  point  in  this 
theology  that  the  Apostle’s  Creed  gives  form 
and  vitality  to  the  doctrines  of  the  Heidel- 
berg catechism ; and  that  any  explanation  of 
the  catechism  which  leaves  this  out  of  the 
account  is  defective,  and  unsound.  Rev.  Dr. 
Gerhart  thus  summarizes  the  views  held  by 
the  Mercersburg  theologians  as  thus  deduced 
from  the  catechism : 

“1.  Adam,  created  in  the  image  of  God, 
was  endowed  with  capacity  to  resist  tempta- 
tion and  abide  in  his  original  state  of  life — 
communion  with  God;  but  he  transgressed 
the  command  of  God  by  a free  act  of  his 
own  will  through  the  instigation  of  the  devil, 
the  head  of  the  kingdom  of  darkness. 

2.  The  fall  of  Adam  was  not  that  of  an 
individual  only,  but  the  fall  of  the  human 
race. 

3.  All  men  are  born  with  the  fallen 
natiye  of  Adam,  and  are  thus  under  the 
power  of  the  kingdom  of  darkness,  inclined 
to  all  evil,  and  unapt  to  any  good  ; and  are 
subject  to  the  wrath  of  God,  who  is  terribly 
displeased  with  their  inborn  as  well  as  actual 
sins,  and  will  punish  them  in  just  judgment 
in  time  and  in  eternity. 

4.  The  Eternal  Law  of  God,  incarnate 
by  the  Holy  Ghost  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  true 
God  and  true  man  in  one  person,  is  the  prin- 
ciple and  substance  of  the  new  creation. 

5.  In  the  mystery  of  the  Word  made 
flesh,  the  humanity  which  the  Son  of  God 
assumed  into  organic  and  eternal  union  with 
Himself,  is  the  most  perfect  of  supernatural 
revelation,  and  the  only  medium  of  Divine 
grace. 

6.  All  the  acts  of  Christ  are  not  those  of 
God  or  of  man  separately  taken,  but  the 
acts  of  the  God -man. 

7.  1 1 is  baptism,  fasting,  and  temptation  ; 
His  miracles  and  Ilis  word ; His  agony, 
passion,  and  death  ; Ilis  descent  into  Hades  ; 
His  resurrection  from  the  dead,  ascension  to 
heaven,  and  session  at  the  right  hand  of 
God;  the  coming  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
His  second  advent — all  derive  their  signifi- 
cance and  saving  virtue  from  the  mysterious 
constitution  of  his  person. 


8.  The  atonement  for  the  sin  of  man  is 
the  reconciliation  of  God  and  fallen  humanity 
in  the  person  and  work  of  Jesus  Christ.  It 
is  not  simply  the  offering  of  himself  on  the 
cross,  but  the  whole  process  of  resuming  hu 
man  nature  into  life  communion  with  God, 
and  includes  both  perfect  satisfaction  to  the 
law  by  suffering  the  penalty  and  all  the  con- 
sequences of  sin,  and  complete  victory  ov.  r 
the  devil.  The  full  benefit  of  the  atonement 
inures  to  the  believer,  because  by  faith  he  is 
a member  of  Christ,  and  a partaker  of  his 
anointing,  and  thus  stands  before  God  in  the 
life  and  righteousness  of  Christ. 

9.  The  Church  constituted  by  the  coming 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  is  the  mystical  body  of 
Christ,  a new,  real,  and  objective  order  of 
existence,  and  is  both  supernatural  and  nat- 
ural, divine  and  human,  heavenly  and  earthly 
the  fulness  of  him  that  filleth  all  in  all ; in 
whose  communion  alone  there  is  redemption 
from  sin,  and  all  its  consequences,  fellowship 
with  God  in  Christ,  and  the  hope  of  com- 
plete victory  over  death  and  hell,  and  of 
eternal  glory.  The  relation  which  the  new 
regenerated  humanity,  His  mystical  body, 
bears  to  Christ  the  head,  the  second  Adam, 
is  analogous  to  the.  organic  relation  which 
the  old,  fallen,  accursed  humanity  bears  to 
the  first  Adam. 

10.  The  sacraments  are  visible,  holy 
signs  and  seals,  wherein  God  by  an  objective 
transaction,  confirms  to  sinners  the  promise 
of  the  Gospel.  They  are  the  means,  whereby 
men  through  the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
are  made  partakers  of  the  substance  of  di- 
vine grace,  that  is  of  Christ  and  all  his  ben- 
efits. 

1 1 . Holy  baptism  is  a divine  transaction, 
wherein  the  subject  is  washed  with  the 
blood  and  spirit  of  Christ  from  all  the  pollu- 
tion of  his  sins  as  certainly  as  he  is  washed 
outwardly  with  water ; that  is,  he  is  renewed 
by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  sanctified  to  be  a 
member  of  Christ,  that  so  he  may  more  and 
more  die  unto  sin,  and  lead  a holy  and  un- 
blamable life. 

12.  Baptized  persons  do  not  attain  unto 
the  resurrection  of  the  dead  and  eternal  life 
in  virtue  simply  of  holy  baptism,  but  only 
on  the  condition  that,  improving  the  grace 
of  baptism,  they  believe  from  the  heart  on 
Christ,  die  unto  sin  daily,  and  lead  a holy 
life,  and  thus  realize  the  full  virtue  of  the 
incarnation  and  atonement, 

13.  The  sacrament  of  the  holy  supper  is 
the  abiding  memorial  of  the  sacrifice  of  our 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


619 


blessed  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ,  for  our  sins, 
upon  the  cross ; the  seal  of  his  perpetual 
presence  in  the  church  by  the  Holy  Ghot ; 
the  mystical  exhibition  of  his  one  offering  of  j 
himself  made  once,  but  of  force  always  to 
put  away  sin ; the  pledge  of  his  undying 
love  to  his  people,  and  the  bond  of  his  living 
union  and  fellowship  with  them  to  the  end 
of  time.  In  the  use  of  this  sacrament,  be- 
lieving communicants  do  not  only  commem- 
orate his  precious  death  as  the  one  all-suffi- 
cient, vicarious  sacrifice  for  their  sins,  but 
Christ  himself  also,  with  his  crucified  body 
and  shed  blood,  feeds  and  nourishes  their 
souls  to  everlasting  life  ; that  is,  by  this  visi- 
ble sign  and  pledge  he  assures  them  that 
they  are  really  partakers  of  his  true  body 
arrtl  blood,  through  the  woiking  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  as  they  receive,  by  the  mouth  of  the 
body,  these  holy  tokens  in  remembrance  of 
him. 

14.  The  bread  and  wine  of  the  holy 
supper  are  not  transmuted  into  the  very  body 
and  very  blood  of  Christ,  but  continue  to  be 
natural  bread  and  wine  ; nor  is  the  body  and 
blood  of  Clnist  consubstantial.  that  is,  in,  with, 
and  under  the  natural  bread  and  wine,  hut 
the  sacramental  transaction  is  a holy  mystery, 
in  which  the  full  life  giving  and  saving  virtue 
of  Christ,  mediated  through  his  humanity,  is 
really  present  by  the  supernatural  power  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  communicated  to  them 
who,  by  true  faith,  eat  and  drink  worthily, 
discerning  the  Lord’s  body. 

15.  At  death  the  righteous  pass  into  a 
state  of  joy  and  felicity  and  abide  in  rest  and 
peace  until  they  reach  their  consummation 
of  redemption  and  bliss,  in  the  glorious  res- 
urrection of  the  last  day. 

16.  The  second  advent  of  Christ  to  judge 
the  woild  in  righteousness,  will  complete  the 
objective  order  of  redemption,  and  also  the 
subjec  ive  process  of  life  and  salvation  in 
his  body,  the  church ; when  the  last  enemy, 
which  is  death,  shall  be  destroyed ; when 
the  saints  shall  come  forth  from  the  dead  in 
the  full  image  of  their  risen  Lord,  and  with 
II  im  pass  into  heaven,  the  state  of  perfect 
blessedness,  and  the  wicked  shall  rise  to  the  | 
resurrection  of  eternal  damnation.” 

On  points  of  doctrine  not  directly  connected 
with  the  foregoing  statements,  Dr.  Gerhart  I 
gives,  the  following  summary  of  the  belief  j 
of  the  Reformed  Church. 

“The  church  affirrtis  that  the  person  of 
Christ  is  the  true  principle  of  sound  theol- 
ogy; that  Christianity  is  a new  life,  that  the  j 


humanity  of  Christ  is  an  essential  constituent 
of  Christianity  ; that  the  Christian  church  is 
an  organic  continuation  in  time  and  space  of 
the  life  powers  of  the  new  creation  in  Christ 
Jesus ; that  the  covenant  is  an  order  or  in- 
stitution of  grace,  spiritual  and  real ; that 
the  Bible  was  written  by  members  of  the 
church  under  plenary  inspiration  of  the  Holy 
Ghost;  that  private  judgment  is  subordinate 
to  the  general  judgment  of  the  church  as 
expressed  particularly  in  the  Ecumenical 
creeds ; that  the  Word  of  God  is  the  only 
form  of  faith  and  practice,  and  is  superior 
to  all  creeds  and  confessions  ; that  the  indi- 
vidual comes  to  a right  apprehension  of  the 
contents  of  the  Bible  through  the  teaching 
of  the  church ; that  the  election  of  grace 
unto  life  is  effectual  in  and  by  the  established 
economy  of  grace ; that  justification  is  by 
an  act  of  faith  in  the  person  and  work  of 
Christ ; and  consists  both  in  the  imputation 
and  impartation  of  Christ  and  his  righteous- 
ness ; that  holy  baptism  is  the  sacrament  of 
regeneration,  regeneration  being  the  transi- 
tion from  the  state  of  nature  to  the  state  of 
grace,  as  natural  birth  is  the  transition  to  the 
natural  world  ; that  regeneration  succeeded 
by  conversion  and  sanctification  completes 
itself  in  the  resurrection  from  the  dead,  in- 
asmuch as  regeneration  and  salvation  pertain 
to  the  entire  man,  the  body  no  less  than  the 
soul ; that  believers  only  hold  communion 
with  Christ  in  the  Lord’s  Supper ; that  the 
ordinary,  divinely  ordained  means  of  grace 
are  adequate  to  all  the  needs  of  the  church 
and  the  world,  and  if  faithfully  used  do  not 
fail  to  promote  a steady  and  vigorous  growth 
of  the  church  ; that  although  the  church  of 
Rome  holds  many  articles  of  faith,  and  ap- 
proves and  perpetuates  many  customs  which 
are  not  warranted  by  the  Scriptures  and  are 
wrong,  she  is  nevertheless  a part  of  the 
church  of  Christ ; and  that  Protestantism  is 
a historical  continuation  of  the  Church  Cath- 
olic, in  a new  and  higher  form  of  faith,  or- 
ganization, and  practice.” 

As  to  its  worship  the  Reformed  Church 
was  originally  1 turgical  and  though  extem- 
poraneous prayer  has  prevailed  during  the 
j most  of  the  present  century  in  the  regular 
services  of  the  Lord’s  Day,  there  is  now  a 
strong  tendency  to  revert  to  its  former  litur- 
gical service.  After  repeated  trials  and  the 
most  careful  revision  and  modifications,  the 
| sue  cs  ive  liturgical  committees  of  the  Gen- 
eral and  the  Eastern  Synods  have  perfected 
an  “Order  of  worship  (including  a liturgy) 


620 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


for  the  Reformed  Churcli”  which  was  pub- 
lished in  1866,  and  has  been  adopted  in  most 
of  the  churches  of  the  Eastern  synod,  and 
in  some  of  those  of  the  Western  synods.  It 
is  gaining  ground  and  will  probably  be  event- 
ually the  established  book  of  worship  for  the 
entire  church. 

The  government  of  the  church  is  strictly 
Presbyterian.  The  consistory , answering  to 
the  church  session,  is  composed  of  the  pas- 
tor, elders  and  deacons.  Both  elders  and 
deacons  are  chosen  by  the  communicant 
members,  for  a term  of  two,  three,  or  four 
years,  generally  two  years,  and  ordained  by 
laying  on  of  hands  and  installed.  When 
the  term  expires,  the  administrative  power 
ceases,  but  not  the  office.  If  reelected,  in- 
stallation is  repeated,  but  not  ordination. 
The  classis  is  the  first  church  court  above 
the  church,  and  consists  of  the  ministers 
and  an  elder  from  each  parish  within  a given 
district.  The  classes  are  subject  to  the 
synod,  which  is  composed  of  a given  number 
of  ministers  and  elders,  chosen  by  four  or 
more  adjacent  classes.  The  synods  are  sub- 
ject to  the  General  Synod,  which  consists  of 
ministers  and  elders  chosen  by  all  the  classes 
of  the  church.  Appeals  to  the  General 
Synod  may  be  taken  from  any  of  the  lower 
church  courts.  Infant  baptism  is  faithfully 
and  universally  observed.  All  the  children 
and  youth  are  carefully  catechised  by  the 
pastor  once  in  two  weeks  or  oftener,  for  a 
period  of  from  three  to  nine  months  in  the 
year.  Catechumens  possessing  the  requisite 
qualifications  are,  after  examination  in  pres- 
ence of  the  elders,  received  into  the  full  com- 
munion of  the  church  by  the  rite  of  confirm- 
ation. The  holy  communion  is  commonly 
administered  twice  a year,  and  in  many  of 
the  churches  four  times.  The  communicants 
receive  the  sacred  emblems  by  companies, 
standing  around  the  altar.  They  observe 
the  festivals,  Christmas,  Good  Friday,  E;.s  er, 
and  Whit-Sunday  with  much  solemnity. 

The  statistics  of  the  Reformed  (German) 
Church  for  1870,  are  as  follows:  one  Gen 
oral  Synod ; four  particular  synods,  viz  : the 
Eastern,  or  as  it  is  officiary  called,  The 
Synod  of  the  Reformed  Church  in  the  United 
States” ; “ The  Synod  of  Ohio,  and  adjacent 
States” ; “ The  Synod  of  the  Reformed 
Church  in  the  Northwest,”  and  the  ‘‘  Pitts- 
burg Synod  of  the  Reformed  Church” ; 
thirty  one  classes,  526  ministers,  1170  con- 
gregations, 217.010  members,  of  whom,  how-  j 
ever,  only  96,728  are  communicants,  the 


remainder  being  baptized  children  and  uncon- 
firmed members;  12,776  were  baptized, 
7,068  confirmed,  and  3,592  received  on  cer- 
tificate. The  number  of  Sunday  Schools 
reported  is  1,019,  and  of  Sunday  School 
scholars  49,9 GO.  The  amount  of  benevolent 
contributions,  exclusive  of  those  for  congre- 
gational purposes,  was  $76,453.  There  are 
2 theological  seminaries,  one  at  Mereersburg, 
Pa.,  with  4 professors,  and  28  students;  the 
other  at  Tiffin,  Ohio,  with  two  professors, 
and  20  students ; a mission  house  at  She- 
boygan, Wisconsin,  with  3 professors,  and  22 
students.  There  are  two  fully  organized 
colleges,  Franklin  and  Marshall,  at  Lancas- 
ter, Pa.,  and  Heidelberg  College  at  Tiffin, 
Ohio.  There  are  also  seven  classical  insti- 
tut  ons,  most  of  them  cal'ed  colleges,  five  of 
them  in  Pa.,  one  in  North  Carolina,  and  one 
in  Ohio ; and  two  female  seminaries,  one  at 
Allentown,  Pa.,  the  other  at  Tyrconnell, 
Maryland.  They  have  eleven  periodicals, 
two  quarterly  (reviews),  four  weekly,  and 
one  semimonthly  newspapers;  a monthly 
magazine,  and  three  monthly  Sunday  School 
papers.  There  are  two  printing  establish- 
ments, one  at  Philadelphia,  the  other  at 
Cleveland,  Ohio. 


Y.  METHODISTS. 

j 

I.  The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
No  denomination,  in  modern  times,  has 
had  so  rapid  a growth  as  the  Methodists. 
Numbering  in  its  various  divisions  over  two 
million  of  communicants,  and  having  an  ad- 
herent population  of  nearty  eight  millions,  it 
seems  almost  incredible  that  the  first  Meth- 
odist society  was  organized  in  New  York 
City  in  1766,  and  that  they  had  no  existence 
as  a distinct  church  until  1784,  when  their 
connection  with  the  Church  of  England,  and 
with  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in 
this  country,  was  formally  dissolved,  apd 
Thomas  Coke,  who  had  received  ordination 
as  a Superintendent  over  the  Methodist  so- 
cieties in  the  United  States  at  the  hand  of 
John  Wesley;  and  Francis  Asbury,  whom 
he  had  in  turn  ordained  for  the  same  office, 
met  a conference  of  the  Methodist  Societies 
at  Baltimore,  and  there  assumed  the  title  and 
position  of  “ Bishops  of  the  Mediodist  Epis- 
copal Church  in  America.”  This  act  was 
displeasing  to  Mr.  Wesley,  who  protested 
against  it  in  strong  terms,  and  Dr.  Coke, 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


621 


who  subsequently  returned  to  England,  never 
attempted  to  exercise  Episcopal  functions 
there.  Still  the  act  was  a judicious  one,  and 
led  to  the  more  rapid  development  of  the 
great  denomination  which  sprung  from  such 
small  beginnings. 

The  history  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  has  been  one  of  almost  constant  suc- 
cess. There  have  been,  indeed,  secessions 
in  considerable  numbers  from  its  ranks,  as 
there  have  from  the  Wesleyan  Methodists  of 
Great  Britain,  and  some  of  these  seceding 
bodies  have  themselves  attained  subsequently 
a large  membership,  but  the  seceders  have 
not  left  the  church  on  doctrinal  grounds  but 
on  different  views  of  church  polity  and  dis- 
cipline. Thus  the  u African  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church  ” withdrew,  in  1787,  on  account 
of  the  prevailing  prejudice  against  persons 
of  color,  and  the  “ Zion  African  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,”  in  1820,  for  the  same 
reason.  The  “ Methodist  Protestant  Church” 
withdrew  in  1830,  on  account  of  differences 
in  regard  to  the  episcopate  and  lay  repre- 
sentation. “The  Wesleyan  Methodist  Con- 
nection of  America”  seceded  in  1843,  in 
consequence  of  a difference  of  views  on  slav- 
ery, temperance,  and  church  government. 

The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,” 
by  far  the  largest  of  the  separating  bodies, 
came  off  in  1844,  from  dissatisfaction  with 
the  action  of  the  general  Conference  of  that 
year,  requiring  Rev.  J.  O.  Andrew,  D.  D., 
one  of  the  bishops,  to  desist  from  the  exer- 
cise of  his  episcopal  functions  on  account  of 
his  being  a slaveholder.  Since  1844  there 
have  been  several  secessions  of  small  num- 
bers of  churches  which  have  generally  be- 
come extinct  or  have  returned  to  the  church 
in  a few  years.  The  Free  Methodists  still 
remain  separate,  basing  their  withdrawal  on 
their  desire  to  return  to  the  simplicity,  plain- 
ness, and  avoidance  of  display,  either  in  dress 
or  in  the  adornment  of  their  churches,  into 
which,  as  tliey  allege,  the  great  body  of 
Methodists  have  fallen.  The  marvelous 
growth  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
is  not  due  to  any  very  great  extent,  like  that 
of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  to  immigra- 
tion ; considerable  numbers  of  Methodists 
have,  indeed,  come  here  from  Great  Britain, 
Ireland,  and  lattefly  from  Germany  and 
Sweden  ; but  many  of  these  have  gone  into  * 
other  though  kindred  denomi  ations.  Its 
great  increase  has  been  due  to  the  earnest 
and  constant  labors  of  its  ministers,  local 
preachers,  and  class  leaders,  to  its  strong 
38* 


spirit  of  propagandism,  and  to  its  remarkable 
adaptation  as  a religious  system,  to  pioneer 
life,  and  to  the  necessities  of  a new  and  only 
partially  settled  country.  Its  triumphs  in 
the  western  states  have  been  very  great ; in 
several  of  the  states,  and  especially  in  Indiana 
and  Iowa,  its  adherent  population  are  said  to 
constitute  nearly  or  quite  one-half  of  the  peo- 
ple of  the  state.  Its  organization  for  the  pro- 
motion of  its  objects  is  very  efficient.  It  main- 
tains in  most  of  the  large  cities,  and  within 
convenient  distance  of  each  other,  its  denom- 
inational journals,  owned  by  the  General 
Conference,  and  advocating  its  measures.  It 
has  a book  concern,  which,  after  paying  over 
one-third  of  its  capital  to  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church,  South,  and  dividing  its  surplus 
profits  among  the  annual  conferences  for 
the  support  of  enfeebled  and  superannuated 
preachers,  and  the  widows  and  children  of 
those  who  have  died  in  the  ministry,  is  still 
the  largest  publishing  house  in  America, 
having  a net  capital  of  $1,458,575,  and  as- 
sets to  the  amount  of  $2,649,549  in  1870. 
Every  itinerant  minister  is,  by  virtue  of  his 
position,  a colporteur  and  propagandist  for 
the  sale  and  distribution  of  its  publications. 
It  has  largely  engaged  in  the  Sunday  School 
work,  and  through  this  means  has  greatly 
increased  its  membership.  Its  camp  meet- 
ings, love  feasts,  classes,  and  other  means  of 
appealing  to  the  emotional  element  in  the 
nature  of  men,  attract  many  to  its  worship 
and  to  its  communion.  The  gradations  in 
its  ministerial  service  are  admirably  adapted 
to  promote  efficiency  in  its  ministry.  The 
class-leader  in  charge  of  a small  section  of  a 
church,  for  whose  spiritual  growth  and  wel- 
fare he  is  in  some  sense  responsible,  may,  if 
he  develops  superior  gifts  become  an  ex- 
horter ; the  exhorter  in  turn  may  develop 
into  a local  preacher,  or  into  an  itinerant  or 
circuit  preacher,  passing  through  his  proba- 
tion of  the  diaconate  ; the  itinerant  can  look 
forward  to  becoming  a presiding  elder  over 
the  churches  of  a District;  and  from  the 
ranks  of  these  come  the  editors  of  the  de- 
nominational journals,  the  managers  or 
agents  of  the  book  concern  and  its  branches, 
and  the  Bishops.  These  last  have  varied 
and  arduous  labors  to  perform,  and  are  liable 
to  break  down  from  over-work.  They  have 
no  dioceses  like  the  bishops  of  the  Roman 
Catholic,  Episcopal,  and  Moravian  churches, 
but  are,  in  the  true  sense  of  the  word,  bish- 
ops,— cpiscopoi , — overseers,  of  the  whole 
church.  They  visit  and  preside  over  the 


622 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


annual,  conferences,  assign,  in  council  with 
the  presiding  elders,  to  the  itinerants  their 
charges,  visit  the  missionary  fields,  superin- 
tend and  manage,  in  connection  with  the 
other  officers,  the  Missionary,  Sunday  School, 
and  publishing  institutions  of  the  church,  and 
constitute,  either  singly  or  together,  a high 
court  of  appeal — in  the  interim  of  the  ses- 
sions of  the  Quadrennial  Conference — in 
matters  of  church  polity  and  discipline,  and 
in  those  appertaining  to  the  property  or 
finances  of  the  church. 

The  college  of  bishops,  when  full,  has  now 
ten  members  ; but  since  the  Quadrennial 
Conference  of  1808,  three,  Bishops  Thom 
son,  Kingsley,  and  Clark,  have  died,  and  two 
others  are  in  such  feeble  health  as  to  be  ca- 
pable of  very  little  labor. 

The  following  statement  of  the  doctrines 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  is  slightly 
abridged  from  a declaration  of  their  doc- 
trines, made  by  Rev.  Abel  Stevens,  D.  D., 
LL.  D.,  the  historian  of  Methodism,  and  one 
of  their  ablest  writers. 

The  doctrines  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  are  contained  in  twenty-five  articles, 
and  are  as  follows  : 1.  There  is  but  one 

living  and  true  God,  everlasting,  without 
body  or  parts,  of  infinite  power,  wisdom  and 
goodness,  the  maker  of  all  things  visible  and 
invisible.  And  in  unity  of  this  Godhead, 
there  are  three  persons,  of  one  substance, 
power  and  eternity — the  Father,  the  Son, 
and  the  Holy  Ghost.  2.  The  Son,  who  is 
the  Word  of  the  Father,  the  very  and  eter- 
nal God,  of  one  substance  with  the  Father, 
took  man’s  nature  in  the  womb  of  the  blessed 
Virgin ; so  that  two  whole  and  perfect  na- 
tures, that  is  to  say,  the  Godhead  and  man- 
hood, were  joined  together  in  one  person, 
never  to  be  divided,  whereof  is  one  Christ, 
very  God  and  very  man,  who  truly  suffered, 
was  crucified,  dead  and  buried,  to  reconcile 
his  Father  to  us,  and  to  be  a sacrifice,  not 
only  for  original  guilt  but  also  for  the  actual 
sins  of  men.  3.  Christ  did  truly  rise  again 
from  the  dead,  and  took  again  his  body,  with 
all  things  appertaining  to  the  perfection  of 
man’s  nature,  wherewith  he  ascended  to 
heaven,  and  there  sitteth  until  he  return  to 
judge  all  men  at  the  last  day.  4.  The  Iloly 
Ghost,  proceeding  from  the  Father  and  the 
Son,  is  of  one  substance,  majesty,  and  glory, 
with  the  Father  and  the  Son,  very  and  eter- 
nal God.  5.  The  holy  Scriptures  contain 
all  things  necessary  to  salvation ; so  that 
whatsoever  is  not  read  therein,  nor  may  be 


proved  thereby,  is  not  required  of  any  man, 
that  it  should  be  believed  as  an  article  of 
faith,  or  be  thought  requisite  or  necessary  to 
salvation.  By  the  Holy  Scriptures  we  do 
understand  those  canonical  books  of  the  Old 
and  New  Testaments  of  whose  authority  was 
never  any  doubt  in  the  church.  9.  The  Old 
Testament  is  not  contrary  to  the  New,  for 
both  in  the  Old  and  New  Testament  ever- 
lasting life  is  offered  to  mankind  by  Christ, 
who  is  the  only  mediator  between  God  and 
man,  being  both  God  and  man.  Wherefore 
they  are  not  to  be  heard  who  feign  that  the 
old  fathers  did  look  only  for  transitory  prom- 
ises. Although  the  law  given  from  God  by 
Moses,  as  touching  ceremonies  and  rites,  doth 
not  bind  Christians,  nor  ought  the  civil  pre- 
cepts thereof  of  necessity  to  be  received  in 
any  commonwealth,  yet  notwithstanding,  no 
Christian  whatever  is  free  from  the  obedience 
of  the  commandments  which  are  called  moral. 
7.  Original  sin  standeth  not  in  the  following 
of  Adam,  as  the  Pelagians  do  vainly  talk,  but 
it  is  the  corruption  of  the  nature  of  every 
man  that  is  naturally  engendered  of  the  off- 
spring of  Adam,  whereby  man  is  very  far 
gone  from  original  righteousness,  and  of  his 
own  nature  inclined  to  evil,  and  that  contin- 
ually. 8.  The  condition  of  man  after  the 
fall  of  Adam  is  such,  that  he  cannot  turn  and 
prepare  himself,  by  his  own  natural  strength 
and  works,  to  faith  and  calling  upon  God ; 
wherefore  we  have  no  power  to  do  good 
works,  pleasant  and  acceptable  to  God,  with- 
out the  grace  of  God  by  Christ  preventing 
us,  that  we  may  have  a good  will,  and  work- 
ing with  us  when  wre  have  that  good  will. 
9.  We  are  accounted  righteous  before  God, 
only  for  the  merit  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ  by  faith,  and  not  for  our  own 
works  or  deservings ; wherefore,  that  we  are 
justified  by  faith  only,  is  a most  wdiolesome 
doctrine  and  very  full  of  comfort.  10.  Al- 
though good  works  which  are  the  fruits  of 
faith,  and  follow  after  justification,  cannot 
put  aw'ay  our  sins,  and  endure  the  severity 
of  God’s  judgments,  yet  are  they  pleasing 
and  acceptable  to  God  in  Christ,  and  spring 
out  of  a true  and  lively  faith,  insomuch  that 
by  them  a lively  faith  may  be  as  evidently 
knowui  as  a tree  is  discerned  by  its  fruit. 
11.  Voluntary  wTorks,  beside,  over  and  above 
God’s  commandments,  cannot  be  taught  with- 
out arrogance  and  impiety.  For  by  them 
men  do  declare  that  they  do  not  only  render 
to  God  as  much  as  they  are  bound  to  do,  but 
they  do  mo.e  lor  his  sake  than  of  bounden 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


623 


duty  is  required  ; whereas  Christ  saith  plain- 
ly : When  ye  have  done  all  that  is  com- 
manded you,  say,  We  are  unprofitable  serv- 
ants. 12.  Not  every  sin  willingly  committed 
after  justification  is  the  sin  against  the  Holy 
Ghost  and  unpardonable.  Wherefore  the 
grant  of  repentance  is  not  to  be  denied  to 
such  as  fall  into  sin  after  justification ; after 
we  have  received  the  Holy  Ghost  we  may 
fall  into  sin,  and  by  the  grace  of  God  rise 
again  and  amend  ourselves.  And  therefore 
they  are  to  be  condemned  who  say  they  can 
no  more  sin  as  long  as  they  live  here,  or  deny 
the  place  of  forgiveness  to  such  as  truly  re- 
pent. 

13.  The  visible  Church  of  Christ  is  a con- 
gregation of  faithful  men,  in  which  the  pure 
Word  of  God  is  preached,  and  the  sacra- 
ments duly  administered  according  to  Christ’s 
ordinance  in  all  those  things  that  of  necessity 
are  requisite  to  the  same. 

14.  The  Romish  doctrine  concerning  pur- 
gatory, pardon,  worshipping  and  adoration  as 
well  of  images  as  of  relics,  and  also  invoca- 
tion of  saints,  is  a fond  thing  vainly  invented 
and  grounded  upon  no  warrant  of  Scripture, 
but  repugnant  to  the  Word  of  God. 

15.  It  is  a thing  plainly  repugnant  to  the 
Word  of  God,  and  the  custom  of  the  primitive 
church,  to  have  public  prayers  in  the  church, 
or  to  administer  the  sacraments,  in  a tongue 
not  understood  by  the  people. 

16.  Sacraments  ordained  of  Christ  are 
not  only  badges  or  tokens  of  Christian  men’s 
profession,  but,  rather,  they  are  certain  signs 
of  grace,  and  God’s  good  will  toward  us,  by  | 
the  which  he  doth  work  invisibly  in  us,  and 
doth  not  only  quicken,  but  also  strengthen 
and  confirm  our  faith  in  him.  There  are 
two  sacraments  ordained  of  Christ  our  Lord 
in  the  gospel ; that  is  to  say,  baptism  and 
the  supper  of  the  Lord.  Those  five  com- 
monly called  sacraments : that  is  to  say,  con- 
firmation, penance,  orders,  matrimony,  and 
extreme  unction,  cannot  be  counted  for  sac- 
raments of  the  gospel,  being  such  as  have 
partly  grown  out  of  the  corrupt  following  of 
the  apostles,  and  partly  are  states  of  life  al- 
lowed in  the  Scriptures,  but  yet  have  not 
the  like  nature  of  baptism  and  the  Lord’s 
supper,  because  they  have  not  any  visible 
sign  or  ceremony  ordained  of  God.  The 
sacraments  were  not  ordained  of  Christ  to  be 
gazed  upon, or  to  be  carried  about;  but  that 
we  should  duly  use  them.  And  in  such  only 
as  worthily  receive  the  same,  they  have  a 
wholesome  effect  or  operation ; but  they  that 


receive  them  unworthily,  purchase  to  them- 
selves condemnation,  as  St.  Paul  saith,  1 
Cor.  xi : 29. 

17.  Baptism  is  not  only  a sign  of  profes- 
sion, and  mark  of  difference,  whereby  Chris- 
tians are  distinguished  from  others  that  are 
not  baptized,  but  it  is  also  a sign  of  regen- 
eration, or  the  new  birth.  The  baptism  of 
young  children  is  to  be  retained  in  the  Church. 

18.  The  supper  of  the  Lord  is  not  only 
a sign  of  the  love  that  Christians  ought  to 
have  among  themselves  one  to  the  other,  but 
rather  is  a sacrament  of  our  redemption  by 
Christ’s  death ; insomuch  that  to  such  as 
rightly,  worthily,  and  with  faith  receive  the 
same,  the  bread  which  we  break  is  the  par- 
taking of  the  body  of  Christ,  and  the  wine 
which  we  drink  is  a partaking  of  the  blood 
of  Christ.  Transubstantiation,  or  the  change 
of  the  substance  of  the  bread  and  wine  in  the 
supper  of  the  Lord  cannot  be  proved  by  Holy 
Writ,  but  is  repugnant  to  the  plain  words 
of  Scripture,  overthroweth  the  nature  of  a 
sacrament,  and  Lath  given  occasion  to  many 
superstitions.  The  body  of  Christ  is  given 
and  taken  in  the  supper,  < >n’y  after  a heavenly 
and  spiritual  manner ; and  the  means  where- 
by the  body  of  Christ  is  received  and  taken 
in  the  supper,  is  faith.  The  sacrament  of 
the  Lord’s  supper  was  not  by  Christ’s  ordin- 
ance reserved,  carried  about,  lifted  up,  or 
worshipped. 

19.  The  cup  of  the  Lord  is  not  to  be  de- 
nied to  the  lay  people,  for  both  the  parts  of 
the  Lord’s  supper,  by  Christ’s  ordinance  and 
commandment,  ought  to  be  administered  to 
all  Christians  alike. 

20.  The  offering  of  Christ,  once  made,  is 
that  perfect  redemption,  propitiation  and  sat- 
isfaction for  all  the  sins  of  tlie  whole  world, 
both  original  and  actual,  and  there  is  none 
other  satisfaction  for  sin  but  that  alone. 
Wherefore  the  sacrifice  of  masses,  in  the 
which  it  is  commonly  said  that  the  priest  doth 
offer  Christ  for  the  quick  and  the  dead,  to 
have  remission  of  pain  or  guilt,  is  a blasphe- 
mous fable  and  dangerous  deceit. 

21.  The  ministers  of  Christ  are  not  com- 
manded by  God’s  law  either  to  vow  the  state 
of  single  life,  or  to  abstain  from  marriage  ; 
therefore  it  is  lawful  for  them,  as  for  all  other 
Christians,  to  marry  at  their  own  discretion, 
as  they  shall  judge  the  same  to  serve  best 
to  godliness. 

22.  It  is  not  necessary  that  rites  and  cere- 
monies should  in  all  places  be  the  same,  or 
exactly  alike,  for  they  have  been  always  dif- 


624 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OP  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


ferent,  and  may  be  changed  according  to  the 
diversity  of  countries,  times,  and  men’s  man- 
ners, so  that  nothing  be  ordained  against 
God’s  Word.  Whosoever,  through  his  pri- 
vate judgment,  willingly  and  purposely  doth 
openly  break  the  rites  and  ceremonies  of  the 
church  to  which  he  belongs  which  are  not 
repugnant  to  the  Word  of  God,  and  are  or- 
dained and  approved  by  common  authority, 
ought  to  be  rebuked  openly,  that  others  may 
fear  to  do  the  like,  as  one  that  offendeth 
against  the  common  order  of  the  church,  and 
woundeth  the  consciences  of  weak  brethren. 
Every  particular  church  may  ordain,  change 
or  abolish  rites  and  ceremonies,  so  that  all 
things  may  be  done  to  edification. 

23.  The  president,  the  Congress,  the  Gen- 
eral Assemblies,  the  Governor,  the  Councils 
of  State,  as  the  delegates  of  the  people,  are 
the  rulers  of  the  United  States  of  America, 
according  to  the  division  of  power  made  to 
them  by  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States, 
and  by  the  constitutions  of  their  respective 
states.  And  the  said  states  are  a sovereign 
and  independent  nation  and  ought  not  to  be 
subject  to  any  foreign  jurisdiction. 

24.  The  riches  and  goods  of  Christians 
are  not  common,  as  touching  the  right,  title, 
and  possession  of  the  same,  as  some  do  falsely 
boast.  Notwithstanding,  every  man  ought, 
of  such  things  as  he  possesseth,  liberally  to 
give  alms  to  the  poor,  according  to  his  ability. 

25.  As  we  confess  that  vain  and  rash 
swearing  is  forbidden  Christian  men,  by 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  James  his  apos- 
tle, so  we  judge  that  the  Christian  religion 
doth  not  prohibit,  but  that  a man  may  swear 
when  the  magistrate  requireth,  in  a cause  of 
faith  and  charity,  so  it  be  done  according  to 
the  prophet’s  teaching,  ‘ in  justice,  judgment, 
and  truth.’  ” 

It  is  proper  to  notice  that  as  the  Metho- 
dist church,  founded  by  Wesley,  was  really 
an  offshoot  from  the  Church  of  England, 
much  of  the  phraseology  of  these  articles  is 
taken  from  the  doctrinal  standards  of  that 
Church. 

The  legislative  power  of  the  church  resides 
in  its  General  Conference,  which  meets  every 
four  years,  and  to  which  the  72  annual  con- 
ferences are  subject.  This  General  Confer- 
ence has  hitherto  been  composed  of  clerical 
delegates  appointed  by  the  several  Annual 
Conferences.  The  General  Conference  of 
1872  will,  however,  have  a proportion  of  lay 
delegates,  as  do  now  the  Annual  Conferences ; 
lay  representation  having  been  approved  by 


a two-thirds  vote  of  the  membership  in  1869, 
after  having  agitated  the  church  more  or  less 
for  forty  years,  and  having  been  the  basis  of 
one  or  two  secessions.  The  General  Con- 
ference governs  and  controls  the  entire 
Church,  but  is  restricted  by  its  constitution 
on  certain  points  relative  to  its  doctrines, 
polity,  and  distribution  of  its  funds. 

The  Annual  Conferences  consist  of  all  the 
traveling  preachers,  deacons,  and  presiding 
elders  of  a certain  portion  of  country,  usually 
comprising  several  districts,  each  undpr  the 
charge  of  a presiding  elder.  There  are  now 
also  admitted  to  these  conferences  delega- 
tions of  the  laity  equal  in  number  to  the 
clerical  representation.  Each  conference  is 
presided  over  by  a bishop.  The  main  busi- 
ness transacted  at  these  conferences  is  the 
admission  and  ordination  of  preachers ; an 
examination  of  the  character  and  official  ad- 
ministration of  the  ministers  belonging  to 
the  Conference ; a review  of  the  missionary, 
educational,  and  publishing  interests ; the 
apportionment  of  the  Conference  funds  to 
infirm  and  superannuated  preachers,  and  to 
the  widows  and  orphans  of  such  within  the 
Conference  ; and  the  assignment  of  the  min- 
isters to  their  several  stations  and  circuits 
for  the  year  ensuing.  In  each  district  there^ 
is  held  a quarterly  conference,  composed  of 
the  traveling  and  local  ministers,  the  exhort- 
ers,  stewards,  class-leaders,  and  superintend- 
ants  of  Sunday  Schools.  These  conferences 
are  presided  over  by  the  presiding  elder  of 
the  district,  and  manage  the  details  of  local 
interests  connected  with  the  stations  or  cir- 
cuits ; serve  as  courts  of  appeal  in  the  trial 
of  church  members  ; grant  licenses  to  preach, 
and  recommend  suitable  candidates  for  ad- 
mission into  the  Annual  Conference.  The 
theory  of  the  itinerancy  in  the  Methodist 
church  as  defined  by  Wesley,  was,  that  it 
incited  the  preachers  to  a greater  measure 
of  zeal  and  enthusiasm  as  they  addressed 
new  congregations  so  often ; that  it  made 
the  congregations  or  churches  more  attentive 
to  the  gospel  and  less  attached  to  the  per- 
sons of  those  who  proclaimed  it;  that  by 
this  method  of  distributing  the  various  classes 
of  gifts  the  smaller  and  poorer  locations  were 
sure  of  receiving  a share  of  the  best  gifts  of 
which  they  would  otherwise  be  deprived ; 
and  that,  not  being  influenced  by  local  at- 
tachments, the  preachers  would  be  better 
fitted  to  act  as  pioneers  on  the  frontiers, 
where,  otherwise,  they  might  be  less  willing 
to  go.  In  its  practical  working  other  ad  van- 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


625 


tages  and  disadvantages  have  been  developed; 
and  while  in  a new  section  of  country,  it 
proves  successful  and  has  accomplished  great 
good,  it  is  every  year  becoming  more  dis- 
tasteful to  the  clergymen  and  churches  in 
the  more  densely  populated  portions  of  the 
country.  In  the  cities  and  larger  towns  the 
circuit  feature  has  almost  entirely  disap 
peared ; the  ministers  are  pastors  of  single 
churches,  the  only  difference  being  that  their 
stay  is  limited  with  a single  church.  This 
limit  was  formerly  two  years,  but  the  Con- 
ference of  1868  made  it  three  years.  The 
more  eloquent  and  popular  preachers,  how- 
ever, often  manage  to  evade  this  limit  by 
securing  an  appointment  in  the  same  city  in 
some  different  capacity,  which  will  allow 
them  to  remain  as  practical  pastors  of  the 
churches  to  which  they  are  attached.  With 
indolent  and  half  educated  ministers  it  is 
alleged  that  the  itinerancy  encourages  idle 
ness,  as  it  renders  any  considerable  study,  be- 
yond the  preparation  of  plans  of  sermons  for 
the  first  year  or  two  years,  unnecessary ; but 
the  Methodist  ministry  has  buta  small  propor- 
tion of  drones.  To  be  eligible  to  full  con- 
nection in  an  annual  Conference  and  the 
office  of  deacon,  a preacher  must  have  trav- 
eled two  years  as  a probationer  and  stood 
suitable  examinations.  He  is  eligible  to 
elders’  or  ministers’  orders  after  two  years 
further  service  and  another  examination. 
Preachers — i.  e.,  licensed  exhorters  and  dea- 
cons— are  not  authorized  to  baptize  or  ad- 
minister the  Lord’s  Supper.  Elders  or  min- 
isters are  ordained  by  the  bishops,  and  may 
administer  all  the  ordinances.  Stewards  are 
persons  chosen  by  the  Quarterly  Conferences 
to  take  charge  of  and  disburse  all  funds  col- 
lected for  the  poor,  the  support  of  the  minis- 
try, and  sacramental  purposes.  Class-leaders 
are  appointed  by  the  ministers ; their  duty 
is  to  see  all  the  members  of  their  respective 
classes  once  a week,  to  learn  their  spiritual 
condition,  and  to  receive  their  contributions 
for  church  purposes.  Classes  usually  con- 
sist of  twelve  or  more  persons. 

The  statistics  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  in  1870,  were  as  follows:  Bishops 

8;  travelling  preachers,  9,19  >;  local  preach- 
ers, 11,404;  total  preachers,  21,234;  mem- 
bers in  full  connection,  1,173,099;  members 
on  probation,  194,035;  total  lay  members, 
1,367,134;  adult  baptisms,  66,481;  infant 
baptisms,  50,453;  total  baptisms,  116,934; 
number  of  churches,  13.373  ; number  of  par- 
sonage , 4,179  ; value  of  church  edifices,  $52,- 


614,591;  value  of  parsonages,  $7,293,513; 
number  of  Sunday,  schools,  16,912;  number 
of  Sunday  school  teachers,  189,412;  number 
of  Sunday  school  scholars,  1,221,393  ; amount 
of  benevolent  collections,  (aside  from  church 
expenses,)  $967,862. 

II.  The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South.  This  body  seceded  from  the  “ Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church”  in  1844,  on  the 
following  grounds  : It  was  well  known  that 
John  Wesley,  the  founder  of  Methodism, 
was  opposed  to  slavery,  declaring  it  to  be 
“ the  sum  of  all  villanies  ;”  but  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church  having  a large  mem- 
bership in  the  Southern  states,  had  grown 
lax  on  the  subject,  and  as  for  many  years 
there  was  very  little  agitation  on  the  ques- 
tion, many  slaveholders  became  members 
and  a considerable  number  ministers  of  the 
church.  In  1828,  one  of  these  latter,  known 
to  be  a slaveholder,  was  sent  as  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
to  the  British  Wesleyan  Conference.  In 
1840,  the  General  Conference  declared  by 
formal  resolution,  that  “ the  mere  ownership 
of  slave  property,  in  states  or  territories 
where  the  laws  do  not  admit  of  emancipa- 
tion, and  permit  the  liberated  slave  to  enjoy 
freedom,  constitutes  no  legal  barrier  to  the 
election  or  ordination  of  ministers  to  the 
various  grades  of  office  known  in  the  ministry 
of  the  “ Methodist  Episcopal  Church.”  In 
1844,  however,  the  feeling  of  opposition  to 
slavery  began  to  be  renewed  in  the  General 
Conference,  which  was  held  in  New  York 
City,  and  proceedings  not  assuming  judicial 
form,  and  unaccompanied  with  any  regular 
impeachment,  were  instituted  against  Rev. 
James  O.  Andrew,  D.  D.,  who  had  been  one 
of  the  bishops  since  1832,  a citizen  of  Geor- 
gia, who  had  married  a lady  possessing  many 
slaves.  These  proceedings,  after  a protracted 
debate,  were  terminated  by  an  act  passed  by 
a majority  of  the  Conference  requiring  the 
bishop  to  desist  from  his  functions,  on  ac- 
count of  this  connection  with  slavery.  There- 
upon the  representatives  of  thirteen  of  the 
thirty-three  annual  conferences  of  which  the 
church  was  then  composed,  (being  those  em- 
braced in  the  slaveholding  states,)  presented 
a declaration  which  set  forth  their  solemn 
conviction  that  a continuance  of  the  juris- 
diction of  the  General  Conference  over  the 
annual  conferences  thus  represented,  would 
be  inconsistent  with  the  success  of  the 
Methodist  ministry  in  the  slaveholding  states, 
The  declaration  was  accompanied  by  a for. 


626 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


mal  protest  against  the  action  of  the  major- 
ity in  Bishop  Andrew’s  case,  and  thus  led  to 
the  adoption  by  the  General  Conference  of 
a plan  of  separation,  according  to  which 
there  was  contemplated  an  amicable  adjust- 
ment of  boundary  lines,  and  a fair  division 
of  property,  should  the  annual  conferences 
in  the  slaveholding  states  find  it  necessary 
to  unite  in  an  ecclesiastical  connection  dis- 
tinct from  that  of  the  North.  The  church 
in  the  South  and  South-west,  in  primary  as- 
semblies, and  in  quarterly  and  annual  con- 
ferences, sustained  the  declaration  of  the 
delegates,  and  measures  were  immediately 
adopted  for  the  assembling  of  a convention. 
This  was  held  in  May,  1845,  at  Louisville, 
Ky.  Acting  under  the  provisions  of  the 
plan  of  separation,  and  in  pursuance  of  the 
formal  instructions  of  the  annual  conferences, 
the  convention  dissolved  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  General  Conference  over  the  conferences 
there  represented,  and  created  a separate 
ecclesiastical  connection  under  the  title  of 
“The  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South.” 
The  first  General  Conference  of  this  organ- 
ization was  held  at  Petersburg,  Va.,  in  1»46. 
There  was  some  difficulty  in  arranging  all 
the  details  for  the  separation,  and  owing  to 
the  repudiation  of  the  plan  of  separation 
by  the  General  Conference  of  the  “ Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church”  in  1848,  the  division 
of  the  property  of  the  Booh  concern,  pro 
rata,  was  only  accomplished  after  a lawsuit 
in  1853.  In  1845  the  statistics  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South,  were:  5 
bishops,  13  annual  conferences,  1,384  trav- 
eling preachers,  90  superannuated  preachers, 
2,550  local  preachers,  330,710  white  mem- 
bers, 124,811  colored  members,  2,978  In- 
dians ; total  462,428.  This  was  almost  one- 
half  of  the  whole  membership  of  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  before  the  division. 
In  1859,  there  were  six  bishops,  24  annual 
preachers,  1,661  traveling  preachers,  5,177 
local  preachers,  511,601  white  members, 
197,348  colored  members,  4,236  Indians; 
total,  721,023.  They  continued  to  increase 
until  the  war,  when  they  lost  a large  number 
of  their  colored  members,  who  preferred 
the  African  organizations,  and  after  the 
emancipation  proclamation,  and  the  ratifica- 
tion of  the  XiVth  and  XVth  amendments 
to  the  constitution  of  the  United  States,  the 
basis  on  which  they  had  made  their  separa- 
tion was  removed.  The  twenty-seven  years 
.of  separate  organization  have  however,  made 
them  indisposed  for  a reunion,  and  they 


repel  all  overtures  looking  to  such  a measure, 
with  considerable  bitterness.  Their  doctrinal 
views  are  identical  with  those  of  the  “ Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,”  and  there  is  no 
difference  in  their  polity  or  discipline.  They 
have  now  when  the  board  of  bishops  is  full, 
nine,  but  Bishop  Andrew  having  recently 
deceased,  there  are  but  eight  now  acting; 
there  are  30  conferences,  2,646  traveling 
and  187  superannuated  preachers,  4,753 
local  preachers,  540,820  white  members, 
19,616  colored  members,  (only  one  tenth  of 
what  they  had  in  1829,)  3,149  Indians ; a 
total  of  571,241. 

Ill,  and  IV.  The  two  African  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Churches.  The  A.  M. 
E.  Church  proper,  and  the  Zion  A.  M.  E. 
Church  may  perhaps  with  propriety  be  con- 
sidered together,  inasmuch  as  overtures  are 
now  pending  for  their  consolidation.  Both 
profess  to  be  identical  in  their  doctrinal 
views  with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
and  their  polity  and  government  differ  but 
slightly.  The  first  has  bishops,  but  permits 
lay  representation  to  a limited  extent  in  its 
General  Conference  from  the  ranks  of  the 
local  preachers,  and  gives  in  its  annual  con- 
ferences equal  privileges  to  the  traveling  and 
local  preachers.  The  Zion  Church  has  no 
bishops,  but  general  superintendents  in  their 
place,  elected  every  four  years.  Its  General 
Conference  is  composed  of  all  the  traveling 
ministers  in  the  connection,  but  no  lay  dele- 
gation is  allowed.  An  Afiican  church  se- 
ceded in  1787,  under  the  name  of  the  Bethel 
African  M.  E.  Church,  but  this  was  subse- 
quently absorbed  into  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church.  In  1816,  however,  some  of  the 
more  eminent  of  the  colored  Methodist 
ministers  believing  that  they  could  be  freer 
and  more  useful  in  a separate  communion, 
called  a convention  in  Philadelphia,  and 
organized  the  “African  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  Its  growth  has  been  moderate 
but  steady  until  the  emancipation  proclama- 
tion in  1863,  which  has  led  to  a great  in- 
crease in  its  membership.  It  has  now  ten 
conferences,  seven  bishops,  over  600  travel- 
ing and  1200  local  preachers,  586  churches, 
200,000  communicants,  over  500  Sunday 
Schools,  and  more  than  1200  day  schools. 
Its  adherent  population  is  not  less  than  600,- 
000.  The  property  of  the  Church,  in  schools, 
colleges,  and  church  edifices,  exceeds  four 
million  dollars.  It  owns  Wilberforce  Uni- 
versity, near  Xenia,  Green  Co.,  Ohio,  and 
I four  seminaries  of  a high  class  at  Baltimore, 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


627 


Md. ; Columbus,  Ohio  ; Alleghany,  and  Pitts- 
burgh, Pa.  They  have  a Book  concern  at 
Philadelphia,  and  issue  a weekly  and  a month- 
ly religious  periodical. 

The  “ African  Methodist  Episcopal  Zion 
Church ” seceded  from  the  Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church  in  1820,  and  held  its  first  annual 
conference  in  New  York,  in  1821.  Its  se- 
cession was  in  consequence  of  some  differ- 
ences of  opinion  in  regard  to  church  govern- 
ment. Its  growth  was  slow  until  the  war, 
when  it  shared  with  the  African  M.  E. 
Church,  in  the  large  influx  of  colored  Meth- 
odists previously  connected  with  the  church 
south,  and  in  a very  large  accession  of  new 
converts.  Being  very  much  straitened  for 
means  for  the  support  of  their  schools  and 
churches  just  after  the  war,  they  appealed  to 
Congregationalists,  to  Unitarians,  and  to 
Friends  for  assistance,  and  received  a consid- 
erable amount  from  each.  They  had  ex- 
pected to  consummate  a union  with  the 
African  M.  E.  Church  in  18G8,  but  from 
some  cause  the  union  has  been  delayed,  but 
will  probably  be  completed  in  1872.  They 
have  six  general  superintendents  (answering 
to  bishops,  but  elected  for  four  years),  694 
traveling  and  about  1300  local  preachers, 
nearly  700  churches,  and  about  164,000 
members. 

Y.  The  Evangelical  Association, 
called  also  Albright  Methodists , from  the 
n tme  of  their  founder,  is  an  ecclesiastical 
body  of  great  energy  and  activity,  which 
took  its  rise  in  Eastern  Pennsylvania,  about 
1790,  from  the  labors  of  Rev.  Jacob  Albright, 
a German  Methodist  minister,  who  sought 
to  promote  a religious  reform  among  the 
Germans  of  that  region.  It  was  not  organ- 
ized as  a church  till  about  1800,  when  Mr. 
Albright  was  unanimously  elected  and  or- 
dained as  their  pastor  and  bishop. 

Sixteen  years  later  they  had  become  so 
numerous  as  to  organize  a general  confer- 
ence. For  the  first  thirty  years  of  their 
existence,  the  Evangelical  Association  met 
with  violent  opposition,  but  since  1830  it  has 
made  rapid  progress.  In  doctrines  and 
theology  the  association  is  substantially  one 
with  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church ; and 
its  mode  of  worship  and  usages  are  essen- 
tially methoilistic ; in  its  church  government  | 
it  has  a General  Conference  meeting  every  , 
four  years,  and  constituting  its  highest  legis-  j 
lative  and  judicial  authority.  The  General 
Conference  elects  its  bishops  for  four  years  ; 
they  may  be  re-elected,  but  if  not,  hold  no  i 


higher  rank  or  privilege  than  an  elder  after 
their  term  of  service  is  expired.  The  annual 
conferences  elect  their  presiding  elders  for 
the  same  term,  and  these  return  to  the  itin- 
erancy at  the  expiration  of  their  term  of 
service.  There  are  also  quarterly  confer- 
ences, in  which  a lay  delegation  is  allowed, 
but  not  in  the  Annual  or  General  Confer- 
ences. The  statistics  of  the  “ Evangelical 
Association”  in  1869  were  as  follows:  Two 
bishops,  fourteen  annual  conferences,  798 
churches,  500  itinerant,  and  377  local  preach- 
ers, 65,691  members,  863  Sunday  Schools, 
with  45,175  scholars,  153  mission  stations 
in  America,  and  Europe  ; a full  complement 
of  Missionary,  Sunday  School,  Tract,  and 
Charitable  societies,  a publishing  house  at 
Cleveland ; four  periodicals,  a college,  an 
orphan  institution,  several  seminaries,  207 
parsonages,  and  church  property  to  the  value 
of  about  $2,000,000. 

VI.  The  “ Methodist  Protestant 
Church,”  an  organization  which  was  form- 
ed of  seceders  from  the  “ Methodist  Episco- 
pal Church”  in  1830,  the  secession  being 
based  on  the  grounds  of  dissatisfaction  with 
the  Episcopate,  and  the  refusal  of  lay  repre- 
sentation. In  doctrinal  views,  they  accept 
the  standards  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  but  have  no  bishops.  Their  gene- 
ral conference,  which  meets  once  in  seven 
years,  and  is  composed  of  one  ministerial  and 
one  lay  delegate  for  every  thousand  commu- 
nicants, is  the  governing  body ; and  in  the 
interim  of  its  sessions,  its  president  and  the 
officers  of  the  different  committees  and  soci- 
eties created  by  it,  exercise  administrative 
authority  to  a limited  extent.  The  annual 
conferences,  composed  of  ministers  only, 
elect  their  own  presidents,  and  possess  au- 
thority within  their  own  bounds.  Its  quar- 
terly conferences,  exhorters,  class-leaders, 
stewards,  etc.,  are  copied  after  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  pattern.  The  church  had  in  1870 
423  itinerant,  and  about  860  local  preachers, 
nearly  900  churches,  and  about  72,000  com- 
municants. It  does  not  seem  to  be  growing, 
for  its  statistics  in  1858  were  considerably 
larger  than  these  figures.  It  has  seven  col- 
legiate institutions,  three  of  them  for  females ; 
two  other  literary  institutions ; small  book 
concerns  at  Baltimore,  Md.,  and  Springfield, 
Ohio,  and  four  periodicals. 

VII.  “The  Methodist  Church,”  is  an- 
other branch  of  the  Methodist  family,  of 
which  we  only  know  that  it  reported  in  1870 
624  preachers,  and  49,030  members.  Its 


628 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  TOE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


doctrines  are  probably  not  different  from 
those  of  the  other  Methodist  bodies ; it  has, 
we  believe,  no  bishops. 

VIII.  “The  Wesleyan  Methodist 
Connection  of  America,”  was  organized 
in  1843,  and  composed  mainly  of  seceders 
from  the  “Methodist  Episcopal  Church.” 
The  seceders  were  strongly  opposed  to  slav- 
ery, and  desirous  of  having  the  church  purg- 
ed from  it ; they  were  also  ardent  temper- 
ance men,  and  hostile  to  all  traffic  in  intoxi- 
cating liquors  as  a beverage.  The  “ Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church,”  which  subsequently 
took  advanced  grounds  on  both  these  sub- 
jects, was  not  at  this  time  willing  to  do  so, 
and  disciplined  its  members  who  urged  it. 
The  consequence  was  the  organization  of  the 
Wesleyan  Methodist  Connection  of  Amer- 
ica, at  Utica,  May  31,  1843.  Their  doc- 
trines are  the  same  with  those  of  the  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church,  except  two  rules  of 
morality,  one  excluding  from  church  mem- 
bership and  Christian  fellowship  all  who 
buy  or  sell  men,  women,  or  children,  with 
intent  to  enslave,  or  hold  them  as  slaves,  or 
claim  that  it  is  right  to  do  so  ; and  the  other, 
excluding  from  membership  or  fellowship 
all  who  manufacture,  buy,  sell,  or  use  intox- 
icating liquors,  or  in  any  way,  intentionally 
and  knowingly,  aid  others  so  to  do,  except 
for  mechanical,  chemical,  or  medicinal  pur- 
poses. In  its  church  government,  the  Wes- 
leyan Connection  is  democratic,  holding  to 
complete  ministerial  equality  and  the  power 
of  each  church  to  act  for  itself.  They  have 
an  equal  representation  of  ministers  and  lay- 
men in  their  general  conference,  and  these 
are  elected  by  the  annual  conferences  which 
are  composed  of  all  the  ministers  and  an 
equal  number  of  laymen  in  their  several 
geographical  bounds.  They  do  not  seem  to 
have  increased  since  the  war,  numbering 
only  250  ministers,  and  about  20,000  com- 
municants in  1870,  against  300  ministers, 
and  20,000  members  in  1858.  They  have 
two  collegiate  institutions,  one  at  St.  Louis, 
Jackson  Co.,  Mich.,  the  other — the  Illinois 
Institute — at  Wheaton,  Du  Page  Co.,  Illin- 
ois. They  have  also  one  newspaper,  “ The 
True  Wesleyan.” 

IX.  The  Free  Methodists  are  the  lat- 
est seceders  from  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church.  They  profess  to  have  left  it  on  the 
ground  of  its  increasing  formalism  and  con- 
formity to  worldly  customs  and  fashions  in 
dress,  and  in  the  construction,  adornment, 
and  music  of  the  churches.  They  advocate 


a return  to  the  early  plainness  of  costume, 
the  avoidance  of  all  ornaments  and  jewelry, 
and  the  simplicity  and  bareness  of  architect- 
ure which  characterized  the  early  Metho- 
dists and  their  houses  of  worship.  With 
this  they  also  desire  to  restore  the  ancient 
zeal,  fervor,  and  earnestness  of  the  immedi- 
ate followers  of  Wesley  and  his  successors. 
They  number  about  one  hundred  ministers, 
and  perhaps  7,000  communicants,  and  have  a 
newspaper  — The  Free  Methodist  — edited 
with  a good  deal  of  zeal  and  spirit. 

X.  The  Primitive  Methodist  Church 
is  a branch  of  the  church  of  the  same  name 
in  Great  Britain,  but  has  not  attained  to  any 
very  considerable  numbers  here ; its  mem- 
bers being  mostly  immigrants  who  had  been 
connected  with  it  before  migrating  to  this 
country.  In  England  it  originated  in  1807, 
in  a secession  from  the  Wesley ans,  on 
grounds  of  polity ; the  seceders  desiring  to 
maintain  camp  meetings,  house  to  house  vis- 
itation and  religious  outdoor  services,  and 
the  employment  of  female  preachers  to  some 
extent,  with  a view  to  reach  the  lower  and 
more  depraved  classes,  and  the  Wesley  ans 
declining  to  sanction  any  such  movements. 
The  Primitive  Methodists,  like  the  Free 
Methodists,  are  very  zealous  and  earnest. 
Their  doctrines  do  not  differ  from  those  of 
Wesley ; but  in  church  government  they  are 
democratic,  having  no  bishops,  and  in  their 
conferences,  have  two  lay  delegates  for  every 
minister.  They  number  in  the  United  States 
about  20  itinerant,  and  35  or  40  local 
preachers,  nearly  40  churches,  and  a mem- 
bership of  about  2,200. 

XI.  The  Welsh  Calvinistic  Method- 
ists are  not  a numerous  body  in  the  United 
States,  and  are  only  Methodists  in  their 
church  polity  and  government,  their  doc- 
trinal views  being  more  Calvinistic  than 
Arminian,  and  assimilating  in  this  respect  to 
the  Congregationalists,  or  to  the  Calvinistic 
portion  of  the  clergy  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land. They  were  in  England  an  outgrowth 
of  the  labors  of  Whitfield  and  his  successors. 
Indirectly,  they  were  also  a result  of  the 
organization  of  Lady  Huntingdon’s  Connex- 
ion, with  which  their  doctrinal  views  fully 
corresponded.  In  the  United  States  they 
are  found  principally  among  the  Welsh,  and 
some  efforts  to  organize  other  churches,  as 
Congregational  Methodists,  i.  e.,  with  Cal- 
vinistic  doctrines,  and  Methodist  polity  and 
government,  have  proved  failures,  the 

| churches  either  becoming  wholly  Congrega- 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


629 


tional,  or  joining  some  of  the  Methodist 
sects.  The  Welsh  Calvinistic  Methodists 
number  probably  not  more  than  3,000  com- 
municants. 

XII.  United  Brethren  in  Christ,  or 
German  Methodists.  This  denomination, 
though  not  properly  Methodists  in  name,  are 
yet  so  far  in  unison  with  them  in  doctrines 
and  polity,  that  they  come  more  appropri- 
ately under  the  classification  of  Methodists 
than  any  other.  The  “ United  Brethren  in 
Christ”  owe  their  origin  to  the  labors  of 
Philip  James  Otterbein,  a native  of  Dillen- 
burg,  Germany,  born  June  4,  1726,  and  or- 
dained to  the  ministry  of  the  German  Re- 
formed Church,  at  Herborn,  Germany,  in 
1749.  He  was  sent  to  America  as  a mis- 
sionary by  the  Synod  of  Holland  in  1752, 
and  settled  at  Lancaster,  Pennsylvania.  Not 
long  after  his  arrival  he  became  convinced 
that  he  was  a stranger  to  vital  godliness,  and 
ere  long  experienced,  as  he  believed,  a 
change  of  heart.  He  very  soon  began  to 
manifest  his  zeal  by  instituting  meetings  dur- 
ing the  week  for  prayer  and  religious  con- 
ference, and  finding  that  the  region  round 
about  was  in  a condition  of  great  spiritual 
destitution  he  made  long  preaching  tours, 
and  held  what  were  called  “ great  meetings  ” 
in  barns  and  groves  throughout  that  region, 
his  labors  being  attended  with  great  success. 
Persons  who  had  experienced  a change  of 
heart,  whatever  their  ecclesiastical  relations, 
were  invited  to  take  a part  in  these  meet- 
ings, and  among  those  who  accepted  the  in- 
vitation was  Martin  Boehm,  a Mennonite 
preacher  of  great  zeal  and  earnestness.  At 
the  close  of  one  of  Boehm’s  most  effective 
sermons  Otterbein  rose,  and  embracing  him 
exclaimed : “We  are  brethren !”  The  name 
of  United  Brethren  in  Christ  was  adopted 
by  their  followers  f rom  this  time.  Otterbein 
and  Boehm  labored  together  for  more  than 
fifty  years ; and  what  at  first  seemed  a revival 
in  the  different  churches  gradually  became 
agglomerated  into  a distinct  denomination, 
with  its  hundreds  of  preachers,  called  for  the 
most  part  from  the  working  classes,  and  ex 
ercising  their  gifts  at  first  as  lay  preachers 
and  subsequently  licensed  and  ordained  by 
the  leaders  or  by  some  of  those  whom  they 
had  set  apart  for  the  ministry.  At  Otter- 
bein’s  death,  in  1813,  the  “Brethren”  were 
already  a large  and  influential  body ; they 
have  since  increased  with  considerable  rapid- 
ity, and  adopting  the  Methodist  polity  of 
quarterly,  annual,  and  general  Conferences, 


itinerants,  bishops,  and  presiding  elders,  they 
have  come  to  be  a well  organized  and  effi- 
cient body.  Their  first  organization  as  dis- 
tinct churches  dates,  we  believe,  from  1774. 

In  their  theological  views  they  are  Armi- 
nians,  agreeing  very  nearly  with  the  Wes- 
leyan Methodists,  in  England,  and  the  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States. 
On  a few  points  only  are  they  peculiar.  In 
common  with  most  of  the  evangelical  churches 
they  require  evidence  of  a change  of  heart 
as  indispensable  to  membership,  but  they 
prohibit  membership  to  -slaveholders,  to  ad- 
hering members  of  any  secret  society  or  or- 
ganization, and  to  those  who  manufacture, 
sell,  or  drink  intoxicating  liquors.  Baptism 
is  administered  either  by  pouring,  sprinkling, 
or  immersion,  as  the  candidate  may  prefer ; 
infants  are  baptized  when  desired.  Open 
communion  is  practised  and  the  ordinance 
of  foot-washing,  as  observed  by  several  of 
the  minor  German  sects,  is  optional,  some  of 
the  churches  observing  it,  while  others  do 
not.  For  the  first  fifty  years  of  their  history 
their  ministers  confined  their  labors  almost 
exclusively  to  the  German-speaking  popula- 
tion, but  now  they  have  as  many  English  as 
German  churches.  Their  statistics  in  1870 
were  as  follows  : thirty-eight  annual  confer- 
ences, one  general  conference,  four  bishops 
who  are  elected  for  four  years,  and  may  be 
re-elected,  about  900  itinerant  and  over  800 
local  preachers;  3,924  organized  societies; 
1,473  church  edifices,  with  483,099  settings; 
118,055  members;  2,420  Sunday  schools, 
with  16,417  teachers  and  112,425  scholars; 
collections  for  church  purposes,  580,288 ; 
value  of  church  property,  $2,506,600.  They 
have  at  Dayton,  Ohio,  an  extensive  publish- 
ing establishment  which  issues  numerous 
books,  and  beside  an  annual  almanac  or  year 
book,  five  periodicals ; a German  and  an 
English  weekly  religious  newspaper,  a month- 
ly German,  and  a semi-monthly  English, 
child’s  paper,  and  a missionary  periodical  in 
English,  semi-monthly.  They  have  six  col- 
leges; Otterbein  University  at  Westville, 
Ohio ; Hartsville  University,  at  Ilartsville, 
Ind. ; Westfield  College,  at  Westfield,  111.; 
Lebanon  Valley  College,  Annville,  Pa. ; 
Lane  University,  Lecompton,  Kan. ; and 
Western  College,  Western  Iowa.  Sublimity 
College,  Oregon,  has  passed  out  of  their 
hands  for  want  of  adequate  funds  for  build- 
ings and  endowment.  They  have  also  three 
or  four  female  seminaries  and  collegiate 
schools, 


630 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


V.  CONGREGATIONALISTS. 

In  its  broadest  sense  the  name  Con- 
gregationalist  is  applicable  to  all  the  de- 
nominations which  hold  to  the  independence 
of  each  church  and  to  the  democratic  form 
of  church  government  and  polity.  In  this 
sense  the  Regular  Baptists,  and,  indeed,  al- 
most all  the  denominations  which  we  have 
ranged  under  the  general  head  of  “ Baptists” 
as  well  as  the  Friends,  the  Unitarians,  and 
the  Universalists,  are  as  truly  Congregation- 
alists  as  the  churches  distinctively  known  by 
that  name.  In  common  usage,  however,  the 
name  is  applied  almost  exclusively  to  those 
churches  which  are  Augustinian  and  Cal- 
vinistic  in  doctrine,  Trinitarian  in  belief,  and 
Psedo-baptist  in  practice;  and  who  holding 
these  views  unite  with  them  a democratic 
church  polity,  the  independence  of  each 
church,  and  a fellowship  and  inter-communion 
with  all  churches  holding  like  views. 

While  there  were  undoubtedly  isolated 
congregations  in  England  in  the  sixteenth 
century,  which  maintained  substantially  con- 
gregational views  and  organization,  Rev. 
John  Robinson,  first  of  Scrooby,  Nottingham- 
shire, England,  and  afterwards  of  Leyden, 
Holland,  is  generally  regarded  as  the  father 
of  Congregationalism.  His  church  was  or- 
ganized in  1606,  and  removed  almost  bodily 
to  Holland  in  1608  in  consequence  of  perse- 
cution. After  a pastorate  of  about  twelve 
years  in  Amsterdam  and  Leyden,  a majority 
of  the  church,  under  Elder  William  Brews- 
ter, determined  to  emigrate  to  America,  and 
after  many  perils  and  troubles,  landed  at 
Plymouth,  Massachusetts,  Dec.  21,  1620, 
having  previously  organized  as  an  independ- 
ent ch  • hand  as  a civil  community.  Others 
followed  soon  after,  and  Robinson  himself 
intended  to  come,  but  died  just  as  he  was 
about  to  sail.  The  colonists  of  Massachu- 
setts Bay  were  at  first  Non-conformists,  but 
they  presently  adopted  the  Congregational 
Order.  In  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut, 
as  well  as  in  the  then  province  of  Maine,  and 
the  colonies  of  New  Hampshire  and  Ver- 
mont, at  a later  period,  the  Congregational- 
ists  were  the  dominant  sect  or  denomination, 
and  in  the  two  former  colonies  and  subse- 
quent states,  retained  a somewhat  peculiar 
connection  with  the  state,  which,  though  mod- 
ified, was  not  wholly  abrogated  in  Connecti- 
cut till  1818,  and  in  Massachusetts  in  1833. 
Every  householder,  or  person  liable  to  pay 
taxes,  was  regarded  as  primarily  subject  to 
a tax  for  the  support  of  religious  worship  in 


the  Congregational  church,  or,  as  it  was 
usually  called  “ the  standing  order and 
this  liability,  if  he  possessed  property,  could 
only  be  avoided  by  his  “ signing  off,”  or 
avowing  himself  a tax-payer  for  the  support 
of  some  other  of  the  tolerated  denominations. 
At  first  even  this  was  not  permitted,  except 
in  the  case  of  members  of  the  Church  of 
England,  but  gradually  more  liberal  views 
prevailed.  This  compulsory  taxation  was 
abrogated  in  Connecticut  by  the  constitution 
of  1818,  and  in  Massachusetts  by  a constitu- 
tional amendment,  in  1833.  In  1770,  the 
number  of  communicants  in  the  Congrega- 
tional churches  of  the  thirteen  colonies  was 
about  112,000,  almost  all  of  whom  were  in 
New  England,  though  two  or  three  churches 
were  planted  about  that  time  in  Georgia  and 
South  Carolina.  In  1801,  a Plan  of  Union 
was  agreed  upon  between  the  Presbyterian 
Church  and  the  General  Association  (of 
Congregationalists)  of  Connecticut,  which,  at 
that  time  was  an  active  missionary  body. 
This  plan  of  Union  provided  that  in  any  new 
place  where  there  were  members  of  Congre- 
gational and  Presbyterian  churches,  to  avoid 
the  establishment  of  weak  and  feeble  church- 
es, the  members  of  the  two  denominations 
should  unite  to  form  a church  which  should 
be  either  Presbyterian  or  Congregational  as 
the  majority  of  its  members  might  decide, 
and  if  Congregational,  that  it  should  still 
have  a qualified  right  of'  representation  in 
the  Presbytery.  Under  this  arrangement, 
which  continued  in  full  force  till  1837,  and 
was  not  completely  abrogated  till  1852,  the 
greater  part  of  the  advantages  enured  to  the 
Presbyterians,  very  fevV  Congregational 
churches  being  organized  in  the  middle  and 
western  states,  and  a considerable  portion 
even  of  these,  under  the  arrangement  for 
representation  in  the  Presbyteries,  gradually 
becoming  Presbyterian.  It  resulted  from 
this  liberality,  that  while  there  were  nearly 
a hundred  thousand  former  members  of  Con- 
gregational churches  who  had  contributed  to 
swell  the  numbers  of  the  Presbyterian  and 
Reformed  churches,  the  actual  number  of 
communicants  in  Congregational  churches  in 
the  entire  country,  in  1850,  at  the  expiration 
of  eighty  years  from  1770,  did  not  much  ex- 
ceed 200,000.  There  had  been  in  this  inter- 
val, it  is  true,  a very  considerable  loss  in 
Massachusetts  (mostly  from  1810  to  1830) 
by  the  falling  away  of  the  Unitarians.  This 
had  probably  caused  a diminution  of  fifteen 
to  eighteen  thousand  members.  But  soon 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


631 


after  1840  there  was  a spirit  of  greater  ac- 
tivity and  aggressive  action  roused  in  the 
Congregational  churches.  This  found  ex- 
pression, in  1852,  in  the  National  Congrega- 
tional Convention,  a sort  of  General  Synod 
or  Council,  which  met  at  Albany.  This 
Convention  initiated  measures  for  greater 
denominational  missionary  activity,  advised 
the  raising  of  a fund  of  $100,000  to  aid  in  the 
erection  of  Congregational  churches  in  the 
new  states  and  territories,  and  largely  in- 
creased efforts  for  the  extension  of  Congre- 
gationalism as  a denominational  organization. 
As  a result  of  this  Convention  and  the  spirit 
which  prompted  it,  the  growth  of  the  denom- 
ination has  been  rapid  and  healthy  in  the 
western  states  and  territories,  and  during 
the  recent  war  and  since,  it  has  proved  itself 
possessed  of  great  energy  and  ability  in  pro- 
pagating Christianity  in  its  simpler  forms 
throughout  the  country.  The  Presbyterians 
and  the  Reformed  (Dutch)  Church  had  for- 
merly been,  associated  with  the  Congrega- 
tionalists  in  both  Home  and  Foreign  Mis- 
sionary enterprises,  but  the  Old  School 
branch  of  the  Presbyterians  withdrew  from 
both  about  1837 ; the  Keformed,  in  1857  ; 
and  the  New  School  branch  of  the  Presby- 
terians partially  from  the  Home  Missionary 
Society  in  1853  or  1854,  and  wholly  in  1865, 
and  from  the  American  Missionary  Associa- 
tion about  the  same  time ; and  at  the  re- 
union of  the  two  branches  of  the  Presbyte- 
rian church  in  1870,  the  New  School  mem- 
bers withdrew  also  from  the  American  Board 
of  Commissioners  of  Foreign  Missions,  tak- 
ing with  them  three  or  four  of  the  Missions. 
The  Congregationalists  have,  however,  man- 
fully taken  the  entire  burden  on  their  own 
shoulders,  and  are  maintaining  these  organ- 
izations in  their  full  vigor.  In  1865,  an- 
other General  Synod,  or  National  Council, 
was  held  in  Boston,  which  has  resulted  in  a 
further  development  of  denominational  as 
well  as  of  Christian  activity.  This  Council 
adopted  a Declaration  of  Faith , the  first  au- 
thoritative exposition  of  their  views  of  doc- 
trine and  polity,  which  had  had  the  full  sanc- 
tion of  the  denomination ; though  earlier 
General  Synods — those  of  Cambridge  in 
1637  and  1646 — and  the  partial  one  of  Say- 
brook  in  1708,  had  adopted  in  general  terms, 
and  for  substance  of  doctrine,  the  Westmins- 
ter and  Savoy  Confessions  of  Faith,  and  the 
“ Cambridge  Platform,”  and  the  “ Say  brook 
Platform  ” of  polity  and  discipline. 

This  Declaration  of  Faith”  adopted  iu 


1865,  on  Burial  Hill,  Plymouth,  Mass.,  is  as 
follows : 

“ Standing  by  the  rock  where  the  Pilgrims 
set  foot  upon  these  shores,  upon  the  spot 
wrhere  they  worshipped  God,  and  among  the 
graves  of  the  early  generations,  we,  elders 
and  messengers  of  the  Congregational  church- 
es of  the  United  States  in  National  Council 
assembled,  like  them  acknowledging  no  rule 
of  faith  but  the  W ord  of  God,  do  nowr  declare 
our  adherence  to  the  faith  and  order  of  the 
apostolic  and  primitive  churches  held  by  our 
fathers,  and  substantially  as  embodied  in  the 
confessions  and  platforms  which  our  synods 
of  1648  and  1680  set  forth  or  re-affirmed. 
We  declare  that  the  experience  of  the  nearly 
two  and  a half  centuries  which  have  elapsed 
since  the  memorable  day  when  our  sires 
founded  here  a Christian  commonwealth,  with 
all  the  development  of  new  forms  of  error 
since  their  times,  has  only  deepened  our  con- 
fidence in  the  faith  and  polity  of  those  fathers. 
We  bless  God  for  the  inheritance  of  these 
doctrines.  We  invoke  the  help  of  the  Divine 
Redeemer,  that  through  the  presence  of  the 
promised  Comforter  he  will  enable  us  to 
transmit  them  in  purity  to  our  children. 

“ In  the  times  that  are  before  us  as  a na- 
tion, times  at  once  of  duty  and  danger,  we 
rest  all  our  hope  in  the  Gospel  of  the  Son 
of  God.  It  was  the  grand  peculiarity  of  our 
Puritan  fathers,  that  they  held  this  Gospel, 
not  merely  as  the  ground  of  their  personal 
salvation,  but  as  declaring  the  worth  of  man 
by  the  incarnation  and  sacrifice  of  the  Son 
of  God  ; and  therefore  applied  its  principles 
to  elevate  society,  to  regulate  education,  to 
civilize  humanity,  to  purify  law,  to  reform 
the  church  and  the  state,  and  to  assert  and  de- 
fend liberty ; in  short,  to  mould  and  redeem, 
by  its  all-transforming  energy,  everything 
w hich  belongs  to  man  in  his  individual  and 
social  relations. 

“It  was  the  faith  of  our  fathers  that  gave 
us  this  free  land  in  which  wre  dwell.  It  is 
by  this  faith  only  that  we  can  transmit  to  our 
children  a free  and  happy,  because  a Chris- 
tian, commonwealth. 

“ We  hold  it  to  be  a distinctive  excellence 
of  our  Congregational  system,  that  it  exalts 
that  which  is  more,  above  that  which  is  less 
important,  and  by  the  simplicity  of  its  organ- 
ization facilities,  in  communities  where  the 
population  is  limited,  the  union  of  all  true 
believers  in  one  Christian  church ; and  that 
the  division  of  such  communities  into  several 
weak  and  jealous  societies,  holding  the  same 


632 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


common  faith,  is  a sin  against  the  unity  of 
the  body  of  Christ,  and  at  once  the  shame 
and  scandal  of  Christendom. 

“ We  rejoice  that  through  the  influence  of 
our  free  system  of  apostolic  order,  we  can 
hold  fellowship  with  all  who  acknowledge 
Christ  and  act  efficiently  in  the  work  of  re- 
storing unity  to  the  divided  church,  and 
bringing  back  harmony  and  peace  among  all 
who  love  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  sincerity. 

“ Thus  recognizing  the  unity  of  the  Church 
of  Christ  in  the  world,  and  knowing  that  we 
are  but  one  branch  of  Christ’s  people,  while 
adhering  to  our  peculiar  faith  and  order,  we 
extend  to  all  believers  the  hand  of  Christian 
fellowship  upon  the  basis  of  those  great  fun- 
damental truths  in  which  all  Christians  should 
agree.  With  them  we  confess  our  faith  in 
God,  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy 
Ghost,  the  only  living  and  true  God ; in 
Jesus  Christ,  the  incarnate  Word,  who  is  ex- 
alted to  be  our  Redeemer  and  King ; and  in 
the  Holy  Comforter,  who  is  present  in  the 
Church  to  regenerate  and  sanctify  the  soul. 

“ With  the  whole  Church,  we  confess  the 
common  sinfulness  and  ruin  of  our  race,  and 
acknowledge  that  it  is  only  through  the  work 
accomplished  by  the  life  and  expiatory  death 
t.  Christ,  that  believers  in  him  are  justified 
before  God,  receive  the  remission  of  sms, 
and  through  the  presence  and  grace  of  the 
Holy  Comforter,  are  delivered  from  the  pow- 
er of  sin.  and  perfected  in  holiness. 

“ We  believe,  also,  in  the  organized  and 
visible  Church,  in  the  mini-try  of  the  Word, 
in  the  sacraments  of  Baptism  and  the  Lord’s 
Supper,  in  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  and 
in  the  final  judgment,  the  issues  of  Avhich  are 
eternal  life,  and  everlasting  punishment. 

“ We  receive  these  truths  on  the  testi- 
mony of  God,  given  through  prophets  and 
apostles,  and  in  the  life,  the  miracles,  the 
death,  the  resurrection  of  His  Son,  our  Di- 
vine Redeemer, — a testimony  preserved  for 
the  Church  in  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments,  which  were  composed  by 
holy  men  as  they  were  moved  by  the  Holy 
Ghost. 

“Affirming  now  our  belief  that  those  who 
thus  hold  ‘ one  faith,  one  Lord,  one  baptism,’ 
together  constitute  the  one  Catholic  Church, 
the  several  households  of  which,  though  call 
ed  by  different  names,  are  the  one  body  of 
Christ,  and  that  these  members  of  Ilis  body 
are  sacredly  bound  to  keep  ‘ the  unity  of  the 
Spirit  in  the  bonds  of  peace,’  we  declare  that 
we  will  cooperate  with  all  who  hold  these 


truths.  With  them  we  will  carry  the  Gos- 
pel into  every  part  of  this  land,  and  with 
them  we  will  go  into  all  the  world  and 
‘preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature.’  May 
He  to  whom  ‘ all  power  is  given  in  Heaven 
and  earth,’  fulfil  the  promise  which  is  all  our 
hope : ‘ Lo,  I am  with  you  alway,  even  to 

the  end  of  the  world.’  Amen.” 

As  we  have  already  said,  the  Congrega- 
tionalists  are  Psedo-baptists,  though  infant 
baptism  is  far  from  being  as  universal  with 
them  as  it  was  formerly.  Baptized  children 
are  not  admitted  to  full  membership  in  the 
church,  except  on  evidence  of  conversion, 
and  a profession  of  their  faith  in  Christ. 
The  usual  mode  of  baptism  is  by  affusion  or 
sprinkling,  but  most  of  their  clergymen  ad- 
minister the  ordinance  by  pouring,  or  by  im- 
mersion, if  the  candidate  has  a distinct  pref- 
erence for  either  of  those  modes.  They  rec- 
ognize the  minister,  elder,  presbyter,  or  bish- 
op ( holding  these  titles  as  synonymous)  as 
the  only  clerical  officer  of  the  church.  The 
deacons,  though  set  apart  by  ordination  in 
some  of  the  churches,  have  no  more  author- 
ity than  any  other  layman.  An  executive, 
or  prudential,  or  standing  committee  (they 
are  called  by  these  different  names  in  differ- 
ent churches)  assist  the  pastor  in  examining 
candidates  for  membership,  and  those  recom- 
mended by  them  are  propounded  for  mem- 
bership, and  if  no  exception  is  taken  they  aro 
received  after  a delay  of  one  or  two  weeks. 
Pastors  are  called  by  the  churches  which  de- 
sire their  services,  and  usually  also  by  the 
ecclesiastical  society,  the  corporation  known 
in  law  as  holding  and  controlling  the  church 
propert}r,  and  which  is  usually  composed  of 
members  of  the  church  ; but  the  pastor  is 
not  considered  as  in  the  fellowship  of  the 
Congregational  churches  adjacent,  until  he 
has  been  examined,  and  ordained  or  installed 
by  a council  composed  of  the  pastors  and 
lay  delegates  from  other  churches.  A church 
may  be  organized  by  a band  of  believers 
coming  together  voluntarily  and  agreeing  to 
form  themselves  into  a church,  but  in  order 
to  its  recognition  as  in  fellowship  with  other 
churches  of  the  same  faith,  a council  must  be 
called  to  examine  into  the  need  of  it,  its  ma- 
terial, and  its  doctrines. 

Candidates  for  the  ministry  are  examined 
carefully  in  regard  to  their  religious  experi- 
ence, doctrinal  view’s,  knowledge  of  Scrip- 
tural learning,  and  general  fitness.  Usually 
a collegiate  education,  or  its  equivalent,  is 
required.  The  church  is  practically  the 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


633 


highest  authority  in  regard  to  matters  of  dis- 
cipline, but  in  important  cases  at  the  request 
of  the  party  under  discipline,  a mutual,  or  if 
the  church  refuse,  an  ex-parte  council  of  pas- 
tors and  delegates  of  neighboring  churches, 
is  called,  which  investigates  the  case,  and 
communicates  the  “ results  ” at  which  it 
arrives,  to  the  parties.  These  councils  pos- 
sess, however,  only  advisory  powers,  but 
their  advice  is  usually  accepted. 

The  Congregationalists  have  now  churches 
in  37  of  the  states  and  territories,  and  while 
their  largest  membership  is  still  in  New 
England,  in  most  of  the  states  of  that  section 
it  being  the  largest  denomination,  yet  they 
have  very  considerable  strength  in  Illinois, 
Michigan,  Iowa,  Wisconsin,  Ohio,  and  New 
York. 

Their  statistics  at  the  close  of  1870,  were : 
Churches  3,121  ; Ministers  3,194  ; Members 
306,518;  teachers  and  pupils  in  Sabbath 
Schools  361,465 ; gain  over  the  previous 
year,  churches  78;  members  6,156;  mem- 
bers of  Sabbath  Schools  4,963 ; ministers 
exclusive  of  foreign  missionaries  30.  Of  the 
ministers,  928  are  reported  as  not  engaged  in 
pastoral  work.  Of  their  contributions  to  ben- 
evolent purposes,  it  is  impossible  to  speak  def- 
initely, as  they  are  in  the  BiUle  Society,  the 
American  Tract  Societies,  and  have  been,  un- 
til the  present  year,  in  the  American  Board, 
and  the  American  and  Foreign  Christian 
Union,  associated  with  other  denominations. 
Their  contributions  to  the  several  benevolent 
objects,  aside  from  contributions  for  home 
church  purposes,  and  from  endowments 
made  to  collegiate  or  Theological  institutions 
or  asylums,  &c.,  must  have  exceeded  $2,- 
000,060.  For  home  purposes  they  were  not 
less  than  $4,500,000  more. 

The  denomination  have  six  theological 
seminaries,  which  had,  in  1870,  twenty-eight 
professors,  and  305  students.  These  were 
located  at  Bangor,  Maine;  Andover,  Mass.; 
Hartford,  and  New  Haven,  Conn.;  Oberlin, 
Ohio ; and  Chicago,  111.  There  were  also 
eighteen  colleges,  having  an  aggregate  of 
more  than  5,000  students,  in  which,  though 
not  exclusively  denominational,  the  Congre- 
gationalists have  a controlling  influence. 
Aside  from  these,  there  are  eighteen  incorp- 
orated and  endowed  academies,  and  female 
seminaries,  besides  numerous  private  semin- 
aries and  academies,  directly  under  the  con- 
trol of  the  denomination. 

There  are  seventeen  periodicals,  weekly, 
semi-monthly,  monthly,  and  quarterly,  which 


are  recognized  as  distinctively  Congregation- 
alist. 

The  only  other  denominations  not  already 
noticed,  which  are  Congregational  in  their 
polity,  but  not  in  their  doctrine,  are  the  Uni- 
tarians, and  Universa  lists,  both  of  which 
will  be  treated  under  their  respective  titles. 


YI.  THE  PROTESTANT  EPISCOPAL 

CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES, 
sometimes  called  by  a section  of  its  mem- 
bers, the  Anglican  or  Anglo-Catholic 
Church. 

This  denomination  was,  in  its  origin  in  the 
United  States,  a part  of  the  Church  of  Eng- 
land, and  its  clergymen  received  ordination 
at  the  hands  of  the  Bishop  of  London  until 
1784,  and  indeed  most  of  them  until  1788  or 
1789.  Virginia  had  established  the  Church 
of  England  as  the  religion  of  the  colony,  as 
early  as  1650,  and  Maryland,  though  settled 
at  first  by  Romah  Catholics,  had  done  the 
same  thing  in  1692.  Attempts  were  made 
by  some  of  the  colonial  governors  of  New 
York  to  make  it  the  established  religion  of 
that  colony,  but  without  great  success.  The 
adherents  to  the  Church  of  England  were, 
however,  considerably  numerous  in  New 
York,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  Vir- 
ginia, before  the  Revolutionary  War,  and 
they  had  ten  or  twelve  churches  in  Connec- 
ticut. In  the  other  colonies  they  were  very 
few.  Efforts  had  been  made  to  obtain  one 
or  two  bishops  for  these  colonies  almost  from 
the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century,  but 
they  had  failed,  both  from  the  unfriendly 
feeling  of  the  English  government,  and  from 
the  jealousy  against  Episcopacy  in  the  colon- 
ies, growing  out  of  the  political  complications 
in  which  the  bishops  in  Great  Britain  were 
involved.  In  November,  1784,  Rev.  Sam- 
uel Seabury,  D.  D.,  a Connecticut  clergy- 
man, having  sought  ordination  as  a bishop 
of  the  diocese  of  Connecticut,  from  the  Eng- 
lish bishops,  and  being  refused  on  account  of 
some  political  obstacles,  went  to  Scotland 
and  was  consecrated  at  Aberdeen,  by  three 
of  the  bishops  of  the  Scottish  Episcopal 
Church.  In  1787,  William  White,  D.  D., 
was  consecrated  Bishop  of  the  Diocese  of 
Pennsylvania,  and  Samuel  Provost,  I).  D., 
Bishop  of  the  diocese  of  New  York,  by  the 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  at  Lambeth  Pal- 
ace chapel,  and  three  and  a half  years  later, 
James  Madison,  I).  D.,  of  Virginia,  was  con- 
secrated at  the  same  place  as  Bishop  of  the 


634 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


Diocese  of  Virginia.  These  four  bishops  I 
were  all  who  received  consecration  in  Great 
Britain,  and  through  them,  according  to  the 
views  of  the  High  Church  party,  the  Apos- 
tolical succession  in  the  bishops  and  c'ergy 
was  transmitted  to  the  American  church. 
The  growth  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  has  not  been  rapid,  but  has  been  to 
a great  extent  in  the  large  cities  and  princi- 
pal towns  of  the  country,  and  only  to  a lim- 
ited extent  in  the  rural  parishes.  The  beau- 
tiful liturgy  and  imposing  ritual  of  the  Epis- 
copal Church,  as  well  as  the  wealth  and 
fashion  of  some  of  its  adherents,  and  the  gor- 
geous architecture  of  many  of  its  church  edi- 
fices, have  drawn  to  its  worship,  in  the  great 
cities,  large  numbers  of  the  fashionable  and 
worldly,  attracted  by  externals ; but  within 
its  communion  are  also  very  many  earnest 
and  devout  souls,  to  whom  its  order  and  cer- 
emonies are  exceedingly  precious.  Within 
its  communion,  as  in  that  of  the  Church  of 
England,  there  are  three  distinct  parties, 
often  more  diverse  in  their  views  than  either 
is  from  other  denominations ; yet  all  profess- 
ing to  hold  by  the  same  standards,  to  which, 
however,  they  give  very  different  interpreta- 
tions. The  doctrinal  standards  of  the  Pro- 
testant Episcopal  Church,  are  the  Apostles’ 
and  Nicene  creeds  (for  though  many  of  them 
agree  to  the  Athanasian  Creed,  it  is  not  an 
acknowledged  standard  as  it  is  with  the 
Church  of  England)  ; the  XXXIX  articles 
of  the  Church  of  England,  except  the  XXIst 
and  XXXVIIth,  and  a slight  modification  of 
the  VUIth,  XXXVth,  and  XXXVIth  ; the 
Book  of  Common  Prayer,  as  revised  by  the  | 
American  Bishops,  and  the  Homilies  in  gen-  i 
eral.  The  High  Church  party  (with  which  } 
are  generally  included  the  Ritualists,  and  the  ; 
Puseyites  or  Tractarians,  though  both  go  far- 
ther than  most  of  the  High  Churchmen)  take 
their  stand  upon  the  Episcopal  Constitution, 
the  theory  of  Apostolical  succession,  and 
more  than  all  on  the  Book  of  Common  j 
Prayer,  and  give  to  these  standards  a signifi-  j 
cation  which  seems  strained  and  mythical, 
and  insist  that  they  are  to  be  interpreted  I 
with  due  reference  to  the  practices  and  ous  [ 
toms  of  the  early  Catholic  Church.  They 
have  brought  into  the  worship  of  the  Protest- 1 
ant  Episcopal  Church  many  customs,  cere- 
monies, and  practices  which  are  certainly 
borrowed  from  the  Roman  Catholic  church,  I 
and  a considerable  number  of  them  have 
demonstrated  this,  by  taking  still  another 
step  and  going  entirely  over  to  the  Church  | 


of  Rome.  This  branch  of  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church,  or  rather  this  party  in  it, 
have  been  extremely  intolerant  of  other 
religious  denominations,  denouncing  them  as 
dissenters,  and  as  having  no  part  in  the  cov- 
enant, assuming  to  themselves  even  a higher 
position  than  that  claimed  by  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church.  At  the  same  time,  it  is 
due  to  them  to  say,  that  in  active  Christian 
work  within  the  bounds  of  their  own  denom- 
ination, exclusively,  they  are  not  surpassed 
by  any  other  denomination  in  the  country, 
according  to  their  numbers.  Their  intoler- 
ance and  bigotry  has  possibly  led  another 
division  of  the  church,  the  Low  Church  party, 
to  an  extreme  in  the  other  direction.  The 
Low  Church  take  their  position  on  the 
“ Thirty- nine  articles  ” which  are  Calvinistic 
on  the  doctrine  of  election,  and  Zuinglian  in 
the  doctrine  of  the  Sacraments.  They  are 
Evangelical  in  their  doctrinal  views,  and  in- 
terpret their  standards  as  permitting,  and 
indeed  enjoining,  on  them  free  and  hearty 
Christian  intercourse  with  other  Evangelical 
denominations.  They  interchange  pulpits 
with  them,  and  engage  very  cordially  in  as- 
sociations for  the  promotion  of  objects  of 
general  Christian  benevolence.  That  in 
these  measures  they  occasionally  overstep 
the  strict  letter  of  their  standards,  may  be, 
and  probably  is,  due  to  a too  great  narrow- 
ness in  the  standards  themselves. 

The  third,  or  “ Broad  Church  party?  have 
not  so  much  inclination  either  to  a narrow 
and  straight- laced  interpretation  of  their 
standards,  and  a bigotry  towaid  other  denom- 
inations, or  to  a thoroughly  evangelical  coop- 
eration with  them,  as  to  loose  and  broad  views 
in  regard  to  the  inspiration  and  authenticity 
of  the  Scriptures,  and  a strongly  rationalistic 
tendency.  This  party,  which  we  believe 
includes  in  this  country  none  of  the  bishops, 
subscribe  to  the  XXXIX  articles,  with  many 
mental  reservations,  and  some  of  them  boldly 
avow  that  Protestantism  is  a failure. 

The  condition  of  affairs  in  the  Protestant 
Episcopal  Church,  resulting  from  these  great 
differences  of  sentiment  and  opinion,  have 
more  than  once  threatened  that  churi  h with 
division,  if  not  dissolution,  and  at  the  present 
time  seem  more  likely  to  rend  it  than  ever. 
A few  churches  have  already  withdrawn 
from  its  communion,  and  others  of  the  Low 
Church  party  are  only  awaiting  the  result  of 
a last  appeal  to  the  Triennial  General  Con- 
vention to  decide  upon  their  future  course. 

Under  the  article  on  the  Methodist  Epis- 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


635 


copal  Church,  we  have  given  twenty-five 
of  the  thirty-seven  articles  retained  by  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  in  every  case 
but  one'  using  their  exact  language.  (This 
one  is  in  regard  to  the  “ Rulers  of  the  United 
States  of  America,”  and,  of  course,  differs 
from  the  English  article  on  the  subject  of 
rulers.)  It  is  hardly  necessary  for  us  to 
repeat  these,  and  the  others  which  are  omit- 
ted by  the  Methodist  Church,  but  retained 
by  the  Protestant  Episcopal;  they  relate,  as 
will  appear  from  their  titles,  rather  to  ab- 
stract topics  and  beliefs,  and  to  matters  of 
polity,*  than  to  the  fundamental  doctrines  of 
the  Church.  The  titles  of  the  omitted  arti- 
cles are : “ Art.  3.  Of  the  going  down  of 

Christ  into  Hell.”  “Art.  13.  Of  works  before 
justification.”  “Art.  15.  Of  Christ  alone 
without  sin.”  “Art.  17.  Of  Predestination 
and  Election ’’(the  most  decidedly  Calvinistic 
article  in  the  whole  XXXIX,  and  singularly 
at  variance  with  some  other  portions  of  the 
standard).  “Art.  18.  Of  obtaining  salvation 
only  by  the  name  of  Christ.”  “Art.  20.  Of 
the  authoiity  of  the  Church.”  “Art.  23.  Of 
ministering  in  the  congregation.”  “Art.  26. 
Of  the  m worthiness  of  the  ministers,  which 
hinders  not  the  effect  of  the  sacrament.” 
“Art.  29  Of  the  wicked  which  eat  not  the 
body  of  Christ  in  the  use  of  the  Lord’s  Sup- 
per.” “ Art.  33.  Of  excommunicated  per- 
sons ; how  they  are  to  be  avoided.”  “Art. 
34.  Of  the  traditions  of  the  Church.”  “Art. 
36.  Of  the  consecration  of  Bishops  and  min- 
isters.” This  last  is  modified  to  adapt  it  to 
the  peculiarities  of  the  American  church. 
To  the  doctrinal  discrepancies  growing  out 
of  the  interpretations  of  the  XXXIX  arti- 
cles, and  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer, 
which  it  is  very  difficult  to  make  accord  fully 
with  each  other,  is  due  much  of  the  division 
in  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church. 

In  matters  of  polity,  the  Episcopal  Church 
recognizes  three  orders  of  clergy  : Bishops,* 
priests,  and  deacons.  The  Bishops,  like 
those  of  the  Roman  Catholic,  Greek,  Armen- 
ian, and  some  other  churches,  are  diocesan , 
i.  e.,  have  charge  of  the  churches  of  a partic- 
ular territory  or  diocese,  in  distinction  from 
those  of  the  Methodist  Church,  which  are 
general  and  itinerant,  and  those  of  a part  of 
the  Lutheran  churches,  which  are  more 
nearly  Presbyterian,  the  Bishop  being  of  no 
higher  authoiity  nor  dignity  than  the  other 
clergy,  but  simply  performing  duties  of  a dif- 
ferent cla'S.  Such  is  substantially  also  the 
theory  of  Episcopacy  in  the  Moravian  church. 


The  High  Church  theory  is,  that  the  Bish- 
ops are  the  successors  of  the  Apostles,  that 
the  consecration  has  come  to  them  in  regular 
order  through  the  hands  of  a succession  of 
holy  men,  the  bishops  of  the  Roman  Church 
before  the  Reformation,  and  that  they  are 
thus  Bishops  by  direct  transmission  from 
Jesus  Christ  and  his  Apostles,  and  so  by 
divine  right.  They  regard  them  as  superior 
to  priests  and  deacons.  The  Low  Church 
party  deny  all  this,  and  reject  the  theory  of 
the  “ exclusive  validity  of  Episcopal  orders.” 
The  priests,  called  also  in  the  United  States, 
generally  rectors,  and,  where  not  in  full 
charge  of  a parish,  assistant  ministers,  have 
received  at  the  hands  of  the  bishop  the  sec- 
ond ordination  which  confers  upon  them  the 
power  of  administering  the  sacraments.  The 
third,  or  lowest  grade  of  the  ministry,  is  the 
deacon,  which  in  this  church  is  usually  but 
temporary,  the  candidate  when  invested  with 
this  office,  is  allowed  to  baptize,  to  read  in 
the  church,  and  to  assist  in  the  Eucharist, 
but  only  in  the  administration  of  the  wine. 
His  office  is  wholly  distinct  from  that  of  the 
deacon  in  Presbyterian,  Congregational,  or 
Baptist  churches,  being  more  analogous  to 
that  of  the  licentiate  in  those  churches.  It  is 
usually  a mere  preliminary  or  stepping  stone 
to  the  reception  of  priests’  orders,  and  both 
ordinations  are,  in  some  instances,  effected  in 
the  same  day.  The  temporalities  of  the 
Episcopal  churches  are  administered  by  the 
concurrence  of"  the  rector  and  the  vestry, 
composed  of  wardens  and  vestrymen  elected 
by  the  members  of  the  parish.  The  Episco- 
pal Church  usually  administers  baptism  by 
making  the  sign  of  the  cross  on  the  forehead 
of  the  person  baptized,  requiring  a profession 
of  faith  (in  the  case  of  infants,  this  is  made 
for  them  by  their  sponsors,  or  god-father  and 
god-mother).  Immersion  either  in  the  case 
of  children  or  adults,  though  formerly  prac- 
tised by  the  Church  of  England,  is  not  now 
considered  necessary.  The  formula  for  the 
baptism  of  infants,  in  the  prayer  book,  con- 
tains the  words,  “ since  this  child  is  now  re- 
generate” and  a very  exciting  discussion  has 
sprung  up  in  regard  to  these  words,  some 
clergymen  contending  that  they  inculcated 
the  doctrine  of  baptismal  regeneration,  and 
refusing  to  use  them  on  this  account.  At 
the  Triennial  General  Convention,  held  in 
Baltimore,  in  Oct.  1871,  though  no  general 
canon  defining  this  passage  was  passed,  yet 
nearly  all  the  bishops  signed  a paper  giving 
it  as  their  private  opinion  that  the  term  as 


636 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


thus  used  was  not  intended  to  imply  that  doc- 
trine. v 

The  statistics  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  in  1870  were  as  follows : Dioceses  39; 
Missionary  do.  1 1 ; Bishops  39 ; Assistant  do. 
5 ; Missionary  do.  8 ; Priests  and  Deacons  2,- 
710 ; Parishes  2,5 1 2 ; communicants,  not  fully 
reported,  but  believed  to  be  not  quite  220,- 
000;  Baptisms  of  infants,  20,749;  of  adults, 
5,030;  not  specified,  3,760;  Confirmations 
20,793;  Sunday  School  Teachers  18,661; 
Scholars  185,979;  Contributions  (incom- 
plete), $4,205,029. 

The  Episcopal  Church  has  been  very  ac- 
tive in  the  promotion  of  educational  institu- 
tions. It  has  14  theological  seminaries,  with 
57  professors  and  366  students;  15  colleges, 
with  1,380  students,  and  20  academies  and 
diocesan  schools,  under  the  control  of  its 
Bishops.  It  has  22  periodicals,  weekly,  semi- 
weekly, monthly,  and  quarterly,  devoted  to 
its  interests,  and  within  a few  years  past  has 
manifested  a zeal  and  energy  in  propagating 
its  views,  and  establishing  churches,  especi- 
ally in  the  new  states  and  territories,  which 
contrasts  very  favorably  with  the  apathy  of 
its  early  history. 


VII.  THE  EVANGELICAL  LUTHERAN 
CHURCH. 

The  Lutheran  Church  in  the  United 
States,  is  one,  in  the  sense  of  holding  with 
greater  or  less  tenacity  to  the  same  stand- 
ards or  Confessions  of  Faith;  but  it  has 
some  elements  of  discord  in  it,  mainly  in 
matters  of  minor  importance,  which  have 
led  to  violent  controversies,  and  to  so  great 
bitterness  between  some  of  its  synods  that 
they  not  only  refuse  fellowship  and  commun- 
ion wiih  each  other,  but  have  excommuni- 
cated each  other.  These  discordant  elements 
are,  however,  confined  for  the  most  part  to 
the  smaller  independent  synods,  and  do  not 
so  much  affect  the  larger  bodies.  The  de- 
nomination is  growing  in  the  United  States 
with  great  rapidity,  especially  in  the  West, 
and  mainly,  though  not  exclusively,  by  immi- 
gration, the  very  large  numbers  of  Germans, 
Swedes,  Norwegians,  and  Danes,  arriving 
here  every  year  being,  a majority  of  them — 
nominally  at  least — attached  to  the  Lutheran 
faith.  The  first  Lutherans  came  to  Penn- 
sylvania between  1680  and  1700,  attracted 
by  the  offers  of  William  Penn.  In  1710, 
about  3,000  German  Lutherans  who  had 
taken  refuge  in  England  from  the  persecu- 


tions of  the  Romanists,  were  sent  over  to 
Pennsylvania  by  the  British  government. 
In  1727,  another  large  colony  came  over 
from  the  Palatinate,  Wurtemburg,  Darm- 
stadt, and  other  parts  of  Germany.  For 
nearly  twenty  years,  these  poor  people  had 
no  ministers  of  their  own;  but  in  1748,  Dr. 
Henry  Melchior  Muhlenburg,  a missionary 
of  the  Halle  Orphan  House,  brought  up  under 
the  training  of  Francke  and  Spencer,  came 
to  Pennsylvania  and  labored  most  zealously 
for  half  a century  among  them,  organizing 
churches,  consistories,  and  synods,  and  being 
entitled  to  be  considered  the  father  of  the 
German  Lutheran  Church  in  America.  At 
the  time  he  arrived  here,  there  were  only 
eleven  Lutheran  ministers  in  the  Colonies. 
Three  years  later  there  were  forty,  and  a 
Lutheran  population  of  about  60,000.  No 
one  of  the  Protestant  churches  suffered  more 
severely  by  the  Revolutionary  War  than  did 
the  Lutheran,  and  they  were  long  in  recov- 
ering from  the  depression  thus  caused.  Many 
of  their  churches  were  abandoned,  and  it 
seemed  for  years  as  if  their  religious  vitality 
had  departed.  Their  churches  were  scatter- 
ed, and  belonged  to  distant  and  separate 
synods,  having  little  communication  with 
each  other  and  no  common  band  of  union, 
and  being  in  many  instances  composed  of 
Lutherans  from  different  countries  of  Europe, 
they  were  inclined  to  look  upon  each  other 
with  jealousy.  This  was,  to  some  extent, 
Remedied,  and  a better  state  of  affairs  inaug- 
urated by  the  formation  of  the  General  Syn- 
od of  the  Lutheran  Church,  in  1820.  From 
that  time,  a steady  and  constantly  increasing 
tide  of  emigration  began  to  flow  in  to  the 
country,  and  much  of  the  German  and  Scan- 
dinavian part  of  it  was  composed  of  Luther- 
ans, or  those  who  had  been  brought  up  under 
Lutheran  influences.  Many  of  these,  coming 
from  countries  where  Lutheranism  was  the 
religion  of  the  state,  and  the  sovereign  the 
head  of  the  church,  had  been  accustomed  to 
great  laxity  in  religious  matters.  At  the 
suitable  age  they  were  confirmed  and  became 
members  of  the  church,  however  irregular 
their  mode  of  life,  and  no  evidence  of  conver- 
sion was  required  for  membership.  These 
lax  views,  and  a general  tendency  to  ration- 
alism, they  desired  to  graft  upon  the  Ameri- 
can Lutheran  Church,  and  in  some  of  the 
newer  synods  their  views  prevailed.  These 
synods  refused,  on  these  and  other  accounts, 
to  join  the  General  Synod.  There  were 
other  grounds  of  difference,  also,  relating  to 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  TnE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


637 


the  standards  of  the  church,  the  clerical  office, 
the  adoption  or  rejection  of  symbolical  rites 
and  ceremonies,  and  a liturgical  service,  and 
the  making  use  of  what  have  been  known  as 
revival  measures.  These  differences  were 
increased  by  the  emigration  of  a considerable 
number  of  the  “ Old  Lutheran  ” party  to  the 
United  States  in  1837  and  1838.  The 
Lutherans  all  agree  in  receiving  the  “Augs- 
burg Confession,”  (drawn  up  by  Melanch- 
thon,  and  sanctioned  by  Luther,  in  1530)  as 
their  principal  standard  of  doctrine  ; though 
the  New  Lutherans  regard  even  this  as  only 
an  expression,  “ in  a manner  substantially 
correct,”  of  the  cardinal  doctrines  of  the 
Bible,  which  they  regard  as  the  only  infalli- 
ble rule  of  faith  and  practice.  The  Old 
Lutherans  on  the  contrary,  while  avowing 
the  Bible  as  the  ultimate  rule  of  faith  ana 
practice,  adhere  very  strenuously  to  the 
entire  “ Book  of  Concord,”  so  called,  as  the 
standard  of  their  doctrinal  beliefs.  This 
Book  of  Concord  contains  the  three  creeds, 
viz.,  the  Apostles’,  Athanasian,  and  Nicene 
Creeds,  the  Augsburg  Confession  of  1830, 
and  the  Apology  of  the  Confession  (written 
by  Melanchthon,  1540),  the  Schmalkald 
Articles  (drawn  up  by  Luther  in  1537),  and 
the  two  Catechisms  of  Luther  (prepared  be- 
fore 1530).  The  Old  Lutherans  are  in- 
clined, to  some  extent,  to  retain  also,  those 
rites,  ceremonies,  and  observances,  wh  ch 
Melanchthon  regarded  as  things  indifferent, 
such  as  the  wearing  of  clerical  vestments, 
exorcism,  private  confessions,  lax  views  of 
the  Sabbath,  and  the  old  Lutheran  doctrine 
of  baptism,  in  its  relation  to  regeneration 
and  the  Lord’s  Supper. 

“ The  book  of  Concord,”  and,  indeed,  the 
“Augsburg  Confession,”  and  its  “Apology,” 
are  too  long  to  be  in-erted  in  this  brief  his- 
tory of  denominations,  but  we  give  below  a 
summary  of  their  principal  doctrines,  as 
stated  by  an  eminent  Lutheran  clergyman.  * 
“ The  fundamental  doctrine  of  the  Lutheran 
Church  is  that  we  are  justified  before  God, 
not  through  any  merit  of  our  own,  but  by  his 
tender  mercy,  through  faith  in  his  Son.  The 
depravity  of  man  is  total  in  its  extent,  and 
his  will  has  no  positive  ability  in  the  work  of 
salvation,  but  has  the  negative  ability  of 
ceasing  its  resistance.  Jesus  Christ  offered 
a proper  and  vicarious  sacrifice.  Faith  in 
Christ  presupposes  a true  penitence.  The 
renewed  man  co-works  with  the  Spirit  of 

* New  American  Cyclopaedia,  Vol.  X,  pp.  739,  740. 

39* 


God.  Sanctification  is  progressive  and  nev- 
er reaches  absolute  perfection  in  this  life. 
The  Holy  Spirit  works  through  the  Word 
and  the  Sacraments,  which  alone,  in  the 
proper  sense,  are  means  of  grace.  Both  the 
Word  and  the  Sacraments  bring  a positive 
grace  which  is  offered  to  all  who  receive 
them  outwardly,  and  which  is  actually  im- 
parted to  all  w ho  have  faith  to  embrace  it.  . 
....  The  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church 
regards  the  Word  of  God,  the  Canonical 
Scriptures,  as  the  absolute  and  only  law  of 
faith,  and  of  life.  Whatever  is  undefined  by 
its  letter  or  its  spirit,  is  the  subject  of  Chris- 
tian liberty,  and  pertains  not  to  the  sphere  of 
conscience,  but  to  that  of  order ; no  power 
may  enjoin  upon  the  church,  as  necessary, 
what  God  has  forbidden,  or  has  passed  by  in 
silence,  as  none  may  forbid  her  to  hold  what 
God  has  enjoined  upon  her,  or  to  practise 
what,  by  His  silence,  he  has  left  to  her  free- 
dom. Just  as  firm’y  as  she  holds  upon  the 
one  hand  that  the  Bible  is  the  rule  of  faith 
and  not  a confession  of  it,  she  holds  on  the 
other  that  the  creed  is  a confession  of  faith 
and  not  the  rule  of  it.  The  creeds  are  sim- 
ply the  testimony  of  the  Church  ,to  the  truths 
she  holds  ; but  as  it  is  the  truth  they  confess, 
she  of  necessity  regards  those  who  reject 
the  truth  confessed  in  the  creed,  as  rejecting 
the  truth  set  forth  in  the  Word.  While, 
therefore,  it  is  as  true  of  the  Lutheran 
Church  as  of  any  other,  that  when  she  lays 
her  hand  upon  the  Bible,  she  gives  the  com- 
mand, ‘ Believe ! ’ and  when  she  lays  it  on 
the  Confession,  she  puts  the  question,  ‘Do 
you  believe  ?’  it  is  also  true  that  when  a man 
replies,  ‘ No,’  to  the  question,  she  considers 
him  as  thereby  giving  evidence  that  lie  has 

not  obeyed  the  command Baptism. 

The  Lutheran  Church  holds  that  it  is  neces- 
sary to  salvation  to  be  born  again  of  water, 
and  the  Spirit ; but  she  holds  that  this  neces- 
sity is  ordinary,  not  absolute,  or  without  ex- 
ception ; that  the  contempt  of  the  sacrament, 
not  the  want  of  it,  condemns,  and  that  though 
God  binds  us  to  the  means,  He  does  not  bind 
Ilis  own  mercy  by  them.  From  the  time  of 
Luther  to  the  present  hour  the  Lutheran  the- 
ologians have  maintained  the  salvability  and 
actual  salvation  of  infants  dying  unbaptized. 
The  rest  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Lutheran 
Church  as  a whole,  is  involved  in  her  confes- 
sion, with  the  Nicene  Creed,  “ one  baptism 
for  the  remission  of  sin,”  and  that  through 
it  the  grace  of  God  is  offered ; that  chil- 
dren are  to  he  baptized,  and  that  being 


638 


H STORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


thus  committed  to  God  they  are  graciously  . 
received  by  him.  At  the  same  time  she 
rejects  the  theory  of  the  Anabaptists,  that 
infants  unbaptized  have  salvation  because  of 
their  personal  innocence,  and  maintains  that 
the  nature  with  which  we  are  born  requires  a 
change,  which  must  be  wrought  before  we 
can  enter  heaven,  and  that  infants  are  saved 
by  the  application  of  Christ’s  redemptory 
work.”  It  has  been  charged,  for  more  than 
three  centuries  that  the  Lutherans  held  to 
the  doctrine  of  Consubstantiation , that  is,  the 
local  or  corporeal  presence  in,  with,  or  under 
the  bread  in  the  Lord’s  Supper ; th^y  deny 
this  most  strenuously,  but  admit  that  they 
hold  to  a sacramental,  spiritual,  or  supernat- 
ural presence  of  the  Divine  Redeemer  in  the 
sacrament,  and  that  those  who  partake,  do  in 
reality  feed  upon  him  spiritually,  though  if 
unworthy,  to  their  own  condemnation.  On 
the  subject  of  the  Lord’s  Day,  while  it  is 
acknowledged  that  the  general  practice 
among  Protestants  on  the  continent  of 
Europe,  in  regard  to  its  observance,  is  much 
more  lax  than  that  which  prevails  in  Eng- 
land and  the  United  States,  yet  the  Ameri- 
can Lutheran  Church  profess  to  hold  that 
the  Sabbath  was  instituted  at  the  creation  of 
min;  that  the  generic  idea  of  devoting  one 
day  of  the  week  to  rest  from  labor,  and  to 
religious  duties,  pertains  to  the  entire  race 
through  all  time ; and  that  the  law  of  the 
Sabbath,  so  far  as  it  is  not  determinative  and 
typical,  is  binding  on  Christians. 

“ Divine  Worship.  The  Lutheran  Church 
regards  preaching  as  an  indispensable  part 
of  divine  service.  All  worship  is  to  be  in  ! 
the  vernacular ; the  wants  of  the  heart  as  j 
well  as  of  the  reason  are  to  be  met.  What-  j 
ever  of  the  past  is  spiritual,  beautiful,  and  j 
appropriate,  is  to  be  retained.  The  Church  i 
year,  with  its  great  festivals,  is  kept.  With  I 
various  national  diversities,  there  is  a sub-  j 
stantial  agreement  in  the  liturgical  services  i 
of  the  Lutheran  Church,  throughout  almost 
all  the  world.  The  hymns  are  sung  by  all 
the  people,  with  the  organ  accompaniment.” 
The  hymnology  of  the  Lutheran  Church  sur- 
passes that  of  all  other  churches  in  the  world 
in  sweetness,  richness,  power,  and  unction. 
Even  in  their  English  dress  there  are  few  i 
hymns  more  beautiful  or  soul-inspiring  than 
Luther’s  “A  strong  fortress  is  our  God,”  or 
“ O ! Head,  so  bruised  and  wounded,”  or 
“ Jerusalem,  the  Golden.” 

“ The  clergymen  in  their  official  functions, 
wear  a distinctive  dress,  usually  a black  robe, 


with  the  bands.  A preparatory  service  pre- 
cedes communion.  The  doctrine  and  prac- 
tice of  auricular  confession  were  rejected  in 
the  beginning.  The  “private  confession,” 
which  was  established  in  some  parts  of  the 
Church,  involves  no  enumeration  or  confes- 
sion of  particular  sins  whatever,  unless  the 
communicant  desires  to  speak  of  them ; and 
the  “ private  absolution  ” is  simply  the  an- 
nunciation of  the  gospel  promise,  with  the 
gospel  conditions  to  the  individual  penitent. 
But  even  in  this  form,  private  confession  has 
ceased  in  most  parts  of  the  church.  The 
practice  of  exorcism  in  baptism,  simply  as  a 
rite  long  established,  and  which  might  be 
tolerated  if  regarded  merely  as  a symbolical 
representation  of  the  doctrine  that  our  nature 
is  under  the  dominion  of  sin,  wras  practised 
in  parts  of  the  church,  but  has  fallen  almost 
everywhere  into  oblivion. 

Constihition  or  Polity  of  the  Church. 
“Mauy  embarrassing  circumstances  prevent- 
ed the  Lutheran  Church  from  developing  her 
life  as  perfectly  in  her  church  constitution, 
as  in  her  doctrines  and  w orship.  The  idea 
of  the  universal  priesthood  of  all  believers, 
at  once  overthrew  the  doctrine  of  a distinc- 
tion of  essence  between  clergy  and  laity. 
(This  doctrine  is,  nevertheless,  maintained 
in  one  or  two  of  the  American  synods. — 
Editor.)  The  ministry  is  not  an  order,  but 
it  is  a divinely  appointed  office,  to  which 
men  must  be  rightly  called.  No  imparity 
exists  by  divine  right ; a hierarchical  organi- 
zation is  unchristian,  but  a gradation  (bish- 
ops, superintendents,  provosts,)  may  be  ob- 
served, as  a thing  of  human  right  only.  (In 
the  United  States,  the  Lutheran  Church  has 
no  bishops,  superintendents,  or  provosts. — 
Editor.)  The  government  by  consistories 
has  been  very  general.  In  Denmark,  Evan- 
gelical bishops  took  the  pla<  e of  Roman 
Catholic  prelates  who  were  deposed.  In 
Sweden,  the  bishops  embraced  the  Reforma- 
tion, and  thus  secured  in  that  country  an 
“apostolic  succession,”  in  the  High  C hurch 
sense  ; though,  on  the  principles  of  the  Luth- 
eran Church,. alike  where  she  lias,  as  where 
she  has  not  such  a succession,  it  is  not  re- 
garded as  essential  even  to  the  order  of  the 
church.  The  ultimate  source  of  power  is  in 
the  congregation,  that  is,  in  the  pastor  and 
other  officers  of  the  church,  and  the  people 
of  the  single  communions.  The  right  to 
choose  a pastor  belongs  to  the  people,  who 
may  exercise  it  by  direct  vote,  or  delegate  it 
to  their  representatives.  Synods  possess 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


639 


such  power  as  the  congregations  delegate  to 
them.  “ Ministers  are  related  to  congrega- 
tions,  not  as  their  servants,  but  as  the  serv- 
ants of  the  church,  and  in  the  United  States 
where  the  Congregational  principle  has  been 
more  radically  developed  than  anywhere 
else  in  the  Lutheran  Church,  “ the  Synod  to 
which  pastors  belong  has  the  entire  jurisdic- 
tion over  them.”  (See  Formula  of  the 
Lutheran  Church,  Chap,  iii,  3.)  Absolute 
ministerial  parity  is  maintained,  and  lay  rep- 
resentation is  universal ; but  many  vital 
points  of  church  organizations  are  entirely 
unsettled,  and  the  doctrine  that  synods  are 
merely  advisory  bodies,”  is  often  pressed  in 
a way  that  tends  to  anarchy. 

The  Lutheran  Church  in  the  United  States 
is  divided  into  the  following  organizations : 
1st,  The  General  Synod,  founded  in  1820, 
and  comprising  in  1870,  twenty  Synods,  viz* 
the  Synods  of  Maryland,  West  Pennsylvania, 
Hartwick,  East  Ohio,  Frankean,  Alleghany, 
East  Pennsylvania,  Miami,  Wittenberg, 
Olive,  Northern  Illinois,  Southern  Illinois. 
Central  Pennsylvania,  English  Synod  of 
Iowa,  Northern  Indiana,  New  Jersey,  Cen- 
tral Illinois,  New  York,  Susquehanna,  Pitts- 
burgh, and  Kansas.  The  General  Synod 
recognizes  the  Augsburg  Confession,  but  al- 
lows considerable  liberty  of  doctrinal  views 
in  its  interpretation.  It  formerly  had  more 
synods  connected  with  it,  but  six  southern 
synod-:,  subsequently  increased  to  seven,  se- 
ceded during  the  war  and  formed  the  South 
ern  General  Synod.  Their  action  was 
based  on  the  resolutions  of  loyalty  to  the 
Government  expressed  by  the  General  Syn 
od,  but  they  are  said  to  have  adhered  more 
closely  to  the  standards,  and  to  have  been 
more  strict  in  regard  to  the  qualifications  of 
membership  than  the  Old  Synod.  The 
Northern  General  Synod  had,  in  1870,  627 
ministers,  1 ,0 67  churches,  and  103,042  com- 
municants. The  Southern  General  Synod, 
organized  in  1862,  had  at  the  same  time: 
126  ministers,  225  churches,  and  20,796  com 
municants. 

A much  younger  body,  and  yet  having  a 
larger  membership,  is  the  General  Coun- 
cil, organized  in  1867.  The  General  Coun- 
cil adheres  to  the  entire  body  of  standards 
contained  in  the  “ Hook  of  Concord,”  which 
they  declare  to  be  accepted  by  them  as  be- 
ing in  full  accord  with  the  Scriptures.  It 
comprises  twelve  Synods,  viz : The  New 

York  Ministcrium,  the  Synod  of  Pennsylva- 
nia, a Pittsburgh  Synod,  the  English  District 


Synod  of  Ohio,  the  English  Synod  of  Ohio, 
the  Synod  of  Illinois,  the  Synod  of  Michigan, 
the  German  Synod  of  Iowa,  the  Synod  of 
Minnesota,  the  Scandinavian  Augustana 
Synod,  the  Synod  of  Texas,  and  the  Synod 
of  Canada.  These  Synods  had  in  1870,  535 
ministers,  986  churches,  and  131,632  mem- 
bers. 

Six  oth'er  Synods,  viz : Missouri,  Ohio, 

Wisconsin,  the  Norwegian,  Grabaii’s-Buffalo 
Synod,  and  the  German  Synod  of  New 
York,  agree  very  fully  in  doctrines  with  each 
other,  except  that  the  last  two  named  have 
some  peculiar  views  in  regard  to  the  status  of 
the  Christian  ministry.  They  differ  from 
the  General  Council  in  these  four  points : 
they  desire  to  prohibit  an  interchange  of  pul- 
pits with  all  other  denominations,  and  admis- 
sion to  the  Lord’s  Supper;  they  condemn 
Millenarianism,  and  excommunicate  from 
their  fellowship  all  members  of  secret  socie- 
ties. Their  numbers,  in  1870,  were  as  fol- 
lows: ministers,  650;  churches,  965;  com- 
municants, 150,925.  These  synods  will  prob- 
ably soon  be  united  in  one  organization. 

The  following  synods,  all  small,  are  still 
independent,  but  will  probably  soon  be  con- 
nected with  some  one  of  the  larger  bodies : 
The  Tennessee,  Von  Rohr’s  Buffalo  Synod, 
the  Concordia,  Eielson’s  Scandinavian  Synod, 
and  the  Norwegian  Danish  Conference. 
These  synods  had  in  1870,  70  ministers,  218 
churches,  18,327  members.  There  were, 
besides,  30  ministers  whose  synodal  connec- 
tion was  unascertained.  There  were,  there- 
fore, in  1870,  connected  with  the  different 
councils,  synods,  and  conferences  of  the 
Lutheran  Church  in  the  United  States,  53 
synods,  2,086  ministers,  3,544  churches,  and 
425,577  communicants.  The  other  statistics 
of  the  Church  are  partial,  and  not  later  than 
1869.  The  General  Synod  had  in  that  year, 
81,445  teachers  and  scholars  in  its  Sabbath 
Schools,  and  contributed  to  benevolent  ob- 
jects $340,133.  The  contributions  of  the 
other  branches  of  the  church  are  not  report- 
ed. 

Thirty-two  Lutheran  newspapers  were 
published  in  1870,  viz:  Eight  English,  six- 
teen German,  two  Swedish,  and  six  Norwe- 
gian and  Danish.  There  are  two  Lutheran 
Church  Almanacs  published  annually,  one  at 
Baltimore,  the  other  at  Allentown,  Pa. 
There  are  15  Theological  seminaries  for 
Lutheran  students,  with  about  60  professors, 
and  450  students,  and  17  colleges  with  more 
than  2,000  students.  There  are  also  18  sein- 


640 


HISTOR*  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


inaries  or  academies  of  high  grade  under 
their  control. 


VIII  THE  SOCIETY  OF  FRIENDS  OR 
QUAKERS. 

i.  The  Original  or  Orthodox 
Friends.  The  Society  of  Friends  originated 
in  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth  century,  in 
Great  Britain,  as  one  of  those  protests  against 
formalism  and  Christianity  from  which  the 
heart  and  life  had  died  out,  which  have  in  all 
ages  demonstrated  the  power  of  religious 
principle  to  react  from  the  deadness  of  state 
churches.  George  Fox,  its  founder,  com- 
menced proclaiming  the  doctrines  of  the 
power  of  Christ  to  save  men  from  sin,  and 
the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  changing 
and  transforming  the  evil  nature,  when  he 
was  but  twenty  three  years  of  age,  and  con- 
tinued it  for  forty  years,  until  his  death.  His 
followers  were  not  very  numerous,  but  they 
were  exceedingly  earnest,  stern  in  their 
adherence  to  what  they  believed  to  be  the 
monitions  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  when  per- 
secuted, took  joyfully  the  spoiling  of  their 
goods,  and  went  to  prison,  to  the  stake,  or  to 
the  gallows  with  a calm  fearlessness  which 
convinced  many  of  the  truth  of  their  doc- 
trines. It  was  not  in  England  alone  that 
they  were  thus  persecuted.  In  July,  1656, 
two  female  members  of  the  Society  of 
Friends  reached  the  port  of  Boston,  but 
were  compelled  by  the  colonial  government 
to  return  in  the  same  ship.  Others,  however, 
followed  soon  after,  and  while  their  conscien- 
tious protest  against  the  prevalent  customs 
and  manners  may  have  savored  of  fanaticism, 
the  colonial  authorities  were  certainly  in  the 
wrong  in  persecuting  them  so  bitterly.  They 
were  whipped,  imprisoned,  and  banished  from 
the  Massachusetts  Colony,  and  four  out  of 
five  who  ventured  to  return  from  banish- 
ment, one  of  them  a woman  of  remarkable 
gifts  and  devotion,  were  hanged  for  their 
contempt  of  the  colonial  laws.  The  last 
martyr  of  the  Society  of  Friends  in  America 
was  executed  in  1661,  but  subsequent  to  that 
date  some  were  whipped,  banished,  and  im- 
prisoned, in  the  colonies  of  Massachusetts 
and  Connecticut.  In  1682,  a considerable 
number  of  Friends  came  over  to  Pennsyl- 
vania with  William  Penn,  himself  a mem- 
ber of  the  Society.  Fox  had  himself  visited 
America  in  1669,  and  remained  till  1673, 
and  had  established  meetings  of  Friends  in 
North  Carolina  and  elsewhere,  some  of  which 


are  still  in  existence.  The  Society  of 
Friends  in  America  adheres,  to  this  day,  to 
the  organization  devised  for  it  by  Fox. 
Their  meetings,  as  they  call  their  congrega- 
tions, are  presided  over  by  Elders,  and  these 
the  most  prudent  and  judicious  men  of  these 
congregations,  exercise  a quiet,  but  effective, 
supervision  over  those  who  believe  them- 
selves called  of  God  to  proclaim  his  truth. 
The  utterances  of  this  truth  made  as  the  re- 
sult of  a special  impulse  or  call  of  the  Spirit 
then  and  there  to  speak,  are  made  by  both 
sexes,  the  doctrine  of  the  Friends  on  this  sub- 
ject being,  that  God  calls  both  men  and  women 
to  utter  his  truths.  The  meetings  are  sub- 
ject to  monthly  meetings  of  the  different 
congregations  of  a neighborhood  or  district, 
and  these  to  the  “ Yearly  Meetings,”  which 
are  diocesan  in  their  character,  and  have  a 
controlling  and  disciplinary  power.  These 
Yearly  Meetings,  of  which  there  are  ten  or 
more,  are  equal  in  their  authority,  and  there 
is  no  appeal  from  their  decisions. 

At  the  time  of  the  commencement  of  the 
Revolutionary  War,  there  were  about  45,000 
Friends  in  the  thirteen  colonies,  and  as  they 
were  opposed  to  bearing  arms,  and  utterly 
refused  to  take  part  in  the  War,  there  was  at 
first  some  apprehension  that  they  were  hos- 
tile to  the  patriot  side.  This  impression  was 
soon  dissipated ; for  though,  with  some  few 
exceptions,  the  members  of  the  society  did 
not  bear  arms,  they  rendered  great  and  con- 
spicuous service  to  the  national  cause,  and 
this  service  was  rendered  with  such  sacrifices 
and  with  so  much  liberality  as  to  show  that 
their  hearts  were  in  the  cause,  though  they 
were  conscientiously  opposed  to  fighting.  For 
two  or  three  decades  after  the  war,  they  con- 
tinued to  increase,  though  not  very  rapidly. 
Then  came  a season  of  stagnation.  They, 
who,  in  the  beginning  of  their  history,  had 
been  the  most  radical  of  radicals,  were  now 
intensely  conservative ; and  while  as  holy 
men  and  women  as  ever  walked  the  earth 
shaded  their  brows  beneath  broad  brimmed 
hats  and  Quaker  bonnets,  and  adhered  strictly 
to  the  Quaker  dress,  there  had  come  over  the 
society  a spirit  of  formalism,  which  occupied 
itself  too  much  in  the  petty  details  of  dress 
and  language,  and  neglected,  to  some  extent, 
the  weightier  matters  of  law,  judgment,  and 
faith.  Their  services  had  become  distasteful 
to  many  of  their  young  people,  and  these 
were  abandoning  the  faith  of  their  fathers 
and  going  to  the  opposite  extreme  of  Ritual- 
istic observance  in  the  Episcopal  Church,  or^ 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


641 


in  still  stronger  protest  against  its  stringent 
rules  of  life,  became  the  most  worldly  of 
worldlings,  till  it  became  a byeword  in  re- 
gard to  the  fastest  of  fast  young  men,  “ They 
were  brought  up  as  Quakers  ! Meanwhile, 
there  was  in  the  meetings  themselves  a grad- 
ual drawing  away  from  the  soundness  of 
their  pristine  faith.  There  were  not,  as  of 
old,  those  fervent,  earnest  testimonies;  the 
Spirit’s  power  of  impressing  men  and  women 
to  utter  the  word  of  exhortation  came  to  be 
less  frequently  and  less  decidedly  manifested 
than  of  old,  and  ever  and  anon  there  were 
those  mute,  but  protracted,  assemblies  which 
bore  witness  more  powerfully  than  any  pro- 
phetic utterance  could  have  done,  that  it  was 
not  with  them  as  in  days  past,  when  the  can- 
dle of  the  Lord  shined  around  about  them. 
In  1827  came  the  great  secession,  when  al- 
most one-third  of  their  number  repudiated 
the  claims  of  Christ,  as  * the  God-man,  the 
Divine  Redeemer,  and,  while  still  claiming 
to  be  “ Friends,”  withdrew  with  their  leader 
and  formed  a new  organization.  For  more 
than  twenty  years  that  followed,  the  ‘Friends’ 
of  the  Orthodox  faith  still  walked  in  the  wil- 
derness, amid  clouds  and  darkness ; still  their 
sons  and  daughters  fell  away  to  the  world, 
and  their  numbers  decreased  or  remained 
stationary. 

But  at  length  the  time  of  refreshing  came, 
and  as  the  testimonies  to  God’s  goodness  and 
grace  multiplied,  and  their  meetings  were  no 
longer  silent  and  dreary  as  of  old,  they  be- 
g in  to  extend  their  influence,  and  to  find  in 
active  work  for  Christ,  in  the  First  Day 
Schools,  in  the  distribution  of  the  Word  of 
God,  in  labors  for  the  poor,  oppressed,  and 
down  trodden,  the  true  secret  of  success. 
Since  1850,  their  numbers  have  nearly 
doubled,  and  in  the  work  of  religious  instruc- 
tion, and  vigorous  efforts  for  the  conversion 
of  men,  they  have  found  such  blessings  that 
they  ha  ve  become  an  aggressive,  earnest,  and 
efficient  body  of  Christian  men  and  women. 

“The  Society  of  Friends,”  says  Mr.  Wil- 
liam J.  Allinson,  editor  of  The  Friends ’ Re- 
view, “ is  not  at  issue  with  other  Orthodox 
churches  on  the  general  points  of  Christian 
doctrine.  Avoiding  the  use  of  the  word 
Trinity,  they  reverently  believe  in  the  Holy 
Three  : the  Father,  the  Lord  .Jesus  Christ, 
the  only  begotten  of  the  Father,  by  whom 
are  all  tilings,  who  is  the  Mediator  between 
God  and  man,  and  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  who 
proceedeth  from  the  Father  and  Son — Qne 
God*,  blessed  forever.  They  accept,  in  its 


fullness,  the  testimony  of  Holy  Scripture 
with  regard  to  the  nature  and  offices  of  Christ, 
as  the  promised  Messiah,  the  Word  made 
flesh,  the  atonement  for  sin,  the  Saviour  and 
Redeemer  of  the  world.  They  have  no  re- 
liance upon  any  other  name,  no  hope  of  sal- 
vation that  is  not  based  upon  his  meritorious 
death  on  the  cross.  As  fully  do  they  admit 
his  humanity,  and  that  he  was  truly  man, 
“ sin  only  excepted.”  They  so  fully  believe 
in  the  Holy  Spirit  of  Christ,  that  without  the 
inward  revelation  thereof  they  feel  that  they 
can  do  nothing  to  God’s  glory,  or  to  further 
the  salvation  of  their  own  souls.  Without 
the  influence  thereof  they  know  not  how  to 
approach  the  Father,  through  the  Son,  nor 
what  to  pray  for  as  they  ought.  Their 
whole  code  of  belief  calls  for  the  entire  sur- 
render of  the  natural  will  to  the  guidance  of 
the  pure,  unerring  Spirit,  through  whose 
renewed  assistance  they  are  enabled  to  bring 
forth  fruits  unto  holiness,  and  to  stand  per- 
fect in  their  present  work.  As  it  was  the 
design  of  Christ  in  going  to  the  Father,  to 
send,  as  a Comforter,  his  Spirit  to  his  disci- 
ples, so  it  is  with  his  Spirit  that  he  baptized 
and  doth  baptize  them,  it  being  impossible, 
in  the  estimation  of  the  Friends,  that  an  out- 
ward ablution  should  wash  from  the  spirit  of 
man  the  stains  of  sin.  Hence  they  attach 
importance  to  “ the  baptism  which  now 
saveth,”  and  which  John  the  Baptist  pre- 
dicted should  be  administered  by  Christ. 
And  it  is  by  his  Spirit,  also,  that  his  follow- 
ers are  enabled  to  partake  of  the  true  Sup- 
per of  the  Lord : “ Behold  I stand  at  the 

door  and  knock : if  any  man  hear  my  voice, 
and  open  unto  me,  I will  come  in  and  sup 
with  him,  and  he  shall  sup  with  me.”  Thus 
they  hold  that  the  coming  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  in  the  flesh  was  the  grand  epoch  and 
central  fact  of  time,  and  that  types  and  shad- 
ows, and  all  ceremonial  observances,  which 
had  their  place  before,  as  shadows  of  good 
things  to  come,  now  that  they  have  been  ful- 
filled in  Him,  are  only  shadows  of  those 
shadows.  The  type  properly  precedes  the 
reality,  and  truly  this  was  worthy  of  being 
foreshadowed  ; “ but,”  says  Paul,  “ when  that 
which  is  perfect  is  come,  that  which  is  in 
part  shall  be  done  away.” 

In  regard  to  their  views  of  the  resurrec- 
tion, Thomas  Evans,  another  of  their  lead- 
ing writers,  says : “ The  Society  of  Friends, 
believes  that  there  will  be  a resurrection 
both  of  the  righteous  and  the  wicked ; the 
one  to  ..eternal  life  and  blessedness,  and 


642 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


the  other  to  everlasting  misery  and  torment, 
agreeably  to  Matt.  XXV,  31-45 ; John  V, 
25-30;  1 Cor.  XV,  12-58.  That  God  will 
judge  the  world  by  that  man  whom  he  hath 
ordained,  even  Christ  Jesus  the  Lord,  who 
will  render  unto  every  man  according  to  his 
works ; to  them  who  by  patient  continuing 
in  well  doing  during  this  life,  seek  for  glory 
and  honor,  immortality  and  eternal  life ; but 
unto  the  contentious  and  disobedient,  who 
obey  not  the  truth,  but  obey  unrighteousness, 
indignation  and  wrath,  tribulation  and  an- 
guish, upon  every  soul  of  man  that  sinneth, 
for  God  is  no  respecter  of  persons.” 

The  Friends  have  ever  regarded  war  as 
inconsistent  with  Christianity.  For  this  they 
refer  to  the  teachings  of  Christ  and  his  apos- 
tles, the  example  of  the  early  Christians,  and 
to  the  witness  tor  truth  m their  own  con- 
sciences, tested  and  confirmed  by  the.  sacred 
writings.  They  find  that  all  the  emotions 
winch  are  exercised  In  wars  and  fightings  are 
traced  to  evil  lusts,  and  are  inconsistent  with 
love  which  is  tho  substance  ot  the  first,  the 
second,  and  the  new  commandment,  which 
“ worketh  no  ill  to  his  neighbor,”  and  on 
which  41  hang  all  the  law  and  the  prophets.” 
They  con  siller  oaths  to  be  inadmissible,  as 
being  positively  forbidden  by  our  Lord  in 
language  not  to  be  mistaken,  and  this  testi- 
mony was  made  the  occasion  of  inflicting  se- 
vere penalties  upon  the  first  Friends.  When 
their  persecutors  failed  to  convict  them  upon 
false  charges,  it  was  customary  to  administer 
the  test  oaths  to  them,  on  refusing  to  take 
which,  they  were  cast  into  prison. 

They  decline  to  use  the  complimentary 
and  false  language  of  the  world,  and  to  apply 
to  the  months  and  days,  the  names  given  in 
honor  of  pagan  gods,  preferring  the  numeri- 
cal nomenclature  adopted  in  the  Scriptures. 
In  dress,  they  aim  at  plainness  and  simplicity, 
avoiding  the  tyranny  of  an  ever- changing 
fashion.  As  a natural  result,  a degree  of 
uniformity  ot  dress  prevails  among  them, 
bearing  much  resemblance  to  the  style  in 
vogue  at  the  rise  of  the  Society.  This  ap- 
proach to  uniformity,  which  at  first  was  unin- 
ten  iional,  came  to  be  cherished  as  a hedge  of 
defense  against  worldly  and  ensnaring  asso- 
ciations, and  a means  by  which  they  recog- 
nized each  other.  The  principle  at  stake  is 
not  in  the  fashion  of  a garb,  but  in  simplicity 
and  die  avoidance  of  changes  of  fashion. 
Whilst  Friends,  as  good  citizens,  have  cheer- 
paid  all  legal  assessments  for  the  sup- 
blic  schools,  and  of  the  poor,  and 


have  contributed  abundantly  to  the  various 
charities,  and  general  claims  of  benevolence, 
they  have  always  been  characterized  by  their 
scrupulous  care  in  relieving  their  own  poor, 
so  that  none  of  their  members  come  upon 
the  public  for  maintenance  or  gratuitous 
education. 

The  Friends  had,  in  1870,  including  one 
in  Canada,  ten  Yearly  Meetings  in  North 
America,  namely,  those  of  Canada,  New 
England,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Balti- 
more, North  Carolina,  Ohio,  Indiana,  West- 
ern Indiana,  and  Iowa.  The  increase  of 
membership  in  the  Western  States  has  been 
very  rapid  of  late  years.  The  membership 
of  the  Society  is  estimated  at  80,000.  In  all 
the  Yearly  Meetings,  First  Day  Schools  are 
conducted  with  zeal  and  efficiency.  The 
number  of  teachers  and  scholars  in  these 
First  Day  Schools  is  about  65,000.  The 
North  Carolina  Yearly  Meeting  has  estab- 
lished a Normal  Find  Day  School,  for  the 
training  of  teachers  or  these  Schools.  They 
have  three  colleges,  all  of  them  of  high  char- 
acter for  their  thorough  scholarship,  viz. ; 
Haverford  College,  in  Philadelphia  county, 
Penn. ; Earlharn  College,  Richmond,  Indiana, 
and  Whittier  College,  Salem,  Iowa.  They 
have,  also,  large  and  admirably  conducted 
boarding  schools,  under  the  care  of  their 
Yearly  Meetings,  at  West  Town,  Pa.,  Prov- 
idence, R.  I.,  Union  Springs,  N.  Y.,  and  New 
Garden,  N.  C.  They  have  two  or  three 
periodicals  of  marked  ability,  The  Friends ’ 
Review , conducted  by  Mr.  Allinson,  being  in 
literary  merit  not  inferior  to  any  religious 
review  in  this  country. 

II.  The  Society  of  Friends  (Seced- 
ers  or  Hicksites).  We  have  already  re- 
ferred to  the  schism  or  secession  which  took 
place  from  the  Society  of  Friends,  beginning 
with  the  Philadelphia  Yearly  Meeting,  in 
1827.  This  secession  was  led  by  a preacher 
among  the  Friends,  named  Elias  Hicks,  and 
hence  those  who  have  followed  his  leading 
are  commonly  called  Hicksites,  though  they 
repudiate  the  name  and  insist  that  they 
should  be  known  solely  as  the  Society  of 
Friends.  The  points  of  difference  between 
them  and  the  Orthodox  Friends  seem  to  have 
been  these  ; Ilicks  and  his  followers,  while 
maintaining  a belief  in  the  authenticity  and 
divine  authority  of  the  Scriptures,  yet  do  not 
regard  them  with  the  same  degree  of  rever- 
ence and  faith  as  the  Orthodox.  In  their 
authorized  summaries  of  Christian  doctrine 
and  the  “ advices  of  their  Yearly  Meetings,” 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


643 


they  say : “We  acknowledge  them  to  be  the 
only  fit  outward  test  of  Christian  doctrines. 
We  do  not  call  them  the  Word  of  God,  be- 
cause this  appellation  is  applied  by  the  writ- 
ers of  the  Scriptures  to  that  Eternal  Power 

by  which  the  worlds  were  made 

We  assign  to  the  Scriptures  all  the  authority 

they  claim  for  themselves In 

these  invaluable  writings  we  find  the  only 
authentic  record  of  the  early  history  of  our 
race,  the  purest  strains  of  devotional  poetry, 
and  the  sublime  discourses  of  the  Son  of  God. 
Their  frequent  perusal  was  therefore  especi- 
ally urged  upon  our  younger  members,  who 
were  encouraged  to  seek  for  the  guidance  of 
divine  grace,  by  which  alone  we  realize  in 
our  experience  the  saving  truths  they  con- 
tain. .....  We  believe  it  not  the 
part  of  true  wisdom  to  dwell  upon  defects, 
whether  real  or  imaginary,  in  the  sacred  rec- 
ords, but  rather  to  use  them  as  they  were 
intended,  i for  reproof,  for  correction,  for  in- 
struction in  righteousness,’  remembering  that 
it  is  only  through  the  operations  of  the  Spir- 
it, of  Faith  upon  our  hearts,  that  they  can  be 
made  availing  to  us  in  the  promotion  of  our 
salvation.” 

In  regard  to  the  original  and  present  state 
of  man,  they  differ  somewhat  from  the  Ortho- 
dox, as  the  following  extracts  show  : “ It  is 

a scriptural  doctrine  that  neither  righteous- 
ness nor  unrighteousness  can  be  transmitted 
by  inheritance,  but  every  man  shall  be  judged 
according  to  his  deeds Ani- 

mal propensities  may  be  transmitted  from 
parents  to  children,  but  the  Scriptures  do  not 
teach  that  we  inherit  any  guilt  from  Adam, 
or  from  any  of  our  ancestors  ; nor  do  we  feel 
any  compunction  for  their  sins.  The  lan- 
guage of  our  Saviour  clearly  implies  that  lit- 
tle children  are  innocent : “ for  of  such,”  he 
says,  “ is  the  kingdom  of  heaven.” 

The  followers  of  Hicks  are  generally  con- 
sidered Unitarians  or  Socinians,  and  yet, 
while  they  apparently  do  not  regard  Christ 
as  the  Second  Person  in  the  Divine  Trinity, 
nor  attribute  a saving  efficacy  to  his  death 
and  sufferings,  we  are  inclined  to  the  belief 
that  there  is  a considerable  variety  in  the 
views  of  the  individual  members  of  the  Soci- 
ety, and,  perhaps,  even  among  their  leading 
or  representative  men  on  this  point.  Their 
“summaries,”  and  “advices”  are  exceeding- 
ly vague,  and  sometimes  conflicting,  on  these 
points.  The  Rules  of  Discipline  of  the  Phil- 
adelphia Yearly  Meeting,  say:  “If  any  in 

membership  with  us  shall  blaspheme,  or  j 


speak  profanely  of  Almighty  God,  Christ 
Jesus  or  the  Iloly  Spirit,  he  or  she  ought 
early  to  be  tenderly  treated  with,  for  their  in- 
struction, and  the  announcement  of  their  un- 
derstanding, that  they  may  experience  repent- 
ance and  forgiveness  ; but  should  any,  not- 
withstanding this  brotherly  labor,  persist  in 
their  error,  or  deny  the  divinity  of  our  Lord 
and  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ,  the  immediate 
revelation  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  or  the  authen- 
ticity of  the  Scriptures,  as  it  is  manifest  they 
are  not  one  in  the  faith  with  us,  the  monthly 
meeting  where  the  party  belongs,  having  ex- 
tended due  care  for  the  help  and  benefit  of 
the  individual  without  effect,  ought  to  declare 
the  same,  and  issue  their  testimony  accord- 
ingly.” Samuel  M Janney,  author  of  the 
“ History  of  Friends,”  and  one  of  the  leading 
writers  of  the  Seceding  party,  thus  defines 
their  views  in  regard  to  Christ : “ The  most 
full  and  glorious  manifestation  of  the  divine 
Word,  or  Logos,  was  in  Jesus  Christ,  the 
immaculate  Son  of  God,  who  was  miracu- 
lously conceived  and  born  of  a Virgin.  In 
him,  the  manhood,  or  Son  of  Man  was  en- 
tirely subject  to  the  divinity.  The  Word 
took  flesh,  or  was  manifested  in  the  flesh.  . 

The  holy  manhood  of  Christ, 

that  is,  the  soul  of  him  in  whom  the  Holy 
Spirit  dwelt  without  measure,  is  now,  and 
always  will  be,  the  head  or  chief  member  of 
that  spiritual  body  which  is  made  up  of  the 
faithful  seravnts  of  God,  of  all  ages  and 
nations.  4 There  is  one  God,  and  one  Medi- 
ator between  God  and  man,  the  man  Christ 
Jesus.’  As  Moses  was  a mediator  to  ordain 
the  legal  dispensation,  so  Jesus  Christ  was, 
and  is,  the  Mediator  of  the  New  Covenant  ; 
first,  to  proclaim  and  exemplify  it  in  the  day 
of  his  outward  advent,  and  secondly,  through 
all  time,  in  the  ministrations  of  his  Spirit.  . 

. . . . The  great  object  of  the  Messiah’s 

advent,  is  thus  declared  by  himself : “To  this 
end  was  I born,  and  for  this  cause  came  I 
into  the  world,  that  I should  bear  witness 
unto  the  truth.  Every  one  that  is  of  the 
truth,  heareth  my  voice.’  He  could  not  bear 
witness  to  the  truth,  among  that  corrupt  and 
perverse  people,  without  suffering  for  it.  He 
foresaw  that  they  would  put  him  to  death, 
and  he  went  forward  calmly  doing  his  Fath- 
er’s will,  leading  a life  of  self  sacrifice, 
wounded  for  the  transgressions  of  the  peo- 
ple, baptized  spiritually  in  suffering  for  them, 
and  then  finally  enduring,  on  the  cross,  the 
agonies  of  a lingering  death,  thus  sealing  his 
testimony  with  his  blood.  II is  obedience  in 


644 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


drinking  the  cup  of  suffering  was  acceptable 
to  God,  for  ‘ he  hath  loved  us,  and  hath  given 
himself  for  us,  an  offering  and  a sacrifice  to 
God,  for  a sweet  smelling  savor.”  It  was  to 
reconcile  man  to  God,  by  removing  the  en- 
mity from  man’s  heart,  that  Jesus  Christ 
lived,  and  taught,  and  suffered,  and  for  this 
purpose  the  Spirit  of  Christ  is  still  manifest- 
ed as  a Redeemer  from  the  bondage  of  cor- 
ruption  It  is  the  life  of  God, 

or  spirit  of  Truth  revealed  in  the  soul,  which 
purifies  and  saves  from  sin.  This  life  is 
sometimes  spoken  of  as  the  blood : for  accord- 
ing to  the  Mosaic  law,  ‘ the  bLod  is  the  life.1 
And  when  Jesus  told  the  people,  ‘ except  ye 
eat  the  flesh  of  the  Son  of  Man,  and  drink 
his  blood  ye  have  no  life  in  you,’  he  alluded 
to  the  life  and  power  of  God  that  dwelt  in 
him,  and  spake  through  him.”  How  far  the 
views  thus  stated  agree  with  those  generally 
held  by  the  followers  of  Elias  Hicks,  we  can- 
not say.  They  would  seem  to  stamp  Mr.  Jan- 
ney  and  his  fellow  believers  as  sympathizing 
with  what  is  sometimes  called  the  Evangelical 
wing  of  the  Unitarians.  In  their  other  views, 
the  Seceders  do  not  differ  materially  from 
the  Orthodox  Friends.  They  have  been,  for 
some  years  past,  quite  active  in  humanitarian 
enterprises,  being  strongly  anti-slavery,  and 
having  been  active  in  the  promotion  of  asy- 
lums and  hospitals  for  the  insane,  the  inebri- 
ate, the  idiot,  and  for  orphans,  blind  persons, 
and  the  aged  and  infirm.  They  had  in  1870, 
six  Yearly  Meetings,  and  an  estimated  mem- 
bership of  between  35,000  and  40,000.  They 
have  not  done  much  in  the  way  of  establish- 
ing First  Day  Schools,  but  their  boarding 
and  high  schools  in  New  York,  Philadelphia, 
Baltimore,  and  Richmond,  Indiana,  as  well 
as  their  smaller  schools,  are  of  very  high 
character.  Swarthmore  College,  8 miles  S. 
W.  of  Philadelphia,  is  a well  endowed  and 
admirably  managed  institution,  designed  for 
300  pupils,  of  both  sexes.  They  have  two 
or  three  well  conducted  periodicals. 

III.  Progressive  Friends.  This  is  a 
religious  society,  organized  in  1853,  at  Ches- 
ter, Penn.,  in  part  as  a result  of  a division  in 
the  Kennett  Monthly  Meeting,  of  (Hicksite) 
Friends.  The  division  was  caused  by  a dif- 
ference of  opinion  among  the  members  of 
that  meeting,  in  regard  to  the  propriety  of 
activity  in  measures  of  reform.  It  was  or- 
ganized as  the  Pennsylvania  Yearly  Meeting 
of  Progressive  Friends,  and  not  long  after 
other  organizations  in  New  York  and  Ohio, 
having  similar  objects  in  view,  as  well  as 


individuals  from  Now  England,  New  York* 
and  the  Western  States,  who  sympathized 
with  it,  gradually  drifted  into  a similar 
organization  so  far  as  to  attend  its  Yearly 
Meetings.  Mr.  Oliver  Johnson,  formerly  of 
the  National  Anti-Slavery  Standard,  and  the 
Independent , who  has  been  long  identified 
with  this  movement,  thus  defines  its  charac- 
ter and  principles : “ The  new  Society  open- 

ed its  doors  to  all  who  recognize  the  equal 
brotherhood  of  the  human  family,  without 
regard  to  sex,  color,  or  condition,  and  who 
acknowledged  the  duty  of  defining  and  illus- 
trating their  faith  in  God,  not  by  assent  to  a 
creed,  but  by  lives  of  personal  purity,  and 
works  of  beneficence  and  charity.  It  disa- 
vowed any  intention  or  expectation  of  bind- 
ing its  members  together  by  agreement  as  to 
theological  opinions,  and  declared  that  it 
would  seek  its  bond  of  union  in  ‘ identity  of 
object,  oneness  of  spirit  in  respect  to  the 
practical  duties  of  life,  the  communion  of  soul 
with  soul  in  a common  love  of  the  beautiful 
and  true,  and  a common  aspiration  after 
moral  excellence.’  It  disclaimed  all  discip- 
linary authority,  whether  over  individual 
members  or  local  associations ; it  set  forth  no 
forms  or  ceremonies,  and  made  no  provision 
for  the  ministry,  as  an  order  distinguished 
from  the  laity ; it  set  its  face  against  every 
form  of  ecclesiasticism,  and  denounced  as  the 
acme  of  superstitious  imposture,  the  claim  of 
churches  to  hold  an  organic  relation  to 
God,  and  to  speak  by  his  authority,  maintain- 
ing that  such  bodies  are  purely  human,  the 
repositories  of  no  power  save  that  rightly 
conferred  upon  them  by  the  individuals  of 
whom  they  are  composed.”  With  so  radical 
a platform,  it  is  not  a matter  of  surprise  that 
the  yearly  gatherings  of  this  Society  have 
drawn  together  ultraists  of  all  shades,  the 
“ come  outers  ” of  thirty  years  ago,  Spiritual- 
ists, the  advocates  of  female  suffrage,  and  of 
all  manner  of  practicable  and  impracticable 
reforms,  and  that  while,  in  the  company,  were 
many  men  of  lofty  purpose  and  the  true  mar- 
tyr spirit,  there  were  others  whose  whole 
lives  had  been  devoted  to  wild  and  fanatical 
theories  in  religions,  politics,  and  social  life. 
Generally  these  gatherings  have  been  largely 
attended,  but  except  a single  local  association 
at  Longwood,  near  Hamortqn,  Penn.,  which 
have  kept  up  for  several  years,  a meeting  on 
every  First  Day,  and  a First  Day  School  for 
| children,  and  discuss  freely  questions  of  ethics, 
political  economy,  and  religion  at  their  meet- 
I ings,  but  have  never  employed  any  religious 


HISTORY  AND  PKOGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


645 


teacher.  It  is  obviously  impossible  to  give 
any  estimate  of  the  number  of  Progressive 
Friends,  as  their  meetings  are  open  to  all 
who  choose  to  come,  and  there  is  no  enroll- 
ment of  membership. 

IV.  We  are  inclined  to  place  under  this 
general  head,  also,  the  SHAKERS,  or  as 
they  style  themselves,  the  United  Society 
of  Believers  in  Christ’s  Second  Ap- 
pearing, not  because  there  is  much  in  com- 
mon to  them  and  the  Society  of  Friends  now, 
but  because  in  their  origin  they  were  mem- 
bers of  that  Society,  and  because  their  views 
of  the  influence,  and  inward  teachings  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  though  carried  to  excess,  have 
the  same  original  basis.  Attempts  have 
been  made  to  trace  their  principles  back  to 
the  Camisards  or  French  prophets,  and  to 
the  school  of  the  prophets  in  Dauphiny 
(1688-1705),  but  these  are  so  evidently  an 
afterthought,  as  to  be  unworthy  of  notice. 
About  1747,  seme  members  of  the  Society 
of  Friends  in  the  vicinity  of  Manchester, 
England,  formed  themselves  into  a distinct 
organization,  of  which  James  Wardley  and 
Jane,  his  wife,  were  the  leaders,  and  a Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Lee  were  members.  Ann  Lee,  a 
daughter  of  the  last  named  couple,  born  in 
1736,  and  always  seriously  inclined,  had 
married,  in  1756,  Abraham  Stanley,  and  in 
1758,  she,  with  her  husband,  joined  the  asso- 
ciation. The  religious  exercises  of  this  little 
coterie  differed  but  slightly  from  those  of  the 
other  associations  of  Friends  at  that  time. 
They  were  noticeable  for  greater  and  more 
decided  physical  manifestations  than  most, 
such  as  dancing,  shouting,  trembling,  speak- 
ing with  tongues,  but  these  were  common  in 
that  day,  and  it  was  only  when  the  excite- 
ment was  so  great  as  to  lead  the  magistrates 
and  others  to  charge  them  with  breaking  the 
Sabbath,  that  the  Wardleys,  and  Ann  Lee 
and  her  family  were  fined  and  imprisoned. 
In  1770,  Ann  Lee,  then  34  years  of  age,  and 
to  all  appearance  a woman  of  no  extiaordin- 
ary  talents  or  education,  professed  to  have 
received,  by  a special  manifestation  of  divine 
light,  those  revelations  which  made  her  the 
founder  of  a new  faith,  and  have  caused  her 
followers  ever  since  to  regard  her  as  an  in- 
spired being,  and  to  give  her  the  name  of 
Mother  Ann. 

In  1774,  Mother  Ann,  and  nine  of  the 
more  prominent  members  of  the  Society,  un- 
der authority  of  a special  revelation,  emi- 
grated to  America,  and  8 of  the  number  pro- 
ceeding up  the  Hudson,  settled  at  Niskayuna 


(now  Watervliet),  seven  miles  from  Albany, 
N.  Y.,  a region  then  a wilderness.  Here 
they  remained  for  three  or  four  years  with- 
out any  excitement,  or  considerable  increase 
of  their  numbers.  In  1779,  a religious  revi- 
val occurred  at  New  Lebanon,  Columbia  Co., 
some  thirty  miles  from  Niskayuna,  and  was 
accompanied  by  those  extraordinary  physical 
manifestations  which  a little  later  character- 
ized the  great  revivals  in  Kentucky  and 
Tennessee.  In  the  spring  of  1780,  some  of 
those  who  had  been  most  affected  by  these 
manifestations,  visited  Mother  Ann  at  Water- 
vliet, and  found  in  her  revelations,  as  they 
believed,  the  explanation  of  their  experiences. 
Led  by  their  statements,  others  visited  her, 
and  the  number  of  a 'herents  to  her  doctrines 
began  to  increase  rapidly,  and  continued  to 
do  so  until  some  time  after  her  death,  which 
occurred  in  1784.  Among  the  revelations 
which  she  professed  to  have  received  was 
one  directing  that  there  should  be  a commu- 
nity of  goods  among  her  adherents,  and  an- 
other requiring  their  organization  into  one  or 
more  unitary  households.  In  1787,  Joseph 
Meacham,  who  had  formerly  been  a Baptist 
preacher,  and  who  was  one  of  her  earliest 
converts  at  Niskayuna,  gathered  her  adher- 
ents into  a settlement  at  New  Lebanon,  and 
established  there  the  first  unitary  household 
on  a large  scale,  and  with  complete  commu- 
nity of  goods.  He  was  an  able  administrator, 
and  in  five  years  he  had  organized  1 1 Shaker 
settlements,  in  New  York,  Massachusetts, 
Connecticut,  New  Hampshire,  and  Maine. 
No  others  were  established  until  1805,  when, 
after  some  years  effort,  four  were  established 
in  Ohio,  and  2 in  Kentucky.  All  are  on  the 
same  model  as  that  of  the  New  Lebanon 
Community,  regarded  from  the  first  as  the 
mother  hou-e.  Each  settlement  consists  of 
from  two  to  eight  families  or  households. 
Each  family  occupies  a large  dwelling-house, 
divided  through  the  center  by  wide  halls,  and 
capable  of  containing  from  30  to  150  in- 
mate's, the  men  occupying  one  end  and  the 
women  the  other.  Beside  these,  there  are 
storehouses,  workshops,  dairy  houses,  a 
school  house  for  the  children  they  adopt,  and 
a meeting-house  or  hall.  Considerable  tracts 
of  land  are  attached  to  each  settlement,  rang- 
ing from  seven  to  ten  acres  to  each  member. 
They  believe  idleness  to  be  sinful,  and 
hence  every  member  who  is  able  to  work  is 
employed  in  some  useful  labor.  They  culti- 
vate flowers,  medicinal  herbs  and  roots, 
fruits,  vegetables,  and  collect  garden  and 


646 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


flower  seeds,  dry  and  preserve  fruits,  put  up 
dried  herbs  and  roots,  and  make  medicinal 
extracts.  They  have  also  extensive  manu- 
factories connected  with  their  settlements. 
Brooms,  wooden  and  willow  ware,  some  de- 
scriptions of  cloths,  flannels,  etc.,  etc.,  are  pro- 
duced by  them.  Their  schools  are  of  high 
grade  and  abundantly  supplied  with  the  best 
text  books,  and  apparatus.  Their  doctrines 
as  stated  by  their  chief  elder,  F.  W.  Evans, 
are  these : “ God  is  dual,  there  being  an 

Eternal  Father  and  Mother  in  the  Deity, 
the  heavenly  parents  of  all  angelical  and 
human  beings.  The  revelation  of  God  is 
progressive;  in  the  first  or  antediluvian  pe- 
riod of  human  history,  God  was  only  known 
as  a Great  Spirit ; in  the  second  or  Jewish 
period,  he  was  revealed  as  the  “ I am  that  I 
am,”  or  Jehovah  ; in  the  third  cycle,  Jesus 
made  him  known  as  a Father;  and  in  the 
last  cycle,  commencing  with  1770,  God  is  re- 
vealed in  the  character  of  Mother,  an  Eter- 
nal Mother,  the  bearing  spirit  of  all  the  cre- 
ation of  God.  This  last  is  regarded  by  them 
as  a revelation  of  God’s  affectional  nature,  a 
manifestation  of  the  divine  love  and  tender- 
ness. They  believe  Christ  to  be  also  dual, 
male  and  female,  a supra-mundane  being, 
and,  at  his  first  appearing,  the  communicator 
of  the  new  revelation  to  Je.-us,  who,  in  their 
system,  was  a divinely  instructed,  pure,  and 
perfect  man,  and  who,  in  consequence  of  his 
divine  anointing,  became  Jesus  Christ.  In 
the  new  revelation  made  to  Jesus,  these 
truths  were  first  brought  to  light ; the  im- 
mortality of  the  soul,  and  the  resurrection  of 
the  soul,  which  they  define  as  the  quickening 
of  the  germ  of  a new  life,  after  the  death  of 
the  first,  Adamic,  or  generative  life. 

All  who  marry  or  are  given  in  marriage, 
or  who  indulge  in  the  earthly  procreative 
relation,  they  call  “ the  children  of  this 
world,”  and  followers  of  the  first  Adam ; 
they  do  not  condemn  them  for  living  in  the 
marital  relation  so  long  as  they  confine  its 
use  simply  to  the  purpose  of  procreation,  the 
production  of  offspring  being,  in  their  view, 
the  only  justification  of  sexual  intercourse. 
But  Shakers,  as  Christians,  hold  that  they 
are  called  to  lead  a spiritual  and  holy  life, 
not  only  free  from  all  lust  and  carnal  sexual 
indulgence,  but  even  to  rise  above  the  order 
of  natural  and  innocent  human  reproduction,  j 
being  themselves  the  “children  of  the  resur- 
rection,” and  as  such  daily  dying  to  the  gen- 
erative nature,  as  Jesus  and  the  apostles 
died  to  it,  and  thus  becoming  new  creatures, 


who  are  able  to  comprehend  the  “ mysteries 
of  God.”  Among  the  other  doctrines  in 
which,  as  they  believe,  “ Christ  instructs 
Jesus,”  were,  human  brotherhood,  and  its  de- 
velopment in  a community  of  goods  ; non- 
resistance  ; non-participation  in  any  earthly 
government,  and  the  necessity  of  a life  of 
celibacy  and  virgin  purity  to  a perfect  C liris- 
tianity. 

The  second  appearing  of  the  Christ  “with- 
out sin  unto  salvation,”  they  believe  took  place 
through  Mother  Ann  Lee,  in  1770.  She,  “by 
strictly  obeying  the  light  revealed  in  her,  be- 
came righteous,  even  as  Jesus  was  righteous. 
She  acknowledged  Jesus  Christ  as  her  Head 
and  Lord,  and  formed  the  same  character  as  a 
spiritual  woman,  that  he  did  as  a spiritual 
man.”  The  necessity  for  a second  appear- 
ing of  Christ  in  the  female  form,  resulted 
from  the  dual  nature  of  Christ,  and  of  the 
Deity.  “ Still  it  wras  not  Jesus,  nor  Ann, 
but  the  principles  already  stated,  which  w ere 
the  foundation  of  the  Second  Christian 
Church.  Their  importance  is  derived  from 
the  fact  of  their  being  the  first  man  and  the 
first  woman  perfectly  identified  with  the 
principles  and  spirit  of  Christ.”  This  sec- 
ond appearing  of  Christ  they  believe  to  be 
the  true  resurrection  state,  and  repudiate  a 
physical  resurrection  as  repugnant  to  science, 
reason,  and  Scripture.  We  have  noticed 
their  four  cycles  of  human  religious  progress; 
they  also  believe  that  there  are  foirr  heavens 
and  four  hells,  the  first  three  of  which  are 
still  places  of  probation.  The  first  heaven 
and  hell  were  for  the  good  and  wicked  c f 
the  antediluvians,  and  the  “spirits  in  pris- 
on,” to  whom  Christ  preached  in  the  inter- 
val between  his  death  and  resurrection,  were 
the  wicked  of  that  cycle.  Gehenna  is  the 
name  they  give  to  the  second  hell,  to  which 
are  consigned  wicked  Jew's  and  heathen  who 
died  before  the  coming  of  Jesus ; and  the 
second  heaven  is  paradise,  where  the  thief 
on  the  cross  had  the  promise  of  going.  The 
third  heaven  is  that  of  the  church  of  the  first 
appearing  of  Christ,  to  which  Paul  was 
caught  up.  Higher  and  moie  glorious  than 
those  which  preceded  it,  it  is  still  not  tl:e 
home  of  perfect  souls.  The  hell  of  the  third 
cycle  is  a place  of  torment  for  those  who  did 
not  believe  in.  nor  follow’  Christ,  according 
to  the  light  of  those  days.  The  fourth  hea- 
ven is  now  forming;  in  it  Jesus  and  Mother 
Ann  reside,  and  to  it  will  all  these  go  wrho 
have  resisted  temptation  until  their  evil  lusts 
and  propensities  are  all  destroyed,  and  the 


niSTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


647 


life  .of  the  generative,  natural  man  is  dead  in 
them,  for  such  are  born  of  God,  and  cannot 
sin.  No  one  but  Jesus  had  ever  attained  to 
this  previous  to  the  second  appearing  of 
Christ  in  Ann  Lee.  It  is  the  heaven  of  hea- 
vens, and  to  it  will  be  gathered  not  only  all 
who  accept  the  doctrines  of  the  Shakers  in 
this  world,  and  attain  to  the  new  birth,  but 
all  those  in  the  lower  heavens  and  hells  who 
shall  yet  accept  them  ; and  when  their  deci- 
sion is  finally  made,  the  lower  heavens  and 
hells,  and  the  earth  will  be  destroyed,  and 
only  the  fourth  heaven  for  the  true  believers, 
and  the  fourth  hell  for  the  finally  impenitent, 
will  remain.  Each  cycle  has  had  its  own 
Holy  Spirit,  the  spiritual  efflux  from  the 
Church  in  the  heaven  of  that  cycle  to  the  in- 
habitants of  earth  at  the  time.  They  hold 
to  oral  confession  of  sins  to  God  in  the  pres- 
ence of  one  or  two  witnesses,  as  essential  to 
the  reception  of  the  power  to  forsake  sin. 
They  believe  that  the  second  dispensation 
(that  of  Moses)  was  intended  to  teach  by 
revelation,  God’s  truth  pertaining  to  the 
earth  life  chiefly,  and  they  regard  the  princi- 
ples of  the  Levitical  laws,  in  regard  to  food 
and  agriculture,  etc.,  as  binding  to-day  as 
when  they  were  given.  All  physical  disease 
they  say,  is  the  result  of  some  physiological 
sin  against  the  teachings  of  Moses,  either  di- 
rectly  or  indirectly.  They  believe  in  the 
power  of  their  members  to  heal  physical  dis- 
eases, by  means  of  prayer  and  the  regulation 
of  the  diet. 

The  Bible  they  regard  as  a record  of 
divine  angelic  ministrations  to  man,  and  as  a 
more  or  less  imperfect  account  of  the  reli- 
gious experience  and  history  of  the  Jews. 
They  believe  that  the  mental  and  spiritual 
condition  of  the  seers  and  prophets  whose 
prophecies  are  therein  recorded,  has  materi- 
ally modified  the  revelation,  and  that  it  has 
been  still  farther  weakened  and  impaired  by 
the  imperfections  of  the  translators ; the  book 
of  Revelations  having  suffered  less  than  any 
other  from  these  causes,  inasmuch  as  it  is 
utterly  incomprehensible  to  the  generative 
man,  and  could  not  be  comprehended  even 
by  the  spiritual  until  the  second  appearing  of 
Christ  (through  Mother  Ann  Lee),  as  that 
was  the  only  key  to  unlock  its  mysteries. ! 
The  revelations  of  Ann  Lee  and  of  others  of  j 
their  elders  who  have  been  inspired  to  speak  j 
the  words  of  God,  they  regard  as  important 
and  bind  ng  on  them. 


Their  mode  of  worship  is  peculiar.  The 


two  sexes  are  usually  ranged  in  ranks  facing 


each  other,  the  front  ranks  being  from  six  to 
ten  feet  apart.  First  there  is  usually  an  ad- 
dress by  one  of  the  elders,  “ who  is  moved  to 
speak”  on  some  doctrinal  subject,  or  some 
practical  virtue,  usually  closing  with  a recital 
of  the  exalted  privileges  which  they  enjoy 
over  the  “ world’s  people ; ” after  this  they  sing 
a hymn,  and  then  form  in  circles  around  a band 
of  male  and  female  singers,  and  commence 
marching  or  dancing,  and  when,  as  is  some- 
times the  case,  the  excitement  and  fervor 
reaches  its  height,  their  motions,  though 
retaining  the  order  and  rhythm  of  the  dance, 
become  inconceivably -rapid.  At  these  sea- 
sons they  believe  themselves  to  be  under  the 
influence  of  spirit  agencies,  both  of  angels, 
and  the  departed  members  of  their  own 
brotherhood,  who  have  attained  in  the  other 
life  to  a greater  freedom  from  the  generativ  e 
nature  and  order,  and  a more  complete  res- 
urrection of  the  soul,  than  those  who  are  still 
in  the  body  can  reach.  Their  ministry  are 
very  few  in  numbers.  Two  of  their  most 
judicious  and  experienced  brethren  and  the 
same  number  of  sisters  are  chosen  to  have 
the  oversight  of  from  one  to  three  or  four 
Societies  ; so  that  there  are  only  twenty  or 
twenty-four  of  these  ministers  in  all.  Each, 
family  in  every  Society  has  also  four  elders, 
viz.,  two  brethren,  and  two  sisters,  who  have- 
charge  of  it,  and  the  temporalities  are  cared 
for  by  two  deacons,  and  two  deaconesses. 

There  are  three  classes  of  members:  1. 

The  novitiates,  who  unite  with  the  Society  in 
religious  faith  and  principle,  but  do  not  enter 
into  the  temporal  connection  with  it.  Believ- 
ers of  this  class  are  not  controlled  by  the 
Society  as  to  their  property,  children,  or 
families. 

2.  The  Juniors,  who  join  one  of  the  families 
of  the  Society,  and  unite  in  its  labors  and  re- 
ligious exercises,  but  who  have  not  relin- 
quished their  property  to  the  Society,  or  if 
they  have  given  the  Society  the  improve- 
ment of  it,  may  resume  it  at  any  time, 
though  without  interest;  and  3d,  the  Senior 
class,  who,  after  a full  and  complete  experi- 
ence of  the  Shaker  system  and  faith,  have 
deliberately  consecrated  themselves,  their  ser- 
vices, and  all  their  property  to  the  Society 
never  to  be  reclaimed  by  themselves  or  their 
legal  heirs.  All  who  retain  their  connection 
with  the  Shaker  Communities  are  amply 
provided  for  in  health,  in  sickness,  and  in  old 
age.  The  Shaker  Communities  are  all  thrifty 
and  have  acquired  by  their  industry,  consid, 
erable,  and  some  of  them  very  large  amounta 


648 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


of  property.  They  had,  at  the  latest  reports, 
18  societies,  about  6,500  full  members  (Sen- 
iors), and,  perhaps,  1,000  more  juniors  and 
novitiates,  besides  a considerable  number 
(nearly  three  thousand,  it  is  said)  of  children, 
orphans,  and  others,  whom  they  have  adopt- 
ed, and  whom  they  carefully  educate.  They 
are  thrifty,  industrious  citizens,  and  in  all 
the  relations  of  life  very  exemplary. 


IX.  UNIT  AS  FRATRUM,  OR  MORAVIANS. 

The  Moravians,  or  Unity  of  the 
Brethren  ( Unitas  Fratrum  ),  as  they  style 
their  religious  body,  originated  with  the  Bo- 
hemian and  Moravian  churches  of  the  9th 
century,  but  did  not  assume  their  present 
organization  till  1457,  although  they  identify 
themselves  with  the  followers  of  John  IIuss 
more  than  half  a century  earlier.  They  were 
almost  crushed  out  by  the  persecutions  of 
Ferdinand  II,  in  1621  and  the  following 
years,  but  through  the  fostering  influence  of 
the  writings  and  teachings  of  Amos  Comen- 
ius,  one  of  their  bishops,  they  were  enabled 
to  maintain  a secret  existence.  About  1720 
a Moravian  exile,  Christian  David,  began  to 
ad. tress  them  earnestly,  and  a revival  ensued. 
In  1722,  two  families,  subsequently  followed 
by  others,  made  their  escape  from  Moravia, 
and,  after  a journey  of  eleven  days,  reached 
the  estate  of  Count  Zinzendorf,  a young  Sax- 
on nobleman,  and  were  cordially  received. 
The  Count  became  thenceforth  their  leader, 
and  in  five  years  had  300  Moravians  on  his 
estate.  They  had  built  a village  on  the 
Hutberg,  called  Herrnhut.  In  1735,  they 
had  obtained  the  Episcopal  succession  of  the 
Unitas  Fratrum,  and  in  1 749  they  were  ac- 
knowledged by  the  British  Parliament  as  an 
Episcopal  Church,  and  encouraged  to  settle 
in  North  America.  They  accordingly  foun- 
ded several  settlements  in  the  American  Col- 
onies, and  engaged  with  great  zeal  in  mission- 
ary labors  among  the  Indians,  in  which  they 
were  very  succesful.  They  also  founded 
missions  in  Greenland  and  elsewhere,  many 
years  before  the  other  Protestant  denomina- 
tions had  engaged  in  missionary  effort. 
Their  plan  of  “ settlements  ” or  villages  in 
which  no  person  could  be  a permanent 
householder  unless  he  or  she  was  a member 
of  the  Church,  as  well  as  their  unitary  house- 
hold of  single  men  and  youths,  of  single  sis- 
ters and  young  maidens,  and  of  .widows,  eacli 
presided  over  by  elders  of  their  own  sex, 
their  very  rigid  rules  in  regard  to  marriage, 


and  their  exclusive  and  earnest  devotion  to 
the  missionary  work,  while  it  kept  their  num- 
bers small,  greatly  contributed  to  their  pu- 
rity of  faith  and  doctrine.  At  the  period  of 
the  Revolution,  they  probably  did  not  num- 
ber, of  full  communicants,  in  the  United 
States,  more  than  3,0U0  souls,  and,  perhaps, 
not  so  many.  They  had,  beside,  their  sev- 
eral thousand  converts  among  the  Indians, 
who  remained  faithful  to  their  religious  prin- 
ciples, and  a considerable  number  of  whom 
were  martyrs  to  their  fa'th.  The  distinctive 
settlements,  and  the  brethren’s,  sisters’,  and 
widows’  houses  are  now  entirely  given  up  in 
the  United  States.  They  have  two  prov- 
inces, a Northern,  and  a Southern,  the  head- 
quarters of  the  northern  being  at  Bethlehem, 
Penn.,  and  of  the  southern,  at  Salem,  N.  C. 
They  have  also  large  boarding  schools,  and 
are  predominant  in  the  population  at  Beth- 
lehem, Nazareth,  and  Litiz,  Penn.,  and  at 
Salem,  N.  C. 

The  Moravians  are  thoroughly  Evangelical 
in  their  doctrines,  and  while  they  sympathize 
most  heartily  and  fully  with  the  Evangelical 
churches  in  all  the  great  cardinal  doctrines 
of  scriptural  Christianity,  they  regard  it  as 
their  special  mission  to  make  the  principal 
theme  of  their  preaching  and  teaching,  the 
life,  merits,  acts,  words,  sufferings,  and  death 
i of  the  Saviour;  considering  the  revelation  of 
God  in  Christ  as  intended  to  be  the  most 
beneficent  revelation  of  the  Deity  to  the 
human  race.  In  thus  preaching  and  teach- 
ing, they  carefully  avoid  entering  into  any 
theoretical  disquisition  on  the  mysterious  es- 
sence of  the  Godhead,  simply  adhering  to  the 
words  of  Scripture.  Admitting  the  Sacred 
Scriptures  as  the  only  source  off  Divine  Rev- 
elation, they  nevertheless  believe  that  the 
| Spirit  of  God  continues  to  lead  those  who 
believe  in  Christ,  into  all  truth ; not  by  re- 
[ vealing  new  doctrines,  but  by  teaching  those 
who  sincerely  desire  to  learn,  daily  better  to 
understand  and  apply  the  truths  which  the 
Scriptures  contain.  They  believe  that  to 
live  conformably  to  the  gospel,  it  is  essential 
to  aim  in  all  things  to  fulfil  the  will  of  God. 
Even  in  their  temporal  concerns,  they  en- 
deavor to  ascertain  the  will  of  the  Lord. 
They  do  not,  indeed,  expect  any  miraculous 
manifestation  of  his  will,  but  only  endeavor 
! to  test  the  purity  of  their  purposes  by  the 
] light  of  the  Divine  Word.  Nothing  of  con- 
I sequence  is  done  by  them,  as  a Society,  until 
I such  an  examination  has  taken  place  ; and 
in  cases  of  difficulty,  the  question  is  decided 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


649 


by  lor,  10  avoid  the  undue  preponderance  of 
influential  men,  and  in  the  humble  hope  that 
God  will  guide  them  rightly  by  its  decision, 
where  their  limited  understanding  fails  them. 
In  regard  to  their  general,  doctrinal  belief, 
the  following  summary,  revised  and  put  forth 
by  their  General  Synod  in  1869,  is  their 
most  authoritative  statement: 

“ We  regard  every  truth  revealed  to  us  in 
the  Word  of  God  as  an  invaluable  treasure, 
and  sincerely  believe  that  the  loss  of  life  it- 
self would  be  a trifling  evil  compared  with 
the  denial  of  any  one  of  them.  But  most 
especially  is  this  the  case  with  that  truth 
which  the  Renewed  Church  of  the  Brethren 
has  ever  regarded  as  her  chief  doctrine,  an 
inestimable  jewel,  which,  by  God’s  grace,  she 
still  holds  fast : 

‘That  whosoe’er  believeth  in  Christ’s  redemption, 
May  find  free  grace  and  a complete  exemption 
From  serving  sin.’ 

From  this  great  truth,  we  deduce  the  fol- 
lowing points  of'  doctrine  most  essential  to 
salvation : 

a.  The  doctrine  of  the  total  depravity  of  hu- 
man nature, — that  there  is  no  health  in  us — 
and  that,  since  the  fall,  we  have  no  power  to 
help  ourselves  out  of  the  bondage  of  sin. 

b.  The  doctrine  of  the  love  of  God  the 
Father , who  ‘has  chosen  us  in  Christ,  before 
the  foundation  of  the  world,’  and  who  ‘so 
loved  the  world  that  he  gave  his  only  begot- 
ten Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  on  Him 
should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life.” 

c.  The  doctrine  of  the  real  Godhead,  and 
the  real  manhood  of  Jesus  Christ ; that  God, 
the  Creator  of  all  things,  was  manifest  in  the 
flesh,  and  has  reconciled  the  world  unto  him- 
self— that  ‘ He  is  before  all  things,  and  by 
Him  all  things  exist.’ 

d.  The  doctrine  of  the  atonement  and  satis- 
faction of  Jesus  Christ  for  us  ; that  he  ‘ was 
delivered  for  our  offences,  and  wras  raised 
again  for  our  justification,’  and  that  in  his 
merits  alone  we  find  forgiveness  of  sins  and 
peace  with  God. 

e.  The  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  his 
gracious  operations ; that  it  is  he  who  works 
in  us  the  knowledge  of  sin,  faith  in  Jesus, 
and  the  witness  that  we  are  the  children  of 
God,  and  that  without  him  we  cannot  know 
the  truth. 

f The  doctrine  of  the  fruits  of faith ; that 
it  must  show  itself  as  an  active  principle,  by 
a willing  obedience  to  God’s  commandments, 
flowing  from  love  and  gratitude,  and  that 


genuine  faith  will  ever  be  thus  distinguisha- 
ble.” 

In  their  church  polity,  the  Moravians  have 
points  of  similarity  to  several  other  denomi- 
nations ; they  have  bishops,  presbyters,  and 
deacons  like  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church, 
but  their  bishops  are  not  diocesan,  but  are 
appointed  for  the  whole  church ; they  hold 
to  Episcopal  succession,  w'hich  they  derive 
through  the  Bohemian  and  Moravian 
churches,  and  which,  if  apostolical,  comes 
through  Paul  instead  of  Peter ; but  their 
bishops  possess  no  governing  power  by  vir- 
tue of  their  bishopiic;  it  is  the  General  Sy- 
nod and  its  boards  that  govern,  and  the  bish- 
ops derive  their  power,  if  they  have  any, 
from  their  connection  with  some  of  these 
boards;  their  presbyters  or  elders  are  preach- 
ers and  pastors;  their  deacons  are  young 
ministers  and  missionaries,  who  can  adminis- 
ter the  sacraments  after  receiving  their  first 
ordination.  They  have  a liturgy  consisting 
of  a litany,  forms  for  infant  and  adult  bap- 
tism (they  are  Pcedo-baptists),  the  sacrament  * 
of  the  Lord’s  Supper,  the  rites  of  confirma- 
tion and  ordination,  the  burial  of  the  dead, 
and  marriage.  Love-feasts,  the  apostolical 
agapee,  are  celebrated,  and  once  a year,  or 
oftener,  there  is  the  rite  of  “ washing  the 
saints’  feet.”  Their  General  Synod,  always 
held  at  Bethelsdorf,  in  Saxony,  meets  only 
once  in  ten  or  twelve  years.  It  has  cogniz* 
ance  of  the  whole  affairs  of  the  “ Unity  of  the 
Brethren ; ” but  in  most  matters,  local 
Boards  of  Elders  of  the  several  provinces, 
have  control  in  the  interim  of  the  sessions  of 
the  Synod.  Each  province  has  its  synod, 
and  its  Provincial  Elders’  Conference,  and 
these,  and  not  the  Bishops,  manage  all  mat- 
ters connected  with  the  Church  in  their  pro- 
vince. The  American  province  is  divided 
into  twro  districts,  a northern  and  a southern. 
They  are  still  very  active  in  the  missionary 
work,  and  have,  in  addition  to  their  mission- 
aries among  the  heathen,  nearly  a hundred 
of  their  ministers  who  are  serving  in  Luth- 
eran and  Reformed  churches.  In  these 
churches,  there  are  many  thousands  who  are 
almost  as  closely  affiliated  to  them  as  their 
own  members.  Every  church  is  divided 
into  three  classes  : the  Catechumens , compris- 
ing the  children  of  the  brethren,  and  adult 
converts  ; the  Communicants,  w ho  are  admit- 
ted to  the  Lord’s  Supper,  and  arc  regarded 
as  members  of  the  church  ; and  The  perfect , 
consisting  of  those  who  have  persevered  for 


650 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


a long  time  in  a course  of  true  piety.  From 
this  last  class  are  chosen  in  every  church  by 
a plurality  of  votes,  the  elders,  who  are  from 
three  to  eight  in  number.  These  elders  are 
of  both  sexes,  and  are  assistants  to  the  pas- 
tors, in  the  general  church  work. 

The  latest  statistics  we*have  cf  the  Mora- 
vian Church  are  only  to  the  close  of  1863. 
They  had  then  five  bishops,  one  of  whom  has 
since  deceased  ; 66  ministers  ; 54  congrega- 
tions ; 6,768  communicants;  11,855  mem- 
bers, including  baptized  children,  etc. ; 623 
Sunday  School  teachers,  and  5,959  Sunday 
School  scholars.  Their  boarding  schools 
have  increased  to  six  by  the  addition  of  one 
at  Chaska,  Minn.,  and  one  in  Bartholomew 
Co.,  Ind.  They  have  a theological  school  at 
Bethlehem,  Penn.  Their  only  periodical  in 
the  United  States,  The  Moravian , is  publish- 
ed at  Bethlehem.  There  is  no  statement  of 
the  portion  of  the  missionary  work,  or  the 
missionary  contributions  from  the  American 
Moravian  churches,  the  mission  work  being 
conducted  from  the  headquarters  in  Saxony. 
The  entire  contributions  of  the  whole  church 
for  missionary  purposes,  (which  had  15,176 
.communicants  in  1868)  wTas  about  $125,000. 


X.  UNITARIANS  and  UNIVERSALISTS. 

I.  UNITARIANS.  The  rejection  of  the 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  and  the  subordina- 
tion of  the  Son  to  the  Father,  with  the  ac- 
ceptance of  the  other  doctrines  which  have 
been  affiliated  with  it,  has  existed  in  one 
form  or  another  since  the  second  or  third 
century.  At  first  it  was  Arianism,  contend- 
ing that  the  expression,  “ only  begotten  Son 
of  the  Father,”  implies  a beginning  and  a 
subordination  of  the  Son ; this  view,  though 
maintained  even  to  the  early  part  of  the  pres- 
ent century  in  some  quarters,  gave  place  gen- 
erally, to  the  slightly  modified  theories  of  | 
Faustus  and  Laelius  Socinus,  in  the  16th  cen- 
tury, and  these,  though  still  prevalent  on  the 
continent  of  Europe,  and  largely  held  in  the 
last  century  in  England,  by  Priestley  and  his 
followers,  have  in  their  turn  been  succeeded 
by  the  Unitarianism  of  Channing  and  his  j 
successors.  Priestley’s  views,  founded  on  the 
principles  of  the  sensational  philosophy,  and 
accepting  religious  truths  on  the  evidence  of 
miracle,  but  limiting  the  number  of  those 
truihs  to  the  cardinal  doctrines,  the  unity  of  i 
God,  and  the  general  resurrection,  found 
some  credence  in  the  American  Colonies 
about  the  middle  of  the  last  century.  Priest- ! 


ley  himself  visited  Philadelphia,  in  1779. 
Emlyn’s  “ Inquiry  into  the  Scripture  Ac- 
count of  Jesus  Christ,”  was  published  in 
Boston,  in  1756,  and  there  was  a gradual 
lapsing  of  very  many  of  the  clergy  of  Mas- 
sachusetts into  Arian  views  in  the  latter  part 
of  the  eighteenth  century,  the  result  in  part, 
doubtless,  of  that  looseness  of  doctrine  which 
grew  out  of  the  adoption  of  the  Half  way 
Covenant.  Toward  the  close  of  the  century, 
the  tone  of  religious  society  in  Boston  was 
very  generally  Unitarian , repudiating  the 
Divinity  of  Christ,  and  the  necessity  of  an 
atoning  sacrifice,  but  declining  to  enter  into 
particulars  in  regard  to  the  exact  status  of 
Christ  in  their  religious  system.  In  1805,  a 
Unitarian  was  elected  professor  of  divinity  in 
Harvard  University.  But  as  yet,  there  was 
no  separation,  and  no  lines  were  drawn, 
among  the  Congregationalists  of  Massachu- 
j setts,  between  Orthodox  and  Unitarian.  The 
j separation  came  in  1815  and  the  following 
I years,  when  the  eloquent  Channing  avowed 
j his  Unitarian  views,  and  led  offifrom  T5,000 
| to  20,000  members  of  the  Congregational 
churches  of  Massachusetts,  or  nearly  200 
congregations.  Channing  was  not  an  ultra- 
ist  in  his  views,  and  his  plan  of  withdrawing 
interest  from  points  of  controversial  divinity, 
subordinating  religious  theories  to  the  reli- 
gious life,  and  bringing  into  marked  promi- 
nence the  spiritual  elements  of  human  nature, 
and  in  this  way  initiating  the  practice  of‘try- 
ing  religious  systems  by  the  instincts  and 
sentiments  of  the  soul,  was  exceedingly  at- 
tractive to  those  restless  spirits  who  had  so 
long  been  in  search  of  some  faith  which  could 
satisfy  their  aesthetic  nature,  and  quiet  their 
perturbed  spirits.  But  Channing’s  success- 
ors wont  farther  than  he,  and  many  of  them 
in  a different  direction. 

It  is  hard  to  define  the  Unitarian  belief, 
because  it  is  not,  in  any  sense,  a unity. 
While  its  adherents  have  some  positive 
points  of  belief,  in  which,  however,  they 
wddely  disagree,  their  tenets  are  better  ex- 
pressed by  a series  of  negatives,  than  by  pos- 
itive declarations,  confessions,  or  creeds. 
They  agree  in  holding  to  the  Unity  of  God, 
and  the  subordination  of  the  Son  of  God ; 
but  while  some  of  them  do  not  attempt  to 
define  his  real  position  in  their  religious  sys- 
tem, others  hold  to  every  phase  of  belief 
from  those  who  accept  the  Trinity  in  a phil- 
osophical sense,  but  reject  the  deity  of  Christ, 
to  those  who  hold  him  to  have  been  mere 
man,  a weak  and  peaceable  man,  or  a myth. 


HISTORY  AND  F >GRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


651 


A considerable  number,  though  not  a major- 
ity, believe  him  to  be  a super-angelic  being, 
divinely  commissioned  to  be  the  mediator  be- 
tween God  and  man  ; others  hold  that  he 
was  a teacher,  the  prophet  and  founder  of  a 
new  religious  system  ; the  major  part  regard 
him  as  sinless  and  pure  in  his  teachings  and 
life,  while  a not  inconsiderable  minority  class 
him  with  Moses,  Zartusht,  Gotama,  Moham- 
med, and  Swedenborg,  as  a reformer,  but  by 
no  means  an  infallible  one.  They  generally 
regard  the  Holy  Spirit  as  an  influence,  while 
some  agree  in  rejecting,  in  whole  or  in  part, 
the  doctrines  of  man’s  depravity  and  moral 
inability,  but  in  regard  to  the  atonement, 
they  range  all  the  way  from  a modified  con- 
ception of  Christ’s  office  as  a Redeemer  and 
Saviour,  to  the  opinion  that  his  whole  func- 
tion was  discharged  in  his  office  of  teacher, 
exemplar,  or  reformer.  Very  few  Unitari- 
ans hold  to  the  doctrine  of  eternal  punish- 
ment of  the  wicked,  but  here  again  their 
views  vary  from  those  who  believe  in  a pro- 
tracted period  of  retribution,  to  those  who 
hold  to  a speedy  restoration,  ^or  those  who 
entertain  the  dogma  that  the  only  retribu- 
tion for  sin  is  in  this  life.  In  regard  to  the 
inspiration  of  the  Scriptures,  there  is  a simi- 
lar diversity  of  belief.  Chancing,  Andrews, 
Norton,  and  the  early  American  Unitarians, 
like  their  English  and  Polish  brethren,  held 
to  the  plenary  inspiration  of  the  Scriptures, 
and  some  of  them  wrote  ably  and  eloquently 
in  defence  of  the  doctrine ; but  the  “Ad- 
vanced Unitarians  ” of  the  present  day,  “ do 
not  appeal  to,  the  Scriptures  as  inspired  and 
infallible  oracles,  but  discuss  religious  ques- 
tions on  grounds  of  philosophy  alone.  Re- 
garding the  Bible  as  the  mo>t  interesting  and 
valuable  part  of  the  world’s  literature,  they 
seek  in  it  illustrations  of  spiritual  laws,  but 
not  final  statements  of  moral  and  religious 
truth.  To  some,  the  Vedas  and  Shastas  of 
the  Hindoos,  the  Zendavesta,  the  Koran, 
and  the  revelations  of  Swedenborg,  are  of 
nearly  equal  authenticity  and  inspiration  with 
the  Bible. 

Unitarianism  can  hardly  be  said  to  have 
any  distinctive  ordinances  or  sacraments. 
The  churches  which  first  separated  from 
Trinitarian  Congregationalism,  required  bap- 
tism both  of  infants  and  adults,  and  especi- 
ally of  the  latter,  but  it  had  lost  its  signifi- 
cance with  their  changed  views  of  the  atone- 
ment, and  now  infant  baptism  is  wholly  aban- 
doned, and  adult  baptism  only  maintained  in 
a few  churches  on  sentimental  grounds.  The 


| same  may  be  said  of  the  sacrament  of  the 
j Lord’s  Supper.  Where  practiced,  it  is  only 
I as  a means  of  cultivating  the  religious  life, 
j and  not  as  a sacrament  at  all.  In  their 
| church  polity,  they  are  Congregationalists, 

I with,  perhaps,  somewhat  more  independency 
j than  the  Orthodox  Congregationalists.  Some 
] of  their  churches  have  adopted  a sort  of  lit- 
urgy, and  maintain  a vesper  service  of  a 
I musical  and  devotional  character.  They 
have,  within  the  past  fifteen  or  twenty  j^eare, 
manifested  an  increased  spirit  of  propagand- 
ism,  disseminating  Charming’s  works,  and 
other  Unitarian  works  published  by  the 
American  Unitarian  Association,  and  con- 
ducting some  Home  and  Foreign  missionary 
operations  through  their  denominational  or- 
ganizations. They  have  given  increased  at- 
tention to  the  promotion  of  education,  and 
have  maintained  among  their  clergymen  that 
high  reputation  for  elegant  belles-lettres  at- 
tainments, and  rhetorical  ability,  which  have 
characterized  them  from  the  first.  They 
have  planted  Unitarian  Societies  in  most  of 
the  large  cities  throughout  the  country,  and 
though  their  congregations  are  neither  nu- 
merous nor  large,  they  have  collected  in  them 
a considerable  number  of  men  of  fine  culture 
and  aesthetic  tastes.  Still  Unitarianism 
proper  can  hardly  be  said  to  flourish  out  of 
New  England,  hardly,  indeed,  out  of  Massa- 
chusetts. Its  adherents  there  and  elsewdiere 
deserve  credit  for  their  active  humanitarian 
efforts.  In  rescuing  vagrant  and  vicious 
children  from  the  evil  influence  to  which 
they  are  exposed,  in  caring  for  the  aged  and 
infirm,  the  sick  and  homeless,  and  especially 
for  their  efforts  in  behalf  of  the  sick  and 
wounded  soldiers  of  our  late  war,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  United  States  Sanitary  Com- 
mission, and  their  earnest  loyalty,  the  Uni- 
tarians are  deserving  of  all  honor. 

The  Unitarians  have  under  their  control 
three  colleges,  viz : Harvard  University, 

Cambridge,  Mass. ; Antioch  College,  Yellow 
Springs,  Ohio,  and  Humboldt  College,  Iluin- 
! boldt,  Iowa.  They  have  also  three  theologi- 
| cal  or  Divinity  Schools;  viz:  the  Cambridge 
J Divinity  School,  with  5 professors,  and  3G 
students;  the  Boston  School  for  the  Minis- 
J try,  Boston,  with  12  instructors,  and  23  stu- 
j dents;  and  the  Meadville  Theological  School, 
l with  8 professors  and  29  students.  They  had 
j also  one  nearly  organized  at  Chicago,  previ- 
| ous  to  the  great  fire. 

They  had,  in  1870,  five  periodicals:  two 
! monthlies,  “Old and  New”  and  the  Monthly 


652 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


Religious  Magazine  ; one  semi-monthly,  the 
Sunday  School  Gazette , and  two  weeklies, 
The  Christian  Register , and  The  Liberal 
Christian.  Thei;  statistics  in  1870,  were : 
one  National  Conference,  347  societies,  396 
ministers,  of  whom  148  were  not  in  the  pas- 
torate. These  societies  represent  it  is  be- 
lieved, from  30,000  to  40,000  members,  and 
an  adherent  population  of  60,000  to  80,000. 
The  American  Unitarian  Association,  which 
publishes  denominational  books  ai>d  aids 
Unitarian  educational  institutions,  has  an 
annual  income  of  $100,000  or  over.  They 
have  four  or  five  mission  stations  in  India, 
also  aided  by  this  Association.  .There  are 
Sunday  Schools  attached  to  many  of  the 
societies,  but  no  general  statistics  of  them 
are  published.  In  most  of  the  cities  there 
are  Young  Men’s  Christian  Unions,  with 
libraries  and  reading  rooms  attached. 

II.  UNIYERSALISTS.  Though  entirely 
distinct  in  their  origin,  and  giving  special 
prominence  to  a dogma  which  the  Unitari- 
ans keep  partially  in  the  background,  there 
is  really  very  little  difference  in  the  doctrinal 
belief  of  Unitarians  and  Universalists.  At 
first  they  appealed  to  different  ^classes  of  so- 
ciety; the  Unitarians  having  among  their 
adherents,  especially  in  Massachusetts,  a large 
proportion  of  the  refined  and  scholarly  class, 
and  their  discourses  being  models  of  graceful 
rhetoric,  while  the  Universalists  gathered 
into  their  congregations  very  considerable 
numbers  of  working  men,  sharp  and  ready 
reasoners,  but  with  no  great  amount  of  cul- 
ture or  refinement,  and  their  preachers  culti- 
vated the  power  of  rough  and  ready  declara- 
tion rather  than  the  graces  of  oratory.  There 
had  been  very  few,  if  any,  acknowledged 
Universalists  in  the  American  Colonies  pri- 
or to  1770,  though  undoubtedly  some  promi- 
nent theologians  had  rather  hoped  than  be- 
lieved in  the  final  restoration  of  those  who 
had  died  impenitent.  In  that  year,  however, 
John  Murray,  who  had  been  an  English 
Wesleyan  preacher,  but  had  become  a con- 
vert to  Universalist  doctrines,  as  taught  by 
one  James  Relly,  came  over  to  America,  and 
1 mded  in  New  Jersey.  He  soon  went  to 
Massachusetts  and  commenced  a series  of 
it  nerant  journeys  through  the  states,  preach- 
ing his  views.  At  first,  he  did  not  make 
many  converts,  and  it  was  not  until  1779 
that  the  first  Universalist  Society  was  organ- 
ized, in  Gloucester,  Mass.  In  1781,  Rev. 
Elhanan  Winchester,  a Baptist  clergyman  of 
Philadelphia,  avowed  his  belief  in  the  final 


restoration  of  the  wicked  to  happiness  and 
heaven,  and  organized  a church  of  Restora- 
tionists,  in  that  city.  From  that  time  the 
Universalists  began  to  increase,  their  growth 
being  promoted  by  the  very  strong  opposition 
manifested  towards  them.  In  1791,  Rev. 
Hosea  Ballou,  who  had  also  been  a Baptist 
minister,  espoused  the  views  of  INI ur ray,  and 
advocated  them  with  great  vigor  and  earnest- 
ness. The  growth  of  the  denomination  has 
been  steady  and  considerably  rapid  during 
the  present  century.  The  most  full  and  sat- 
isfactory exposition  of  the  doctrines  of  the 
Universalists  we  have  ever  seen  is  that  given 
hy  Rev.  T.  B.  Thayer,  one  of  their  clergy- 
men, in  the  New  American  Cyclopaedia,  Yol. 
XY,  pp.  834.  835.  It  is  as  follows  : I.  They 
believe  that  God  is  infinite  in  all  his  perfec- 
tions, creaiing  man  with  the  fixed  purpose 
that  the  existence  he  was  about  to  bestow 
should  prove  a final  and  everlasting  blessing ; 
that  foreseeing  all  the  temptations,  trans- 
gressions, and  struggles  of  man,  he  shaped 
his  government,  laws,  and  penalties  with  ex- 
press reference  to  these  emergencies,  and 
adapted  the  spiritual  forces  to  the  overcom- 
ing of  all  evil ; that,  being  almighty,  he  can 
convert  and  save  a world  of  sinners  as  easily 
as  he  converted  and  saved  Saul  of  Tarsus, 
or  Matthew  the  publican,  and  without  any 
more  violation  of  free  agency  in  one  case 
than  in  the  other.  They  also  believe  in  the 
perfection  of  divine  justice,  and  affirm,  on 
this  ground,  that  God  would  not  impose  on 
finite  beings  a law  infinite  in  its  demands  and 
penalties  ; but  that  being  perfecly  just,  he 
will  deal  with  all  men  according  to  their  works, 
whether  good  or  bad. 

II.  They  uniformly  reject  the  doctrine  of 
the  Trinity,  giving  to  Christ  the  second  place, 
and  making  him  subordinate  to  the  Father. 
They  believe  that  he  is  gifted  with  spirit 
and  power  above  all  other  intelligences  ; that 
he  is  “ God  manifest  in  the  flesh,”  i.  e.  that 
God  has  displayed  in  him  the  brightness  of 
his  glory,  and  the  express  image  of  his  per- 
son, as  in  no  other  being  tabernacled  in 
flesh ; that  he  was  sent  of  God  to  be  the 
Saviour  of  the  world,-  and  that  he  will  actu- 
ally save  it,  because  God  would  not  offer, 
nor  would  Christ  accept,  a mission  which 
both  knew  would  end  in  failure  ; therefore, 
they  say,  the  work  of  redemption  will  be 
thorough  and  universal. 

III.  They  believe  that  man  was  and  is  cre- 
ated upright,  but  liable  to  sin ; that  trans- 
gression comes  not  out  of  any  original  cor- 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


653 


ruption  of  heart,  transmitted  trom  Adam  ; 
but  out  of  ignorance  and  unbelief:  that  all 
men  are  formed,  as  Adam  was,  in  the  moral 
image  of  God ; and  that  this  image  though 
it  may  be  disfigured  by  sin,  can  never  be 
wholly  lust.  Faith  and  regeneration  remove 
the  stains  and  defilements  of  sin,  and  renew 
or  reform  the  soul  in  the  divine  likeness. 

IY.  They  believe  the  new  birth  to  be  that 
thorough  change  of  heart  which  takes  place 
when  a man,  wrought  upon  by  divine  grace, 
forsakes  his  sins,  or  turns  from  his  former 
life  of  wickedness  and  indifference,  toward 
God  and  the  Saviour,  and  is  drawn  into  fel- 
lowship'with  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  thus  quick- 
ened into  new  spiritual  vitality,  consecrates 
himself  into  a life  of  active  goodness  and 
piety.  The  new  birth  is  not  supernatural, 
but  the  result  of  appointed  means  suitably 
improved.  The  Holy  Spirit  blesses  the  use 
of  these  means,  and  moves  upon  the  heart  of 
the  sinner,  encouraging,  comforting,  assisting, 
sanctifying.  They  do  not  believe  in  instan- 
taneous regeneration,  though  they  allow  that 
there  may  be  a turning  point  in  the  life  of 
every  man  when  his  attention  is  specially 
directed  to  religion.  Conversion  is  only  the 
commencement  of  religious  effort. 

Y.  They  teach  that  salvation  is  no.  shel- 
ter nor  safety,  nor  escape  from  present  or 
future  punishment.  It  is  inward  and  spirit- 
ual, and  not  from  any  outward  evil,  but  de- 
liverance from  error,  unbelief,  sin,  the  tyr- 
anny of  the  flesh  and  its  hurtful  lusts,  into 
the  liberty  and  blessedness  of  a holy  life,  and 
supreme  love  to  God  and  man.  This  is  an 
important  doctrinal  and  practical  point  with 
Univer.'alists,  and  is  constantly  enforced  in 
their  preaching  and  writings.  They  urge 
oil  all  to  seek  salvation,  not  from  the  tor- 
ments of  a future  hell,  but  from  the  present 
captivity  of  sin.  In  reply  to  the  objection 
that  millions  die  in  sin,  in  pagan  ignorance, 
and  unbelief,  they  answer  that  no  one  is 
wholly  saved  in  this  life,  but  that  all  men  are 
saved,  in  a greater  or  less  degree,  after  death, 
and  assert  that  the  power  of  Christ  over  the 
soul  does  not  cease  with  the  death  of  the 
body,  but  that  he  continues  the  work  of  en- 
lightenment and  redemption,  till  he  surrend- 
ers the  kingdom  to  the  Father,  which  does 
not  take  place  till  after  the  resurrection  is 
complete. 

YI.  The  resurrection  is  not  merely  a 
physical,  but  a moral  and  spiritual  change. 
It  is  not  only  clothing  the  soul  with  an  in-  i 
corruptible  body,  bat  it  is  an  anastasis , a ! 
40* 


raising  up,  an  exaltation  of  the  whole  being 
into  the  power  and  glory  of  the  heavenly; 
for  ‘as  we  have  borne  the  image  of  ttie  earthy 
we  shall  also  bear  the  image  of  the  heavenly.’ 
It  is  a change,  they  say,  by  which  we  be- 
come as  the  angels,  and  are  ‘children  of 
God,  being  (or  because  we  are)  children  of 
the  resurrection.’  It  must  therefore  be 
something  more  than  clothing  the  soul  in  a 
spiritual  body.  It  is,  beside  this,  growth  in 
spiritual  strength  and  power,  in  knowledge, 
in  holiness,  in  all  the  elements  and  forces  of 
the  divine  life,  until  we  reach  a point  of  per- 
fectness and  blessedness  described  in  the 
term  heaven.  This  resurrection  or  lifting  up 
of  the  soul  into  the  glorified  life  of  the 
angels,  is  the  work  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
The  end  of  his  mediatorial  reign,  the  com- 
pletion of  his  saving  work,  and  the  final  sur- 
render of  his  kingdom  back  to  God,  does  not 
take  place  till  after  this  anastasis , this  uplift- 
ing of  all  the  dead  and  living  into  the  ‘image 
of  the  heavenly,’  is  completed. 

VII.  On  the  subject  of  rewards  and  pun- 
ishments, the  Universafist  belief  is  substanti- 
ally, that  holiness,  piety,  love  of  God  and 
man,  are  their  own  reward,  make  their  own 
heaven  here  and  hereafter ; and  that  in  the 
nature  of  things  no  other  reward  is  possible. 
If  men  love  God  with  all  their  heart,  and 
trust  in  him,  they  find,  and  are  satisfied  with, 
the  present  heaven  which  love  and  faith 
bring  with  them.  They  hold  the  same  doc- 
trine respecting  punishments  ; that  it  is  con- 
sequential, and  not  arbitrary — the  natural 
fruits  of  sin ; that  it  is  for  restraint,  correc- 
tion, and  discipline  ; and  that  God  loves  as 
truly  when  he  punishes  as  when  he  blesses, 
never  inflicting  pain  hi  anger,  but  only  be- 
cause he  sees  that  it  is  needed,  as  medicine 

is,  to  prevent  a greater  evil.  They  affirm 
that  the  law  is  made  for  the  good  of  man, 
and,  of  course,  that  the  penalty  cannot  be 
such  as  to  defeat  the  object  of  the  law. 
Transgression  brings  misery,  or  punishment, 
which  is  designed  to  correct  and  restore  to 
obedience,  because  obedience  is  happiness. 
They  maintain  that  pain,  ordained  for  its 
own  sake,  and  perpetuated  to  all  eternity,  is 
proof  of  infinite  malignity ; but  God,  they 
say,  is  infinitely  beneficent,  and  therefore  all 
suffering  must  have  a beneficent  clement  in 

it,  all  punishments  must  be  temporary,  and, 
end  in, good.” 

The  Universalists  are  very  generally  be- 
lievers in  the  doctrine  of  Restoration.  They 
do  not  deny  the  punishment  of.  sin  beyond 


654 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


this  life,  but  believe  that  it  will  be  tempo- 
rary, and  end  in  a restoration  of  the  entire 
race  to  holiness,  happiness,  and  heaven. 

The  Universal ists  are  paying  much  atten- 
tion to  their  educational  institutions.  They 
have  now  five  colleges,  viz  : Tufts  College, 
Medford,  Mass.,  with  15  professors,  and 
property  valued  at  $805,000  ; Lombard  Uni 
versity,  Galesburg,  111.,  with  6 professors, 
and  property  valued  at  $265,000 ; St.  Law- 
rence University,  at  Canton,  N.  Y.,  with  9 
professors,  and  property  worth  about  $40,- 
000  ; Buchtei  College,  Akron,  Ohio,  founded 
in  1870,  wiTh  $60,000  endowment ; and 
Smithson  College,  Logansport,  Ind.,  also 
founded  in  1870.  They  have  two  divinity 
schools,  both  well  endowed,  one  in  connec- 
tion with  Tafts  College,  the  other  with  the 
St.  Lawrence  University.  They  have,  also, 
eight  academies,  or  institutes  of  high  grade, 
most  of  them  liberally  endowed.  They  have 
13  periodicals.  Their  statistics,  in  1870, 
were:  83  associations,  911  societies,  620 

ministers,  and  a probable  membership  of 
their  societies  of  from  90,000  to  100,000, 
with  an  adherent  population  of  over  200,000. 
They  have  a considerable  number  of  Sunday 
Schools,  but  do  not  give  the  statistics  of 
them.  In  1870-71,  they  raised  a centenary 
fund  in  commemoration  of  Mr.  Murray’s 
work  in  founding  Universalist  societies,  of 
$200,000,  to  be  called  the  Murray  Fund, 
and  to  be  devoted  to  the  aid  of  theological 
students,  the  distribution  of  Universalist  lit 
erature,  church  extension,  and  the  mission- 
ary cause. 

III.  The  Hicksite  or  Seceding  Soci- 
ety of  Friends  in  America,  are  Unitari- 
ans, in  their  view  of  the  divinity  of  Christ. 
(See  VIII,  ii.) 

IV.  “The  Christian  Connection,”  at 
the  West,  have  affiliated  with  the  Unitarians 
and  a large  portion  of  them  are  believed  to 
hold  Unitarian  views  in  regard  to  the  divin- 
ity of  Christ.  In  the  Eastern  and  Middle 
States,  they  are  generally  Trinitarians.  (See 
II,  vii.) 


XI.  THE  NEW  JERUSALEM  CHURCH, 
NEW  CHURCH,  OR  SWEDENBORGIAN. 

This  denomination  refuse  to  be  called  a 
sect  of  the  Christian  church,  claiming  to  be 
entirely  distinct  from  any  branch  of  the 
Christian  church  and  to  belong  to  a new 
dispensation  as  fully  and  as  far  removed 
from  the  Christian  dispensation  as  that  was 


from  the  Jewish.  They  insist,  indeed,  that 
the  Christian  dispensation  passed  away -and 
came  to  an  end  in  1757,  and  that  they  are 
the  new  dispensation,  the  New  Jerusalem, 
which  has  come  down  from  God  out  of  heav- 
en to  take  the  place.  The  first  congregation 
of  the  New  Jerusalem  Church  was  formally 
organized  in  London  in  1788,  by  Robert 
Hindmarsh,  a printer  in  Clerkenwell,  who 
was  chosen  by  lot,  to  baptize  and  ordain  his 
comrades  in  the  ministry.  Few  if  any  so- 
cieties were  organized  in  the  United  States 
before  1820,  although  there  were  undoubt- 
edly some  believers  in  the  New  Church  doc- 
trines at  an  earlier  date.  Their  doctrines 
are  those  put  forth  by  Emanuel  Sweden- 
borg, a Swedish  nobleman,  statesman  and 
philosopher  (1688— 1772),  a man  of  extensive 
attainments  in  science  and  of  most  pure  and 
exemplary  life,  who,  after  publishing  many 
scientific  and  philosophical  works,  believed 
that  he  was  favored  with  visions  and  reve- 
lations from  the  spiritual  world,  and  in  1745 
at  the  age  of  57  relinquished  all  office  and 
gave  himself  to  communion  with  the  invisi- 
ble world  and  to  recording  his  visions  and 
the  doctrines  he  had  been  therein  taught,  for 
the  benefit  of  those  who  should  come  after 
him.  No  one  believes  Swedenborg  to  have 
been  an  imposter.  Everything  in  his  cir- 
cumstances and  character  refutes  such  a sup- 
position ; but  there  are  many  who  regard 
him  as  suffering  under  hallucinations  and  as 
being  of  unsound  mind.  He  lived  to  be 
nearly  85  years  of  age,  and  in  the  last  twen- 
ty-seven years  of  his  life  wrote  many  books, 
all  on  topics  connected  with  his  supposed 
revelation.  Some  of  these  books  (all  writ- 
ten originally  in  Latin,)  contain  passages  of 
great  beauty  and  interest ; but  the  greater 
part  have  a mystical  character,  and  are  not 
specially  attractive  except  to  those  who  pro- 
fess to  comprehend  them  by  a spiritual  in- 
sight. We  have  not  the  space  for  anything 
like  a full  analysis  of  the  doctrines  put  forth 
in  these  numerous  volumes.  His  doctrines 
seem  to  be  based  on  a theory  or  science  of 
correspondences,  which  he  believed  himself 
to  have  rediscovered  after  it  had  been  lost 
for  ages.  The  law  of  correspondence  is  uni- 
versal ; the  natural  world  is  a repetition  of 
the  spiritual  world,  and  the  spiritual  world 
of  the  invisible  mental  world.  Unseen  evil 
is  manifested  in  things  hurtful  and  ugly,  un- 
seen good  in  things  useful  and  beautiful. 
Man  is  a microcosm,  or  little  world ; nature 
is  man  in  diffusion  ; all  things  in  nature — fire, 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


655 


air,  earth,  and  water,  every  beast,  bird,  fish, 
insect,  and  reptile,  every  tree,  herb,  fruit,  and 
flower — represent  and  express  unseen  things 
in  the  mind  of  man.  The  scriptures  are 
written  according  to  correspondences,  and 
by  aid  of  the  science  their  mysteries  are  un- 
locked. This  mystical  interpretation  gives 
us  to  understand  that  the  early  chapters  of 
Genesis  are  not  to  be  received  in  any  his- 
toric sense.  Adam  signifies  the  most  ancient 
church,  and  the  flood  its  dissolution  ; Noah 
an  ancient  church  which,  falling  into  idolatry, 
was  superseded  by  the  Jewish.  The  spirit- 
ual sense  pervades  the  scriptures  with  the 
exception  of  Ruth,  I.  and  II.  Chronicles, 
Ezra,  Nehemiah,  Esther,  Job,  Proverbs,  Ec- 
clesiastes, the  JSong  of  Solomon,  the  Acts  of 
the  Apostles,  and  the  Epistles.  These  are 
all  good  books  but  not  possessing  the  inter- 
nal or  spiritual  sense.  They  are  not  in- 
spired and  consequently  not  the  Word.  By 
reason  of  its  symbolism  of  the  inward  sense 
the  letter  of  scripture  (with  the  above  excep- 
tion) is  holy  in  every  jot  and  tittle,  and  has 
been  preserved  in  immaculate  perfection, 
since  the  hour  of  its  divine  dictation.  By 
this  doctrine  of  correspondences  also  the  con- 
stitution of  heaven  and  hell  is  revealed. 
There  are  three  heavens,  consisting  of  three 
orders  of  angels,  severally  distinguished  for 
love,  wisdom,  and  obedience.  All  angels 
have  lived  on  earth  ; none  were  created  such. 
They  are  men  and  women  in  every  respect, 
the  spiritual  life  corresponding  to  the  natu- 
ral ; they  marry  and  live  in  societies  in  cities 
and  countries  just  as  in  the  world  but  in 
happiness  and  glory  ineffable.  To  the  un- 
married will  be  given  the  honor  of  caring 
for  the  little  ones,  and  their  performance  of 
this  duty  will  crown  them  with  glory.  All 
in  whom  love  to  God  and  man  is  the  ruling 
principle,  go  to  heaven  at  death.  As  there 
are  three  heavens  there  are  three  hells,  and 
every  angelic  society  has  an  infernal  coun- 
terpart. Hell,  as  a whole,  is  called  the 
Devil  and  {Satan ; there  is  no  individual 
bearing  that  name.  All  in  whom  self  love  is 
the  ruling  motive  go  to  hell.  There  is  no 
resurrection  of  the  earthly  body.  Every 
one  passes  to  the  final  lot  at  death,  some 
making  a short  sojourn  in  an  intermediate 
state,  designated  the  World  of  Spirits,  where 
the  good  are  cured  of  their  superficial  infir- 
mities and  intellectual  mistakes,  and  where  ■ 
the  evil  reject  all  their  pretences  to  good,  j 
The  grand  and  distinctive  principle  of  Swe- 
denborgian  theology  is,  however,  the  doc-  ] 


trine  of  life.  God,  it  is  maintained,  alone 
lives.  Creation  is  dead.  Man  is  dead  and 
then  apparent  life  is  the  Divine  presence. 
God  is  everywhere  the  same.  It  appears 
as  if  lie  were  different  in  one  man  and  in 
another ; but  this  is  a fallacy.  The  differ- 
ence is  in  the  recipients  ; by  one  He  is  not 
received  in  the  same  degree  as  another.  A 
man  more  adequately  manifests  God  than  a 
tree ; that  is  the  only  distinction.  The  life 
of  devils  is  God’s  presence  perverted  in  dis- 
orderly forms.  “ All  things  and  each  of 
them  to  the  very  uttermost,  exert  and  sub- 
sist instantly  from  God.  If  the  connection 
of  anything  writh  Him  were  broken  for  a 
moment  it  would  instantly  vanish  ; for  exist- 
ence is  perpetual  subsistence,  and  preserva- 
tion perpetual  creation.”  By  this  law  of  life 
is  explained  man’s  self-consciousness,  free- 
dom, and  personalit}r.  All  these  sensations 
are  communicated  from  God  to  man.  He 
dwells  in  man  so  cordially,  that  He  gives 
him  to  feel  that  he  lives  of  himself,  even  as 
lie  lives. 

The  Swedenborgian  doctrine  of  the  Trinity 
and  the  Divinity  of  Christ  is  thus  enunciated 
by  his  followers,  in  language  derived  from 
his  writings : “ That  Jehovah  God,  the 
creator,  and  preserver  of  heaven  and  earth  is 
love  itself,  and  wisdom  itself,  or  good  itself, 
and  truth  itself ; that  He  is  one  both  in  essence 
and  in  person,  in  whom  nevertheless  is  the 
divine  trinity  of  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Spirit,  which  are  the  essential  div'nity,  the 
divine  humanity,  and  the  divine  proceeding, 
answering  to  the  soul,  the  body,  and  the 
operative  energy  in  man  ; and  that  the  Lord 
and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  is  that  God.  That 
Jehovah,  God  Himself,  descended  from 
Heaven  as  divine  truth,  which  is  the  word, 
and  took  upon  him  human  nature,  for  the 
purpose  of  removing  from  man  the  powers 
of  hell,  and  restoring  to  order  all  things  in 
the  spiritual  wrorld,  and  all  things  in  the 
church,  that  he  removed  from  men  the  powr- 
ers  of  hell,  by  combats  against  and  victories 
over  them,  in  which  consisted  the  great  work 
of  redemption ; that  by  the  same  acts  which 
were  his  temptations,  the  last  of  which  was 
the  passion  of  the  cross,  he  united  in  his 
humanity,  divine  truth  to  divine  good,  or 
divine  wisdom  to  divine  love,  and  so  re- 
turned into  his  divinity  in  which  he  was 
from  eternity  together  with  and  in  his  glori- 
fied humanity,  whence  he  forever  keeps  the 
infernal  powers  in  subjection  to  himself,  and 
that  all  who  believe  in  him  with  the  under- 


6 56 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


standing  from  the  heart  and  live  accordingly 
will  be  saved.  The  New  Church  observes 
the  ordinances  of  baptism  and  the  Lord’s 
supper,  but  gives  them  a mystical  signifi- 
cance. The  Christian  church,  as  established 
by  Jesus  himself,  came  to  an  end,  Sweden- 
borg says,  in  the  middle  of  the  last  century, 
and  in  one  of  his  visions  he  relates  having 
witnessed  the  last  judgment  effected  upon  it 
in  the  world  of  spirits  in  1757.  Then  com- 
menced the  new  dispensation,  signified  by 
the  New  Jerusalem  in  the  Revelation  of 
which  he  was  to  be  the  precursor  and  re- 
vealer.  He  made  no  claim  to  be  a leader 
or  divinely  inspired  person,  but  only  a seer. 
He  did  not  himself  attempt  to  establish  a 
church,  though  it  was  his  early  expectation 
that  such  a church  would  be  raised  up  among 
some  of  the  gentile  or  heathen  nations.  But 
his  followers  have  been  active  propagandists, 
and  though  they  may  have  believed,  as  he 
did,  that  the  Christian  church  was  dead  and 
at  an  end,  they  have  to  a large  extent  re- 
mained in  its  communions,  and  have  propa- 
gated their  views  among  its  members,  while 
retaining  their  connection  with  it.  A por- 
tion have,  it  is  true,  come  out  and  organized 
separate  societies  or  churches,  but  the  New 
Church  has  been  far  more  conspicuous  for 
intellectual  ability,  both  among  its  secret  ad- 
herents and  its  avowed  members,  than  for 
members.  After  fifty  years  of  really  zeal- 
ous effort,  they  report  only  65  ministers,  78 
societies,  and  at  the  utmost  not  more  than 
4,0d0  avowed  members,  with  an  adherent 
population  of  perhaps  '8,000.  They  have  an 
efficient  publishing  association,  with  a capi- 
tal of  about  $15,000  ; a tract  society  which 
publishes  30,000  or  40,000  tracts  per  year ; 
three  periodicals,  a weekly,  a monthly,  and 
a child’s  paper,  a theological  school  at  Wal- 
tham, Mass  ; three  church  schools — one  of 
them  liberally  endowed,  a missionary  society, 
and  several  Sunday  School  Unions.  It  has 
also  a “ New  Church  Union  ” with  a free 
library  ha^ng  headquarters  in  Boston. 


XII.  MORMONS,  OR  CHURCH  OF  JESUS 
CHRIST  OF  LATTER  DAY  SAINTS. 

I.  The  Mormons  under  the  control  of 
Brigham  Young.  We  have  neither  time  nor 
space  to  go  into  the  history  of  this  imposture, 
the  most  conspicuous  one  of  modern  times  ; 
nor  is  it  needful ; for  the  story  of  the  golden 
plates,  and  of  Solomon  Spalding’s  manu- 
script, of  the  successive  efforts  at  organiza- 


tion in  Manchester,  N.  Y.;  Kirtland,  Ohio ; 
Jackson  and  Clay  counties,  Missouri;  Nau- 
voo,  Illinois;  the  impositions,  threats,  and 
swindles  of  the  Mormon  leaders,  their  expul- 
sion from  Missouri,  their  death  at  the  hands 
of  a mob  at  Carthage,  Illinois,  the  pilgrim- 
age westward,  the  wintering  in  Iowa,  the 
final  arrival  in  1847  and  1848,  at  Salt  Lake, 
the  founding  of  Great  Salt  Lake  City,  the 
building  of  the  Tabernacle,  the  open  prac- 
tice and  boast  of  polygamy,  their  collisions 
with  the  United  States  government,  their 
Danite  band,  their  murders  and  outrages, 
and  their  present  condition,  have  all  been 
told  so  many  times  as  to  be  familiar  to  all. 
We  will  therefore  only  state  their  doctrines 
and  practices  according  to  their  own  author- 
ized manuals.  They  believe  that  there  are 
many  gods  and  that  eminent  saints  may  in 
time  become  gods,  and  rise  one  above  another 
in  power  and  glory  to  infinity.  Joseph 
Smith  is  the  God  of  this  generation.  Above 
him  in  power  and  glory  is  Jesus  Christ,  who 
was  the  offspring  of  the  material  union  on, 
the  plains  of  Palestine  of  a God  with  the 
Virgin  Mary,  the  latter  being  duly  married 
after  betrothal  by  the  angel  Gabriel.  Yet 
Christ  had  had  a previous  existence  and  had 
made  the  universe  out  of  unformed  chaotic 
matter  as  old  as  God.  The  God  whom  they 
describe  as  the  father  of  Jesus  Christ,  had 
once  been  a man  and  still  retains  a human 
form,  though  he  is  so  advanced  in  intelligence 
and  power  that  he  may  now  be  called,  com- 
paratively speaking,  perfect,  infinite,  &c. 
The  Holy  Spirit  they  believe  to  be  also  a 
material  being  and  once  human.  Above 
these  is  an  older  trinity  composed  of  Jehovah 
Elohim,  and  Michael  or  Adam,  the  latter 
being  described  as  the  god  or  superior  of 
Christ,  and  below,  beneath,  and  associated 
with  these  are  gods  many  and  lords  many. 
Their  whole  Theogony  seems  to  be  a most 
unintelligible  jumble,  mingling  Brahminism, 
Buddhism,  and  every  other  form  of  belief. 
The  second  article  of  their  creed  affirms  that 
men  will  be  punished  for  their  own  sins  and 
not  for  Adam’s  transgressions.  The  third 
article  states  that  through  the  atonement  of 
Christ  all  mankind  may  be  saved  by  obedi- 
ence to  the  laws  and  ordinances  of  the  gos- 
pel. The  fourth  defines  their  ordinances  to 
be : Faith  in  the  Lord  Jesus,  which  is  ex- 
pounded as  including  obedience  to  the  ten 
commandments,  and  to  the  Word  of  Wisdom 
revealed  to  Joseph  Smith  in  1833 ; 2.  Re- 
pentance ; 3.  Baptism,  w hich  is  administered 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


657 


by  immersion,  only  to  children  at  eight  years 
of  age,  and  also  to  adults  who  had  not  been 
previously  baptized.  They  also  baptize  for 
the  dead,  asserting  that  at  the  resurrection 
all  the  persons  for  whom  a man  has  been 
baptized  will  be  added  to  his  family ; 4.  Im- 
position of  hands  to  confer  the  gift  of  the 
lloly  Spirit ; 5.  The  Lord’s  Supper,  admin- 
istered to  the  recipients  kneeling ; they  use 
water  instead  of  wine,  being  averse  to  the 
use  of  the  latter,  and  receive  the  sacrament 
every  week.  The  fifth  article  declares  that 
men  must  be  called  to  the  work  of  God  by 
inspiration.  The  sixth  that  the  same  or- 
ganization must  now  exist  that  existed  in  the 
primitive  church.  The  seventh , that  miracu- 
lous gifts — discerning  of  spirits,  prophecy, 
revelations,  visions,  healing,  speaking  with 
tongues,  &c., — have  not  ceased.  Among 
Smith’s  and  Brigham  Young’s  speculations 
in  the  way  of  discerning  of  spirits,  one  was 
that  the  soul  of  man  was  not  created  but  had 
existed  from  all  eternity,  equal  in  duration 
to  God.  Another  of  these  revelations  was 
that  of  the  transmigration  of  souls,  that  re- 
bellious spirits  (of  men)  would  descend  into 
brute  tabernacles,  till  they  yielded  to  the 
law  of  the  everlasting  gospel.  The  eighth 
article  affirms  that  the  Word  of  God  is  re- 
corded not  only  in  the  Bible  and  the  Book 
of  Mormon,  but  in  all  other  good  books. 
The  contradictions  which  exist  in  the  Bible 
and  other  books  can  be  very  easily  removed 
by  revelations  to  any  of  the  Mormon  leaders 
or  an}  other  inspired  prophets.  Joseph 
Smith,  it  is  said,  left  an  “ inspired  transla- 
tion ” of  the  whole  Bible  in  manuscript,  but 
none  of  the  leaders  since  have  thought  it 
worth  their  while  to  publish  it.  The  ninth 
article  expresses  a belief  in  all  that  God  has 
revealed,  is  revealing, # or  will  yet  reveal. 
The  tenth  affirms  the  literal  gathering  of 
Israel,  the  restoration  of  the  Ten  Tribes 
(whom  they  believe  to  be  the  American 
Ind  ans),the  establishment,  of  the  New  Zion 
on  the  Western  Continent  (they  generally 
insist  that  this  will  be  in  Jackson  county, 
Missouri),  the  millenial  reign  of  Christ  on 
earth,  with  all  his  holy  prophets  and  demi- 
gods (of  whom  Joseph  Smith  will  be  most 
conspicuous),  and  the  transformation  of 
earth  into  a paradise.  The  eleventh  article 
maintains  “ the  literal  resurrection  of  the 
body, — to  flesh  and  bone,  but  not  blood  — 
blood  bung  the  principle  of  mortality.”  The 
twelfth  article  asserts  the  absolute  liberty  of 
private  judgment  in  matters  of  religion.  The 


thirteenth  declares  it  to  be  the  duty  of  the 
saints  and  all  others  to  be  subject  to  the  pow- 
ers that  be,  whether  monarchical  or  republi- 
can ; and  the  fourteenth  and  last  is  as  follows : 
“ W e believe  in  being  honest,  true,  chaste, 
temperate,  benevolent,  virtuous,  and  upright ; 
and  in  doing  good  to  all  men ; also  that  an 
idle  or  lazy  person  cannot  be  a Christian, 
neither  have  salvation.”  The  leaders,  how- 
ever, by  virtue  of  the  revelations  they  receive, 
can,  at  will,  exempt  themselves  from  the  ob- 
ligation of  any  of  these  rules  or  obligations, 
and  most  of  them  are  notoriously  profane, 
unchaste,  and  accessories  to  the  grossest 
frauds  and  murders,  if  they  do  not  commit 
them  in  person. 

Their  most  remarkable  social  peculiarity 
is  the  practice  of  polygamy.  Among  the 
early  revelations  published  by  Smith,  one 
was  the  strict  enforcement  of  both  monogamy 
and  chastity  ; but  about  1 838  he  became  no- 
toriously licentious  and  as  after  a time  his 
wife  began  to  complain  of  his  amours,  he 
had  in  1843  a special  revelation  directing  the 
practice  of  polygamy  not  only  in  his  own  case, 
but  in  that  of  the  other  saints.  This  was 
denied  by  the  leaders  for  some  years,  but  in 
1852  they  openly  avowed  polygamy  as  one 
of  their  doctrines  and  referred  to  this  reve- 
lation as  their  authority.  It  is  now  very 
generally  practised  in  Utah  ; Young  himself 
having,  it  is^said,  sixty  or  more  wives.  For 
many  years  the  Mormon  leaders  have  defied 
the  United  States  government  and  have 
ruled  the  territory  of  Utah  according  to  their 
own  views,  driving  out  and  often  murdering 
United  States  officers  and  citizens  who  at- 
tempted to  enforce  national  laws ; but  the 
opening  of  the  territory  by  the  passage  of 
the  Union  Pacific  and  other  railways  through 
it,  and  the  development  of  the  large  mining 
interests  there,  have  brought  in  so  large  a 
population,  who  are  not  Mormons,  that  there 
is  a prospect  that  the  laws  may  be  enforced 
there  without  serious  difficulty.  By  the 
laws  of  the  United  States,  as  well  as  by  com- 
mon law,  polygamy  is  a crime,  and  actions 
have  recently  been  commenced  against 
Brigham  Young,  Daniel  C.  Wells,  and  other 
of  the  Mormon  leaders  for  adultery,  and  for 
being  accessories  to  the  murder  of  some 
men  whom  they  had  caused  to  be  put  out  of 
the  way.  Young  has  left  Salt  Lake  City, 
and  it  is  generally  believed,  has  fled  from 
the  territory,  and  some  of  the  others  have 
given  bail,  while  one  or  two  have  been  con- 
victed of  the  minor  offense. 


658 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIIFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


The  Mormons  have  habitually  greatly 
overrated  their  numbers.  They  claimed 
early  in  1870  a Mormon  population  in  Utah 
of  150,000,  while  the  United  States  census 
of  1870  gave  the  entire  population  of  the 
territory  as  only  86,786,  of  whom  not  less 
than  17,000  are  known  not  to  be  Mormons, 
aside  from  a considerable  number  of  seced- 
ers  from  the  authority  of  Young.  Else- 
where in  the  United  States  there  may  be 
(including  the  seceding  Mormons)  seven  or 
eight  thousand ; and  in  foreign  countries 
perhaps  50,000  to  60,000.  They  claim  100,- 
000  on  the  eastern  continent ; but  they 
have  no  such  following.  Their  hierarchy  is 
of  two  kinds,  the  Melchizedec  and  the  Aar- 
onic  priesthood.  To  the  former  belong  the 
First  Presidency  of  three,  of  which  Young 
is  the  chief ; the  twelve  apostles,  the  seven- 
ties, the  patriarchs,  the  high  priests  and  the 
elders.  To  the  Aaronic  priesthood  belong 
the  bishops,  of  whom  in  all  there  are  240, 
the  priests,  teachers,  and  deacons.  Tithes  are 
rigidly  exacted  from  the  Mormon  believers 
to  be  applied  to  the  support  of  worship,  &c., 
but  no  inconsiderable  portion  finds  its  way 
into  the  capacious  purse  of  Brigham  Young, 
who  by  adroit  management  has  become  very 
wealthy,  his  property  amounting  to  many 
millions,  and  being  largely  invested  abroad. 

There  have  been  for  the  past  twenty-five 
years  a body  of  Mormons  who  did  not  go  with 
the  others  to  Utah,  who  did  not  recognize 
Brigham  Young  as  their  chief,  nor  practice 
polygamy.  They  have  had  a colony  and  set- 
tlement for  some  years  in  northwestern  Iowa, 
on  the  borders  of  Dakota,  and  have  had  as 
their  spiritual  chiefs,  Emma  Smith,  the  widow 
of  Joseph  Smith,  and  of  late  years  Joseph 
Smith,  Jr.  They  have  about  5,000  ad- 
herents, and  the  Mormons  of  Utah  are  very 
hostile  to  them.  Of  late  Joseph  Smith,  Jr. 
has  visited  Utah,  and  a considerable  number 
of  Mormons  who  were  disaffected  toward 
Young,  have  recognized  him  as  their  leader. 
Others  of  the  disaffected,  who  repudiate 
Young’s  authority  and  teachings  though  not 
yet  willing  to  abandon  polygamy,  have  fol- 
lowed a man  named  Godbe,  and  are  known 
as  Godbeites.  Both  these  seceding  organi- 
zations  are  bitterly  denounced  by  Young  and 
the  Mormon  hierarchy. 

XIII.  ISRAELITES  OR  JEWS. 

I.  The  Orthodox  Israelites,  or  Jews. 
This  is  no  place  for  a history  of  the  ancient ! 


people  of  God  in  all  their  dispersions,  wan- 
derings, and  persecutions ; we  can  only  give 
very  briefly,  their  history  as  a religious  de- 
nomination in  the  United  States.  The  first 
Jews  who  emigrated  to  North  America,  it  is 
believed,  came  to  the  then  Dutch  colony  of 
New  Amsterdam,  in  1660.  Although,  from 
the  first,  they  have  always  enjoyed  complete 
religious  liberty  here,  and  have  often  been 
called  to  positions  of  high  honor  in  society 
and  under  our  government,  yet  the  number 
of  Jewish  emigrants  to  the  United  States 
was,  for  a hundred  and  fifty  years  from  their 
first  coming,  very  small,  and  in  1820  they 
certainly  did  not  exceed  15,000  in  our  entire 
territory.  Since  that  time  they  have  come 
in  somewhat  larger  numbers,  attracted  by 
the  opportunities  offered  them  for  succesful 
trade  and  financial  operations.  After  the 
revolutions  of  1848,  on  the  continent  of  Eu- 
rope, many  of  those,  who  had  participated  in 
those  uprisings,  came  here  and  have  since 
been  some  of  our  most  valued  citizens.  It 
is  difficult  to  ascertain  definitely  how  many 
are  now  residents  in  the  United  States  ; the 
Board  of  Delegates  of  American  Israelites, 
in  1868  reported  200  congregations  in  the 
country.  If  these  averaged  100  male  mem- 
bers (a  large  estimate),  the  adherent  popu- 
lation could  not  much  have  exceeded  40,000 ; 
but  there  are  besides  these,  the  Re- 
formed Jews,  a considerable  number  who 
have  embraced  Christianity,  and  many  who 
in  this  country  do  not  connect  themselves 
with  any  religious  organization.  We  are 
inclined  to  believe  that  75,000  is  a large  es- 
timate of  the  actual  Jewish  population  of 
the  United  States,  though  it  has  been  reck- 
oned as  high  as  200,000.  They  have  wor- 
ship in  their  synagogues  on  the  Jewish  Sab- 
bath (Saturday),  with  reading  and  expound- 
ing of  the  law,  chanting  of  psalms,  etc.  The 
reading  is  usually  in  Hebrew  or  Aramaic, 
although  many  Jews  do  not  understand  the 
Hebrew  well,  but  the  explanations  and  dis- 
courses are  in  English,  or  in  the  vernacular 
of  the  country  from  which  they  -have  come. 
Many  of  their  rabbis  are  men  of  extensive 
learning,  and  specially  versed  in  Oriental  and 
linguistic  science.  It  is,  of  course,  under- 
stood that  the  Jew  does  not  recognize  Christ 
in  any  religious  sense,  and  is  a Deist,  rather 
than  a Socinian  or  Unitarian.  The  follow- 
ing abstract  of  their  doctrinal  creed,  com- 
piled from  the  Thirteen  Articles  of  Maimon- 
ides  exhibits,  briefly,  their  views  on  religious 
subjects:  “1.  They  believe  that  God  is  the 


IIISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


659 


Creator  and  Governor  of  all  creatures,  and 
that  he  alone  has  made,  does  make,  and  will 
make  all  things.  2.  They  believe  that  He 
is  only  one,  in  unity  to  which  there  is  no 
resemblance,  and  that  he  alone  has  been,  is, 
and  will  be  their  God.  3.  They  believe  that 
the  Creator  is  not  corporeal,  not  to  be  com- 
prehended by  an  understanding  capable  of 
comprehending  only  what  is  corporeal ; and 
that  there  is  nothing  like  him  in  the  universe 
4.  They  believe  that  He  is  the  First  and 
the  Last.  5.  They  believe  that  He  is  the 
only  object  of  adoration,  and  that  no  other 
being  whatever,  ought  to  be  worshiped.  6. 
They  believe  that  all  the  words  of  the  proph- 
ets are  true.  7.  They  believe  that  all  the 
prophecies  of  Moses,  their  master,  are  true, 
and  that  he  was  the  father  of  all  the  wise  men, 
as  well  of  those  who  went  before  him,  as  of 
those  who  succeeded  him.  8.  They  believe 
that  the  whole  law  which  they  have  in  their 
hand  at  this  day,  was  delivered  by  Moses. 
9.  They  believe  that  this  law  will  never  be 
changed,  and  that  no  other  law  will  ever  be 
given  by  the  Creator.  10.  They  believe  that 
God  knows  all  the  actions  of  men,  and  all  their 
thoughts  ; as  it  is  said  : ‘ He  fashioneth  all 
the  hearts  of  men,  and  understandeth  all 
their  works.’  11.  They  believe  that  God 
rewards  those  who  observe  his  commands, 
and  punishes  those  who  transgress  them. 
12.  They  believe  that  the  Messiah  will  come, 
and,  though  he  delays,  they  will  always  ex- 
pect him  till  Pie  comes.  13.  They  believe 
that  the  dead  will  be  restored  to  life  when  it 
shall  be  ordained  by  the  decree  of  the  Crea- 
tor. 

The  Jews  have  not  been  very  active  in 
educational  matters,  but  have  several  free 
schools  of  high  grade,  and,  at  Philadelphia, 
Maimonides  College,  founded  in  1867,  which 
though  having  a full  course,  and  able  in- 
structors, is  not'well  endowed.  In  matters 
of  public  charity,  the  founding  of  hospitals, 
asylums  for  orphans,  the  aged,  and  the  wid- 
ow, and  the  establishment  of  public  libraries, 
and  museums  of  art,  they  deserve  very  high 
praise.  These  institutions,  and  their  gifts  to 
them  have  not,  in  any  case,  been  confined  to 
their  own  people,  but  have  been  opened 
freely  to  all,  and  some  of  their  liberal  givers 
have  won  for  themselves  undying  fame  by 
their  large  handed  charity.  It  is  worthy  of 
note  that  they  provide  always  for  their  own 
poor.  They  have  three  or  four  well  con- 
ducted periodicals. 

II.  The  Reformed  or  Progressive 


Israelites.  This  organization,  which  has  a 
Rabbinical  Conference,  which  meets  annually, 
and  has  synagogues  in  the  principal  cities, 
while  not  disposed  to  relinquish  their  Jewish 
birthright  and  privileges,  yet  deem  some 
changes  necessitated,  by  the  progress  of  the 
world,  in  their  ancient  faith.  They  do  not 
look  for  the  coming  of  a temporal  Messiah, 
or  a return  to  Palestine ; they  believe  in 
having  their  exercises  in  the  synagogues 
in  the  vernacular.  They  hold  to  the  immor- 
tality of  the  soul,  but  not  to  the  resurrection 
of  the  body  ; to  God’s  grace  and  justice  to 
pardon  and  bless  the  being  created  in  his 
image,  and  not  to  expiatory  rites  and  sacri- 
fices. We  have  no  means  of  estimating  their 
numbers. 

Efforts  have  been  made,  and  with  consid- 
erable success,  by  several  of  the  Protestant 
denominations  for  the  conversion  of  the 
Jews  to  Christianity.  There  are  several 
congregations  of  these  converted  Israelites, 
and  a still  larger  number  who  have  connect- 
ed themselves,  as  individuals,  with  other 
Christian  churches.  A considerable  number 
of  Jews  said  to  be  mainly  from  Germany, 
Poland,  and  Portugal,  have,  on  coming  to 
the  United  States,  abandoned  all  religious 
worship  and  faith,  and  given  themselves  up 
wholly  to  the  worship  of  mammon. 


XIV.  SPIRITUALISTS. 

We  can  hardly  call  the  Spiritualists  a 
religious  denomination,  since  its  professed 
adherents  belong  to  almost  all  denomina- 
tions, and  many  of  them  to  none,  and  their 
single  bond  of  union  is  in  their  belief  that 
somehow,  and  in  some  way,  they  hold  inter- 
course with  the  spirits  of  the  departed.  That 
this  belief  is  a delusion  seems  to  be  demon- 
strated by  the  most  incontestable  evidence ; 
yet  very  many  cling  to  it  with  the  utmost 
tenacity.  The  Spiritualists,  and  especially 
the  so-called  “spiritual  mediums,”  maybe 
divided  into  several  classes.  Among  these 
are : 1 . Charlatans  and  impostors,  who  de- 

liberately profess  to  hold  communication  with 
the  spirit  world,  knowing  that  they  are  guilty 
of  a gross  and  fraudulent  deception,  but  doing 
so  for  the  sake  of  gain.  This  class  is  nu- 
merous ; to  it  belong  most  of  the  fortune- 
tellers and  necromancers,  the  greater  part 
(perhaps  we  should  say  all)  of  the  healing 
mediums,  clairvoyant  doctors,  and  the  like, 
the  exhibiting  mediums,  rappers,  table-tip- 
pers, &c.,  &c.  2.  The  self-deluded,  who, 


660 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


possessing  a certain  amount  of  magnetic, 
odyllic  or  reflex-nervous  power,  really  sup- 
pose themselves  to  be  in  communication  with 
the  spirits,  when  they  are  only  reproducing 
their  own  thoughts  and  conjectures  or  those 
of  persons  about  them  and  with  whom  they 
are  en  rapport.  3.  Genuine  clairvoyants, 
very  few  in  number,  but  really  endowed 
with  a greater  or  less  degree  of  the  clairvoy- 
ant or  seer  faculty,  but  mistaken  in  imputing 
their  visions  to  a different  source  from  that 
from  which  they  really  come.  The  supposed 
conversations  held  by  t<hese  persons  with  an- 
gelic intelligence,  or  the  spirits  of  the  depart- 
ed who  were  eminent  for  intellectual  or  moral 
power  in  this  life,  all  give  evidence,  which 
whoso  runs  may  read,  that  they  are  u of  the 
earth,  earthy.”  Not  one  of  these  messages 
professedly  from  the  spiritworld,  however 
exalted  in  intellect  in  this  life  were  the  per- 
sons from  whom  they  purport  to  have  come, 
has  ever  risen  above  the  dead  level  of  bald 
common  place,  and  could  the  persons  to 
whom  they  were  attributed  have  come  back 
to  earth  and  read  them,  they  would  have  re- 
pudiated them  most  indignantly.  Much  the 
same  may  be  said  of  the  professed  revela- 
tions of  the  spiritual  world  by  these  professed 
seers.  We  have  read  many  of  them  and 
have  found  them  invariably  sensuous  in  their 
descriptions,  and  giving  ample  evidence  of 
having  been  borrowed  without  being  im- 

o i t ” 

proved  from  the  Koran,  the  oriental  fables, 
or  the  word  painting  of  Moore,  Byron, 
Southey,  Beckford,  or  Johnson,  and  some- 
times, perhaps,  from  the  hallucinations  of 
Emanuel  Swedenborg.  Too  much  of  the 
flesh  clings  to  the  seer  to  make  these  visions 
in  any  respect  representative  of  that  glorious 
spiritual  state  which  the  natural  eye  hath 
not  seen,  nor  can  see ; of  those  experiences, 
which  are  only  discerned  by  the  spiritual 
man  when  unrobed  from  the  garments  of 
flesh,  and  made  pure  even  as  God  is  pure. 

Still  this  great  delusion  has  its  thousands 
of  votaries.  Beginning  in  this  country  about 
1843  with  some  manifestations  of  power  as 
a healing  medium  on  the  part  of  a lad  of 
seventeen,  named  Andrew  Jackson  Davis, 
at  Poughkeepsie ; they  were  gradually  de- 
veloped into  a high  degree  of  clairvoyance 
on  his  part,  which  resulted  in  his  dictating 
from  1846  to  the  present  time  numerous 
books  professing  to  give  revelations  of  the 
condition  of  the  various  spheres  which  he  al- 
leged envelope  our  earth,  and  communica- 
tions with  the  spirits  which  inhabited  them ; I 


descriptions  of  the  climate,  scenery  and  peo- 
ple of  the  various  planetary  bod  es  of  the 
solar  system,  and  eventually  a ideological 
system,  with  its  pantheon  of  herpes  and  demi- 
gods which  he  professed  to  have  received 
from  the  highest  spiritual  intelligences.  That 
some  portions  of  this  system  were  rather  the 
results  of  earthly  study,  than  of  heavenly  in- 
spiration, was  evident  to  those  who  knew 
Mr.  Davis’s  habits  of  study  and  preparation 
for  his  books.  These  numerous  volumes 
have,  however,  had  a very  considerable  sale, 
and  though  it  would  be  difficult  to  say  how 
many  Spiritualists  believed  them  either 
wholly  or  in  part,  yet  they  have  unquestion- 
ably exerted  considerable  influence  in  form- 
ing, the  Spiritualist  theology.  Many  Spirit- 
ualists repudiate  them,  wholly  ; others  go  far 
beyond  them,  to  a gross  and  blasphemous  infi- 
delity. While  Mr.  Davis  was  beginning  to 
dictate  his  revelations,  another  development  of 
the  Spiritualist  mania  appeared  in  Kochester, 
where  a Mrs.  Fox  and  her  two  young  daugh- 
ter’s first  made  spirit-rapping  profitable. 
This  and  table-tipping  and  table  dancing 
soon  became  popular  and  lucrative  exercises, 
and  presently  it  was  found  that  the  spirits 
could  spell  (not  always  correctly)  by  the  aid 
of  an  alphabet  card.  As  time  passed,  their 
education  improved  till  by  the  hand  of  a 
medium  (their  unconscious  instrument,  it 
was  said)  they  wrote  all  manner  of  plati- 
tudes in  prose  and  rhyme,  though  quite  as 
often  without  sense  as  with  it.  Still  later, 
they  practised  a species  of  phonographic 
writing  which  expedited  matters  for  them, 
though  not  always  for  the  unhappy  mediums, 
who  found  great  difficulty  in  putting  it  into 
readable  English.  Gymnastic  and  leger- 
demain feats  followed,  and  though  most  of 
these  were  exposed,  yet  they  made  their  im- 
pression on  the  minds  of  the  gaping  multi- 
tude. An  adventurer  named  D.  D.  Home 
or  Hume  was  the  most  adroit  performer  of 
these  alleged  Spiritualistic  feats  in  Europe, 
and  succeeded  in  deceiving  many  eminent 
though  unphilosophic  minds.  The  delusion 
reached  its  culminating  point  in  1858  or 
1859,  and  has  since  that  time  been  gradually 
waning.  Both  the  Shakers  ami  the  followers 
of  Swedenborg  had  at  one  time  great  expec- 
tations from  it,  of  large  increase  to  their 
numbers;  but  both  have  been  greatly  di  ap- 
pointed. Very  many  who  were  once  de- 
luded by  it  have  long  since  abandom  d it  and 
now  wonder  that  they  could  have  been  so 
grievously  deceived;  others  not  fairly  ^n- 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THIS  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


661 


vinced  of  the  delu-ion  still  entertain  doubts, 
and  will  eventually  shake  it  off;  while  of 
those  who  hold  firmly  to  it  still,  some  have 
become  insane,  some  profess  to  derive  com- 
fort from  their  communication  in  hours  of 
sorrow  with  the  dear  departed,  and  others 
have  plunged  into  the  abyss  of  infidelity  or 
are  on  the  high  road  thither. 

Tue  Spiritualists  in  1858  and  1859  made 
the  most  extravagant  statements  in  regard 
to  their  numbers  ; statements  which  must  at 
that  time  have  been  conspicuously  inexact, 
and  are  now  too  absurd  for  any  one  to  be- 
lieve. In  the  “ Spiritual  Register”  for  1859 
it  is  stated  that  the  number  of  actual  Spirit- 
ualists in  America  is  1,500,000 ; of  those 
who  have  more  or  less  faith  in  the  doctrine, 
but  do  not  openly  espouse  it,  4,000,000  ; pub 
lie  advocates,  1,000 ; mediums,  public  and 
private,  40,000 ; places  for  public  meetings, 

1.000  ; books  and  pamphlets,  500  ; periodi- 
cals, 30.  If  most  of  these  figures  had  been 
divided  by  ten  the  quotients*  would  have  been 
nearer  the  truth  at  that  time.  At  present, 
the  number  of  periodicals  (of  which  only 
two  or  three  have  a large  circulation)  is  ten, 
the  number  of  public  advocates  of  Spiritual- 
ism not  over  50,  and  the  meetings  mentioned 
about  the  same  or  possibly  75.  The  number 
of  mediums  of  all  sorts,  we  could  not  under- 
take to  estimate;  there  must  be  several 
thousands ; though  some  have  unfortunate’y 
been  sent  to  State  Prison  recently,  and 
some  others,  who  have  been  using  their  art, 
to  aid  them  in  their  nefarious  business  as 
procuresses,  ought  to  be.  It  would  be  diffi- 
cult to  find  150,000  persons  who  would  avow 
themselves,  to-day,  Spiritualists  ; and  equally 
dilfi  mlt  to  find  200,000  more  who  would 
acknowledge  any  leanings  in  that  direction. 
The  number  of  books  and  pamphlets  pub- 
lished pro  and  con  may  reach  500,  indeed, 
Considering  the  great  number  issued  by  Mr. 
A.  J.  Davis  and  Mr.  S.  B.  Brittan,  we  think 
they  probably  will ; but  the  sale  of  Mr. 
Davis’s  books,  the  most  popular  of  all  this 
class  of  literature,  has  not  averaged  over 

20.000  copies  of  Cach. 


XV.  TREE  THINKERS,  OR  ATHEISTS, 
DEISTS,  RATIONALISTS,  & c. 

The  various  forms  of  unbelief  cannot 
fairly  be  called  religious  since  they  are  rather  1 
the  negative  of  all  religion ; nor  can  they 
be  classified  or  numbered,  since  they  arc 
found  under  so  many  different  names  and  i 


forms  and  commingled  with  so  many  other 
doctrines  and  notions  ; yet  it  is  true  that 
they  include  many  thousands  mostly  from 
three  classes:  1.  Speculative  philosophers, 
whose  learning  is  rather  superficial  than 
profound,  and  who  from  the  desire  to  throw 
off  control,  which  is  natural  to  the  depraved 
hearty  seek  to  find  arguments  against  the 
authenticity  and  inspiration  of  the  scriptures, 
against  a ruling  and  controlling  Providence, 
and  against  any  plan  of  salvation  which 
admits  the  depravity  of  human  nature.  They 
draw  their  arguments  from  any  and  every 
source  which  they  deem  available ; at  one 
time  they  deride  miracles  as  inconsistent 
with  reason  ; at  another  they  parade  geolo- 
gical discoveries  as  proving  the  falsity  of  the 
Sacred  Record ; then  they  are  very  sure 
that  they  have  discovered  that  man  has  lived 
upon  the  earth  800,000  or  a million  of  yea  s, 
and  that  he  was  developed  from  a monad  or 
a monkey ; if  driven  from  these  positions, 
they  find  fault  with  the  numbers  of  the  Bible, 
its  genealogical  records,  its  narratives  of 
events ; the  slightest  apparent  discrepancy 
is  magnified,  and  they  either  conclude  the 
sacred  book  a tissue  of  fables,  a book  of  rid- 
dles, metaphors,  and  conundrums,  or  a series 
of  myths.  Rout  them  from  one  class  of  ar- 
guments, and  they  fly  to  another,  often  in 
exact  contradiction  of  what  they  had  previ- 
ously maintained ; and  in  default  of  any 
ground  of  argument  they  will  fall  to  abusing 
and  cursing  the  life,  ministry,  and  work  of 
the  Divine  Redeemer,  using  the  coarsest  ri- 
baldry,though  previously  given  to  only  dainty 
phrases ; thus  demonstrating  that  it  is  the 
enmity  of  the  heart  against  God  which  is  at 
the  bottom  of  all  their  unbelief.  2.  A larger 
class  than  the  preceding  is  composed  of 
working  men,  mechanics,  who  in  a crude  and 
rough  way  do  a good  deal  of  thinking,  but 
being  soured  by  the  neglect  of  their  intel- 
lectual tastes  and  abilities,  which  they  believe 
the  educated  class  manifest,  and  having  the 
idea  that  they  are  displaying  a great  deal  of 
intellectual  independence  by  avowing  them- 
selves free  thinkers,  plunge  boldly  into  the 
discussion  of  questions  which  they  are  dis- 
qualified, for  the  want  of  botli  early  training 
and  positive  knowledge,  from  handling. 
Without  being  conscious  of  it  they  arc  mere- 
ly the  echoes  and  mouth  pieces  of  abler  but 
worse  men,  uttering  the  falsehood,  which 
their  leaders  know  to  be  such,  but  which 
these  poor  men  believe  merely  on  their  as- 
sertion. With  them,  too,  tho  desire  that 


662 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


these  views  may  be  true,  that  they  may  be 
thereby  freed  from  responsibility  and  the 
goadings  of  conscience,  has  much  to  do  with 
their  earnestness  in  endeavoring  to  believe 
them.  3.  Another  and  still  larger  class  of 
unbelievers,  we-  can  hardly  call  them  free 
thinkers,  for  they  do  very  little  thinking  of 
any  sort,  are  the  men  a.nd  women  utterly 
brutalized  by  a vicious  life,  who  are  without 
hope  and  without  God  in  the  world,  and 
who  stolidly  conclude  that  no  other  life,  if 
there  is  another,  can  be  worse  than  the 
present;  and  that  somehow  they  will  be 
better  off  after  death,  since,  as  they  express 
it,  they  have  had  no  show  or  chance  here. 
These  need  almost  a new  creation  to  bring 
them  up  to  the  plane  of  morally  accounta- 
ble beings.  They  constitute  the  dangerous 
classes  of  our  large  cities,  the  material  of 
mobs,  the  gangs  of  thieves,  dead  rabbits, 
shoulder  hitters,  prize  fighters,  burglars,  and 
if  women,  the  shop  lifters,  prostitutes,  and 
degraded  women  of  the  slums  and  back 
alleys  of  the  great  cities.  We  might  name 
as  recruits  in  this  army  of  unbelief,  those 
who  under  the  influence  of  the  worst  phases 
of  spiritualism  have  lost  all  faith  in  humanity, 
and  those  in  higher  circles  of  society  who 
departing  from  their  early  training  in  sound 
doctrine  have  wandered  and  floundered 
through  the  mazes  of  German  rationalism, 
transcendentalism,  and  at  last  merged  in 
Pantheism  or  utter  unbelief. 

A very  considerable  portion  of  the  edu- 
cated German  emigrants,  and  the  English 
workingmen  who  migrate  to  this  country 
are  Freethinkers  or  infidels,  and  in  many  of 
our  large  cities  as  well  as  in  the  newer 
towns  and  settlements  at  the  West  they  have 
organized  Infidel  or  Liberal  clubs,  and  seek 
to  bring  others  into  their  way  of  thinking. 
They  have  united  and  brought  out  their  full 
strength  on  several  occasions  in  the  effort  to 
have  all  Sabbath  laws  abrogated  in  several 
of  the  Western  cities.  In  some  of  the  new 
settlements  of  the  West  they  have  been  so 
largely  in  the  majority  that  they  have  pro- 
hibited all  effort  for  religious  worship  or 
Sabbath  observance.  Their  periodicals 
vary  in  character  according  to  the  class 
whom  they  address.  Some  are  decorous  in 
tone  but  aim  at  subverting  Christianity  by 
appeals  to  reason  and  philosophy;  others 
are  ribald  and  blasphemous,  and  denounce 
incessantly  all  Christian  organizations,  and 
Christian  men.  Those  conducted  by  foreign- 
ers and  in  German  or  French,  are  generally 


revolutionary  in  their  character,  and  have 
much  to  say  of  priestcraft  and  restrictions 
upon  the  rights  of  the  people.  There  are 
in  all  fifteen  or  twenty  of  these  papers,  but 
they  give  no  indications  of  the  number  of 
the  Freethinking  class,  since  many  of  them 
do  not  read  anything.  There  are  no  means 
of  estimating  with  any  approximation  to  ac- 
curacy their  actual  numbers.  Men  who 
have  made  religious  statistics  a study,  and 
with  equal  opportunities  of  observations 
differ  as  widely  as  between  250,000  and 

1.000. 000 ; and  the  larger  number  is  quite  as 
likely  to  be  correct  as  the  smaller. 

There  are  a number  of  small  and  minor 
sects  which  did  not  properly  come  under  the 
classification  we  have  adopted.  With  a 
brief  notice  of  them  we  close  this  sketch 
of  Religious  Denominations  in  the 
UNiTed  States. 

I.  Adventists,  a recent  sect  of  Millina- 
rians,  owing  its  origin  to  William  Miller  of 
Vermont,  from  whom  they  are  often  called 
Millerites.  He  commenced  his  public  teach- 
ings in  1833  and  predicted  the  second  ad- 
vent of  Christ  in  1843.  Among  his 
disciples  was  one  Joshua  V.  Himes  who  had 
been  a Campbellite  preacher  and  who  sur- 
passed Miller  in  earnestness  and  energy. 
After  the  failure  of  their  first  prediction  in 
1843,  others  were  made  but  the  adherents 
of  the  sect  fell  off.  Himes  however  con- 
tinued to  advocate  his  doctrine  in  the 
Advent  Herald  and  from  the  pulpit,  and  suc- 
ceded  in  drawing  around  him  a considera- 
ble number  of  followers,  of  whom,  since 
Miller’s  death,  he  has  been  the  leader  and 
apostle.  He  is  said  to  be  inclined  to 
Unitarian  views  in  regard  to  the  divinity  of 
Christ,  and  with  most  of  his  followers  to 
hold  that  the  wicked  will  be  annihilated  at 
the  second  coming  of  Christ.  There  are  no 
definite  statistics  of  the  numbers  of  the  Ad- 
ventists, but  they  are  estimated  at  about 

20.000.  Their  other  views  are  generally 
those  of  the  Evangelical  churches,  though 
inclining  somewhat  to  Methodism ; but  they 
have  no  regular  creed  or  form  of  discipline. 

II.  Annihilationists.  The  doctrine  of 
the  Annihilation  of  the  Wicked  is  not  con- 
fined to  Adventists.  Nearly  forty  years 
ago  it  was  defended  by  Rev.  Henry  Grew, 
and  since  that  time  Dr.  McCulloh  of  Balti- 
more, George  Storrs  (an  Adventist)  and 
Rev.  C.  F.  Hudson  have  published  works 
advocating  the  doctrine.  They  have  not  a 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


663 


large  following  aside  from  the  Adventists, 
and  most  of  those  who  believe  in  the 
doctrine  remain  members  of  Evangelical 
churches. 

III.  Catholsc  Apostolic  Church  or 
Irvingites,  a small  denomination  which 
originated  with  the  teachings  of  Rev.  Ed- 
ward Irving  in  London  about  1830,  but 
afterwards  considerably  modified  through 
the  influence  of  Mr.  Henry  Drummond,  a 
member  of  Mr.  Irving’s  congregation.  They 
hold  to  the  present  existence  in  the  Chris- 
tian Church  of  the  Charisms  or  gifts  men- 
tioned by  Paul  in  Cor.  xii.  27-31,  Eph.  iv. 

1 1-13, 1 Thess.  v.  19,  20,  viz.  healing,  speak- 
ing with  tongues,  prophesying,  &c.  In 
their  other  doctrines  they  agree  generally 
with  the  Evangelical  churches  though  they 
make  confirmation  or  sealing  by  the  laying 
on  of  hands  of  the  apostles  a third  sacrament 
or  ordinance.  In  organization  and  polity, 
however,  they  differ  from  most  of  the 
churches  in  having  four  orders  of  the  min- 
istry, apostle^,  prophets,  evangelists,  and 
angels  or  chief  pastors,  and  under  the  latter, 
a fourfold  service  of  elders  and  deacons,  to- 
gether with  under  deacons  and  deaconesses. 
The  deacons,  under  deacons,  and  deacon- 
esses are  ordained  by  the  angel  or  chief  pas- 
tor, all  the  superior  ministers  or  servants  by 
the  apostles  who  are  not  themselves  ordained 
but  called  of  the  Holy  Spirit  to  their  work. 
In  their  worship  they  use  incense-lights  on 
the  altar,  the  full  catalogue  of  priestly  vest- 
ments, and  a very  imposing  and  impressive 
ritual.  They  celebrate  the  Eucharist,  every 
Lord’s  day,  as  well  as  on  other  occasions, 
and  receive  tithes  during  the  service.  They  j 
also  have  auricular  confession  of  sin  with 
absolutions  and  prayers  in  fourfold  form. 
At  their  meetings  for  extemporaneous  pray- 
er and  confession  they  encourage  the  speak- 
ing with  tongues  and  prophesying.  The  J 
number  of  congregations  of  the  Catholic 
Apostolic  Church  in  the  United  States  is 
small,  not  more  than  eight  or  ten  in  all. 

IV.  Brethren  or  Plymouth  Breth- 
ren, a denomination  which  originated  about 
1830  under  the  leader>hip  of  Rev.  John 
Darby,  an  English  barrister  of  high  social 
position,  who  became  a clergyman  of  the  | 
Church  of  England  and  devoted  himself  to 
missionary  labors  in  Ireland  for  several 
years,  but  being  conscientiously  opposed  to 
the  doctrine  of  Apostolical  Succession  he 
left  that  church  and  proceeded  to  found  one 
which  recognized  no  distinctive  ministry 


and  no  formal  organization.  Mr.  Darby 
was  a Millenarian  and  thought  it  the  duty 
of  all  true  Christians  to  gather  in  small 
bands  and  pray,  labor,  and  wait  for  the 
speedy  second  coming  of  Christ.  The  Ply- 
mouth Brethren  recognize  no  other  title 
except  that  of  Brethren  or  Christians ; they 
are  Calvinistic  (thoroughly  so)  in  doctrinal 
belief ; but  believe  that  all  the  Lord’s  chil- 
dren are  priests  and  kings  in  his  service  and 
that  any  one  of  them  who  feels  that  he  is 
called  to  the  work  has  a right  to  preach  or 
to  administer  ordinances.  They  permit  no 
licensure  or  ordination,  and  all  preaching 
is  voluntary  and  without  salary  or  compen- 
sation. They  baptize  adults  on  a profession 
of  faith  (usually  immersing  them)  though 
they  do  not  consider  this  indispensable  to 
membership.  They  do  not  allow  infant 
baptism.  They  exclude  persons  from  par- 
ticipating in  the  Lord’s  Supper,  who  have 
been  guilty  of  gross  sins.  The  Lord’s  Sup- 
per is  celebrated  every  Sabbath  morning. 
In  the  afternoon  or  evening  of  the  Lord’s 
day  they  preach  to  and  pray  for  such  as  are 
not  converted.  They  believe  in  the  efficacy 
of  prayer  for  special  blessings  temporal  as 
well  as  spiritual,  and  one  of  the  Brethren, 
George  Muller  has  maintained  an  extensive 
Orphan  Asylum  and  large  missionary  enter- 
prises at  Bristol  for  many  years,  solely  by 
praying  for  the  needed  funds,  which  as  they 
came  in  were  most  judiciously  expended. 
The  denomination  has  had  a rapid  growth 
in  England  and  on  the  continent,  and  num- 
bers many  eminent  men  among  its  adher- 
ents. In  this  country  they  have  a consider- 
able number  of  congregations,  but  are  very 
reticent  concerning  their  increase  and 
growrth. 

V.  Sandemanians  or  Glassites.  This 
denomination,  which  a hundred  years  ago 
wras  quite  numerous  is  now  nearly  extinct. 
It  derives  its  name  from  Rev.  Robert  San- 
deman,  who  was  not,  however,  its  real  found- 
er, his  father-in-law,  Rev.  John  Glass  of 
Dundee,  having  originated  the  sect.  Mr. 
Sandeman,  after  preaching  their  doctrines  for 
twenty  years  or  more  in  Scotland,  emi- 
grated to  the  United  States  in  17G4,  and 
settled  at  Danbury,  Connecticut,  where  he 
died  in  1771,  having  established  several 
Sandemanian  churches  in  Connecticut  and 
Massachusetts.  Their  distinguishing  doc- 
trines are : That  faith  is  a simple  intellect- 
ual assent  to  the  teachings  and  divinity  of 
Christ ; that  all  mystical  or  double  inter- 


664 


HISTORY  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  DIFFERENT  DENOMINATIONS. 


pretation  of  the  scriptures  is  to  be  rejected ; 
that  none  of  their  members  must  take  part 
in  any  games  of  chance ; that  they  are  to 
abstain  strictly  from  all  blood  and  “ things 
strangled ;”  that  all  collegiate  training  for 
the  ministry  is  wrong;  that  no  prayers 
should  be  made  at  funerals ; that  weekly 
love  feasts  in  which  all  the  members  of  the 
Church  should  dine  together  should  be  ob- 
served every  Sabbath  day ; and  the  kiss  of 
brotherhood  should  pass  between  all  their 
members,  male  and  female,  at  their  solemn 
meetings ; and  that  a plurality  of  elders  is 
necessary  in  the  church,  two  at  least  being 
required  for  all  acts  of  discipline  and  the 
administration  of  ordinances  and  ritual. 
The  ordinance  of  feet-washing  originally 
practised  by  the  sect  has  been  discontinued. 
There  are  not  more  than  two  or  three  con- 
gregations of  Sandemanians  now  existing 
in  the  United  States. 

VI.  Church  of  the  Messiah,  a sect 
founded  in  Maine  in  1863  by  a person  named 
Adams,  who  had  previously  been  a Mormon 
elder.  He  claimed  to  have  visions  and  spe- 
cial inspirations.  Among  the  points  of  the 
new  faith  was,  that  its  members  were  of  the 
tribe  of  Ephraim  and  that  the  time  had 
come  for  them  to  return  to  the  land  of  their 
fathers,  where  the  Messiah  was  to  set  up  the 
throne  of  David.  In  1866,  156  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  sect  sailed  from  Maine  for  Pal- 
estine under  the  leadership  of  Adams  and 
landed  at  Jaffa,  where  through  the  efforts  of 
the  American  Vice-Consul,  land  had  been 
procured  for  them  and  where  they  erected 
houses  and  a hotel.  Dissatisfaction  soon 
occurred.  Adams  was  accused  of  misman- 
agement, and  through  the  kind  offices  of 
the  United  States  government  a considera- 
ble number  returned  in  1867,  and  the  re- 
mainder in  1868.  The  sect  is  probably 
extinct. 

VII.  Perfectionists.  I.  Free  Lov- 
ers, Bible  Communists  or  Perfection- 
ists, a small  American  sect  founded  about 
1840  by  John  H Noyes,  in  Putney,  Ver- 
mont, but  removed  subsequently  to  Oneida, 
New  York,  where  it  is  now  known  as  the 
Oneida  Community.  Branches  of  it  are 
also  established  under  the  same  regulations 
at  Wallingford  and  Brooklyn,  Connecticut. 
This  organization  is  a singular  medley  of 
Biblical  doctrine  and  unholy  practice.  They 
profess  to  believe  that  a reconciliation  to 
God  is  necessary  for  salvation,  that  this  is 
accomplished  through  faith  which  is  simply 


an  intellectual  belief,  and  that  confessing 
this  belief  the  man’s  sins  are  immediately 
washed  away,  and  thenceforth  he  is  above 
and  beyond  all  law,  being  a Jaw  unto  himself; 
though  in  practice  he  surrenders  a portion  of 
this  liberty  to  the  family  or  Community  in 
which  he  lives.  They  hold  to  a community  of 
goods,  community  of  women,  or  as  they  term 
it,  a complex  marriage ; no  legal  marriage 
being  considered  binding  and  the  parties  to 
it  in  the  community  being  at  liberty  to  make 
new  selections  at  will,  their  liberty,  however, 
being  somewhat  abridged  by  the  necessity 
of  making  their  proposals  through  a third 
party  and  their  being  subject  to  the  approv- 
al of  the  family  and  in  accordance  with 
what  they  pronounce  physiological  laws. 
The  Community  or  Communities  now  num- 
ber in  all  about  600  members,  that  at 
Oneida  having  300.  They  have  prospered 
financially,  having  attained  large  wealth  by 
their  manufactures  and  agricultural  produc- 
tions. They  are  said  to  be  harmonious  and 
contented.  The  men  dress  like  the  citizens 
of  the  adjacent  towns,  but  the  women  have 
adopted  a sort  of  Bloomer  costume  and 
wear  their  hair  short.  The  influence  of 
these  Communities  can  only  be  evil  on  the 
society  around  them.  There  are  several 
other  communities  in  various  parts  of  the 
United  States,  practising  a community  of 
goods  but  not  of  wives.  We  have  already 
described  the  Shaker  Communities,  which 
have  all  prospered;  but  there  are  others 
which  do  not  find  a new  theology  neces- 
sary to  their  success,  such  as  the  German 
Socialist  Village  of  Economy,  Pennsylvania, 
the  Seventh  Day  German  Baptist  Commu- 
nity at  Ephrata,  Pennsylvania;  the  more 
recently  organized  one,  near  Brocton  in 
Western  New  York,  which  from  the  past 
history  of  Rev.  T.  L.  Harris,  one  of  its 
founders,  we  suppose  to  be  Spiritualistic, 
and  one  in  Iowa,  which  admits  only  male 
members. 

II.  Another  and  more  numerous  sect  of 
Perfectionists,  though,  perhaps,  we  should 
hardly  call  them  a sect  since  they  have  very 
generally  retained  their  connection  with  the 
denominations  to  which  they  had  previously 
belonged,  are  those  persons,  who  in  con- 
nection with  Methodist,  Congregationalist, 
Baptist,  and  Adventist  Churches,  hold  to 
the  doctrine  that  it  is  not  only  possible 
to  attain,  but  that  they  have  actually 
attained  to  a condition  of  sinless  perfection, 
complete  fVeedom  not  only  from  sinful  acts 


iEIM’IEIL  m THE  (&3&EAT  TIEMIIP3L1S,  IACA®. 


CHURCH  ARCHITECTURE,  PAST  AND  PRESENT. 


665 


and  deeds  but  from  all  sinful  thoughts  or  | 
words  and  from  any  promptings  to  sin.  This 
doctrine,  sometimes  called  the  doctrine  of 
Perfect  Holiness,  sometimes  Oberlinism, 
since  it  was  strongly  advocated  at  Oberlin, 
Ohio,  has  a considerable  following;  and 
under  the  names  of  “The  Higher  Christian 
Life,”  or  “ Complete  Sanctification,”  has 
been  largely  preached  and  written  about 
within  a few  years  past.  We  cannot  say 
that  in  our  experience,  those  who  professed 
it  have  generally  given  evidence  of  greater 
purity  or  real  holiness  than  others  who 
made  no  such  exalted  profession  ; but  while 
conformity  to  the  Divine  model  is  a thing  to 
be  sought  after  and  labored  for,  we  do  not 
believe  it  is  often  attained  in  this  life. 

With  our  notice  of  these  believers  in  Per- 
fection we  close  our  sketch  of  Religious  De- 
nominations in  America.  We  may  have 
omitted  some  small  sects,  but  if  so,  it  has  not 
been  for  want  of  careful  search  for  them. 
We  have  not  deemed  it  necessary  to  say 
anything  of  Mohammedans,  Buddhists,  or 


| Sintauists,  though  we  believe  there  are  two 
or  three  congregations  of  each  in  California, 
and  perhaps  one  or  two  in  New  York.  The 
Russo-Greek  Church  has  a chapel  in  New 
York  City,  one  in  San  Francisco,  and  one 
or  two  in  Alaska,  but  its  adherents  are 
probably  less  than  500  in  all.  The  religious 
rites  and  ceremonies  of  the  Indian  tribes  of 
the  West,  vary  too  much  to  be  described 
within  our  limits.  The  Pueblo  Indians  of 
New  Mexico,  and  the  small  remains  of  the 
Toltec  tribes  still  found  in  New  Mexico  and 
Arizona,  yet  maintain  some  forms  of  that 
Sun  and  Fire  Worship  which  so  clearly 
fixes  their  origin  in  the  plains  of  Mesopo- 
tamia. In  some  sections  of  the  South,  the 
Negroes,  and  especially  those  who  were  na- 
tives of  Western  Africa,  still  maintain  in 
secret  the  Fetich  or  O-be-ah  Worship.  In 
considering  the  nearly  one  hundred  and  fifty 
denominations  here  enumerated  with  their 
widely  varying  creeds,  we  find  it  as  true 
now  as  in  olden  times,  that  “ God  made  man 
upright,  but  he  sought  out  many  inventions.” 


CHURCH  ARCHITECTURE,  PAST  AND  PRESENT,  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


In  connection  with  the  preceding  history 
of  religious  denominations  in  the  United 
States,  it  seems  appropriate  that  we  should 
touch  briefly  on  the  edifices  devoted  to  reli- 
gious worship.  During  the  Colonial  period, 
and  indeed  till  about  1 8 J0,  the  church  edi- 
fices making  any  pretension  to  architectu- 
ral beauty,  were  very  few.  One  or  two  in 
Boston,  two  or  three  in  New  York,  per- 
haps two  in  Philadelphia,  one  or  two 
beside  the  Roman  Catholic  cathedral  in 
Baltimore,  one  in  Charleston,  and  one  in 
Providence  were  so  far  beyond  the  ordinary 
churches  in  style  and  ornamentation  that 
they  were  regarded  as  marvels.  In  the 
country,  especially  in  the  newer  settlements, 
the  church  edifice,  like  the  rude  dwellings, 
was  of  logs,  and  the  seats  of  hewed  slabs, 
thrust  between  the  logs  at  one  end  and  sus- 
tained at  the  other  by  a block  or  some  rough 
wooden  legs.  The  pulpit  was  a section  of 
the  butt  of  a tree  dug  out  and  sometimes 
had  a hewn  slab  pinned  on  it  with  wooden 
pins.  The  floor  was  oftenest  of  hard  beaten 


I 


I 


I 


earth,  but  sometimes  of  split  planks;  the 
roof  of  bark  or  thatch  and  in  rare  cases  of 
half-hewn  logs  with  clay  cement  for  the 
chinks.  Glass  in  the  windows  was  a rarity ; 
often er  they  were  mere  wooden  shutters,  ad- 
mitting the  light  when  thrown  open  but  ad- 
mitting, in  their  season,  the  wintry  breezes 
also.  There  were  no  means  of  warming  the 
house  of  God  even  when  it  was  of  better 
architecture  than  this,  for  two  reasons:  one 
that  at  this  period  stoves  and  furnaces 
were  not  in  existence  on  this  side  of  the 
Atlantic ; the  other  that  it  was  incom- 
patible with  the  ideas  of  the  fathers,  that 
people  should  be  allowed  to  take  comfort 
in  the  house  of  God,  except  in  the 
preaching  of  the  Word.  Was  not  the 
promise  made  on  this  very  condition  “If 
thou  refrain  thy  foot  from  the  Sabbath,  from 
doing  thine  own  pleasure  on  my  holy  day,” 
&c.,  and  did  not  that  evidently  mean  that 
people  should  not  go  to  a good  comfortable 
church,  nicely  warmed  and  ventilated  lest  it 
should  be  a doing  of  their  own  pleasure? 


First  Church  in  Connecticut. 


Ancient  Dutch  Church  in  Albany . 


Ancient  Swedes'  Church , Philadelphia. 

It  is  impossible  to  give  anything  like  a general  variety  in  modern  styles  of  church 
edifices  in  our  illustrations,  they  are  so  numerous ; but  the  specimens  of  the  old  and  new 
we  here  introduce,  will  give  a good  general  idea  of  the  improvements  which  have  been 
made. 


SOUTH  CHURCH,  NEW  BRITAIN,  CONN.  ( CoUyrtyatiOTial .) 


PLATFORM 


LADIES 

ROOM 


Infant 

SOHOOLROOM 


Chapel 


Passage 


Ministers 

room 


Vestibule 


Auditorium 


Vestibule 


Vestbule 


tower 

VESTIBULE 


PLAN. 


668 


CHURCH  ARCHITECTURE,  PAST  AND  PRESENT. 


They  might  get  asleep  if  they  were  so  com- 
fortable. In  the  older  settlements,  the  log 
cabin  churches  and  school  houses  had  given 
place  to  huge  barn-like  structures,  lofty  and 
bare  and  cold,  with  great  square  pews  as 
large  as  the  bed  chambers  of  a modern 
dwelling,  with  high  partitions,  where  each 
family  sat  by  itself  like  the  witnesses  in  a 
court,  the  jury  in  the  jury-box,  or,  in  many 
cases,  like  the  criminal  in  his  pen,  when  the 
judge  is  about  to  pronounce  sentence  on  him. 
The  mother  or  grandmother,  in  respect  for 
their  age  and  dignity,  were  allowed  to  bring 
their  fbotstoves,  little  square  boxes  of  perfo- 
rated tin,  having  a little  iron  dish  of  live 
coals  within  them,  and  with  these,  while  in- 
haling the  charcoal  ftimes,  they  were  fain 
to  keep  their  feet  from  freezing  in  the  win- 
ter ; but  the  father,  and  the  sons,  and  the 
little  children  were  allowed  no  such  foolish 
indulgence.  After  tramping  through  the 
snow  perhaps  for  miles,  they  took  their 
seats  in  their  pews  with  the  temperature 
anywhere  from  32°  to  zero,  and  listened  as 
well  as  they  could,  while  the  preacher  read 
his  discourse,  going  on  often  to  seventeenthly 
or  eighteenthly,  while  the  children  either 
played  with  the  house  dog,  who  was  a regu- 
lar attendant  upon  the  church  and  had  his 
place  in  the  pew,  or  amused  themselves  with 
some  of  the  few  objects  in  which  they  could 
find  occupation  for  their  mental  and  physical 
activity.  The  number  of  panes  of  glass  in 
the  great  windows  were  counted  over  and 
over  again ; the  calculation  was  made 
with  an  elaboration  of  the  doctrine  of  chan- 
ces, worthy  of  a Babbage  or  De  Morgan, 
how  many  weeks,  months,  or  years  would 
elapse  before  the  huge  sounding  board  over 
the  pulpit  would  fall,  and  whether  it  would 
come  down  on  the  minister’s  head  like  an 
extinguisher  on  a candle,  and  whether  the 
little  tub  perched  on  a post  in  which  he 
preached  would  be  crushed  in  the  downfall. 
Occasionally  a child  of  uncommonly  quick 
perception  would  find  some  gratification,  as 
the  minister  announced  his  “ fifteenthly  ” 
and  “ sixteenthly  ” in  computing  how  much 
time  he  would  be  likely  to  consume  in  the 
heads  yet  to  come ; but  such  an  idea  as  a 
child’s  being  able  to  understand  what  the 
minister  was  preaching  about,  never  entered 
the  heads  of  parent  or  minister.  How  should 
it?  The  sermons  were  mostly  doctrinal, 
masterly  expositions  and  logical  arguments 
on  the  great  points  of  the  Calvinistic  theolo- 
gy, but  it  required  the  matured  minds  of 


the  sturdy  thinkers  of  those  days  to  com- 
prehend their  force  and  pertinence.  The 
sermons  of  that  time  were  long ; not  merely 
an  hour,  but  often  two  and  three  hours  in 
duration.  We  read  of  one  of  the  worthies 
of  that  time,  a shining  light  in  the  Massa- 
chusetts ministry,  that  “ he  was  a most  god- 
ly and  painful  preacher  ” (don’t  laugh,  l oad- 
er, painful  in  those  days  meant  painstakirg) ; 
and  that  on  one  occasion  he  preached  to  his 
people  a good  three  hours,  in  the  morning 
of  a very  wintry  day ; and  after  t!  ey  had 
taken  food,  lie  belabored  them  for  their  sins 
and  shortcomings,  in  the  afternoon,  by  the 
space  of  four  hours  more.”  In  the  cities, 
the  churches  were  mostly  frame  buildings, 
though  a few  brick  and  stone  were  put  up. 
One  or  two  of  the  Dutch  churches  in  Ktw 
York  were  built  of  small  red  and  black 
brick  imported  from  Amsterdam,  but  veiy 
few  had  any  architectural  beauty.  The  Old 
Brick  Church  in  New  York,  (Rev.  Dr. 
Spring’s)  on  Park  Row,  was  in  its  day  con- 
sidered one  of  the  finest  churches  in  the 
city ; if  standing  now  it  would  hardly  be 
considered  a respectable  stable  (the  use  to 
which  abandoned  churches  are  generally 
put  in  that  city).  Indeed  as  late  as  1830, 
forty-two  years  ago,  there  were  not  in  the 
whole  country  twenty  churches  which  could 
be  considered  specimens  of  graceful  archi- 
tecture. The  great  fire  of  1835,  which  de- 
stroyed the  second  church  edifice  which  the 
corporation  of  Trinity  church  had  erected, 
as  well  as  several  other  churches  in  that 
part  of  the  city,  wras  incidentally  the  impulse 
to  great  improvements  in  church  architec- 
ture. The  present  Trinity  church,  “a  poem 
in  stone,”  was  erected  on  the  ruins  of  its 
predecessor,  and  Grace  church  soon  after. 
From  that  time  New  York  began  to  be 
noted  for  the  beauty  of  its  church  edi- 
fices, many  of  them  erected  at  enormous 
cost.  Other  cities  followed  the  example; 
some,  indeed,  had  already  commenced  the 
erection  of  beautiful  churches.  The  Gothic 
styles,  Early,  Norman,  Spanish,  Mediaeval, 
and  English,  were  the  favorites  for  many 
years,  and  even  now  have  their  advocates. 
Of  late  years,  however,  there  has  been  a 
greater  independence  of  the  forms  of  Ancient 
and  Mediaeval  art  on  the  part  of  our  archi- 
tects, and  wrhile  the  styles  of  the  Renais- 
sance, and  the  ancient  classical,  are  found 
more  frequently  than  formerly,  there  is  a de- 
sire which  now  and  then  finds  expression  in 
stone,  iron,  or  bricks  and  mortar,  to  origin- 


CHURCH  ARCHITECTURE,  TAST  AND  PRESENT. 


669 


ate  designs  more  appropriate  to  our  own  time, 
our  climate  and  the  new  materials  for  build- 
ing which  we  have.  Sometimes  this  leads 
to  very  singular  structures,  experiments,  it 
would  seem  upon  public  taste  and  endurance. 
Under  the  name  of  Italian  Renaissance  we 
have  particolored  buildings  of  red  and  cream- 
colored  stone,  or  black  and  white  marbles, 
with  a profusion  of  spires,  turrets,  and  finials, 
and  crowned  with  a massive  dome ; in  one 
of  the  so-called  American  styles  we  have 
broad,  squat  iron  buildings,  low,  but  crowned 
in  the  center  with  a high,  towering  dome, 
reminding  one  of  a huge  foundry.  Another 
American  style  studiously  plain,  and  un- 
doubtedly capacious  and  comfortable  for 
accommodating  an  audience,  seems  intended 
for  two  towers,  whereof  one  is  cut  short  at 
the  height  of  the  ridge-pole  of  the  church, 
and  the  other  forgetting  its  original  intent 
presently  shoots  up  into  a lofty  spire  (usual- 
ly of  wood,  but  covered  with  slate)  so  slen- 
der and  fragile,  that  it  seems  most  like  a 
monster  darning-needle,  set  up  on  end.  But 
these  partial  failures  only  serve  as  waymarks 
to  a more  perfect  architecture  which  shall  in 
the  end  attract  the  attention  of  the  world  by 
its  grace  and  adaptation  to  the  purposes  for 
which  it  is  intended.  City  churches  are  not 
as  yet  all  models  of  beauty,  but  they  are 
improving  in  these  respects  very  rapidly.  In 
their  interior  arrangement  there  has  been  a 
great  advance.  The  old-fashioned  pew  has 
been  banished  and  the  modern  slip  or  cush- 
ioned seat,  low,  easy,  readily  accessible  and 
attractive  has  taken  its  place.  The  pulpit 

41* 


is  not  now  a perch  or  eyrie  from  which  the 
j)reacher  can  get  a bird’s  eye  view  of  his 
congregation,  but  a simple  reader’s  desk  on 
a raised  platform.  Pillars  are  either  entirely 
dispensed  with  or  are  so  small  as  not  to  in- 
terfere with  the  view  of  the  pulpit.  Warm- 
ing and  ventilation  have  been  the  subject  of 
anxious  and  protracted  thought,  and  though 
we  can  hardly  say  as  yet  that  either  is  per- 
fect, yet  we  are  so  rapidly  approximating  to 
perfection  in  these  particulars,  that  the  pres- 
ent generation  will  probably  be  able  to 
realize  it.  The  Sunday  School  and  Bible 
Classes  have  come  to  be  such  important 
agencies  in  religious  progress,  that  special 
accommodations  are  required  and  provided 
for  them,  usually  in  a separate  building,  but 
attached  to  the  church.  And  so  strong  are 
the  demands  for  social  life  in  connection 
with  the  church,  that  most  of  the  newer 
church  edifices  have  their  parlors,  retiring 
rooms,  ante-rooms,  committee  rooms,  and 
many  of  them  pastor’s  studies  and  church 
libraries  in  connection  with  the  church  edi- 
fices. 

The  churches  in  the  country  come  up 
slowly  to  these  improvements,  and  those  of 
the  Southern  and  Western  States  more 
slowly  than  those  of  the  Eastern  or  Middle 
States ; but  the  progress  in  all  is  encourag- 
ing. Still  great  as  has  been  the  advance  of 
the  last  forty  years,  we  are,  as  a nation,  far 
behind  most  foreign  nations  in  the  number, 
the  splendor,  or  the  costliness  of  our  temples 
for  religious  worship. 


INDEX 


Accident  insurance  companies,  227. 

11  Academician,”  the  first  educational  periodical,  398. 
Academies  and  high  schools,  388. 

“Academy,11  an,  in  Virginia,  377. 

Adams,  Hannah,  works  of,  285. 

Adams,  Mr.,  designer  and  wood  engraver,  332. 

Adams,  John,  extract  from,  upon  education,  352. 

Adams,  John  Quincy,  works  and  career  of,  276;  extract 
from,  upon  education,  353. 

Adams  press,  the,  297 ; illustration  of,  295. 

Adirondac  iron  mines,  25. 

Adventure  copper  mine,  the,  54. 

Advertising,  newspaper,  304. 

AStna  Insurance  Company,  222. 

Agricultural  machines,  use  of,  at  the  West,  175. 

Agriculture,  schools  of,  402. 

Alabama,  iron  mines  and  furnaces  of,  28 ; hanks  and  banking 
in,  203. 

Albany,  iron  foundries  of,  36. 

Albion  coal  mines,  Nova  Scotia,  129. 

Alcuin,  Bible  copied  by,  in  22  years,  264,  272. 

Alfred,  King,  price  for  a book  paid  by,  262. 

Alison,  Rev.  Francis,  349. 

Alleghany  mountain,  iron  ores  of  the,  28. 

Allston,  Washington,  career  of,  as  a painter  and  author,  321. 
Almaden  quicksilver  mines,  Spain,  111. 

Alphabets  for  the  blind,  440. 

Aluminum,  discovery  and  uses  of,  251. 

Amalgamation  for  extraction  of  gold,  74 ; Eaton’s  improve- 
ment in,  76. 

Amalgams,  uses  of,  114,  115. 

America,  discovery  of,  228;  colonization  of,  229,  234. 
American  Academy  of  Fine  Arts,  320,  335. 

American  Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  museum  and  library 
of  the,  427. 

“American  Annals  of  Education,”  398. 

American  Asylum  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb,  435, 436 ; view  of 
437. 

American  Bible  Society,  formation  and  issues  of  the,  264. 
American  Bible  Union,  organization  and  publications  of  the, 
264. 

American  Institute  of  Instruction,  397. 

“ American  Journal  of  Education,”  398,  399. 

American  Female  Guardian  Society,  449. 

American  Philosophical  Society,  origin  of  the,  349. 

American  Telegraph  Company,  313. 

Ames,  Messrs.,  foundry  of,  63. 

Ancram  lead  mine,  New  York,  82. 

Ansesthesia,  discovery  and  use  of,  261. 

Anderson.  Dr.,  early  engraving  by,  332. 

Andover  Theological  School.  393. 

Aniline,  origin  and  value  of,  149. 

Annapolis,  Md.,  Naval  Academy  at,  396. 

Anthracite  coal,  use  of.  in  iron-making.  23;  first  successful 
application  of,  25-6;  first  knowledge  and  use  of,  120; 
geological  position  of,  122;  composition  and  varieties  of, 
123;  strata  of,  illustrated,  131-2;  mining  of.  142;  open 
quarries  of,  141;  concentration  of  beds  of,  144;  breaking 
and  screening  of,  147 ; emplojunent  of,  in  house-  war  til- 
ing. 243. 

Appalachian  coal-basin,  124. 

Appalachian  mountains,  gold  mines  of  the,  64. 

Appleton,  D..  «fc  Co.,  sales  of  Webster's  Spelling-book,  Ac., 
by,  264,  26a 


Aqua  regia,  107. 

Aquatint  engraving,  334, 

Architecture,  domestic,  245 ; modern  improvements  in,  247. 

Argentiferous  lead  ores,  methods  of  working.  90. 

Arizona,  rich  gold  deposits  of,  71 ; silver  mines  of,  115. 

Arkansas,  magnetic  iron  in,  32 ; zinc  in,  98 ; banks  in,  207. 

Arks,  transportation  of  coal  by,  136. 

Arrastre,  the,  description  and  illustration  o£  75. 

Arsenic  associated  with  zinc.  100. 

Arts  of  design  in  America,  316. 

Assay  office.  New  York,  gold  deposits  at  the,  79  ; establish- 
ment of  the,  215. 

Associated  Press,  the,  303;  use  of  the  telegraph  by,  313. 

Astor  Library,  424. 

Atlantic  cities,  account  of  the,  181 ; table  of  exports  of  the, 
187 ; of  imports,  192. 

Atlantic  Mutual  Marine  Insurance  Company,  223. 

Atlantic  Telegraph,  history  of  the,  314. 

Atwood,  Luther,  patent  coal-oil  kiln  o£  15S. 

Audubon,  John  James,  career  and  works  of,  283. 

Austin,  Moses,  mining  operations  of,  86. 

Authors,  American,  274 ; younger,  list  of,  2S1. 

Bachus,  Elijah,  manufacture  of  cannon  by,  19. 

Backus,  Levi  S..  deaf-mute  editor.  419. 

Backus,  Senator  F.  F.,  report  of,  upon  the  instruction  of 
idiots,  443. 

Bacon,  Rev.  Samuel,  proposal  of,  for  an  educational  journal, 
398. 

Bain’s  electro-chemical  telegraph,  310  (illustration),  312. 

Baldface  Mountain,  N.  II.,  iron  ores  of,  24. 

Baltimore,  iron  mines  near,  22;  the  charcoal  iron  of,  23; 
copper  smelting  at,  59 ; chrome  at,  US;  receipts  of  coal 
at,  139;  origin,  growth,  and  commei’ce  of,  183;  orphan 
asylums  in,  445. 

Baltimore  Company’s  open  coal  mines,  Wilkesbarre,  Pa., 
picture  of,  opposite  137 ; account  of,  144. 

Baker,  George  A.,  painter.  325. 

Bakoo,  the  petroleum  of,  161. 

Bancroft,  George,  2S4. 

Bank  note  engraving,  333. 

Bank  of  the  United  States,  the,  charter  of,  200-201 ; winding 
up  and  recharter  of,  201  ; operations  of,  201-2;  removal 
or  the  deposits  from,  202;  State  charter  and  failure  of, 
203. 

Banking,  method  of,  in  New  York.  193;  Suffolk  system  of, 
203;  safety -fund  and  free,  204;  National  and  private, 
211. 

Banks,  disastrous  speculations  of,  170, 172;  State,  establish- 
ment and  operations  of,  199;  over-issues  of.  200;  oppo- 
sition of.  to  the  United  States  Bank,  201  ; suspension  of, 
in  1814,201;  increase  and  expansion  of,  202;  failure  ot, 
in  1S37,  203;  history  of,  203-9 ; table  of,  1791-1860,209; 
method  of  transacting  business  by,  210;  settling  of  bal- 
ances by,  210-11.  (See  National  banks.) 

Bare  Hill  copper  mine,  Maryland.  49;  chromium  at.  IIS. 

Barnard,  Henry,  educational  journals  edited  by,  39S-9. 

Barnes,  A.  S„  «fc  Co.,  sales  of  school  books  by,  26S. 

Bars,  iron,  bow  made,  39. 

Bartlett,  J.  R.,  illustration  of  the  New  Almaden  quicksilver 
mine  bv.  114 

Barytes,  sulphate  of,  used  in  adulteratin':  white  lead,  95. 

Beaumont’s  method  of  arresting  lead  fumes,  90. 

Bedsteads  and  bedding  formerly  used,  250. 


INDEX 


671 


Beecher,  Miss  Catharine  E.,  285 ; efforts  of,  for  female  educa- 
tion, 405. 

Belgium,  zinc  manufacture  in,  101. 

Belleville,  N.  J.,  copper  mine  at,  49. 

Bell-metal,  composition  and  use  of,  63, 120. 

Bells,  production  of,  63. 

Bennet,  William  James,  painter,  320. 

Bennett,  James  Gordon,  303. 

Benton,  Thomas  II.,  works  of,  277. 

Benzole,  character  and  use  of,  148. 

Berkeley,  Sir  William,  report  of,  upon  education  in  Virginia, 
341. 

Berks  county.  Pa.,  iron  mines  of,  26. 

Berkshire,  Mass.,  iron  mines  and  furnaces  of,  24. 

Bethlehem,  Pa.,  manufacture  of  zinc  at,  99,  104 ; Moravian 
female  seminary  at,  349,  404. 

Beuthen,  Silesia,  zinc  mines  at.  102. 

Bible,  the,  early  printing  of,  263 ; issues  and  low  price  of,  by 
the  Bible  Society,  264;  Charlemagne’s,  264,  272;  the 
educational  influences  of,  3S1-2. 

Bible  Societies,  formation  of,  264. 

Bills  of  credit.  State,  constitutional  prohibition  of,  199. 

Bingham,  Caleb,  girls’  school  of,  405. 

Birch,  Thomas,  marine  painter,  322. 

Birmingham,  Eng.,  manufacture  of  nails  at,  41. 

Bishop  sleeves,  258. 

Bituminous  coal,  first  trade  in,  121 ; geological  position  of, 
122 ; character  and  kinds  of,  122 ; spontaneous  combus- 
tion of,  124;  beds  of,  129 ; mining  of,  141.  (See  Gas,  and 
Coal  oils.) 

Black  jack,  96. 

Black  river,  Wis.,  iron  mines  of,  30. 

Blanc  de  neige,  104. 

Blast  furnaces  in  the  colonies,  17 ; construction  and  working 
of,  32 ; American,  superior  economy  of,  33 ; illustrations 
of,  34,  35 ; tables  of'  production  and  distribution  of,  46. 

Bleaching  powder,  manufacture  of,  from  manganese,  119. 

Blende,  zinc  ore,  96. 

Blind,  the,  institutions  for  the  instruction  of,  439;  alphabets 
for,  440 ; course  of  instruction  of,  441 ; printing  for,  and 
writing  by,  441 ; statistics  of,  457. 

Block-tin  lining  of  lead  pipe,  92. 

Bloodgood  & Ambler,  silver-lead  smelting  works  of,  91. 

Bloomaries,  description  and  working  of,  36;  localities  of,  37. 

Blooms,  iron,  how  made,  39. 

Blue  mass,  preparation  of,  115. 

Blue  Ridge,  the,  copper  ores  of,  49-50;  lead  mines  of,  83. 

Boghead  cannel  coal,  123;  composition  of,  147. 

Bog  ores,  iron,  22. 

Boiler-plate  iron,  production  of,  41. 

Boise  Basin  gold  mines.  Idaho,  71. 

Bonnets,  fashions  of,  254,  257,  258,  259. 

Book-binding,  269 ; illustrations  of  machines  for,  270,  271 ; 
origin  of,  272;  processes  of,  272. 

Books,  ancient  cost  of,  262;  effect  of  the  discovery  of  print- 
ing upon,  263 ; early  market  for,  in  New  England,  263 ; 
religious,  cheapening  of,  264;  process  of  the  manufacture 
of,  264;  methods  of  the  sale  of,  265;  old,  the  trade  in,  266; 
subscription,  publication  of,  267 ; great  sales  of,  267 ; sta- 
tistics o£  269 ; increased  cost  and  use  of,  269 ; sizes  of, 
272. 

Booksellers,  American  Company  of,  263,  264;  number  and 
classes  of,  265. 

Book  stalls,  the  business  of,  266. 

Book  trade,  the,  262;  competition  in,  264 ; number  engaged 
in,  and  operations  of,  265;  the  statistics  of,  269. 

Book  trade  sales,  265. 

Borneo,  platinum  from,  107. 

Boston,  origin,  growth,  and  commerce  of.  185;  banking  sys- 
tem of,  203-4;  early  bookselling  at,  263;  early  town  pro- 
vision for  schools  in,  339;  past  experiences  in  the  high 
schools  of,  390,  391 ; orphan  asylums  in,  445. 

Boston  Athenamm,  art  gallery  of  the,  335;  library  of  the,  423, 
427. 

Boston  City  Library,  424,  425-6  (illustrations). 

“ Boston  Courant,”  the,  301. 

Braid  wood,  Thomas,  in  Virginia.  435. 

Braidwoods,  the,  deaf-mute  instructors,  435,  433. 

Braille’s  system  of  writing  and  printing  for  the  blind,  441. 

Bramah's  pump  for  making  lead  pipe,  92. 

Brass,  manufacture  and  uses  of,  62. 

Brav,  Rev.  Thomas,  libraries  in  Maryland  established  by,  318. 

Bread,  kinds  of,  formerly  most  used,  252. 

Brcckenridgo  Coal  Oil  Works,  Kentucky,  154. 

Bremen,  regulations  for  emigrants  at,  233. 

Brick,  invention  of  machines  for,  244. 

Bridgewater,  Vt.,  gold  at,  64. 

Bridgewater  copper  mine.  New  Jersey,  49. 

Bristol,  Conn.,  copper  mine  at,  49. 

British  coal-fields,  the,  133. 

British  immigration  into  tho  United  States,  284-5. 


Brokers,  board  of,  New  Fork.  195. 

Bronze,  composition  of,  62,  63.  120. 

Brooklyn,  manufacture  of  white  lead,  in,  940 ; orphan  asylums 
in,  445. 

Brooks,  Mrs.  Maria,  285. 

Brown,  Charles  B„  works  of,  278. 

Brown,  Henry  Kirke,  sculptor,  works  of,  82S. 

Brown,  Thomas,  deaf-mute,  439. 

Brown,  William,  process  of,  for  dry  distillation  of  coal  oil,  158. 
Brown  coal,  beds  of,  122. 

Brown  University,  origin  of,  344. 

Brownson,  Orestes  A.,  writings  of,  282. 

Bruce,  George,  Jr.,  type-casting  machine  invented  by,  298. 
Bruce,  George,  Sr.,  stereotyping  introduced  by,  300. 

Bryant,  William  C.,  284. 

Buckingham,  Joseph  T.,  letter  of,  upon  his  early  school  ex' 
perience,  359. 

Buckminster,  Joseph  S.,  282. 

Buffalo,  origin,  growth,  and  trade  of,  176. 

Buhrstone  iron  ore,  22. 

Building  associations,  fallacy  of,  225. 

Buildings,  ventilation  of,  249.  (See  Houses.) 

Bulls  and  bears,  in  stock  operations,  195. 

Burden,  Henry,  rotary  squeezer  invented  by,  39 ; machines 
of,  for  spikes  and  horse-shoes,  43. 

Bnreaus,  former  style  of,  250. 

Burke  rocker,  the,  illustration  and  description  of,  74 
Burmah,  the  petroleum  of,  161. 

Burnett,  John  T.,  deaf-mute  writer,  439. 

Burning-fluid,  use  of,  for  light,  253. 

Burr,  Thomas,  process  of,  for  making  lead  pipe,  94 
Burra  Burra  Mining  Company,  50,  51. 

Bushnell,  Horace,  282 ; extract  from,  upon  the  homespun  era 
of  common  schools,  369. 

Bushnell's  anthracite  stove,  248. 

Bussey,  Benjamin,  bequest  of,  to  Harvard  College,  401. 
Bustle,  use  and  construction  of  the,  258. 

Butler,  E.  II.,  & Co.,  sales  of  school  books  by,  268. 

Butler,  W.  Allen,  281. 

Calamine,  silicate  of  zinc,  96,  97. 

Calash,  the,  for  the  head,  254,  258. 

Calhoun,  John  C.,  career  and  works  of,  277. 

California,  history,  methods,  and  yield  of  gold-mining  in,  71-3  ; 
quicksilver  mines  of,  111-12 ; silver  mines  of,  116 ; petro- 
leum in,  167. 

California  Quicksilver  Mining  Association,  112. 

Cainphene,  introduction  and  use  of,  253. 

Canada,  railroads  of,  173;  public  improvements  and  trade  o£ 
179 ; effect  of  the  reciprocity  treaty  with,  179. 

Canada  East,  gold  mines  of,  64. 

Canada  West,  oil  region  of,  167. 

Canals,  in  California,  for  gold-mining.  72  ; built  for  coal  trans' 
portation,  139, 140  (table) ; ope::;;:  : of,  171,172;  effect  of, 
upon  Western  trade  and  settlement,  172. 

Candles,  paraffine,  manufacture  of,  159 ; use  and  varieties  of, 
253. 

Cannel  coals,  use  of,  in  manufacturing  gas,  150. 

Cannon,  manufacture  of,  in  tho  revolution,  19. 

Cape  Breton,  coal-field  of,  129. 

Carbonate  of  iron,  ores  and  mines  of,  21. 

Carlin,  John,  deaf-mute  artist,  439. 

Carlisle  tables,  the,  of  average  duration  of  life,  224;  inaccura- 
cy of,  226. 

Carpets,  early  use  of,  250. 

Castillero,  Andres,  working  of  cinnabar  by,  112. 

Cast  iron,  manufacture  of,  82;  uses  of,  36;  decarbonizing  of, 
36;  manufacture  of  steel  from,  44. 

Castle  Garden,  New  York,  emigrant  depot,  240. 

Central  Park,  the,  of  New  York*  190. 

Ceracchi,  sculptor,  career  of,  326. 

Chairs,  old  and  new  varieties  of,  250. 

Champlain  canal,  opening  of,  171. 

Chandler,  Abiel,  401. 

Chandler  Scientific  School,  400. 

Channing,  William  E.,  writings  of,  281. 

Chapman,  John  G.,  painter  and  designer,  328, 

Character,  formation  of,  8S3. 

Charcoal,  use  of,  in  iron-making,  22. 

Charlemagne’s  Bible,  264,  272. 

Charleston,  origin,  growth,  and  commerce  or,  188. 

Charleston  Library  Society,  423. 

Charlotte,  N.  C.,  branch  mint  at,  64;  gold  deposits  at,  79. 
Chatham,  Conn.,  cobalt  mine  at,  18;  nickel  at,  117. 

Chaudiero  river,  gold  mines  of,  64. 

Cheever,  Rev.  George  Ik,  D.  I).,  2S0. 

Cheever,  Ezekiel,  schoolmaster,  840. 

Cherokee  lands,  the,  of  Georgia,  69. 

Chesapeake,  iron  mines  on  the,  22. 

Chesapeake  and  Ohio  canal,  charter  for,  17L 
Chester  county,  Pa.,  lcud  mines  of,  88. 


672 


INDEX 


Chestnut  Hill  iron  mine.  Pa.,  20 ; account  of,  27. 

Chicago,  trade  and  railroad  system  of,  177 ; shipments  of  flour 
and  grain  from,  178. 

Chicago  City  University,  view  of,  412. 

Child,  Mrs.  Lydia  Maria,  works  of,  285. 

Children’s  Aid  Society,  New  York,  449. 

Chilian  mill,  the,  75. 

Chillicothe,  Ohio,  first  land  office  opened  at,  169. 

China,  quicksilver  mines  of,  111. 

Chinese  immigration  into  California,  232. 

Chlorine,  manufacture  of,  from  manganese,  119. 

Chrome,  composition  and  sources  of,  118 ; uses  and  treatment 
of,  118. 

Chrome  iron  in  Maryland,  27,  28. 

Chrysocolla,  48. 

Church,  landscape  paintings  of,  325. 

Cinnabar,  111 ; early  knowledge  of,  in  California,  112 ; metal- 
lurgy treatment  of,  114. 

Cincinnati,  origin,  growth,  and  trade  of,  180. 

Circular  saw,  invention  of  the,  247. 

Cities,  lake,  account  of,  176;  recapitulation,  178;  river,  180; 
recapitulation,  1S1 ; Atlantic,  181. 

Clausthal,  lead-melting  at,  89;  treatment  of  ax-gentiferous 
ores  at,  116. 

Clay,  Henry,  277. 

Clay’s  plan  for  making  wrought  iron,  37. 

Clearing-house  system,  the,  210. 

Clerc,  Laurent,  deaf-mute,  435,  439. 

Clergymen,  distinguished,  list  of,  282. 

Cleveland,  origin  and  trade  of,  176);  direct  trade  of,  ■with  Eu- 
rope, 177. 

Clevenger,  Shobal  Yail,  sculptor,  326. 

Cliff  copper  mine,  the,  53. 

Clinton,  De  "Witt,  extract  from,  upon  education,  353. 

Clinton  county,  New  York,  ix-on  works  of,  25;  bloomaries 
in,  37. 

Clocks,  former  styles  of,  251. 

Clymer  press,  the,  2S7. 

Coal,  early  neglect  and  first  use  of,  120 ; varieties  of,  121 ; the 
ash  of,  123;  composition  of  different  kinds  of,  122,  123 
(table);  qualities  of,  123;  relative  values  of,  124  (table) ; 
geological  and  geographical  distribution  of,  124;  strata 
of,  illustrated,  129,  130;  amount  of,  available,  133;  rela- 
tive amount  of,  in  Europe  and  America,  134  (table);  pro- 
duction of,  in  eastern  Pennsylvania  and  Maryland, 
1820-1860,  134-5  (table) ; transportation  of,  to  market, 
135;  table  of  public  works  for,  140;  mining,  general 
account  of,  140;  useful  applications  of,  144.  (See  An- 
thracite, Bituminous,  &c.) 

Coal  Hill  lead  mine,  New  York,  83. 

Coal  mining,  early,  on  James  river,  18.  (See  Coal.) 

Coal  oils,  manufacture  of,  155;  table  of  American  factories  of, 
155;  history  and  method  of  the  manufacture  of,  156; 
coals  used  for,  157 ; retorts  for,  157 ; kilns  and  pits  for, 
158;  process  of  refining,  158;  uses  of,  160;  use  of,  for 
light,  160,  252.  (See  Petroleum.) 

Coal  tar,  production  and  composition  of,  143. 

Coats,  fashions  of,  253,  257,  258. 

Cobalt,  mine  of,  at  Chatham,  Conn.,  18 ; use  of,  116 ; ores  and 
mines  of,  117 ; treatment  of,  117. 

Coinage,  colonial,  212-13 ; adoption  of  Jefferson’s  plan  of, 
213;  modifications  of,  214,  215;  table  of,  1793-1860,  214; 
of  silver,  number  of  pieces,  216;  process  of,  217 ; of  pla- 
tinum, 107. 

Coins,  foreign,  in  the  colonies,  213. 

Coke,  production  of,  150 ; from  coal-oil  works,  159. 

Cole,  Thomas,  career  and  paintings  of,  324 

College  of  New  Jersey,  charter  of,  348. 

Colleges  in  the  United  States,  392;  table  of,  452-3. 

Colliery  slope  and  breaker  at  Tuscarora,  Pa.,  picture,  oppo- 
site 139 ; description  of,  142,  144. 

Colonies,  the,  issue  of  paper  money  by,  19S;  coinage  in, 
212-13;  literature  in,  274;  education  in,  837. 

Colorado,  gold  mines  of,  71. 

Columbia  College,  New  York,  origin  of,  347. 

Columbian  or  Clymer  press,  the,  2S7. 

Columbite  and  columbium,  discovery  of,  18. 

Combination  press,  the,  287. 

“Commercial  Advortisei-,”  New  York,  802. 

Commercial  schools,  403. 

“Common  School  Almanac,”  398. 

“Common  School  Assistant,”  898. 

Common  schools,  accounts  of  the  early  state  of,  855-80 ; State 
provisions  for  the  maintenance  of,  835-6;  present  condi- 
tion of,  887. 

“Common  Sense,”  Paine’s,  275. 

Communipaw,  N.  J.,  zinc  manufacture  at,  104. 

Congress,  school  laws  of,  854 ; library  of,  423,  427. 

Connecticut,  early  mining  in,  17  ; iron  mines  and  furnaces  of, 
24;  copper  mines  of,  48;  lead  mines  of,  82;  manufacture 
of  tin  in,  120;  town  action  for  schools  in,  339;  colonial 


legislation  of,  upon  education,  344 ; provisions  of,  for  the 
support  of  schools,  386. 

“Connecticut  Common  School  Journal,”  398. 

Continental  money,  issues  and  depreciation  of,  199,  245. 
Cooking,  former  method  of,  253. 

Cooking  range,  the,  253. 

Cooper,  James  Fenimore,  difficulty  experienced  by,  in  getting 
a book  printed,  264 ; works  of,  279. 

Cooper  Union,  New  York,  434 
Copley,  John  Singleton,  318. 

Copper,  ores  of,  48 ; mines  of,  48  et  seq. ; process  of  mining, 
on  Lake  Superior,  52  ; statistics  of,  56-8 ; ancient  uses  o^ 
60;  modern  uses  of,  61 ; sheet,  manufacture  of,  61 ; alloys 
of,  61,  62-3 ; mines  of,  116. 

Copper  mining  in  the  colonies,  18. 

Copper-plate  engraving,  333. 

Copper-smelting,  58 ; processes  of,  59. 

Coram,  Kobert,  account  of  country  schools  by,  in  1791,  373. 
Cornell’s  lead-pipe  machine,  92. 

Cornwall,  Pa.,  iron  mines  of,  26. 

Costume,  changes  in,  illustrated,  253. 

“Courier  and  Enquirer,”  New  York,  302. 

Crawford,  sculptor,  career  and  works  of,  327. 

Credit  system,  of  New  York,  191-2. 

Cretins,  Dr.  Guggenbiihl's  school  for,  443. 

Crockery,  former  style  of,  251. 

Croton  aqueduct,  the,  249. 

Crucibles  for  steel-making,  44,  45. 

Cuba,  the  bitumen  of,  161. 

Cummings,  Thomas  8.,  miniature  painter,  323. 

Cupellation  of  argentiferous  lead,  90. 

Cupola  furnaces  for  copper  slags,  60. 

Currency,  national  issues  of,  211.  (See  Banks,  Paper  money.) 
Curtius,  Dr.  Alexander  Carolus,  347. 

Cut  nails,  invention  of,  41,  246. 

Daguerreotyping,  introduction  of,  261;  American  use  and 
improvement  of,  335. 

Dahlonega,  Ga.,  branch  mint  at,  64;  gold-mining  at,  70;  gold 
deposits  at,  79. 

Damascus  Steel  Company,  44. 

Danville,  Pa.,  iron  furnaces  at,  24. 

Darley,  F.  O.  C.,  designer,  325. 

Darlington,  William,  letter  of,  upon  country  schools,  370. 
Dartmouth  College,  origin  of,  345. 

Davenport,  Eev.  John,  339,  340. 

Davidson  county,  N.  C..  gold  in,  69  ; lead  in,  84 
Davidson  sisters,  the,  286. 

Davis,  John,  account  of  an  old  field  school  in  Virginia  by,  377. 
Davy,  Sir  Humphry,  improvement  in  copper  sheathing  by,  61. 
Day,  Benjamin  H., first  penny  paper  published  by,  303. 

Deaf  and  dumb,  the  institutions  for  the  instruction  of,  434; 
natural  condition  of,  437;  methods  of  instructing.  438; 
distinguished  individuals  among,  439;  statistics  of,  456 
(table). 

Deep  Kiver  coal-beds.  North  Carolina,  129. 

Delaware,  banks  in,  205 ; colonial  school  legislation  of,  849. 
Delaware  and  Hudson  canal,  coal  transportation  of,  139. 

De  l’Epee’s  method  of  deaf-mute  instruction,  435, 488. 
Demand  notes  issued  by  Government,  211. 

Dentistry,  use  of  platinum  in,  109. 

Detmold,  C.  E.,  report  of,  104 

Detroit,  copper-smelting  at,  60';  origin  and  railroad  connec- 
tions of,  177. 

Dewey,  Orville,  works  of,  282. 

Die  sinking,  334. 

Discounts  by  banks,  199,  200. 

District  of  Columbia,  banks  in,  209. 

Dollar,  the  Spanish,  213. 

Dorn  gold  mine,  South  Carolina,  69. 

Doughty,  Thomas,  painter,  324. 

Drake,  Col.  E.  L.,  petroleum  production  developed  by,  168. 
Dress,  styles  of,  by  periods,  253 ; illustrations  of,  255-6. 
Drummers  for  New  York  jobbing  houses,  188. 

Dry  diggings,  gold,  72. 

Dubuque,  discovery  of  lead  mines  at,  18. 

Dubuque,  Julien,  lead  mines  worked  by,  84. 

Dummer,  Gov.  William,  educational  legacy  of,  844. 

Dunlap,  William,  painter  and  author,  819. 

Dxxrand,  Asher  B.,  landscape  and  portrait  painter,  328. 

Dutch  colonization  in  America,  229. 

Dutch  gold-leaf,  80. 

Dutch  West  India  Company,  educational  policy  of  the,  833. 
Dutchess  county.  N.  Y.,  lead  mines  of,  S2. 

Dwight,  Hon.  Edmund,  400. 

Dwight,  Timothy,  D.  D.,  works  of,  2S1 ; school  of,  at  Green- 
field, 405. 

Dyestone  iron  ore  in  Tennessee,  23. 

East  India  School,  the,  at  Charles  City.  Va.,  887. 

Eaton,  A.  K.,  inventions  of,  for  deoarboutzing  cast  iron,  36; 


INDEX 


673 


for  making  steel,  44;  improvement  of,  in  amalgamation, 
76  ; compounds  of  chromium  obtained  by,  119. 

Eaton,  Governor,  of  New  Haven,  promotion  of  education  by, 
340. 

Eaton,  N.  H.,  lead  mine  at,  82. 

Eaton  copper  mine,  Pennsylvania,  49. 

Edmonds,  Francis  W.,  painter,  323. 

Education  in  the  colonies,  337  ; revolutionary  and  transitional 
period  of,  351 ; extracts  upon  the  benefits  of,  352 ; action 
of  Congress  upon,  354;  social  influences  favorable  to,  3S0 ; 
considerations  upon  the  nature  of,  3S3 ; upon  the  present 
system  of,  8S5;  works  on  the  principles  and  methods  of, 
397 ; journals  of,  398. 

Edwards,  Jonathan,  274. 

Ehninger,  John  W.,  painter  and  designer,  325. 

Eiectrotvping,  process  of,  300. 

Eliot  and  Storer,  analysis  of  zinc  by,  100. 

Ellenville,  N.  Y.,  lead  and  copper  mines  at,  82. 

Elliott,  Charles  L.,  portrait  painter.  325. 

Emancipation  proclamation,  effect  of  the,  upon  the  book 
trade,  269. 

Embossing  machine,  for  books,  271  (illustration),  272. 
Emerson,  George  B.,  young  ladies’  school  of,  405. 

Emerson,  Rev.  "Joseph,  young  ladies’  school  of,  405. 
Emigration,  early,  to  America,  229 ; from  Germany,  232;  from 
Great  Britain,  234;  from  Ireland,  235;  English  law  for 
the  regulation  of,  236;  Commission  of,  at  New  York, 
operations  of,  240 ; statistics  of,  240. 

Emigrants,  treatment  of,  at  Liverpool,  236;  care  of,  at  New 
York,  240 ; table  of  location  of,  242 ; expenses  and  capital 
of,  243;  remittances  of.  243. 

England,  introduction  of  illuminating  gas  into,  145;  origin  of 
newspapers  in,  301-2. 

English,  the,  colonization  of  America  by,  229. 

English  basement  houses,  247. 

Engraving  in  the  United  States,  present  and  past  state  of, 
illustrated,  329,  331 ; wood,  improvements  in,  332 ; cop- 
perplate and  steel,  833. 

Enreqnita  quicksilver  mine,  California,  112. 

Equitable  Life  Insurance  Company,  London,  225. 

Erie  canal,  construction  of,  171 ; etfect  of,  upon  western  trade 
and  settlement,  172. 

Erie,  Pa.,  building  of  Perry’s  fleet  at,  169-70. 

Erie  railroad,  172. 

“ Essays  to  do  Good,”  by  Cotton  Mather,  274. 

Essex  county,  N.  Y.,  iron  mines  of,  25;  bloomaries  in,  37. 
Etching,  process  of,  334. 

Eureka  copper  mine,  Tennessee,  50. 

Eveleth  and  Bissell.  petroleum  operations  of,  162. 

“Evening  Post,”  New  York,  302. 

Everett,  Alexander,  career  of.  277. 

Everett.  Edward,  career  of,  277 ; account  of  former  school  life 
in  Boston  by,  391 ; at  Harvard  College,  392. 

Exchange,  course  of,  at  New  York,  193^4 ; par  of,  how  ascer- 
tained, 212. 

Exports  of  the  Atlantic  cities,  table  of,  187. 

Express,  transmission  of  newspapers  by,  306. 

Expresses,  origin  and  extension  of,  188. 

Extension  tables,  invention  of,  250. 

Faculties,  development  of  the,  884. 

Fairmount  Water  Works,  249. 

Falling  Creek,  Va.,  iron  works  at,  17. 

Family  instruction,  colonial  law  for,  in  Massachusetts,  348. 
Family  training,  educational  influence  of,  881. 

Fanny  Fern,  285. 

Farmers’  High  School  of  Pennsylvania,  402. 

Fashions,  changes  in,  illustrated,  253. 

Fay,  Theodore  8.,  works  of,  280. 

“ Federalist,”  the,  275. 

Felt  hats,  introduction  of, '258. 

Female  education,  404. 

Female  writers,  list  of,  2S5. 

Fiction,  great  sales  of  books  of,  267 ; writers  of,  278. 

Field,  Cyrus  W.,  establishment  of  the  Atlantic  telegraph  by 
the  efforts  of,  314. 

Fine  arts,  instruction  in  the,  404.  (See  Arts  of  design.) 

Fire,  losses  by,  223. 

Fire  insurance  companies,  220;  statistics  of,  222,  223. 
Fire-places,  old-fashioned,  240. 

Fisher,  Alvan,  painter,  820. 

Flake,  Lev.  Wilbur,  405. 

Flemington  copper  mine.  New  Jersey,  49. 

Flint,  Timothy,  works  of,  281. 

Flint  glass  made  with  oxide  of  zinc,  107. 

Florid  i,  C 'ssion  of,  171 ; banks  in,  2<»9. 

Folding  machine,  the,  for  books,  272;  for  newspapers,  306. 
Food,  former  kinds  and  preparation  of,  252. 

Foreigners  in  the  United  States,  228. 

Forks,  kinds  of,  251. 

Foundries,  iron,  86. 


Four-color  printing  press,  the,  297 ; illustration  of,  294. 

Fowle,  William  B.,  account  of  the  early  Boston  schools  by, 
390. 

Fractional  currency,  national,  211. 

Franconia,  N.  H.,  iron  mines  and  works  of,  24. 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  bequest  of,  to  the  city  of  Boston,  199; 
works  of,  275;  the  press  used  by,  286,  2S9  (illustration); 
first  editorial  experience  of,  301 ; the  “Philadelphia  Ga- 
zette” of,  305;  educational  proposals  of,  349;  lyceums 
originated  by,  433. 

Franklin,  Pa.,  petroleum  at,  103. 

Frankliu  copper  mine,  New  Jersey,  49. 

Franklin  copper  mine,  the,  of  Michigan,  54 ; production  of,  58. 

Franklin  Institute,  the,  403. 

Franklinite  iron  ore,  25. 

Franklinite,  manufacture  of,  from  zinc  ores,  105-6. 

Frasee,  John,  sculptor,  326. 

Fraser,  Charles,  miniature  painter,  321. 

Fremont,  Col.,  the  mining  operations  of,  73. 

French  indemnity,  payment  of  the,  215. 

French  Revolution,  fashions  during  the,  254. 

Friedlander’s  alphabet  for  the  blind,  440. 

Frock  coat,  introduction  of  the,  257. 

Fry,  Richard,  bookseller,  advertisement  of,  263. 

Fuel,  use  of  gas  for,  153. 

Fuels  used  in  iron-smelting,  20 ; for  puddling,  38. 

Fuller,  S.  Margaret,  285. 

Fulton,  Robert,  as  an  artist,  318. 

Furnaces,  iron,  construction  of,  for  anthracite,  28;  location 
and  working  of,  23;  for  copper-smelting,  58,  59;  for  lead- 
sinelting,  88;  for  zinc,  99, 104;  for  quicksilver,  114;  hot- 
air for  heating,  248.  (See  Blast  furnaces.) 

Furniture,  manufacture  and  varieties  of,  249. 

Galena,  lead  ore,  81. 

Galena  and  Chicago  railroad,  173. 

Gallaudet,  Rev.  Thomas  II.,  labors  of,  for  the  instruction  of 
the  deaf  and  dumb,  435 ; system  of,  438. 

Galvanized  iron,  invention,  manufacture,  and  uses  of,  40. 

Game,  former  use  of,  for  food,  252-3. 

Gap  copper  mine,  the,  18. 

Gas,  illuminating,  history  of,  145;  cost  off  146;  table  of  com- 
panies for,  146 ; table  of  works  for,  by  states,  147 ; con- 
stituents of,  147 ; combustion  of,  148 ; construction  of 
works  for,  and  process  of  manufacturing,  149;  coals  used 
for,  150 ; the  measurement  of,  150 ; economy  in  the  usq 
of,  151 ; mode  of  testing  the  quality  of,  152 ; from  other 
materials  than  coal,  152;  for  steamboats  and  railroad 
cars,  153 ; use  of,  for  fuel,  153 ; introduction  o£  for  light- 
ing streets  and  houses,  249. 

Gas-holders,  construction  of,  151. 

George  IV.,  fashions  introduced  by,  257. 

Georgia,  iron  mines  and  furnaces  of,  28 ; copper  mines  of,  50 ; 
gold  mines  of,  63,  69 ; banks  in,  208;  early  schools  of,  860 ; 
school  holiday  in,  373. 

German  immigration  into  the  United  States,  232;  motives  of, 
233 ; home  efforts  to  check,  234 ; causes  of,  234. 

German  silver,  composition  of,  63, 117. 

Gift-book  system,  the,  266. 

Girard,  Stephen,  purchase  of  the  United  States  Bank  by,  201. 

Girard  College,  view  of,  408;  organization  of,  446. 

Gisborne,  F.  N.,  telegraph  engineer,  314. 

Glass  made  with  oxide  of  zinc,  107. 

Gleason’s  “ American  gas-burner,”  152. 

Gold,  imitations  of,  62;  localities  and  mining  of,  in  the  Ap- 
palachian range,  63-70;  in  the  Rocky  Mountains,  70;  in 
California,  71  f production  of,  1848-1852,  78;  natural  dis- 
tribution of,  73;  variation  in  the  value  of  native,  77 ; mint 
deposits  of,  77-79  (tables) ; uses  made  of,  80 ; platinum 
associated  with,  107 ; iridium,  110;  course  of  the  trade  in, 
193;  coinage  ot'  214;  coins  of,  215;  mint  deposits  of,  210. 

Gold  Hill,  N.  0.,  gold-mining  at,  69. 

Gold-leaf,  manufacture  and  uses  of,  60. 

Gold-mining,  illustrations  of,  65-8;  processes  of,  72-77. 

Gong,  Chinese,  American  manufacture  of  the,  68. 

Gordon,  J.  W.  W.,  115. 

Gotha  Life  Insurance  Company,  Germany,  225. 

Gould,  Miss  Hannah  F.,  286. 

Grafton,  Ohio,  the  petroleum  ofi  167. 

Graham,  Augustus,  process  of,  for  making  white  lead,  94. 

Grain,  tables  of  Western  shipments  of,  17S. 

Grand  Trunk  railway,  the,  of  Canada,  179. 

Graphite,  geological  position  of,  122. 

Grates,  use  of,  for  anthracite,  243. 

Gravel  walls,  246. 

Gray,  Henry  Peters,  painter,  825. 

Great  Britain,  development  of  the  iron  manufacture  of,  19; 
lead  mines  of,  87  process  of  zinc  manufacture  in,  99; 
thickness  of  the  coal-beds  of,  183;  succession  of  races  in, 
228 ; emigration  from,  229. 

Green  Mountains,  the,  iron  mines  of,  24. 


674 


INDEX 


Greenbacks,  211. 

Greene,  E.  D.  E.,  painter,  325. 

Greenough,  Horatio,  sculptor,  career  of,  326. 

Greenwood  furnace,  the,  25. 

Griggstown,  N.  J.,  copper  mine  near,  49. 

Guadalupe  quicksilver  mine,  California,  112. 

G uggenbiihl,  Dr.  Louis,  institution  of,  for  cretins,  443. 

Gun  metal,  composition  and  uses  of,  62-3, 120. 

Guyton  de  Morveau,  zinc  paint  first  recommended  by,  103. 

Habersham  county,  Ga.,  gold  mines  of,  63. 

Hall,  James,  works  of,  280. 

Hall,  Rev.  Samuel  Eead,  first  teachers’  seminary  opened  by, 
399. 

Halleck,  Fitz-Greene,  poems  of,  281. 

Hamilton’s  report,  2T5. 

Hanging  Rock  iron  district,  the,  29. 

Harding,  Chester,  portrait  painter,  321. 

Hare,  Robert,  fusion  of  platinum  by,  109. 

Harnden,  W.  F.,  express  business  originated  by,  188. 

Harper  & Brothers,  publishers,  264,  265;  the  operations  of, 
268. 

“ Harper’s  Weekly,”  307. 

Hartford  Society  for  the  Improvement  of  Common  Schools, 
898. 

Harvard,  John,  bequest  of,  to  Harvard  College,  342. 

Harvard  College,  foundation  of,  342 ; Everett’s  account  of  life 
at,  fifty  years  ago,  392. 

Harvard  University,  Scientific  School  of,  401  ; library  of,  424. 
Harvey’s  or  Salter’s  plan  for  making  wrought  iron,  37. 

Hats,  fashions  of,  253,  257,  258. 

Hauy,  Valentin,  labors  of,  for  the  blind,  439. 

Havre,  German  emigration  by  way  of,  233. 

Hawthorne,  Nathaniel,  career  and  works  of,  280. 

Hays,  W.  J.,  animal  painter,  325. 

Head-dresses,  old  styles  of,  254.  258. 

Heinicke’s  method  of  deaf-mute  instruction,  435,  438. 
Hematite  iron  ores  and  mines,  20 ; distribution  of,  24. 

Henry,  Alexander,  copper  mining  by,  51. 

Henry,  Patrick,  275. 

Hewitt,  Abram  S.,  ®n  iron  production,  19. 

Hicks,  Thomas,  portrait  painter,  325. 

Highlanders,  emigration  of,  to  the  United  States,  229. 
Hildreth,  Richard,  284. 

Historians,  minor,  list  of,  284. 

Hitz,  John,  first  American  maker  of  zinc,  99. 

Hoe,  Richard  M.,  inventor  of  the  type-revolving  press,  288. 
Hoffman,  Charles  F.,  works  of,  280. 

Holbrook,  Josiah,  labors  of,  in  founding  lyceums,  433. 
Holmes,  Oliver  Wendell,  281. 

Homes  for  the  Friendless,  449. 

Homoeopathy,  introduction  of,  260-61. 

Hoofstetter,  attempts  of,  to  manufacture  zinc,  99. 

Hooker,  Herman,  282. 

Hoop  skirts,  use  and  construction  of,  258. 

Hopkins,  Gov.  Edward,  grammar  schools  founded  under  the 
will  of,  340. 

Horn-book,  the,  413. 

Horse-shoe  nails  and  horse-shoes,  machines  for,  43. 
Hose-washing  in  California,  72. 

Hosmer,  Harriet,  sculptress,  works  of,  328. 

Hotel,  the  modern  American,  261. 

Hotels  of  New  York,  196. 

Houdon,  statue  of  Washington  by.  326. 

Houghton,  Dr.  Douglass,  exploration  of  the  Michigan  copper 
mines  by,  51. 

Houses,  early  style  of  building,  245 ; improvements  in,  246-7 ; 
in  the  Southern  States.  247 ; improvements  in  warming, 
248 ; lighting  of,  249,  251. 

House’s  printing  telegraph,  310  (illustration),  311. 

Howe,  Mrs.  Julia  Ward,  286. 

Howe,  Dr.  Samuel  G.,  439,  443. 

Huancavelica  quicksilver  mines,  Peru,  111. 

Hubbard,  Wis.,  immense  iron  bed  of,  80. 

Hudson  river,  iron  furnaces  on  the,  23 ; early  trade  of  the, 
186. 

Hughes’s  system  of  telegraphing,  311. 

Humphrey,  Heman,  D.  1).,  letter  o£  upon  the  early  state  of 
common  schools,  856. 

Huntington,  Daniel,  painter,  825. 

Huron  copper  mine,  production  of,  58. 

Hydraulic  gold-mining,  65. 

Hydraulic  works  of  California,  72. 

Hydrocarbon  gas,  manufacture  and  character  of,  152. 
Hydrocarbon  or  coal  oils,  154.  (See  Coal  oils.) 

Hydropathy,  introduction  of,  261. 

Idiots,  institutions  for  the  training  of  the,  442 ; modes  of 
teaching,  444. 

Idria  quicksilver  mines.  Carniola,  111. 

Illinois,  lead  mines  of,  84 ; coal  in,  124 ; banks  in,  206. 


Illinois  Central  railroad,  173. 

“ Illustrated  News,”  the,  307. 

Immigration  into  the  United  States,  230;  laws  regulating, 
231;  table  of,  1S20-1856,  231;  sources  of,  232  et  seq. ; 
statistics  of,  241. 

Imports  and  exports  of  Canada,  179 ; of  Cincinnati,  180 ; of 
New  Orleans,  182  ; of  Charleston,  183;  of  Baltimore,  183; 
of  Philadelphia,  184;  of  Boston,  185;  of  New  York,  187. 

Indiana,  banks  and  banking  system  of,  205. 

Indian  corn,  Western  crops  of,  174 ; importance  of,  175. 

Industrial  schools,  449. 

Ingham,  Charles  C.,  painter,  322. 

Ink  balls,  use  of,  in  printing,  287. 

Inking  machine,  hand,  287,  290  (illustration);  patent  hand- 
press  steam,  290  (illustration). 

Inman,  Henry,  painter.  323. 

Inoculation,  vaccine,  introduction  of,  260. 

Insurance,  principles  of,  219;  companies,  classes  of,  220,  221. 
(See  Accident,  Fire,  Life,  Marine.) 

Intelligence,  general,  causes  of,  380. 

Intercourse,  social,  importance  of  means  of,  260. 

Interest,  fallacious  idea  of,  225. 

Iowa,  lead  mines  of,  84 ; banks  in,  206. 

Ireland,  emigration  from,  235 ; effects  of  misgovernment  and 
the  famine  in,  235 ; reformatory  measures  in,  236. 

Iridium  and  osmium,  use  and  sources  oi;  110. 

lridosmium,  110. 

Irish  emigrants,  impositions  upon,  at  Liverpool,  236 ; tricks 
of,  238 ; the  passage  of,  239. 

Irish  emigration  to  the  colonies,  229. 

Iron,  early  exportation  of  pig,  18;  production  of,  1828-1855, 
20;  principal  ores  of,  20;  comparative  cost  of  the  pro- 
duction of,  23;  distribution  of  the  ores  of,  24;  kinds  of. 
32;  production  and  importations  of,  46;  domestic,  amount 
and  value  of,  47  ; chromate  of,  118. 

Iron  manufacture,  historical  sketch  of,  18;  advantages  of  the 
United  States  for,  19;  materials  employed  in.  20;  fuels 
used  in,  22;  furnaces  for,  23;  processes  of,  32  (see  Cast 
iron,  Wrought  iron,  Sheet  iron,  Puddling,  &c.);  statistics 
of,  45;  effect  of  the  war  upon,  and  prospects  of,  47. 

Iron  Manufacturers,  Association  of,  45. 

Iron  mines,  distribution  of,  24  et  seq. 

Iron  mountain,  Mo.,  31. 

Iron  works,  early,  in  the  colonies,  17 ; table  of,  in  1858,  45. 

Irving,  Washington,  works  of,  278. 

Isle  Royale,  copper  mines  of,  52,  58. 

Ivison,  Pbinney,  Blakeman  & Co.,  sales  of  school  books  by, 
268. 

Jackson,  N.  H.,  oxide  of  tin  at,  120. 

James  River  coal  mines,  first  working  of,  18, 121. 

Japanese  ambassadors,  bill  for  the  entertainment  of  the, 
197. 

Jarvis,  John  Wesley,  painter,  320. 

Jay,  John,  extract  from,  upon  education,  853. 

Jay,  Vt.,  chrome  mines  in,  118. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  plan  of  coinage  by,  218;  writings  of,  275  ; 
plan  of  a school  law  by,  342 ; extract  from,  upon  educa- 
tion, 352. 

Jewelry  used  in  gift-book  sales,  quality  of,  266. 

Johnson,  Eastman,  painter,  325. 

Jones,  Richard,  process  of,  for  making  white  oxide  of  zinc 
from  the  ore,  104. 

“ Journal  of  Commerce,”  New  York,  302. 

“ Journal  of  the  Rhode  Island  Institute  of  Instruction,”  893. 

Juvenile  Asylums,  449,  450. 

Kansas,  coal-beds  of,  124. 

Kceseville,  N.  Y.,  nail  factories  of,  25. 

Kemble,  Mrs.  Frances  Anne,  286. 

Kennedy,  John  P.,  works  of,  278. 

Kent,  Chancellor,  extract  from,  upon  education,  358. 

Kent  ore  bed.  Conn.,  24. 

Kentucky,  iron  mines  and  furnaces  of,  29  ; thickness  of  the 
coal-beds  of.  133;  banks  in,  207. 

Kerosene  Oil  Works,  Newtown,  L.  I.,  154,  158. 

Keweenaw  Point  copper  mines,  51,  52  ; production  of^  57. 

Kidder’s  gas-regulator,  151. 

King,  Cha's.  B.,  painter,  820. 

King’s  College,  New  York,  foundation  of,  847. 

Kirkland,  Mrs.  Caroline  M.,  285. 

Knife-handles,  balanced,  251. 

Konigshutte,  Silesia,  zinc  works  at,  101,  102. 

Kossuth  hat,  introduction  of  the,  258. 

Lakes,  cities  of  the,  176;  aggregate  trade  of  the,  17& 

Lambdins,  the,  painters,  825. 

La  Motte  lead  mines,  Missouri,  S5,  86. 

Lamps,  varieties  of,  251-2. 

Lancaster,  Pa.,  zinc  mine  near,  97. 

I Lancaster  county,  Pa.,  nickel  mine  in,  117. 


INDEX 


675 


Land,  railroad  grants  of  173 ; sales  of,  1821-1860,  174 ; war- 
rants and  donations  of,  174;  amount  of,  unsold,  175. 

Land  offices,  opening  of,  169, 170. 

Land  sales,  government  system  of,  169  ; amount  of,  1790-1820, 
171 ; increase  of,  from  speculation  and  public  works,  172. 
Land  speculation,  evil  effects  of,  171, 172. 

Land  States,  increase  of  population  in,  175. 

Landscape  painters,  325. 

Lapis  calami naris,  98. 

Lard  oil,  154. 

Lawrence,  Abbott,  400,  401. 

Lawrence  Scientific  School,  400. 

Law  schools,  394 ; table  of,  455. 

Lead,  ores  of,  81 ; localities  of,  82-6;  shipments  of,  from  S. 
W.  Virginia,  84;  from  the  upper  Mississippi,  85;  dimin- 
ished production  of,  86 ; table  of  production  and  imports 
of,  1832-1858,  87;  smelting,  methods  of,  87;  fumes  of, 
methods  of  arresting,  90 ; manufactures  of,  91 ; separa- 
tion of  silver  from,  116. 

Lead  mining  in  the  colonies,  18. 

Lead  pipe,  manufacture  of,  91 ; use  and  danger  of,  92. 
Leclaire,  process  of,  for  making  zinc  paint,  103. 

Lectures  and  lecturers,  433-4. 

Letral-tender  notes,  national  issue  of,  211. 

Legar£,  Hugh  S.,  career  and  writings  of,  278. 

Leg-of-mutton  sleeves,  258. 

Lehigh  Coal  and  Navigation  Company,  136. 

Lehigh  Coal  Mine  Company,  121. 

Lehigh  county,  Pa.,  zinc  mines  of,  97. 

Lehigh  region,  the,  coal  produced  in,  1820-1860,  135. 

Lehigh  river,  slack- water  navigation  of,  136;  railroad,  139. 
Lehigh  valley,  iron  furnaces  in  the,  23 ; iron  ores  of,  26. 
Leslie,  Mrs.  Eliza,  2S5. 

Leslie’s  “ Illustrated  Newspaper,”  307. 

Le  Sueur,  discovery  of  lead  mines  by,  18,  84. 

Letter-writers  of  the  Revolution,  275. 

Leutze,  Emanuel,  historical  painter,  325. 

Liberty,  Md.,  copper  mines  near,  49. 

Libraries  in  the  United  States,  428 ; principal,  table  of, 
429-32. 

Life  insurance,  statistics  and  principles  of,  224 ; in  different 
countries,  225;  table  of  comparative  rates  of,  226;  ten 
years’  non-forfeitable  plan  of,  227. 

Light,  materials  used  for,  249,  251-2.  (See  Gas,  Coal  oils.) 
Lignite,  formation  and  beds  of,  122. 

Limestone  as  a flux  for  iron  ores,  20. 

Line  engraving,  process  of,  833. 

Lippincott,  Mrs.  Sarah  J.,  286. 

Lippincott  & Co.,  publishers,  transactions  of,  268. 

Liquors,  former  universal  use  of,  253. 

Litchfield,  Conn.,  girls’  school  at,  405. 

Literature,  American,  274. 

Lithography,  335. 

Liverpool,  fleecing  of  Irish  emigrants  at,  236. 

Live-stock  insurance  companies,  227. 

Lloyd’s,  marine  insurance,  223. 

Loadstone,  the,  21. 

Locust  Mountain  coal-measure,  section  of,  132. 

Log  houses,  construction  of,  247. 

Looking-glass  plates,  preparation  of,  114. 

London,  marine  insurance  at,  223. 

Longfellow,  Henry  W.,  works  of,  280. 

Longstreet's  * Georgia  Scenes,”  extract  from,  374. 

Lossing,  Benson  J.,  works  of,  284. 

Louisa  county,  Va.,  gold  mines  of,  64. 

Louisiana,  purchase  of,  170;  banks  in,  208. 

Louisville,  origin  and  growth  of,  180. 

Lovell’s  Latin  School,  Boston,  account  of,  890. 

Lowell,  James  Russell,  281. 

Lowell  Institute,  Boston,  434. 

Lubricating  oils  from  coal,  16L 
Lucesco  oil  works,  157. 

Lumpkin  county,  Ga.,  gold  mines  of,  70. 

Luyck,  Rev.  Dr.  yEffidius,  347. 

Lyceum  movement,  the,  403. 

Lyceums,  432 ; for  mutual  instruction,  history  of,  433. 

Lyon,  Miss  Mary,  Mount  Holyoke  Female  Seminary  estab- 
lished by,  405. 

Mackintosh,  Miss  M.  J.,  285. 

McCormack  gold  mine,  Georgia,  70. 

McDowell  county,  N.  C.,  gold-mining  in,  69. 

McLean,  J.  S.,  first  American  pianoforte  patentee,  260. 
Madison,  James,  works  of,  275;  extract  from,  upon  education, 
853. 

Magdalen  Asylums,  450. 

Magnetic  iron  ores.  21 ; localities  of,  24. 

Magnetic  Telegraph  Company,  813. 

Maine,  lead  mines  of,  82. 

Maine  law,  the,  260. 

Maine  Telegraph  Company,  818. 


Malachite,  green,  48. 

Malbone,  Edward  G.,  miniature  painter,  820. 

Mallet’s  method  of  making  galvanized  iron,  40. 

Manassas  Gap,  Va.,  copper  ores  at,  49. 

Man  catchers  of  Liverpool,  236-7 ; tricks  of,  238. 

Manganese,  use,  sources,  and  treatment  of,  119. 

Manhattan  Gas  Light  Company,  145. 

Mann,  Horace,  3S7. 

Manual  labor  schools,  403. 

Maricopa  Mining  Company  (silver),  116. 

Marine  insurance,  223  ; table  of,  in  New  York,  224. 

Mariposa  county,  Cal.,  quartz-mining  in,  73. 

Marshall,  John,  works  and  character  of,  276. 

Maryland,  iron  mines  and  furnaces  of,  28;  copper  mines  of) 
49  ; gold  in,  64;  cobalt  in,  117 ; chromium  in,  118;  coal- 
field of,  124,  135;  banks  in,  205;  colonial  legislation  of, 
upon  education,  347. 

Maryland  Agricultural  College,  402. 

Massachusetts,  early  iron  works  in,  17 ; lead  mines  of,  82 ; 
manganese  in,  119 ; coal  in,  129  ; colonial  issues  of  paper 
money  in,  198;  colonial  coinage  of,  212;  marine  in- 
surance in,  224;  life  insurance  >n,  225;  colonial  legisla- 
tion of,  upon  education,  342;  the  constitution  and  laws 
of,  upon  education,  385. 

Massachusetts  Hospital  and  Life  Insurance  Company,  224. 
Massachusetts  School  for  Imbecile  and  Feeble-minded  Youth, 
443. 

Mather,  Cotton,  works  of,  274. 

Mauch  Chunk  railroad  and  coal  business,  136. 

Mauch  Chunk  Summit  mine,  section  of,  132. 

Mecca,  Ohio,  the  petroleum  of,  167. 

Mechanics,  schools  for,  403. 

Medical  schools,  394;  table  of,  455. 

Melville,  David,  efforts  of,  to  establish  the  use  or  gas,  145. 
Meneely,  Messrs.,  bell  foundry  of,  63. 

Mercurial  medicines,  preparation  of,  115. 

Mercury,  use  of,  in  gold-mining,  74,  76;  uses  of,  110;  ores  of, 
111;  mines  and  yield  of,  111;  mining  of,  in  California, 
112;  total  production  of,  112;  metallurgic  treatment  o£ 
114 ; useful  applications  of,  114. 

Mezzotint  engraving,  334. 

Michigan,  iron  mines  and  furnaces  of,  29 ; copper  mines  of, 
51;  coal  field  of,  129  ; banks  in,  206;  Agricultural  Col- 
lege of,  402 ; University  of,  scientific  course  of,  402. 
Middletown,  Conn.,  argentiferous  lead  mine  al,  18,  82. 
Migration,  universality  of,  228. 

Military  Academy,  the,  395. 

Military  schools  in  Virginia,  South  Carolina,  &c.,  396. 

Mills,  Clark,  sculptor,  328. 

Milson,  Mr.,  Carlisle  tables  constructed  by,  224. 

Milwaukee,  origin,  growth,  and  trade  of,  178. 

Mimbres  copper  mines,  116. 

Mine  Hill,  N.  J.,  zinc  mines  at,  97. 

Mine  la  Motte  lead  mine,  86 ; cobalt  at,  117 ; nickel  at,  117, 
118. 

Mineral  paints,  247. 

Minesota  copper  mine,  the,  ancient  and  modern  working  of, 
54 ; production  of,  56. 

Mining,  the  earliest  American  charter  for,  18. 

Mining  industry  of  the  United  States,  history  of,  17. 
Minnesota,  banks  in,  206. 

Mint,  the  United  States,  establishment  of,  213;  operations  of 
214  et  seq.  (See  Coinage.) 

Mints,  table  of  gold  deposits  at  the,  78-9. 

Mirrors,  silvering  of,  114. 

Mississippi,  banks  and  banking  in,  207. 

Mississippi  basin,  settlement  of  the,  170. 

Mississippi  valley,  the,  early  style  of  house  furniture  In,  251. 
Missouri,  iron  mines  of,  81;  lead  mines  of,  85;  cobalt  and 
nickel  in,  117,  118;  banks  in,  208. 

Money,  origin  and  nature  of,  212. 

Monroe,  N.  Y.,  iron  beds  of,  25. 

Montana,  gold  and  silver  mines  of,  71. 

Montour’s  ridge.  Pa.,  iron  mines  of,  27. 

Moor’s  Indian  Charity  School,  345. 

Moravian  schools  in  Pennsylvania,  849,  404. 

Moresnet,  Belgium,  zinc  mine  at,  101. 

Morse,  S.  F.  B , career  of,  ns  a painter,  322. 

Morse’s  telegraph  apparatus,  808,  809  (illustration). 

Morris,  Robert,  report  of,  upon  coinage,  213. 

Moselom  iron  bed,  the,  26. 

Motley,  John  Lothrop,  works  of,  2S4. 

Mount,  William  S.,  paintings  of,  328. 

Mount  Pisgah  coal  mines,  186;  railroad  plane,  description  and 
illustrations  of,  136,  137,  189. 

Muntz's  yellow  metal,  61. 

Music  books,  Bales  of,  268. 

Nack,  James,  deaf-mute  poet,  439. 

Nacoocheo  valley  gold  mines,  Georgia,  63,  70. 

Nails,  manufacture  of,  and  American  improvements  In,  41; 


676 


INDEX 


table  of  factories  and  production  of,  42 ; process  of  making, 
42 ; horse-shoe,  43. 

Napier  press,  the,  description  of,  287 ; improvements  in,  288, 
297. 

National  Academy  of  Design,  establishment  of  the,  319,  323; 
origin  and  progress  of  the,  335. 

National  Bank.  See  Bank  of  the  United  States. 

National  banks,  system  of,  211. 

Naturalization  laws,  the,  230. 

Naval  Academy,  the,  396. 

Nazareth,  Pa.,  Moravian  school  at,  349. 

Nickel,  uses  and  mines  of,  117 ; ores  of,  118. 

Neal,  Joseph  C.,  writings  of,  281. 

Neal,  Mrs.  Alice  B.  (Haven),  285. 

Nebraska,  banks  in,  207. 

New  Almaden  quicksilver  mine,  California,  112;  picture  of, 
113. 

Newark,  N.  J.,  manufacture  of  zinc  at,  104. 

Newberry,  Dr.  J.  S.,  opinion  of,  upon  the  source  of  petro^ 
leum,  164. 

New  Brunswick,  N.  J.,  copper  mine  at,  49. 

New  England,  early  iron  works  in,  17 ; iron  mines  and  fur- 
naces of,  24 ; use  of  peat  in,  122;  decline  of  the  whaling 
business  of,  154;  banks  in,  203;  fire  insurance  in,  222; 
origin  and  progress  of  the  book  trade  in,  263;  colonial 
school  system  of,  338. 

New  England  Primer,  specimen  of  the,  414. 

Newfane,  V t.,  gold  found  at,  64. 

Newfoundland,  ancient  Norse  colony  in,  228. 

New  Hampshire,  iron  mines  of,  24 ; copper  in,  49 ; lead  in,  82 ; 
tin  mine  in,  120 ; colonial  legislation  of,  upon  education, 
345 ; State  law  for  education  in,  386. 

New  Haven,  early  town  action  for  schools  in,  838. 

New  Jersey,  early  copper  mining  in,  18;  iron  mines  and  fur- 
naces of,  25;  copper  mines  of,  49;  zinc  mines  of,  97; 
banks  in,  205 ; early  schools  in,  348. 

New  Jersey  Franklinite  Company,  106. 

New  Jersey  Zinc  Company,  104. 

New  Orleans,  gold  deposits  at  the  branch  mint  of,  78;  acqui- 
sition and  early  commerce  of,  170;  origin,  growth,  and 
commerce  of,  181;  trade  and  valuation  of,  1804-1859, 182; 
course  of  tx-ade  and  exchange  at,  182;  competition  of 
other  places  with,  183. 

Newsam,  Albert,  deaf-mute  sculptor,  439. 

Newspapers,  establishment  of,  in  England,  301 ; in  the  United 
States,  302;  in  New  York,  statistics  of,  304;  advertising 
in,  304;  daily,  former  and  present  business  management 
of,  305 ; other  classes  of,  307 ; aggregate  number  and  cir- 
culation  of,  307. 

New  York,  iron  mines  and  furnaces  of,  24;  copper  in,  49;  lead 
mines  of,  82;  petroleum  in,  167;  the  canals  of,  171;  the 
railroads  of,  172;  issues  of  paper  money  by,  199 ; banks 
and  banking  systems  of,  204;  fire  insurance  in,  221 ; ma- 
rine insurance  in,  223;  life  insurance  in,  224;  number  of 
foreigners  in,  242;  Dutch  colonial  school  system  in,  338; 
colonial  legislation  of,  upon  education,  346;  State  school 
law  of,  in  1795,  386 ; school  superintendent  appointed  in, 
8S6-7 ; State  Library  of,  427. 

New  York  Asylum  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb,  436. 

New  York  Central  railroad,  172. 

New  Yoi*k  Childi-en’s  Aid  Society,  449. 

New  York  city,  shot  towers  in,  94;  introduction  of  gas  into, 
145;  extent  of  gas  pipes  in,  146;  early  trade  of,  185 ; trade 
and  finance  centred  at,  186;  course  of  trade  at,  1S6;  pop- 
ulation, commerce,  and  valuation  of,  1684-1860,  187 ; 
speculation  at,  1S7 ; mode  of  business  in,  188;  effects  of 
discoveries  and  public  improvements  upon,  188;  move- 
ment of  business  and  population  in,  190;  railroads  and 
telegraphs  in,  190;  subdivisions  and  methods  of  business 
in,  191 ; exports  and  imports  of,  187, 192 ; trade  in  gold 
at,  193 ; exchange,  banking,  and  stock  operations  at,  194 ; 
hotels  in,  196 ; the  retail  trade  of,  197 ; assay  office  at, 
215;  insux-ance  in,  222-4;  newspapers  of,  802 ; circulation 
of  the,  303;  Sunday  press  of,  807 ; Mechanics’  School  of, 
403 ; orphan  asylums  in,  445. 

“New  York  Express,”  the,  805. 

New  York  Gas  Light  Company,  145. 

“New  York  Herald,'”  the,  803. 

New  York  Home  for  the  Friendless,  449,  450. 

“New  York  Illustrated  News,”  the,  807. 

“New  York  Journal,”  the,  307. 

New  York  Juvenile  Asylum.  448. 

“New  York  Ledger”  the,  307. 

New  York  Society  Library,  foundation  of,  847. 

New  York  Life  and  Trust  Company,  224. 

New  York  Mercantile  Library,  427. 

New  York  Society  Library,  423. 

New  York  State  Asylum  for  Idiots,  443;  view  of,  444. 

“ New  York  Times,”  the,  304. 

‘ New  York  Tribune,”  the,  304* 

Normal  schools,  397,  399. 


Norsemen,  discovery  of  America  by,  228. 

North  Carolina,  iron  mines  and  furnaces  of,  2S;  copper  mines 
of,  50;  gold  mines  of,  63,  69;  lead  in,  84;  cobalt  in,  117, 
nickel  in,  118;  coal-beds  of,  129;  banks  in,  208 ; colonial 
legislation  of,  upon  education,  349. 

Northeast,  N.  Y.,  lead  mine  at,  82. 

Norton,  Andrews,  282. 

Norwich  Free  Academy,  Conn.,  view  of,  411. 

“Notes  on  Virginia ” Jefferson’s,  276. 

Nott,  Eliphalet,  D.  D.,  letter  of,  upon  school-teaching,  862; 

the  anthracite  stove  of,  248. 

Nova  Scotia,  coal-field  of,  129. 

Ohio,  iron  mines  and  furnaces  of,  29 ; petroleum  in,  162, 167; 
government  land  sales  in,  169, 170;  banks  and  banking 
system  of,  205. 

Ohio  Institution  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb,  436. 

Ohio  State  School  for  Idiots,  443. 

Oil,  whale,  diminished  production  of,  154;  lubricating,  from 
coal,  160.  (See  Coal  oil,  Petroleum.) 

Oil  Creek,  Pennsylvania,  petroleum  on,  162. 

Old  field  school  in  Yii’ginia,  account  of  an,  377. 

Olefiant  gas,  composition  of,  147. 

Olmsted,  Prof.  Denison,  399. 

Olmsted’s  anthracite  stove,  248. 

Oneida  Lake,  iron  mines  near,  25. 

Ontonagon  copper  mines,  52,  54;  production  of,  57. 

Orators,  celebrated  American,  275. 

Oregon,  platinum  in.  107 ; iridium  in,  110. 

Oreide,  discovery  of,  251. 

Orphans,  institutions  for  the  education  and  ti-aining  of,  445. 
Orr,  Hugh,  manufacture  of  cannon  by,  19. 

Orr,  Isaac,  inventor  of  the  air-tight  wood  stove,  248. 

Osgood,  Mrs.  Frances,  286. 

Osmium,  110. 

Oswego,  origin,  growth,  and  trade  of,  176. 

Ovens,  construction  of,  in  old-fashioned  houses,  246. 

Ovid,  N.  Y.,  agricultural  college  at,  402. 

Oxide  of  cobalt,  117 ; of  manganese,  119 ; of  zinc,  see  Zinc 
paint. 

Oxy-hydrogen  blowpipe,  fusion  of  platinum  by  the,  109. 
Owen,  D.  D.,  survey  of  the  lead  region  by,  84. 

Owyhee  gold  and  silver  mines,  Idaho,  71. 

Packer  Collegiate  Institute,  the,  405,  409-10  (illustrations). 
Page,  William,  painter,  323. 

Paine,  Thomas,  levolutionary  writings  of,  275. 

Painting,  academies  and  schools  of.  385. 

Painting  and  painters  in  the  United  States,  316. 

Paints,  new  kinds  of,  247.  (See  White  lead,  Zinc  paint.) 
Paletot,  introduction  of  the,  258. 

Palmer,  sculptor,  works  of,  328. 

Pantaloon,  definition  of,  257. 

Paper,  printing,  sizes  of,  272. 

Paper  money,  origin,  kinds,  and  nse  of,  19S;  comparative  de- 
preciation of,  in  the  colonies,  213. 

Paraffine,  prepax-ation  and  use,  of  159. 

Parley,  Peter,  school  recollections  of,  363. 

Parton,  Mrs.  S.  P.  W.  (Fanny  Fern),  285. 

Partridge,  Captain  Alden,  military  schools  or,  896. 

Passaic  Mining  and  Manufacturing  Company,  104,106. 
Passengers,  arrivals  of  foreign,  1820-1859,  240 ; of  native,  from 
abroad,  244. 

Patents,  number  of,  issued,  259. 

Pattinson’s  method  of  treating  argentiferous  lead,  90. 
Paulding,  James  K.,  works  of,  278. 

Pawnbrokers,  the  business  of,  197. 

Peabody,  George,  427,  434. 

Peabody  Institute.  Baltimore,  427. 

Peale,  Charles  Wilson,  320;  art  academy  founded  by,  835. 
Peale,  Eembrandt,  career  and  paintings  of,  820. 

Peat,  formation  and  beds  of,  122. 

Peele,  J.  T.,  painter,  825. 

Peet,  Harvey  I\,  436. 

Peet,  Mrs.  Mary  Toles.  deaf-mute  poetess,  439. 

Pennsylvania,  iron  mines  and  works  of,  2G ; copper  mines  of, 
49;  lead  mines  of,  83;  zinc  mines  of,  97 ; chromium  in, 
118;  manganese  in,  119  ; first  use  of  the  coal  of,  120 ; chart 
of  the  anthracite  region  of,  126-7;  coal  strata  of,  129; 
thickness  of  the  coal-beds  of,  185;  production  of  coal  in, 
1820-1860,  134-5;  public  improvements  of,  for  coal  trans- 
portation, 1§5;  history  and  production  of  petroleum  in, 
162-3;  banks  in,  205;  early  educational  laws  and  institu- 
tions of,  849. 

Pennsylvania  Academy  of  Fine  Arts,  835. 

Pennsylvania  and  Lehigh  Zlfic  Company,  104. 

Pennsylvania  Asylum  for  the  Blind,  view  of,  441. 
Pennsylvania  canal,  opening  of,  171. 

Pennsylvania  Institution  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb,  436. 

“ Pennsylvania  Packet,”  the,  first  American  daily  newspaper, 
i 801. 


INDEX 


677 


Pennsylvania  Rock  Oil  Company,  163. 

Pennsylvania  Society  for  the  promotion  of  public  schools,  398. 
Pennsylvania  Training  School  for  Idiots,  443. 

Penokie  range,  Wis.,  iron  mines  of,  30. 

Perkiomen  copper  mine,  Pennsylvania,  49. 

Perkins,  Jacob,  invention  of,  in  steel  engraving,  333. 

Perry's  lead  mine,  Missouri,  86. 

Peru,  quicksilver  mines  of,  111. 

Petroleum,  foreign  sources  of,  161 ; Burmese,  products  of  the 
distillation  of,  161 ; in  the  United  States,  localities  and 
history  of,  162, 167 ; the  question  of  the  source  of,  164 ; 
boring  wells  for,  164-5;  flow  of,  166;  qualities  of,  167; 
works  for  refining,  16S  (table). 

Pewabic  copper  mine,  the,  54  ; production  of,  58. 

Pewter,  composition  of,  120. 

Phelps.  Mrs.  Almira  H.,  285. 

Phelps’s  elcctro-magnetic  governor.  312. 

Philadelphia,  resources,  origin,  and  business  of,  1S4 ; manage- 
ment of  a model  store  at,  184 ; account  of  early  school- 
tenching  in,  371 ; orphan  asylums  in,  445,  446. 
“Philadelphia  Gazette,”  Franklin's,  305. 

“ Philadelphia  Ledger,”  the,  304. 

Philadelphia  Library  Company,  423,  427. 

Phillips,  Col.  David  M.,  deaf-mute,  439. 

Phillips  Academy,  account  of,  by  Josiah  Quincy,  388. 
Phoenixville  lead  mines,  Pennsylvania,  81. 

Photography,  introduction  and  use  of,  261. 

Photometer,  the,  152. 

Phrenology,  introduction  of  the  study  of,  260. 

Pianofortes,  American  manufacture  of,  260. 

Pictou  coal  mines,  Nova  Scotia,  129. 

Piermont,  N.  H.,  iron  ore  o£  24. 

Piggott,  A.  Snowden,  on  copper-smelting,  59. 

Pig  iron,  manufacture  of,  32;  classification  of,  36;  table  of 
production  of,  46. 

Pilot  Knob,  Mo.,  iron  at,  31;  works  at,  82. 

Pine-tree  shilling,  the,  212. 

Pins,  manufacture  of,  62. 

Pittsburg,  copper-smelting  at,  59, 60;  coal  mines  at,  131 ; cost 
of  mining  at,  141 ; origin,  growth,  and  business  of,  180. 
Pittsburg  and  Boston  copper  mine,  production  of,  58. 
Planing  machine,  invention  of  the,  &7. 

Platinum,  localities,  character,  and  working  of,  107 ; appara- 
tus for  working,  illustration  and  description  of,  108, 109 ; 
American  consumption  of,  110. 

Plumbago,  geological  position  of,  122. 

Plymouth  colony,  appropriation  for  schools  in,  343-4. 

Poe,  Edgar  A.,  281. 

Politics,  educational  influence  of,  382. 

Polk  county,  Tenn.,  copper  mines  of,  50. 

Polk  County  Mining  Company,  50,  51. 

Polytechnic  schools,  403. 

Pony  expresses  in  California,  188. 

“ Poor  Richard,”  275. 

Population,  progress  of,  in  the  ‘Western  States,  171, 174 ; de- 
crease of,  in  Ireland,  235. 

Porcupine  mountains,  copper  mines  of,  52. 

Portage  lake  copper  mines,  52,53-4;  smelting  works,  and 
production  of,  57. 

t Port  Henry,  N.  Y.,  iron  mines  of,  25. 

Portland  canal,  the,  around  the  falls  of  the  Ohio,  180. 
Portsmouth,  E.  I.,  coal  mine  at,  129. 

Post,  Edwin,  first  successful  use  of  anthracite  by,  25. 

Postage,  cheap,  establishment  of,  261. 

Potato  crop,  the,  dependence  of  Ireland  upon,  235. 

Pot  ore,  iron,  28-9  (note). 

Powers,  Hiram,  sculptor,  career  and  wrorks  of,  827. 

Preaching,  educational  effects  of,  381. 

Prescott,  William  II.,  works  of,  284. 

Press,  the,  of  Franklin  (Ramage  press),  mode  of  working,  2S6; 

picture  of,  2S9.  (See  Printing  press.) 

Preventive  and  reformatory  institutions,  446. 

Printing,  introduction  of,  in  England,  263;  processes  of,  299; 
for  the  blind,  441. 

Printing  ink,  qualities  and  composition  of,  286. 

Printing-press,  the,  286;  improvements  in,  287;  illustrations 
of,  239-97. 

Professional  schools,  893;  tables  of,  454,  455. 

Providencia  quicksilver  mine,  California,  112. 

Prussia,  attempts  of,  to  check  emigration,  234. 

Publishers,  book,  number  and  classes  of,  265.  (See  Book 
trade.) 

Puddling,  the  process  of,  37. 

Putnam  county,  N.  Y.,  iron  mines  of,  25. 

Pyrites,  freeing  of  gold  from,  76. 

Pyritous  copper  ore,  48.  • 

Fyrolusite.  ore  of  manganese,  119. 

Pyromorphlte  lead  ore,  81. 

Quartz  mining,  73. 

Queen’s  Collage,  New  -Jersey,  foundation  of,  348. 


Quicksilver.  See  Mercury. 

Quincy,  Josiah,  account  of  Phillips  Academy  by,  38S. 

Railroad  iron,  table  of  production  of,  40.  imports  of,  173. 
Railroads  for  coal  transportation,  139,  140  (table);  American, 
historical  sketch  of,  172;  extent  and  cost  of,  173;  stimu- 
lating effects  of,  173-4;  Canadian,  179;  street,  in  New 
York,  190. 

Railroad  ticket  machine,  illustration  and  operation  of,  296. 
Rainanghong,  Burmah,  petroleum  at,  161. 

Randall’s  Island  Nursery,  445. 

Readers,  large  proportion  of,  in  the  United  States,  262 ; ip- 
crease  of,  269. 

Reading  railroad,  construction  and  operation  of  the,  135. 
Reciprocity  treaty,  trade  under  the,  179. 

Redwood  Library,  the,  423. 

Reed’s  gold  mine.  North  Carolina,  63. 

Reformatory  institutions,  management  of,  447. 

Rensselaer  Polytechnic  Institute,  400. 

Renton’s  plan  for  making  wrought  iron,  87. 

Retorts  in  gas  works,  149  ; in  coal-oil  works,  157. 
Reverberatory  furnaces,  38;  for  lead-melting,  89. 

Revere,  John  W.,  invention  of  galvanized  iron  by,  40. 

Revere  Copper  Company,  the,  58. 

Revolution,  orators  and  writers  of  the,  275 ; influence  of  the, 
upon  education,  351. 

Reynolds,  L.  G.,  inventor  of  horse-shoe  nail  machine,  43. 
Rhine,  valley  of  the,  emigration  from,  to  the  United  States, 
282;  destitution  in,  234. 

Rhode  Island,  coal-field  of,  129 ; early  town  action  for  schools 
in,  340 ; colonial  legislation  of,  upon  education,  344. 
Roberts,  l)r.  E.  A.  L.,  apparatus  and  process  of,  for  manufac- 
turing platinum  plate,  108, 109. 

Rocker,  gold-washing,  picture  and  description  of,  67. 

Rockers,  use  of,  in  gold-mining,  74 
Rocky  Mountains,  gold  mines  of  the,  70. 

Rogers,  Prof.  H.  D.,  estimate  of  the  extent  of  American  coal- 
fields by,  133;  of  the  amount  of  coal  in  Europe  and 
America,  134. 

Rolling  machine,  the,  for  books,  271  (illustration),  273. 
Rolling  mills  in  the  United  States,  table  of,  40. 

Roofing,  use  of  zinc  for,  103. 

Roosevelt  & Sons,  manufacture  of  mirrors  by,  114. 

Rosin  oil,  manufacture  of  gas  from,  152. 

Rossie  lead  mines,  New  York,  83. 

Rossiter,  Thomas  P.,  paintings  of,  325. 

Rothermel,  P.  F.,  historical  painter,  325. 

Ruggles  job  press,  the,  287. 

Rush,  Benjamin,  extract  from,  upon  education,  853 ; on  ardent 
spirits,  260. 

Russ,  Dr.  John  D.,  43. 

Russia,  platinum  found  in,  107. 

Russian-American  telegraph,  the,  315. 

Russian  sheet  iron,  40. 

Rust,  Samuel,  press  invented  by,  287. 

Rutgers  College,  New  Jersey,  origin  of,  348. 

Sack  coat,  introduction  of  the,  258. 

Safety  Fund  banks,  204. 

Saflor,  ore  of  cobalt,  117. 

St.  John’s  College,  Annapolis,  origin  of,  348. 

St.  Lawrence  county,  N.  Y.,  iron  mines  of,  25;  lead  mines 
of,  83.  - 

St.  Lawrence  river,  navigation  of  the,  179. 

St.  Louis,  origin,  growth,  and  trade  of,  181. 

Salisbury,  Conn.,  iron  mines  of,  20,  24. 

San  Francisco,  gold  deposits  at  the  branch  mint  of,  78;  gold- 
dealing  at,  193 ; branch  mint  at,  215. 

Sans-serif  alphabet,  the,  for  the  blind,  440. 

Santa  Barbara  quicksilver  mine,  Peru,  111. 

Santa  Clara  Mining  Company  (quicksilver),  112. 

Santa  F6,  New  Mexico,  iron  at,  82. 

Santa  Rita  del  Cobre  mines  (copper),  116. 

Sargent,  Wilson  & Hinkle,  sales  of  school  books  by,  268. 
Saucon  zinc  mines,  Pennsylvania,  97 ; analyses  of  ores  from, 
98. 

Sawing  machine,  the,  for  books,  272. 

Saxe,  J.  G.,  281. 

School  apparatus,  past  and  present,  illustrated,  422. 
School-books,  early  manufacture  of,  263 ; mode  of  introducing, 
266 ; great  sales  of,  268 ; improvements  in,  illustrated  by 
specimens,  418-21. 

School  holiday  in  Georgia,  878. 

School-houses,  early,  character  of,  857 ; past  and  present,  illus- 
trated, 406-7. 

Schoolcraft,  Henry  R.,  283. 

Schools,  town  action  in  behalf  of,  in  the  New  England  colo- 
nies. 339;  colonial  legislation  for,  841 ; effect  of  the  Rev- 
olution upon,  351  ; laws  of  Congress  upon,  854;  true  use 
of,  882-8;  secondary  or  higher,  lctrislntivo  neglect  of,  888; 
professional,  scientific,  and  special,  392, 


678 


INDEX 


Schools  of  design  for  women,  336. 

Schuyler  copper  mine,  New  Jersey,  18,  49. 

Schuylkill,  iron  mines  and  furnaces  on  the,  26,  27. 

Schuylkill  region,  coal  produced  in  the,  1820-1860, 134. 
Scientific  schools,  400. 

Scotch  emigration  to  the  colonies,  229. 

Scotch  hearth,  the,  description  and  illustration  of,  88. 
Sculpture  and  sculptors  in  the  United  States,  325. 

Sedgwick,  Miss  Catharine  M„  works  of,  285. 

Seguin,  Dr.  Edward,  labors  of,  for  the  instruction  of  idiots, 
443,  444. 

Selligue,  manufacture  of  coal  oil  by,  156. 

Seneca  Indians,  use  of  petroleum  by,  162. 

Seneca  oil,  162. 

Sewing  machines,  introduction  and  benefits  of,  261. 

Shaking  tables,  in  gold  mining,  75. 

Sharp  Mountain,  section  of  the  coal-measure  of,  132. 
Shawangunk  Mountain,  lead  mines  of,  82. 

Shaw,  Joshua,  landscape  painter,  322. 

Shear-steel,  manufacture  of,  44. 

Sheathing,  use  of  copper  for,  61. 

Sheet  iron,  manufacture  and  uses  of,  40 ; production  of,  41. 
Sheet  lead,  manufacture  of,  91. 

Shelburne,  N.  H.,  lead  mine  at,  82. 

Shepherd  mountain,  Mo.,  iron  at,  32. 

Shingles,  use  of,  246. 

Shoes,  fashions  of,  253,  254,  257. 

Shot,  manufacture  of,  92-3 ; towers  for,  94. 

Siberia,  platinum  in,  107. 

Sicard,  Abb6,  435;  method  of,  for  deaf-mute  instruction,  438. 
Sideboard,  use  of  the,  250. 

Siegenite,  nickel  ore,  118. 

Sierra  Nevada,  the,  gold  mines  of,  71,  72. 

Sigourney,  Mrs.  Lydia  H.,  285. 

Silesia,  Upper,  zinc  works  of,  101 ; their  production,  102. 
Silver,  in  the  Lake  Superior  copper  mines,  53  ; in  Idaho,  71 ; 
in  lead  ores,  81 ; methods  of  separating  from  lead,  90 ; 
American  mines  of,  115;  ores  of,  and  their  treatment, 
116;  coinage  of,  214 ; circulation  of  foreign,  215;  pieces 
of,  216. 

Silvering  of  mirrors,  114-15. 

Silver-ware  and  forks,  251. 

Simsbury,  Conn.,  copper  mine  at,  18,  48. 

Simms,  William  G.,  works  of,  280. 

Skirts,  fashions  of,  254,  258. 

Sleeves,  fashions  of,  258. 

Sluice-washing  for  gold,  72. 

Smalt,  preparation  and  use  of,  117. 

Smelting.  See  Copper,  Iron,  Lead,  &c. 

Smith,  David,  shot-making  process  of,  93. 

Smith,  Mrs.  E.  Oakes,  2S5. 

Smith,  Peter,  2S7. 

Smithsonian  Institute,  library  of  the,  427;  lectures,  &c.,  of 
the,  434. 

Smithsonite,  zinc  ore,  96. 

Smybert,  John,  portrait  painter,  316;  Nathaniel,  317. 
Snowhill,  Md.,  bog  iron  of,  22. 

Social  and  domestic  life,  245. 

Social  distinctions,  former,  254. 

Society,  general  progress  of,  259. 

Soda  and  its  carbonates,  use  of,  in  making  steel,  44. 

Solder,  soft,  composition  of,  120. 

Somerville,  N.  J..  copper  mine  near,  49. 

Sonora  Company’s  silver  mine,  Arizona,  115. 

Southampton,  Mass.,  lead  mine  at,  82. 

South  Carolina,  iron  mines  of,  28 ; gold  mines  of,  63,  64,  69 ; 
manganese  in,  119  ; banks  in,  203;  colonial  legislation  of, 
upon  education,  350. 

Southern  States,  the,  iron  mines  and  furnaces  of,  2S;  domes- 
tic architecture  of,  247. 

South  Joggins  cliffs,  coal-measures  at,  129. 

Southworth,  Mrs.  E.  D.  E.  N.,  285. 

Spain, quicksilver  mines  of,  111. 

Spanish  colonization  in  America,  229. 

Sparks,  Jared,  works  of,  2S3. 

Specie,  amount  of,  217. 

Specie  circular,  the,  202. 

Specular  iron  ore  and  mines,  21  ; localities  of,  24. 

Speculum  metal,  composition  of,  63. 

Spelter.  See  Zinc. 

Spikes,  wrought-iron,  machines  for,  43. 

Spurzheiin,  phrenology  introduced  by,  260. 

Squibb,  Dr.  E.  It.,  preparation  of  blue  mass  by,  115, 

Stamping  mills  for  quartz-mining,  74. 

Stamps  lor  copper  mining,  53 ; for  gold-crushing,  picture  of,  68. 
Statesmen,  American,  276. 

State  Teachers’  Associations,  398. 

States,  new,  effect  of  land  speculation  upon  the  increase  of, 

m. 

Steam,  nse  of,  in  coal-oil  making,  158;  house-w’arming  by, 
‘MS : social  importance  of,  260. 


Steamers,  ocean,  introduction  of,  188. 

Stedman,  E.  C.,  281. 

Steel,  qualities  and  manufacture  of,  43 ; American  methods  of 
making,  44. 

Steel  engraving  and  engravers,  333.. 

Stephens,  Mrs.  Ann  S.,  285. 

Stereotyping,  process  of,  300. 

Stewart  & Co.,  New  York,  the  business  o£  190. 

Stippling,  process  of,  334. 

Stirling  Hill,  N.  J.,  zinc  mine  at,  97. 

Stirling’s  gas-regulator,  151. 

Stocks,  origin  of  the  trade  in,  194;  method  and  amount  of, 
195, 196. 

Stores  in  New  York,  190. 

Story,  Joseph,  works  of,  276. 

Stoves,  manufacture  of,  at  Albany,  36;  nse  and  kinds  of,  248; 
for  cooking,  253. 

Stowe,  Mrs.  Harriet  Beecher,  works  of,  285. 

Street,  Alfred  B.,  281. 

Street  railroads  in  New  York,  190. 

Stuart,  Gilbert,  portrait  painter,  318. 

Subscription  books,  publication  and  sale  of,  267. 

Suffolk  Bank  system,  203. 

Sully,  Thomas,  career  and  paintings  of,  321. 

Summit  coal  mine,  open  quarry,  picture  of,  138;  account  of, 
143. 

Sunday  press,  the,  of  New  York,  307. 

Superior,  Lake,  iron  mines  of,  29;  copper  mines  of,  history, 
extent,  working,  and  production  of  the,  51-58;  shipments 
of  iron  from,  57. 

Susquehanna,  iron  mines  on  the,  26. 

Sutter’s  mill,  discovery  of  gold  at,  71. 

Swansea,  copper-smelting  at,  58 ; zinc  works  at,  96. 

Sydney  coal-mines,  Cape  Breton,  129. 

Sykesville,  Md.,  iron  and  copper  mine  at,  28,  49. 

Table  furniture,  varieties  of,  251. 

Tables,  old  and  new  styles  of,  250. 

Tait,  Arthur  F.,  painter,  325. 

Tar  Lake,  Trinidad,  161. 

Tarentum,  Pa.,  petroleum  wells  at,  162. 

Taylor,  Bayard,  2S1. 

Taylor,  Orville  J.,  398. 

Teachers,  training  of,  397 ; associations  of,  397 ; conventions 
of,  398. 

Teachers’  institutes,  399. 

Teaching,  works  on,  397. 

Telegraph,  the,  introduction  and  extension  of,  188;  use  of,  by 
newspapers,  803 ; principles  of,  and  apparatus  for,  308  et 
seq.;  lines  of,  313;  the  Atlantic,  history  of,  314. 
Telegraphing,  charges  for,  314. 

Temperance  reform,  the,  260. 

Tennessee,  iron  mines  and  furnaces  of,  28;  copper  mines  of^ 
50;  gold  mines  of,  70;  zinc  in,  97 ; banks  in,  207. 
Territories,  the,  surveys  and  sales  of  land  in,  169. 
Theologians,  colonial,  274. 

Theological  schools,  393 ; table  of,  454. 

Thfivenet,  Dr.,  account  of  iridium  gathering  by,  110. 

Thomas  Iron  Company,  description  of  the  furnaces  of,  34 
Thompson,  Launt,  sculptor,  328. 

Ticknor,  Elisha,  399. 

Tidioute  Island  Oil  Company,  163. 

Tight-lacing,  25S. 

Tin,  alloys  of,  with  copper,  63;  sources  and  uses  of,  119-20; 

alloys  with,  120 ; sheet,  preparation  of,  120. 

Titusville,  Pennsylvania,  petroleum  at,  162;  operations  at, 

Tomatoes,  introduction  of,  252. 

Torrey,  Prof.  John,  analysis  of  zinc  ores  by,  93. 

Total  abstinence  societies,  origin  of,  260. 

Trade,  progress  of,  between  the  East  and  West,  170;  con- 
struction of  lines  of  communication  for,  171;  course  o^ 
175;  of  the  lakes,  17S. 

Trade  sales  of  books,  265. 

Training,  mental  and  corporeal,  8S4. 

Travel,  importance  of  facilities  for,  260. 

Travelers’  Insurance  Company  of  Hartford,  227. 

Trexler,  R.,  anthracite  stoves  made  by,  248. 

Trimming  machine,  book  and  paper,  270  (illustration),  272. 
Trinidad,  petroleum  and  asphaltum  in,  161. 

Trinity  School,  New  York,  origin  of  the,  847. 

Trouncing  in  school,  how  performed,  890. 

Trowsers,  introduction  of,  by  the  Duke  of  Wellington,  257. 
Troy,  iron  foundries  of,  86. 

Trumbull,  Colonel  John,  career  and  paintings  of,  319. 
Tuoiney,  M„  on  iron  ore  in  South  Carolina,  28. 

Tuscarora,  Fa.,  colliery  slope  and  breaker  at,  picture  o t,  oppo- 
site 189  ; account  of,  142,  144. 

Type-founding,  process  of,  29S;  machine  for.  298. 
Type-revolving  press,  the,  construction  and  oi>eratlon  o(j 
I 2SS ; illustrations  olj  292-3. 


INDEX 


679 


Types,  sizes  of,  29S ; proportions  of,  in  fonts,  299 ; cases  for, 
and  setting  of,  299 ; copper-facing  of,  301. 

Type-setting  machines,  299. 

Ulster  lead  mine,  copper  from  the,  49. 

Ulster  county,  N.  Y.,  lead  mines  of,  82. 

Union  Consolidated  Mining  Company,  50,  51. 

United  States,  the, advantages  of,  for  iron  manufacture,  19; 
coal-fields  of,  124;  table  of  gasworks  in,  147;  table  of 
coal-oil  works  in,  154;  total  imports  of,  192;  immigra- 
tion into,  230;  comparative  number  of  readers  in,  262. 

United  States  Bank.  See  Bank. 

United  States  Military  Academy,  460. 

United  States  Zinc  Company,  106. 

Universal  Life  Insurance  Company,  227. 

University  of  Pennsylvania,  origin  of,  349. 

Usher,  Ilezekiah  and  John,  early  booksellers  of  Boston,  263. 

Valle’s  lead  mine,  Missouri,  86. 

Yanderlyn,  John,  career  and  paintings  of,  320. 

Van  Dyke,  Dr.  II.  M.,  gold-mining  of,  in  Georgia,  70. 

Vassar  Female  College,  405. 

Venango  county,  Pa.,  petroleum  in,  162. 

Ventilation  of  buildings,  24S-9. 

Vermont,  iron  mines  and  furnaces  of,  24;  copper  mines  of, 
49;  gold  mines  o£  64;  chromium  in,  118;  manganese  in, 
119  ; constitutional  provision  of,  for  education,  386. 

Verplanck,  Gulian  C.,  283. 

Victoria,  Queen,  zinc  statue  of,  103. 

Vieille  Montagne  zinc  mines  and  works,  100. 

Vincent  de  Paul,  instruction  of  idiots  by,  443. 

Virginia,  early  mining  industry  in,  17  ; iron  ores  and  furnaces 
of  2S ; copper  mines  of,  49 ; shipments  of  ores  from,  50  ; 
gold  mines  of,  63,  64;  lead  mines  of,  83 ; bituminous  coal- 
field of,  129;  petroleum  in,  167;  banks  in,  208;  early 
schools  in,  337 ; colonial  legislation  of,  upon  schools,  341 ; 
first  general  school  law  in,  342 ; account  of  an  old  field 
school  in,  377. 

Virginia  Institution  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb,  436. 

Vitreous  copper  ore,  48. 

Waldo  k Jewett,  portrait  painters,  322. 

Walker,  Parker  6c  Co.’s  product  of  silver  from  lead,  91. 

War  books,  great  sales  of,  267. 

Ware,  William,  works  of.  2S2. 

Warner,  Miss  Emily,  works  of,  285. 

Warwick  or  Jones’  iron  mine,  the,  26. 

Washington,  Houdon’s  statue  of,  326;  extract  from,  upon  ed- 
ucation, 352. 

Washington  College,  Maryland,  origin  of,  348. 

Washington  county.  Mo.,  iron-smelting  in,  31. 

Washington  gold  mine,  North  Carolina,  69,  84, 115. 

Washington  press,  the,  2S7 ; picture  of,  289. 

"Washington's  Farewell  Address,  manuscript  of,  301. 

Washoe  silver  mines,  115, 116. 

Washstands,  movable  and  fixed,  251. 

Waterbury,  Conn.,  brass  manufacture  at,  62. 

Water-cure,  introduction  of  the,  261. 

Water  gas,  manufacture  end  introduction  of,  152. 

Waterhouse,  Dr.,  vaccine  inoculation  introduced  by,  260. 

Water-works  in  cities,  introduction  of,  249. 

Watkinson,  David,  library  founded  by,  427. 

Watson,  John,  portrait  painter,  316. 

Waverley  novels,  effect  of  the,  upon  the  book  trade,  264. 

Wayland,  Francis,  works  of,  282. 

Wealth,  what  constitutes,  2C0. 

Webster,  Daniel,  speeches  of,  277 ; extract  from,  upon  educa- 
tion in  New  England,  353. 

Webster.  Noah,  account  of  schools  and  education  in  New 
England  by,  345;  observations  of,  upon  a liberal  policy 
of  education,  352 ; upon  the  early  state  of  common  schools 
(letter),  355;  upon  errors  in  education,  355-6. 

Webster's  Elementary  Spelling-book  and  Dictionary,  publi- 


cation and  influence  of,  263,  264 ; aggregate  sale  of,  267 ; 
Spelling  Book,  specimens  of,  416-19. 

Weir,  Robert  W.,  painter,  823. 

Welby,  Mrs.  Amelia  B.,  286. 

Welland  canal,  construction  of  the,  179;  and  railway,  effect 
of,  upon  the  trade  of  Buffalo,  Oswego,  and  Cleveland.  176. 

Wellington,  Duke,  of,  trowsers,  frock-coats,  and  boots  intro- 
duced by,  257-8. 

Wells,  petroleum,  the  boring  of,  164-5:  pipes  for,  166. 

Wells,  John,  printing-press  inventor,  2S7. 

West,  the,  coal-fields  of,  124,  133;  surveys  and  sales  of  land 
in,  169;  early  trade  and  settlement  of,  170;  effects  of 
speculation  in,  172;  canals  in,  172;  railroads  in,  173; 
railroads,  population,  and  corn  crop  of,  1850  and  1857,  174 
(table);  importance  of  com  to,  175;  use  of  agricultural 
machinery  in,  175. 

West,  Benjamin,  career  of,  317 ; chief  pictures  of,  318. 

West,  William  E.,  painter,  820. 

West  Point,  Military  Academy  at,  395. 

Whaling  business,  decline  of  the,  154. 

Wetherill,  Samuel,  manufacture  of  zinc  by,  99, 104. 

White,  Edwin,  painter,  325. 

Whitefield,  George,  Orphan  House  in  Georgia  founded  by, 
350,  445. 

Wharton,  Joseph,  manufacture  of  zinc  by,  99. 

Wheatley  lead  mine,  Pennsylvania,  S3. 

Wheaton,  Henry,  work  of,  on  international  law,  276. 

Wheelock,  Dr.,  first  president  of  Dartmouth  College,  345. 

White  lead,  manufacture  and  uses  of,  94  ;adulteration  of,  95; 
works,  table  of,  96. 

Whittier,  John  Greenleaf,  career  and  works  of,  281. 

Wigs,  former  use  of,  257. 

Wilbraham,  Mass.,  Methodist  Conference  Seminary  at,  405. 

Wilbur,  Dr.  H.  B.,  443. 

Wilkesbarre,  open  coal-mines  at,  picture,  opposite  137;  ac- 
count of,  144. 

Willard,  Mrs.  Emma, works  of,  284 ; the  female  seminary  of,  405. 

William  and  Mary  College,  foundation  of,  342. 

Williams,  Mr.,  painter,  317. 

Willis,  N.  P.,  career  and  works  of,  280. 

Willson’s  “School  and  Family  Readers,”  specimens  of,  420-21. 

Windham  County  Teachers'  Convention,  398. 

Windows,  weights  and  catches  for,  247. 

Winthrop,  Governor,  mining  grant  to,  17. 

Winthrop,  John,  mineral  specimens  collected  by,  IS. 

Wire,  iron,  manufacture  and  uses  of,  41 ; brass,  62. 

Wirt,  William,  works  of,  276. 

Wisconsin,  iron  mines  and  furnaces  of,  30;  lead  mines  of,  S4; 
banks  in,  206. 

Wood,  manufacture  of  gas  from,  152;  for  engraving,  332. 

Wood’s  chrome  mine,  118. 

Woodworth,  William,  planing  machine  introduced  by,  247. 

Worcester,  Mass.,  wire  made  at,  41. 

Writers,  American,  274;  female,  list  of,  2S5. 

Wrought  iron,  manufacture  of,  36;  plans  for  the  direct  pro- 
duction of,  37. 

Wyoming  region,  the  coal  produced  in,  1S29-1860,  134. 

Wythe  lead  mine,  Virginia,  83. 

Yale  College,  foundation  of,  344;  Scientific  School  of,  400. 

Yankee  curiosity,  useful  results  of,  262. 

“Yankee  Notions,”  the,  807. 

Yellow  metal,  Muntz’s,  61. 

Young,  James,  manufacture  of  coal  oil  by,  154. 

Zaffre,  ore  of  cobalt,  117. 

Zinc,  use  of,  in  coating  iron,  40 ; in  brass-making,  62 ; ores  of, 
96;  mines  of,  97 ; metallurgical  treatment  of,  99;  impu- 
rities of,  99-100;  European  manufacture  of,  101;  total 
production  and  consumption  of,  102 ; uses  of,  103 ; manu- 
facture of  white  oxide  of,  108. 

Zinc  paint,  manufacture  of,  103;  American  process  of  mak- 
ing, 104-0 ; cost  of,  106 ; importance  of,  106. 


EXTRACTS  FROM  COMMENDATIONS, 


The  following  Testimonials  must  convince 
the  most  sceptical  person  of  the  merits  of 
this  work.  W e do  not  remember  of  ever 
seeing  a list  of  names  attached  to  any  pub- 
lication in  this  country  whose  opinions  are 
entitled  to  more  confidence.  They  were 
not  given  hastily,  without  examination,  as 
it  required  about  one  year  to  obtain  them. 

PUBLISHERS. 

No.  1. 

From  A.  Jackson,  D.  D.,  President  Hobart  College,  Geneva. 

I have  examined,  as  far  as  time  would  allow, 
your  new  work.  I think  it  a very  convenient  book 
of  reference,  and  a valuable  addition  to  our  statis- 
tical knowledge.  I have  already  found  it  a very 
useful  work  to  consult,  and  I gladly  add  it  to  our 
College  Library,  where  it  well  deserves  a place. 


No.  2. 

From  C.  Nutt,  I>.  D.,  President  of  the  Indiana  State  Uni- 
versity, Bloomington,  Ind. 

I have  examined  your  recently  published  work 
and  from  the  examination  I have  been  able  to  give 
it,  I believe  that  it  merits  richly  the  highest  com- 
mendation. The  great  variety  and  importance  of 
the  subjects,  the  felicitous  style  in  which  they  are 
clothed,  and  their  numerous  and  beautiful  illustra- 
tions, render  this  work  peculiarly  attractive.  They 
embrace  subjects  of  great  and  universal  utility,  and 
deeply  interesting  to  all  classes  of  community. 
Every  profession  and  calling  in  life  is  here  exhib- 
ited, with  the  latest  improvements  in  every  depart- 
meat  of  industry  and  art. 


No.  3. 

From  the  President  of  the  Wesleyan  University,  Middletown, 
Conn. 

I have  examined  with  much  pleasure  and  profit 
your  new  work.  It  contains  a great  amount  and 
variety  of  information,  printed  in  an  attractive 
style  on  subjects  of  the  highest  importance.  It  is 
eminently  a practical  work,  and  brings  within  the 
reach  of  all,  stores  of  knowledge  heretofore  inac- 
cessible to  most  readers.  The  novelty  of  the  title, 
the  great  truths  illustrated  and  established,  give  it 
increased  attractiveness  and  usefulness. 


No.  4. 

From  President  of  Girard  College,  Philadelphia,  Pa. 

Dear  Sir, — I have  been  interested  and  instnxeted 
by  the  perusal  of  your  national  work,  for  a copy  of 
which  I am  indebted  to  your  courtesy. 

An  illustrated  history  of  the  various  branches  of 
industry  and  art  in  the  United  States,  prepared 
with  the  ability  and  truthfulness  which  character- 


izes this  work,  will  be  highly  acceptable  to  all 
classes  of  readers.  In  its  artistic  and  mechanical 
execution,  nothing  has  been  left  to  be  desired.  1 
am  not  acquainted  with  any  work  in  which  so 
much  reliable  information  on  so  great  variety  of 
subjects  may  be  found  in  so  small  a compass.  It  i? 
emphatically  a book  for  the  people. 

Yours  respectfully, 

William  H.  Allen. 


No.  5. 

From  the  President  of  Genesee  College. 

Lima,  November  6, 

With  as  much  care  as  my  time  would  allow,  1 
have  examined  the  work  published  by  Mr.  Stebbins. 
It  contains  a large  amount  of  valuable  information, 
in  just  the  form  to  be  circulated  widely  among  uhd 
people.  It  Is  in  fact  a brief  and  interesting  history 
of  our  progress  as  a nation,  in  both  science  and  the 
arts.  I am  willing  that  my  name  and  influence 
should  aid  in  its  circulation. 

J.  Morrison  Reed. 

I fully  concur  in  the  above. 

James  L.  Altison, 
Professor  in  Genesee  College. 


No.  6. 

From  the  President  of  Marietta  College,  Ohio. 

Dear  Sir, — The  work  on  the  “ Development  of  the 
United  States  ” was  received  by  mail  a few  days 
since.  I have  given  what  attention  I could  to  it, 
and  write  you  now,  as  I am  expecting  to  be  absent 
from  home  for  some  days. 

The  examination  of  this  work  has  given  me 
much  pleasure.  The  idea  of  furnishing  this  most 
valuable  knowledge  in  a comparatively  small  com- 
pass, was  a most  happy  one.  As  a people  we  want 
information — reliable  information.  We  need  to 
know  our  own  history,  in  art  and  science,  as  well  as 
in  government.  The  people  of  one  section  should 
know  how  those  of  others  live — the  progress  of  one 
should  be  made  known  to  all. 

The  idea  of  the  work  you  have  undertaken  seems 
to  have  been  well  carried  out,  as  well  as  happily 
conceived.  On  a great  variety  of  topics,  in  which 
all  the  people  are  interested,  you  have  furnished  a 
large  amount  of  valuable  information.  All,  except 
those  of  the  lowest  grade  of  intelligence,  will  avail 
themselves  of  the  opportunity  to  secure  this  work, 
and,  unlike  many  books,  the  more  it  is  exam- 
ined the  more  valuable  will  it  seem.  I anticipate 
for  it  a wide  circulation. 


No.  7. 

From  the  President  of  the  University  of  Rochester,  N.  T. 

I have  looked  over,  somewhat  hastily,  your  new 
work.  The  plan  seems  to  me  excellent,  the  idea  of 
presenting  in  a short  compilation  the  present  state 


COMMENDATIONS. 


681 


and  rate  of  progress  of  the  various  industrial  arts 
is  one  which  can  not  fail  to  be  thought  worth)1-.  In 
general,  the  work  seems  to  be  successfully  and  cor- 
rectly done. 


No.  8. 

From  President  Read,  University  of  Wisconsin. 

I have  examined,  with  a pleasure  I can  hardly 
express  in  too  strong  terms,  your  new  work  on  the 
United  States.  During  the  lew  days  the  work  has 
been  on  my  table  it  has  saved  me,  in  the  examina- 
tion of  facts,  labor  worth  many  times  the  cost  of 
the  volume.  For  the  school  library,  the  business 
man,  the  scholar,  or  the  intelligent  family,  it  will  be 
found  a cyclopaedia  presenting,  in  a most  interest- 
ing form,  the  progress  of  the  various  arts  of  civi- 
lized life  during  the  period  of  *our  national  exist- 
ence. I most  heartily  recommend  the  work. 

Very  truly  yours, 

Daniel  Read. 


No.  9. 

From  the  President  of  Columbia  College,  N.  Y. 

Sir, — I thank  you  for  the  copy  of  your  work 
on  the  “ Progress  of  the  United  States,”  published 

by  you. 

It  seems  to  me  of  great  value  as  containing 
information  of  interest,  more  or  less,  to  all,  and 
not  easily  accessible,  except  to  varied  labor  and 
research. 

The  idea,  too,  of  illustrating  national  progress, 
not  by  war,  nor  annexation,  nor  diplomatic  legerde- 
main, but  by  the  advance  in  the  institutions  of 
learning,  in  useful  inventions,  in  the  growth  of 
manufactures,  agriculture,  and  commerce,  in  all  the 
arts  of  peace,  in  morals  and  civilization,  in  the 
inner  life,  so  to  speak,  of  the  people  themselves, 
seems  to  me  both  original  and  founded  in  the  true 
notion  of  progress. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

Ch.  King, 

' Pres,  of  Columbia  College. 
Mr.  Stebbins. 


No.  10. 

From  the  President  of  Tufts  College. 

January  27, 

Mr.  Stebbins  : Dear  Sir, — I was  led  to  expect 
much  from  the  title  of  your  work,  and  resolved  to 
give  it  a careful  examination.  I have  been  richly 
repaid  for  the  time  thus  spent,  in  the  great  pleas- 
ure and  profit  I have  derived  from  its  perusal. 
Heartily  thanking  you  for  this  generous  contribu- 
tion to  generous  knowledge,  I trust  you  may  reap  a 
rich  reward  for  your  efforts. 

John  P.  Marshall. 


No.  11. 

From  the  President  of  Dartmouth  College. 

January  20, 

L.  Stebbins,  Esq.  : Dear  Sir, — I received  some 
days  ago  your  very  handsome  work,  but  have  found 
leisure  only  within  a day  or  two  to  examine  its 
contents.  Those  persons  who  have  been  longest 
on  the  stage  can  best  appreciate  the  amazing  con- 
trasts in  the  stato  of  the  country  which  you 


describe,  but  one  who,  like  myself,  can  recognize 
the  history  of  half  the  period,  can  testify  to  the 
faithfulness  and  fullness  of  your  exhibition  of  the 
growth  and  power  of  this  great  country. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

0.  P.  Hubbard. 


No.  12. 

From  the  President  of  Williams’  College. 

Dear  Sir, — I have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that 
the  work  proposed  to  be  done  has  been  well  done. 
For  those  who  wish  a book  of  the  kind,  yours  can- 
not fail  to  be  the  book. 

Respectfully  yours, 

Mark  Hopkins. 

Mr.  L.  Stebbins. 


No.  13. 

From  Pres.  Woolsey,  Yale  College,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

Yale  College,  Nov.  15, 

Mr.  L.  Stebbins  : Dear  Sir, — Your  book  is  a 
good  and  useful  one,  but  it  is  not  my  practice  to 
recommend  books. 

Your  obedient  servant, 

T.  D.  Woolsey. 


No.  14. 

College  of  New  Jersey,  ) 
Princeton,  Jan.  28,  J 

Dear  Sir: — Your  work  I regard  as  a valuable 
publication,  richly  meriting  the  attention  of  the 
general  reader,  as  well  as  the  more  careful  examin- 
ation of  the  student  interested  in  observing  the 
advancement  of  our  country  in  the  useful  arts  and 
learning.  Very  respectfully  yours, 

John  McLean. 

L.  Stebbins,  Esq. 


No.  15. 

From  Rev.  Dr.  Smith,  Lane  Theological  Seminary,  Ohio. 

Mr.  L.  Stebbins  : My  Dear  Sir , — I have  run 
my  eyes  with  great  interest  over  your  beautiful 
work.  It  contains,  in  a condensed  yet  attractive 
form,  a mass  of  information  touching  the  progress 
and  present  condition  of  our  country.  It  is,  more- 
over, information,  of  which  every  man,  at  some 
time,  feels  the  need ; and  it  would  be  a grand  con- 
tribution both  to  the  intelligence  and  patriotism  of 
our  whole  population,  if  you  could  succeed  in 
placing  a copy  of  it  in  every  family  of  the  land.  I 
shall  place  your  book  on  my  table  for  constant  ref- 
erence. 

Wishing  you  all  success  in  your  enterprise, 

I am  very  truly  yours, 

Henry  Smith, 

Prof.  Ch.,  Hist,  and  Sac.  Rhetoric. 


No.  16. 

From  Professor  Fowter,  of  Amherst  College,  Editor  of  the 
University  Edition  of  Webster’s  Dictionary,  Series  of  Clas- 
sical Books,  etc. 

The  work  which  you  placed  in  my  hands  I have 
taken  time  to  examine,  in  order  that  I might  learn 
its  intrinsic  value.  I find  that  the  subjects  selected 
are  such,  and  the  manner  of  treatment  such,  as  to 
supply  a felt  want  in  the  public  mind,  which,  in  its 
own  progress,  was  demanding  higher  and  better 


682 


COMMENDATIONS. 


help  than  it  enjoyed  before  the  publication  of  your 
work.  This  might  be  inferred  from  the  bare  men- 
tion of  the  subjects  and  the  authors.  These  sub- 
jects are  treated  by  these  writers  with  that  correct- 
ness of  the  statement  of  the  general  principles,  and 
with  that  fulness  of  detail  which  make  the  work 
just  what  it  ought  to  be  as  a guide  to  the  people. 
Every  young  man  who  wishes  to  elevate  his  mind 
by  self-culture,  ought  to  read  this  work  carefully. 

Yours  respectfully, 

William  C.  Fowler. 


No.  17. 

From  Professor  B.  Silliman,  Yale  College,  New  Ilaveh,  Ct. 

I have  carefully  looked  through  your  rich  and 
faithful  work,  observing  the  copious  tables  of  con- 
tents, glancing  at  every  page  of  the  work,  and  at 
all  the  numerous  illustrations,  with  occasional 
reading  of  paragraphs.  A more  thorough  examin- 
ation it  has  not  been  hitherto  in  my  power  to  make ; 
but  even  this  general  survey  has  left  on  my  mind 
the  decided  conviction  that  you  have  performed  an 
important  service  to  your  country  in  thus  mapping 
out  and  condensing  and  explaining  the  wonderful 
progress  made  in  this  country,  in  all  the  most  impor- 
tant arts  of  life.  B.  Sillman. 


No.  18. 

From  the  Secretary  of  Board  of  Trade,  Philadelphia. 

L.  Stebbins,  Esq.  : Dear  Sir, — I examined  with 
interest  the  volume  published  by  you,  and  found  it 
particularly  valuable.  The  design  struck  me  very 
favorably,  and  the  execution  of  the  several  parts 
could  not  have  been  intrusted  to  more  competent 
hands.  The  last  one  hundred  years  of  the  history  of 
the  United  States  has  been  one  of  unexampled  prog- 
ress, and  it  is  now  more  than  ever  important  to 
bring  in  review  before  the  people  of  every  section 
the  leading  facts  of  this  marvelous  progress. 

Very  respectfully  yours, 

Lorin  Blodget. 


No.  19. 

From  the  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Trade,  Boston. 

My  Dear  Sir, — I have  found  time  to  acquaint 
myself  with  the  general  topics  and  objects  of  the 
work,  and  do  not  hesitate  to  declare  that  I have  not 
read  more  interesting  pages  for  years.  Indeed,  the 
best  informed  among  us,  cannot,  as  it  seems  tome, 
fail  to  find  much  that  is  new,  while  to  the  young 
and  to  those  who  lack  the  means  of  research,  so 
authentic  and  well-digested  account  of  our  coun- 
try’s “Progress,”  will  be  of  immense  service.  We 
all  boast  of  our  wonderful  march  in  commerce,  in 
manufactures,  in  mechanics,  and  in  the  arts ; and 
here  we  have  it,  step  by  step,  in  “ facts  and  figures,” 
and  in  brief  and  pithy  narrative. 

With  all  my  heart  I hope  that  the  sale  will  be 
extensive,  and  that  you  mav  be  well  rewarded  for 
your  outlay  of  time  and  capital. 

Very  truly,  your  friend, 

Lorenzo  Sabine. 

L.  Stebbins,  Esq.,  Hartford,  Conn. 

No.  20. 

From  Wm.  W.  Turner,  Principal  of  the  American  Asylum 
for  Deaf  and  Dumb,  Hartford,  Conn. 

I have  examined  your  new  national  work  on  the 
“ United  States,”  and  find  that  the  information  it  l 


contains  on  the  wide  range  of  subjects  treated  of 
must  make  it  exceedingly  valuable  as  a standard 
book  of  reference.  The  names  of  the  writers  of 
the  different  articles  afford  a sufficient  guaranty 
that  the  facts  and  statements  may  be  relied  on  as 
correct.  I consider  the  work  a very  important 
accession  to  this  department  c*f  literature,  and  have 
no  doubt  that  it  will  find  its  way  into  the  library  of 
every  private  gentleman  and  every  public  institu- 
tion. Very  truly  yours, 

Wm.  W.  Turner. 


No.  21. 

From  John  D.  Philbrick,  Superintendent  Common  Schools, 
Massachusetts. 

I have  examined  your  work  with  great  satisfac- 
tion. I consider  it  a work  of  great  value,  and  it  is 
one  which  I should  be  very  unwilling  to  spare  from 
my  library.  It  is  not  only  such  a book  as  the  liter- 
ary or  professional  man  would  like  to  possess,  but 
it  is  a book  for  every  household,  and  for  every 
school  library.  Very  truly  yours, 

John  D.  Philbrick. 


No.  22. 

From  the  Secretary  of  Board  of  Education. 

Boston,  Mass.,  Sept.  6, 

Dear  Sir, — I beg  leave  to  thank  you  for  your 
noble  work. 

After  such  an  examination  as  I have  been  able  to 
give,  I do  not  hesitate  to  pronounce  it  a work  of 
unusual  interest  and  value. 

As  a depository  of  facts  illustrative  of  the  prog- 
ress of  our  country  in  the  departments  of  industry, 
it  is  invaluable. 

Its  wide  circulation,  at  this  eventful  period,  cam 
not  fail  to  arouse  and  deepen  that  patriotic  love  of 
our  institutions  which  is  the  pressing  demand  of 
the  hour.  Respectfully  yours, 

J.  White. 

L.  Stebbins,  Esq. 


No.  23. 

From  S.  S.  Randall,  City  Superintendent  Public  Schools, 
New  York. 

Mu.  L.  Stebbins  : Dear  Sir, — The  great  press 
of  official  engagements  has  hitherto  prevented  my 
acknowledgment  of  the  receipt  of  the  very  beauti- 
ful and  interesting  work  published  by  you.  I have 
not  had  time  to  peruse  them  thoroughly,  but  take 
great  pleasure  in  stating  that,  so  far  as  I have 
looked  into  them,  the  plan  and  general  execution 
of  the  work  seem  to  me  to  be  admirable,  and  well 
adapted  to  the  wants,  as  well  of  the  rising  genera- 
tion, as  of  our  fellow-citizens  generally.  I cheer- 
fully recommend  it  to  the  favorable  regard  of  school 
officers,  parents,  teachers,  and  others,  as  a very  val- 
uable compend  of  scientific  and  historical  knowl- 
edge, and  as  a work  well  worthy  of  a place  in  every 
school  or  private  library. 


No.  24. 

From  R.  G.Dana,  Mercantile  Agency,  New  York. 
From  a cursory  glance  at  its  contents  I feel  war- 
ranted in  saying  it  possesses  information  of  much 
value  and  usefulness  to  all  classes. 

Very  respectfully,  R.  G.  Dana. 


COMMENDATIONS. 


683 


No.  25. 

From  B.  J.  I os  sing,  the  Historian. 

Sir — T have  examined,  with  great  satisfaction, 
you/ work.  It  is  a work  of  inestimable  value  to 
those  who  desire  to  know,  in  minute  detail,  some- 
thing more  of  the  history  of  the  country  than  the 
eveiits  of  its  political  and  industrial  life  as  exhib- 
ited in  the  politician’s  manual,  and  the  bold  state- 
ments of  the  census;  especially  at  this  time,  when 
the  civilized  world  is  eagerly  asking  what  we  are 
and  what  we  have  been,  that  the  old  governments 
may  attempt  to  solve  the  more  important  question, 
to  them,  what  we  will  be.  Your  work,  in  fact  and 
logical  prophecy,  furnishes  an  answer  of  which  any 
people  may  be  justly  proud.  Surely,  no  nation  of 
the  earth  has  ever  experienced  such  bounding 
progress  as  this.  No  American  can  peruse  your 
pages  without  feeling  grateful  for  the  privilege  of 
being  an  American  citizen. 

I will  use  a very  trite  phrase  and  say,  with  all 
sincerity,  I wish  your  work  could  go  “ into  every 
family  in  our  land,”  to  increase  their  knowlege  and 
to  strengthen  their  patriotism. 

Yours  respectfully, 

Benson  J.  Lossing. 


No.  26. 

Office  of  Superintendent  of  Public  Schools,  Chicago. 

The  work  which  you  have  prepared  with  so  much 
care  and  labor,  presenting  the  progress  of  our 
country,  is  peculiarly  adapted  to  gratify  and  instruct 
all  classes  of  citizens.  No  work  could  be  offered  to 
the  public  at  the  present  time  more  worthy  of  a 
place  in  family  libraries,  and  school  libraries,  than 
the  one  -which  you  now  present. 

"Yours  truly,  W.  H.  Wells, 
Sup.  of  Public  Schools. 


No.  27. 

From  Isaac  Ferris,  D.  D.,  Chancellor  of  the  University  in 
New  York. 

I have  looked  into  the  work  and  am  happy  to 
unite  with  the  worthy  men  who  have  examined  it, 
in  commending  it  to  my  friends. 

New  York.  Isaac  Ferris. 


No.  28. 

From  J.  M.  Mathews,  T).  D.,  Ex-Chancellor  of  the  Univer- 
. sity  in  New  York. 

The  object  of  the  work  is  highly  commendable ; 
and,  so  far  as  I have  been  able  to  examine  it,  has 
been  executed  with  ability  and  fidelity.  I freely 
commend  it  to  public  patronage. 

New  York.  J.  M.  Mathews. 


No.  29. 

From  Prof.  E.  W.  Hosford,  of  Cambridge  University. 

It  is  a work  of  very  great  value  for  popular  ref- 
erence. The  articles  having  been  prepared  by 
writers  who  have  made  specialties  of  the  subjects 
upon  which  they  have  written,  are,  as  a consequence, 
eminently  attractive.  I find  them  an  unfailing 
source  of  valuable  information  and  important  sug- 
gestion. 


No.  30. 

From  the  New  York  Times. 

If  at  all  inclined  to  doubt  that  a great  deal  of 
useful  information  may  be  bound  up  in  a compara- 
tively small  compass  by  a judicious  compiler,  in 
the  very  handsome  work  before  us,  we  should  find 
sufficient  logic  to  make  us  devout  believers.  The 
writers  have  ranged  through  the  wild  fields  of 


agriculture,  commerce,  and  trade ; very  little  that 
develops  the  material  prosperity  of  a country,  and 
marks  its  growth,  has  escaped  their  industrious 
research.  Undoubtedly,  minute  criticism  might 
detect  slight  errors,  but  in  a work  of  so  compre- 
hensive a character,  strict  accuracy  would  seem 
almost  unattainable.  The  statistics  given  are  full 
and  clearly  arranged  ; the  grouping  of  the  subjects, 
and  the  evident  method  which  the  authors  have 
observed  in  the  accomplishment  of  their  not  incon- 
siderable task,  are  worthy  of  all  praise.  The  work 
is  one  which  we  particularly  need,  as  it  is  a 
lamentable  fact  that  few  people  are  so  deficient  in 
general  knowledge  of  facts  relative  to  growth  and 
development  of  their  native  country,  as  ours.  The 
Englishman  generally  has  an  arsenal  of  statistics 
at  his  fingers’  ends ; "he  can  tell  you  when  the  first 
shaft  was  sunk  in  the  first  mine ; when  the  first 
loom  was  erected  in  Manchester.  The  panoply  of 
facts  in  which  he  is  arrayed  makes  him  rather  a 
ponderous  and  far  from  sprightly  companion,  at 
times  ; but  then  he  always  proves  formidable  as  an 
adversary.  Germans,  too,  have  nearly  everything 
by  rote  that  relates  to  their  own  country. 


No.  31. 

From  the  New  Englander,  New  Haven,  Conn. 

In  this  very  large  octavo  work  there  is  presented 
in  a compact  and  easily  accessible  form  an  amount 
of  valuable  information  with  regard  to  the  progress 
which  the  people  of  the  United  States  have  made 
in  all  the  various  channels  of  industry  since  the 
days  when  they  were  British  colonists,  which  is  not 
to  be  found  in  any  other  single  work  with  which 
we  are  acquainted.  Each  one  of  these  subjects 
is  amply  illustrated  with  engravings.  The  differ- 
ent chapters  have  been  prepared  by  well-known 
literary  men  who  have  each  made  the  subjects 
about  which  they  have  written  the  study  of  years. 
We  have  examined  the  work  repeatedly  and  with 
much  care  during  the  past  three  months,  and  each 
time  have  been  impressed  anew  with  its  value. 
There  is  not  an  intelligent  family  in  the  nation  who 
would  not  be  interested  and  instructed  by  it,  and 
find  it  a most  convenient  book  of  reference  with 
regard  to  everything  pertaining  to  the  industrial 
interests  of  the  country. 

No.  32. 

From  the  Boston  Transcript. 

This  work  is  the  result  of  much  careful  research, 
exercised  by  many  minds  on  a variety  of  import- 
ant subjects.  They  show  the  industrial  and  educa- 
tional steps  by  which  the  people  of  the  United 
States  have  risen  from  their  colonial  condition  to 
to  their  present  position  among  the  nations  of  the 
world.  They  give,  in  a historical  form,  the  prog- 
ress of  the  country  in  agriculture,  commerce, 
trade,  banking,  manufactures,  machinery,  modes 
of  travel  and  transportation,  and  the  work  is 
intended  to  be  sold  by  subscription,  and  will 
doubtless  have  a large  circulation.  It  ought  to  be 
in  every  house  in  the  land.  It  is  more  important 
than  ordinary  histories  of  the  country,  as  it  exhib- 
its all  the  triumphs  of  the  practical  mind  and 
energy  of  the  nation,  in  every  department  of  sci- 
ence, art,  and  benevolence.  It  is  a storehouse  of 
important  and  stimulating  facts,  and  its  interest 
can  hardly  be  exhausted  by  the  most  persistent 
reader. 


■ 


- 


. 

■ 


TABLES  OF  POPULATION. 


TABLE  OF  THE  POPULATION, 

VALUATION  OP  REAL  AND  PERSONAL  ESTATE,  CAPITAL  INVESTED  IN  MANUFACTURES,  TRADE,  AND  COMMERCE  IN  EACH  OP  THE 

STATES  OP  THE  UNION. 

manufacturing  capital ; T.,  capital  employed  in  trade  ; C.,  capital  employed  in  commerce  by  land  and  sea. 
The  valuations  are  generally  actual,  and  not  assessment  valuation.  If  not  correct,  they  are  from  the  best  data  and  au- 
thority available.  


New  Hampshire. 

Vermont 

Massachusetts.  . 
Rhode  Island.. . 

Connecticut 

New  York 

New  Jersey 

Pennsylvania. . . 

Delaware 

Maryland 

Virginia  ....... 

"West  \ irginia. . . 
North  Carolina.. 
South  Carolina. . 

Georgia 

Florida 

Alabama 

Mississippi 

Louisia 
Texas. 

Arkap: 

Tennea 
Kentucky 

Ohio 

Indiana.. . 
Illinois. . . 

Misso 
Kans 
Nebrs 
Iowa 
Michi 
Wisc< 

Minn 
Nevada ... 
California 
Oregon . . . 
District  of 
Territories. 


620,423 

317,710 


1,457,351 
217,356 
637,886 
4,730,846 
903,044 
3,511,513 
175,015 
790,095 
1,211,442 
441,943 
1,016,954 
705,789 
1,174  836 
189.995 
996,175 
843, °56 
731,420 
795,500 
486,103 
1,258,326 
1,323,264 
2,675,468 
1,668,169 
2,567,035 
1,725,658 
379,497 
116,888 
1,181,359 
1,184,653 
1,055,501 
424,543 
44,686 
556,208 
90,878 
131,708 
298,327 


38,881,231 


Valuation  of  real 
in  1870. 


$219,666,504 
160;315,680 
138,627,143 
1,038,083,415 
233,758,000 
312,574  408 
2,532,720,907 

573.000. 000 
1,046,732,062 

47,385,614 

398,891,449 

885.000. 000 
98,780,000 


358,785,191 

386,129.231 

16,329,106 

327.500.000 

167.000. 000 
317,612,583 
298,163,281 

86,297,123 

276,163,137 

329,218,742 

1,607,418,203 

937,201,283 

1,346,587.734 

805,893,165 

69.125.000 

24.160.000 
322,561,061 
387,246,129 

330.000. 000 

171.155.000 

19.360.000 
217.855,933 

29,830,117 

83,127,841 

79,184,821 


Valuation  of  per- 
sonal estate  in 
1870. 


Capital  invested  in 
tures,  trade,  < 

1870. 


$169,037 
128,711,143 
85,744,627 
803,085,988 
55,483  713 
135,380,750 
2,434,270,278 

278.000. 000 
346,891,498 

20,185,693 

327,937,008 

85.000. 000 

41.000. 000 
188,931,290 
219,681,837 
267,825,641 

15,447,680 

125,500,000 

49.380.000 
294,861,247 
159,328,216 
127,261,326 

168.237.191 
271,864  165 
959.762,252 
367,130,625 
342,407,041 
497,487,635 

31.285.000 
30,895,796 

171.971.191 
183,284,721 

138.000. 000 

29.387.000 

14.287.000 
128,725,471 

19,187,323 

49,287,605 

52,829,613 


55: 

55: 

55: 

C & M, 

M, 

C & M, 
M, 

M & C, 
M & T, 

C, 

M, 

M&T, 
M&T, 
M & C, 
M & C, 
M & T, 
C, 

M.  & T, 
M & T, 
M&T, 

T, 

C, 

C, 

c’&  M, 

M, 

M & C, 
C & M, 
M, 

M, 

C&M, 

M&T 

M, 


$48,000,000 

53.500.000 

37.823.000 

250.000. 000 

45.000. 000 
166,800,000 

3.200.000. 000 

135.000. 000 

1.320.000. 000 

16.550.000 
117,500,000 

86.230.000 

28.000. 000 

15.000  000 

35.500.000 

51.325.000 

13.000. 000 

45.000. 000 

21.300.000 

48.000. 000 

27.480.000 

13.287.000 

79.500.000 

256.000. 000 

2.300.000. 000 

1.400.000. 000 

2.000. 000.000 

1,729,000,000 

114.000. 000 
6,60^,000 

325.000. 000 

387.612.000 

32.000. 000 

14.831.000 
3,925,000 

150,(00,000 

11.350.000 

19.270.000 

21.362.000 


TABLE  OF  PRINCIPAL  CITIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES, 

8HOWINO  POPULATION  IN  1850,  I860,  AND  1870,  CAPITAL  INVESTED  IN  MANUFACTURES,  AND  AMOUNT  OF  ANNUAL  PRODUCT  IN 

OR  NEAR  1870. 


Portland. 
Bangor. . 
Lewiston 
Biddeford 
Augusta. 
Mane 
Nash 
Ports 
Concord. . . 

Dover 

Burlington. 
Boston  .... 

Lowell 

Woreet 
Salem. 
Cambridge  ... 
New  Bedford. 
Fall  River  . . . 
Springfield... 
Charlestown  . 
Newbury  port. 
Taunton  .... 

£ynn 

Gloucester.  . . 


State. 

Population 
. in  1850. 

Population 
in  1860. 

Maine. 

20,815 

26,341 

44 

14,432 

16,407 

44 

3,584 

a 

6,095 

u 

8,225 

7,609 

N.  II. 

13,932 

20,109 

a 

6,820 

10,065 

a 

9,738 

9,33 . 

44 

8,576 

10,896 

it 

8,196 

8,392 

Vt. 

6,110 

7,713 

Maas. 

136.881 

177,812 

44 

33,383 

36,827 

<c 

17.049 

24,960 

ii 

20.264 

22,252 

ii 

15,215 

26,060 

ic 

16,443 

22,300 

ii 

11,624 

14.026 

Cl 

11,766 

15,199 

II 

17,216 

25,063 

44 

9,572 

13,401 

« 

*10,441 

16.376 

u 

14,257 

19,083 

II 

7.786 

10,904 

Populatioi 
in  1870. 


Capital  invest- 
ed in  manu-  Annual  pro 
factures  in  or  duct, 
near  1870. 


30,877 

18,296 

13,600 

10,285 

7,811 

23,536 

10,643 

9,305 

12,241 

9,294 

14,387 

250,52'. 

40,928 

41,105 

24,117 

39,634 

21,32) 

26,786 

26.701 

28,323 

13,695 

18,629 

28,233 

15,389 


$',500,000 
6,800,000 
6,3  (0,000 

3.000. 000 

5.000. 000 

9.640.000 

6,lu0,'(00 

1.500.000 

6.700.000 

3.200.000 

1.725.000 

42.000. 000 

30.000. 000 

8.800.000 

3.500.000 
5,000,000 

24.000  000 

13.400.000 
8, 350, "00 

7.100.000 

2.750.000 

8.950.000 

10.250.000 


$13,300,000 

12,000.000 

11.500.000 

7.000. 000 

10.500.000 

19.970.000 

12.350.000 

3.200.000 

10.500.000 
6,800,0(10 

4.869.000 
105,000,000 

89.000. 000 

26.000. 000 

9.875.000 

14.000. 000 

37.000. 000 

29.500.000 

17.284.000 

15.250.000 

6.000. 000 

19.675.000 
15,187,350 

4.225.000 


TABLES  OF  POPULATION. 


TABLE  OF  PRINCIPAL  CITIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. — Continued. 


Holyoke 

Lawrence 

Providence 

Newport 

New  Haven 

Hartford. 

Bridgeport 

Norwich 

Middletown 

New  London 

Waterbury 

Meriden 

New  York 

Brooklyn 

Buffalo 

Albany 

Rochester 

Syracuse 

Troy 

Yonkers 

Oswego 

Hudson 

Utica 

Binghamton . . . . 

Morrisania 

Poughkeepsie . . . 

Cohoes 

Newburgh 

Elmira 

Lockport 

Schenectady 

Auburn 

Ogdensburg 

Newark 

Jersey  City 

Elizabeth 

Paterson 

Hoboken 

Rahway 

Trenton 

New  Brunswick. 
Camden. ....... 

Hudson  City. . . . 

Philadelphia. . . . 

Pittsburgh 

Alleghany  City. 

Scranton 

Reading  

Harrisburg 


Lancaster. . . . 
Wilmington. . 
Baltimore.  . . . 
Cumberland  . 
Frederick. . . . 
Washington.. 
Georgetown. . 
Richmond  . . . 
Alexandria . . . 

Norfolk 

Portsmouth  . . 
Petersburg. . . 
Lynchburg..  . 
Wheeling. . . . 
Wilmington. . 

Raleigh 

New-Berne. . . 
Charleston.  . . 
Columbia.  . . . 
Savannah. . . . 

Atlanta 

Augusta 

Key  West. . . . 

Mobile 

Montgomery. 

Natchez 

Vicksburg.  . . 
New  Orleans. 
Galveston  . . 
Little  Hock..  . 

Memphis 

Nasbviile 
Knoxville . . . 


State. 


Mass. 

R.  I 
u 

Conn. 


N.  Y. 


N.  J. 


Del. 

Md. 


D.  C. 

M 

Va. 


W.  Va. 
N.  C. 


S.  C. 

(C 

Ga. 


Fla. 

Ala. 

u 

Miss. 

u 

La. 

Texas. 

Ark. 

Tonu. 


Population 

in  1850. 


3,245 

8.282 

4li513 

9,563 

20,345 

13,555 

7,560 

10,265 

4,211 

8,991 

5,137 

3,559 

515,547 

96,838 

42,261 

50,763 

36,403 

22,271 

28,785 

4,130 

12,235 

6,286 

17,565 

5,000 


13,944 

4.229 

11,415 

8,166 

10,327 

8,921 

9,548 

6,500 

38,894 

6,856 

5,583 

11,334 

2,668 

3,306 

6,461 

10,019 

9,479 


Population 
in  1860. 


Population 
in  1870. 


340,045 

46,601 

21,261 


15,743 

7,834 

5,858 

12,369 

13,979 

169,054 

6,073 

6,028 

40,001 

8,366 

27,570 

8,734 

14,326 

8,122 

14,010 

8,071 

11,435 

7,264 

4,518 

4,681 

42,985 

6,060 

15,312 

2,572 

11,753 

1,943 

20,515 

4,935 

4,434 

3,678 

116,375 

4,177 

2,167 

8,839 

10,478 

3,690 


50,666 

10,508 

39,267 

29,154 

13,555 

14,048 

ioliifi 


805,651 

266,661 

81,129 

62,367 

48,204 

28,119 

39,232 

11,848 

16,817 

9,288 

22,529 

8,325 

9,245 

14,726 

7,620 

15,196 

8,882 

13,533 

9,579 

10,986 

7,409 

71,914 

29,226 

10,000 

19,588 

9,662 

4,785 

17,228 

12,150 

11,267 


562,529 

49,217 

28,702 

9,223 

23,161 

13,405 

9,419 

17,603 

25,508 

212,418 


8,143 

61,122 

8,733 

37,910 

12,652 

15,611 

9,502 

18,266 

6,853 

14  r 

9,552 

4,780 

5,432 

40,522 

8,059 

22,292 

9,554 

12,493 

2,832 

29,258 

8,843 

6,612 

4,591 

168,675 

7,307 

3,727 

22.02& 

16,988 

6,000 


Capital  invest 
ed  in  manu- 
factures in  or 
near  1870. 


11,000 

28,921 

68.906 

12.521 

50.840 

37.180 
19,876 
16,653 
11,143 

9,576 
10  826 

10.521 
942,310 
396,300 
117,715 

69,422 

62,335 

43.058 
46,471 
18,318 
20,910 
14,135 
28,804 
12,862 
19,637 
20,080 
15,357 
17,014 
15,863 
15,458 
11,026 

17.225 
10,076 

105,078 

82,102 

20,383 

33,512 

20,284 

6,016 

22,115 

15.059 
20,045 
18,000 

674,022 

86,235 

53.181 
35,093 
33,932 
23,109 

20.500 
20,233 

30.841 
267,354 

11.500 
10,180 

109,294 

12,412 

51,038 

13,570 

19,256 

12,678 

14,128 

7,319 

19,282 

13,465 

10,146 

4,996 

48,956 

10,139 

20,233 

16,988 

14,197 

6,510 

32,084 

13,065 

9.12S 

8,953 

191,322 

13,818 

13,380 

40.226 
25.872 

9.000 


Annual  pro- 
duct. 


$7,185,000 

20,000.000 

11,837,548 

1.500.000 

12.715.000 

13.500.000 

5.125.000 

7.676.000 

1.775.000 

2.500.000 

8.125.000 

2.784.000 
179.525,000 

65.500.000 

27.965.000 

18.250.000 
15,000,000 
11,871,500 

9.000. 000 

1.250.000 

5.108.000 

1.125.000 

6.225.000 

2.725.000 

3.184.000 

4.932.000 

6.550.000 

3.725.000 

6.817.000 

2.165.000 

1.125.000 

5.075.000 

3.187.500 

25.500.000 

18.650.000 

1.725.000 

17.150.000 

3.360.000 

550.000 

7.180.000 

2.785.000 

5.650.000 

460.000 
178,000,000 

69.250.000 

21.300.000 

2.917.000 

9.755.000 

6.125.000 

1.500.000 

3.900.000 

11.500.000 

27.480.000 

400.000 

875.000 

3.150.000 

1.000. 000 

2.100.000 

3.125.000 

2.087.500 
1,499,350 

500.000 

350.000 
6,150,280 

975.000 

400.000 

260.000 

1.850.000 
1,015,250 

600,000 

1.325.000 

675.000 

650.000 

3.618.000 

500.000 

275.000 

729.000 

19.750.000 

850.000 

300.000 
1,639,000' 
1,171,450! 

600.0001 


$13,267,000 

35.000. 000 
33,690,994 

3.275.000 

32.000. 000 

31.300.000 

17.500.000 

18.250.000 

4.000. 000 

4.865.000 

19.385.000 

8.500.000 

486.125.000 

140.225.000 

62.835.000 

41.375.000 

28.000  000 

29.627.000 

20.000. 000 

3.100.000 

13.187.000 

2.750.000 

14.861.000 

5.895.000 

7.196.000 

10.287.000 

11.250.000 

7.810.000 

14.271.000 

5.125.000 

2.789.000 

12.173.000 

7.785.000 

53.628.000 

35.750.000 

2.850.000 

38.525.000 

8.200.000 

1.650.000 
15, 125.000* 

5.875.000 

12.175.000 

1.750.000 
495,000,000 
141,500,000 

64.380.000 

6.285.000 

38.124.000 

13.250.000 

4.600.000 

9.728.000 

18.000. 000 

79.169.000 

2.500.000 

2.100.000 

10.287.000 

2.650.000 

5.183.000 

8.749.500 
6,964,250 
3,748,140 
1,150,600 

975,500 

14,297,340 

2.600.000 

1,100,000 

725.000 

8.950.000 
2,416,980 

1.100.000 

3.145.000 

1.497.500 

1.328.500 
9,145,320 
3,000,000 

785,300 

1,541,870 

53.550.000 

2,100,000 

850.000 

8.741.500 
2,763,621 

980.000 


TABLES  OF  POPULATION. 


TABLE  OF  PRINCIPAL  CITIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES.— Continued. 


Louisville. . . . 
Covington..  . . 
Lexington — 

St.  Louis 

Kansas  City.. 
St.  Joseph.  . . 

Hannibal 

Leavenworth. 

tj  Topeka 

Omaha 

Davenport . . . 

Dubuque 

Des  Moines — 

Keokuk 

Muscatine..  . . 
Council  Bluffs. 
Burlington . . . 

Chicago 

Peoria 

Quincy 

Springfield.  . . 

Alton  

Galena 

Pekin 

Rock  Island..  . 

Cairo 

Indianapolis  . . 
Evansville 
Terre  Haute.. . 
Fort  Wayne.. . 
New  Albany. . 

Lafayette 

Madison 

Richmond 
Logans  port..  . . 
Cincinnati 

Cleveland 

Toledo 

Columbus 

Dayton 

Sandusky 

Springfield 

Hamilton 

Portsmouth.  . . 
Steubenville  . . 

Zanesville 

Akron 

Detroit 

Grand  Rapids. 

Jackson 

Kalamazoo  ... 
East  Saginaw.. 

Adrian 

Milwaukie  .... 

Madison 

Oshkosh 

Superior  City. 
Fond  du  Lac  . 
Green  Bay. . . . 

Racine 

Janesville 

St.  Paul 

Winona  

St.  Anthony  . . 
Minneapolis. . . 

Denver 

Cheyenne 

Salt  lAke City.. 
Carson  City . . . 
Virginia  City. . 
San  Francisco . . 
Sacramento  ..  . 

Stockton 

0 ikland 

Portland 

Stcilacoom 

Olympia 

Santa  Fe 

Tucson 

Boise  City 

Helena 

Virginia  City. . 
Yanckton 


State. 

Population 
in  1850. 

Population 
in  1860. 

Population 
in  1870. 

Capital  invest- 
ed in  manu- 
factures in  or 
near  1870: 

Ky. 

43,194 

1 

t 68,033 

i 100,754 

$16,313,000 

9,408 

$ 16,471 

24,505 

■ 4,296,500 

f* 

9,13( 

) 9,521 

10,121 

600,000 

Mo. 

77,86C 

) 160,773 

i 312,963 

! 48,387.150 

44 

60C 

) 4.418 

1 32,362 

! 3,174,125 

it 

6,00C 

) 8,932 

: 19  692 

1 1,675,325 

(4 

2,02C 

> 6,505 

10,120 

' 1,000,000 

Kan. 



7,429 

17,849 

' 1,800,000 

Neb. 

759 

1,883 

6,790 

16,083 

400,000 

Iowa. 

1.848 

1 11,267 

20,042 

1,300,000 

44 

3,108 

1 13,000 

18,084 

2,425,000 

44 

986 

! 3,935 

12,379 

1,470,000 

44 

2,478 

i 8,136 

12,754 

925,000 

4 

il 

2,540 

i 5,324 

10,178 

850,000 

2,000 

i 2,011 

10.974 

1,125,000 

44 

4,082 

6,706 

109,260 

12,034 

1,050,000 

111. 

29.963 

298,983 

60,000,000 

44 

5,095 

14,045 

25,787 

4,105,000 

It 

6,902 

13,632 

24,053 

3,072,500 

It 

11,766 

15,199 

17,365 

1,980,300 

it 

3,585 

7,388 

10,353 

1,147,618 

44 

6.004 

8,193 

10,030 

2,261,419 

“ 

1,678 

3,467 

9,310 

1,743,200 

a 

1,711 

5,130 

7,896 

1,864,325 

44 

242 

2,188 

8,267 

1,460,000 

Ind. 

8,034 

18.611 

41,603 

4,150,500 

“ 

3,235 

11,484 

21,830 

2,745,200 

44 

4,051 

8594 

17,105 

1,993,550 

“ 

4,282 

10,388 

17.766 

1,871.000 

12,647 

16,205 

2,343,750 

1,215 

9,387 

14.3J2 

820,000 

44 

8,012 

9,068 

10,709 

1,361,000 

44 

1,443 

6,603 

9,443 

2,628,133 

3.500 

2,979 

8,950 

1,961,822 

Ohio. 

115,433 

161,044 

218,900 

58,340.586 

44 

17,034 

43,417 

93,918 

44,000,000 

16 

3.829 

13,796 

31,692 

5,250,000 

* 46 

17,882 

18,692 

31,336 

8,325,000 

it 

10,970 

20,081 

30,867 

6,240,325 

a 

10,000 

9,316 

14,523 

2,116,587 

66 

7,314 

7,007 

12,055 

3,000,000 

u 

3,210 

7,227 

11,105 

4,128,575 

66 

4,011 

6,273 

10,522 

1,817,340 

46 

6,144 

6,157 

10,207 

2,106,150 

66 

7,929 

9,232 

10,013 

2,819,325 

44 

3,266 

3,520 

10,010 

2,587,640 

Mich. 

21,019 

45,619 

79,588 

18,360,000 

46  ' 

3,147 

8,085 

16,507 

2,725,000 

66 

4,147 

4,799 

11,448 

1,976,500 

66 

3,284 

6,070 

9,180 

1,752,000 

46 

500 

3,001 

11,349 

2,568,000 

M 

3,006 

6,213 

8,448 

1,843,500 

Wis. 

20,031 

45,246 

71,499 

11,275,000 

44 

3,400 

6,611 

13,000 

2,193,780 

44 

2,500 

6,086 

12,675 

46 

634 

1,100 

650,000 

44 

2,014 

6,450 

12,771 

66 

1,923 

2,275 

4.666 

425,000 

46 

6,107 

7,822 

9,880 

44 

3,451 

7.703 

8,791 

879,000 

Minn. 

1,338 

10,401 

20,645 

1,312,250 

u 

2,464 

10.000 

250,000 

46 

656 

3,258 

6,000 

675,600 

41 

2,564 

15,000 

1,525,000 

Col. 

Wyoming. 

Utah. 

4,749 

9.500 

4.500 

850.000 

550.000 
1,600,000 

8,000 

8,236 

24,500 

Nev. 

714 

4,875 

200,000 

(( 

2,345 

7,008 

158,361 

450,000 

Cal. 

34,776 

56,802 

28,500,000 

ti 

12,000 

13,785 

16.484 

1,245,000 

it 

3.000 

3,679 

3,825 

250,000 

a 

1,548 

6,740 

270,000 

Oregon. 
Wash.  T. 

827 

2,874 

8,293 

8,800 

1,600 

1,296,000 

121,600 

60,000 

110,000 

4,846 

4,636 

6,600 

Arizona  T. 

Idaho. 

Montana. 

1,034 

8,000 

4,800 

8,900 

8,700 

160.000 

185.000 

370.000 

925.000 

223.000 

Dakota. 

458 

6,800 

Annual  pro- 
duct. 


$40,091  745 
10.825,960 

1.725.000 
109,513.950 

8.125.450 
4,075,425 

2.300.000 

3.270.000 
900,000 

* 8.500,666 

3.794.000 

3.100.000 

2.084.000 

1.975.000 

2.485.000 

2.355.420 
175,000.000 

11,186;325 

8.740.200 
3,618,500 

2.831.450 
4,843,288 
3,877,250 

3.987.420 

2.963.200 
11  265,350 

7.189.150 

4.185.240 
4,622,175 
4,918,225 

2.006.150 
3,108,270 
6,815,281 
3,934,186 

159,270,049 

127,375,500 

14.128.500 

19.875.000 
14,371,225 

4,962,180 

5.200.000 
12,006,155 

4,361,285 

5,210,265 

6,173,124 

6.031.240 

62.185.000 

5.918.000 

4.128.000 

3.740.500 
7 061,000 

4.163.000 

28.645.000 

4.285.000 

’ 1,384,666 


994,000 


2.185.000 

3.180.000 

722.000 
1,807,833 
3,980,600 

1.795.000 

1.600.000 
4,280,000 

450.000 

860.000 

71.450.000 

3.780.000 

700.000 

800.000 

2.752.000 
806,000 

150.000 

280.000 

470.000 

600.000 

809.000 

2.500.000 

660.000 


COMPARATIVE  POPULATION  OP  THE  LARGEST  CITIES  OF  THE  UNITED  STATES. 


TABLES  OF  POPULATION. 


Note. The  year  1845  and  the  periods  earlier  than  1790  are  taken  from  State  enumerations,  and  from  other  sources 

of  information.  4 

* Population  of  the  settlement. 

t State  census  of  1852.  . . 

1 Errors  were  made  in  Boston  and  New  Orleans  in  1* *40,  uoderostimntina'  the  population  in  the  first  city,  as  proved 
by  Mr  Shattuck,  to  the  extent  of  about  8,000 ; and  overestimating  it  in  New  Orleans,  as  proved  by  Dr.  Barton,  by  at  least 
10  000  or  15,000. 


V 


